National Moving Month is upon us yet again, which can mean only one thing: the period of every year where roughly 46 million Americans move from one place to another is about to begin. We've all moved before and by and large, it's a stressful and exhausting experience. The good news, however, is that it certainly doesn't have to be. If you really want to make your move as successful as possible, you just have to keep a few key things in mind.
1. The First Thing You Should Pack? Your Overnight Bag
This may seem like a simple tip, but you'd better believe that it's a step you'll be thankful you took once the move is already in motion. Before you do anything else, pack an overnight bag with all the essential items you'll need to be comfortable for at least one day, possibly more, when you get to your new home.
The logic of this is as follows: even if you do manage to move absolutely everything in one day, the chances are you're going to be too tired to unpack. Which of those boxes did your work clothes end up in? Where, oh where, did you put your toiletries? You kept a watchful eye on your laptop... but where is your laptop charger? By packing an overnight bag and essentially pretending that you'll be living in a hotel for a few days, these are the types of questions you won't have to worry about.
2. Learn the RIGHT Way to Pack Boxes
The proper way to pack boxes goes far beyond simply making sure you've used enough tape to guarantee that they won't collapse out from under you. You also need to make things easy to find, make sure that you're using space as widely as possible and accomplish a few other important goals, at the same time. For the best results, consider the following steps:
- Pack all of your fragile items (like dishes, wine glasses and things like that) using your clothing as extra padding. Not only will you save a significant amount of space by killing two birds with one stone, but you'll save a ton on packing supplies as well.
- Are there a few items in particular that you know you're going to need quick access to? Pack them inside those big, clear, plastic containers so they're easy to find.
- Don't just label everything that is in each box. Take things one step further and put the label for the room those items go in on the box, too.
- Create a manifest for yourself so you not only know where everything is, but so that you can make sure everything made it from Point A to Point B as well. Make a list of EVERY box and EVERY label during your move and as soon as everything is at the new home, go over the list and make sure everything arrived.
3. To Hire Movers, Or Not to Hire Movers?
Whether or not you should take the additional step of hiring movers is one of those questions that only you can answer. However, there are a few things you should consider.
If you're the type of person who has a lot of incredibly fragile and/or valuable items, you may want to hire movers as opposed to trying to do everything yourself or convincing family members to help you. If something goes wrong and anything is damaged, you'll hurt a relationship with a friend - but movers offer insurance that you can count on.
4. Pick Your Move Date Carefully
Not everyone has complete control over when they move. Sometimes the closing of a house will pick your date for you, like during National Moving Month, and other times it will ultimately come down to your current landlord. But if you DO have a say in things, try to move during either the fall or spring months. Think October and March. The weather won't be too hot, but it probably won't be too rainy either. Also, start early in the day and try to stick to weekends just to help make sure that everything goes off without a hitch.
Moving is never easy and doing it during one of the peak moving times of the year makes it even more challenging. Moving during National Moving Month may seem to be with the spirit of the season but ELEVATE Marketplace can make sure you have the supplies you need to ease your move.
