Anyway, the reason for this post is that I need some advice. It's useful stuff, you know?
Are there any moving suggestions you have? Any "Wish I would haves" or "DON'T do its!" for a move across the country?
I know it's not right to just Take-take-take, so here are the things I guess I can share about our first cross-country moving experience:
- Shipping a car was very useful to us. I hear paying for gas costs about the same and you save your car the wear and tear.
- Don't, DON'T, don't use Oasis Moving Co. Dishonest, disrespectful, careless: those are the first words that come to mind. We had a few boxes that had been broken into and taped back up in their month of storage in Las Vegas. They also delivered our furniture about two weeks after we were scheduled to move in (you may recall THIS. Just reading that again makes me laugh. My, how my mentality has changed, and yet most of it is still very true. Those two weeks sleeping three-to-an air mattress were priceless, though. Taught me a lot about how blessed I really was to have what I technically didn't have at the time.) They also charged us some outrageous fees before they would give us our stuff... a hostage situation. Besides which we had many broken items in boxes that were marked "Fragile". Oh well, you live you learn. Just wish I would have seen THIS first.
- Moving with a brand new baby- not as hard as I thought it would be. Definitely doable.
- DON'T sell/get rid of a ton of stuff thinking that it would be cheaper just to buy it again so you wouldn't have to pay to ship it. It really isn't cheaper!
Your suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!
8 comments:
#1: Change the font on your posts.
"Don’t start packing too far ahead because you’ll end up living in chaos for a longer period of time. Do it as close to moving day as you can without over-stressing.
Choose one suitcase to hold everybody’s most important clothing, must-have things, and favorite outfits because it might take you a while to get settled and unpacked and find what you are looking for. This cuts down on an amazing amount of frustration.
Before a move, spend time collecting boxes from the local grocery and liquor stores (they always have extra boxes!). And don’t throw newspapers out; save them to use as wrapping for all your breakables.
This seems so simple, but so many people forget to do this: Mark each box clearly (in nice big letters) with what’s in the boxes so there’s no confusion as to what room everything belongs in once you start to unpack.
Use moving as an opportunity to get rid of clutter and things you don’t really need or want. This is a great time to donate those items or give them to friends/family who can make good use of them.
Rent a truck and enlist people to help you move. Your friends are no more likely to break things than the movers and they cost a lot less!
If you have toddlers, pack while they’re asleep at night. Otherwise, you might find that they’re busy unpacking your boxes as you’re packing them! If this isn’t an option, let them have their own empty box to play with, and hopefully that will distract them long enough to get your boxes packed.
Moving should be a fun experience, a new adventure for the whole family. Don’t dread it. Be excited, and the kids will feel the same way."
from: http://www.babble.com/celebrity/celebrity-style/9-by-design-family-share-decorating-and-moving-tips/
Move to philly, we used ABF and moving here from philly, we used ABF. Both times we liked it and felt like it worked out best, meaning we didn't have to drive a big ol' honking truck and we didn't have to pay for gas seperate. It seemed to be the cheapest for us! Good luck with all that! moving is not fun.
best moving tip seeing as my husband and i have moved 5 times in four years of marriage :) always put it in boxes. i moved someone who just threw things in bags....nightmare!
I have offer opposite advice of T: I think is absolutely worth it to buy packing paper, boxes and a packing tape dispenser (like the pros use). It will save you time and hassle. If you are trying to use newspapers and magazines you will invariably not have enough and end up being stingy when wrapping your breakables. When you load up the truck, even sized boxes will stack better. You'll be able to fit more in the truck with less risk of tumbling boxes.
We've moved a lot too, two times across country.
I agree that ABF is the way to go, it makes it easy ad it was by far the cheapest option for us. When we moved from Utah to Georgia we took all of our items to their shipping dock and loaded it directly in the truck there and then went and picked it up at the nearest dock in Georgia. It made it so that we only had to do an in town one day U Haul rental and pay for very little gas. We also only had to pay for the number of feet we used in the truck. They also have options where they bring a trailer or crate to your house for you to pack, made it very nice, look into them.
I also think that Two Men and a Truck has the VERY best prices on boxes and packing paper and I'm in the club that agrees good packing paper and boxes are worth their weight in gold when moving.
One last thing when it comes to driving across the country with a toddler (done it a few times ha) I find that buying some cheap new QUIET toys at the dollar store and keeping them in rubbermaid shoebox size containers is a LIFESAVER. The containers fit under seats easily and help keep things in one place easily and clean.
Good Luck.
If you plan on driving cross country, check the weather and avoid any storms.
ok so i don't really have any tips... :) but if i thought that i could help, here's what i did that i found helped. (but i'm sure you've already thought of this!) i got on craigslist before we moved and found someone giving away free boxes and tons of packing paper. having alot of free packing paper was such a life saver!! first- it didn't leave any ink on my stuff like newspaper sometimes (or usually will!) can. and second- i wrapped everything up very securely and didn't have a single thing break. it may have taken up more space but i wasn't stressed about all my breakables because i wrapped it all so much. oh and the best place for boxes there in philly- the old navy in springfield. i called and they told me that i could have whatever i wanted out of their dumpster. so don't judge but i went and got in their dumpster. :) its only used for boxes so they were all clean and i could choose the sizes i wanted. i tried to stick with similar sized boxes so that packing would be easier for jeremy. (we were stressed about size and fitting it all into the pod. fortunately it worked out perfect!) but i loved their boxes- sturdy, heavy duty, and perfect sizes. i just called and asked their manager. and then its not necessary but oh so nice- buy a tape dispenser! i thought it was wasteful when jeremy bought ours but soon realized jsut what a time and sanity saver it really was. especially as we were getting down to the end. and then lastly- labeling. i started packing early so i got kitchen items we don't regularly use out of the way. but as i packed them, i would put what exactly was in each box. not just kitchen but heart pan, crystal bowl, p.c. pitcher, etc. this helped when we were moving in because i could read what was in each box and then i sorted by priority and unpacked accordingly. i don't think i would have been as thorough labeling if i had saved it all for the end but because i started 2 1/2 months before we left and just slowly did a couple boxes here and there, i could take my time and label. now i won't say that this doesn't have its drawbacks too. we had to then store those boxes until we moved. but for me it was worth it so it didn't just all come down to crunch time and throw it all in. i sorted and packed organized at the beginning. the other thing was after labeling, i would star the priority or important boxes. so the clothes she would need, filing papers, etc. but i also had packed stuff away for months. so i don't know if that even helps but those were a few things that helped to make the big move easier. good luck!! i'm so excited for you guys!
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