10 Things I Learned Moving
450 Miles
450 Miles is the distance I moved. Believe it or not, that is in the same state! I stayed on one interstate the entire time. TEXAS. I’ve lived here my entire life and I still can’t believe just how huge this place is. In West Texas, you got desert. In East Texas, you got trees and lakes. South Texas, there is the ocean. North Texas has the plains. Central Texas has Hill Country. Love me some Hill Country. I love every part of Texas. All unique, but all Texas. The following are some tips and tricks I have learned from moving (twice, third time is coming soon, However, at least this move is in the same town).
1. Start Gathering Supplies as Soon as you Think you are Gonna be Moving
Seriously, you are gonna need many more boxes, storage totes, tape, and bubble wrap than you think. Stuff to be packed starts appearing out of nowhere. Suddenly, you own two blenders, 80 board games, and other random things you completely forgot about. I feel like closets just swallow stuff and spit it back out when it is time to pack.
2. Have a Plan
Pick a room to pack first. One that can be the holding area for packed boxes. We used our office starting out. That became packing room zero. My husband taped the moving truck dimensions down on the floor and we tried to see what all would fit. In the end, we made two trips. One with a moving truck and we rented a smaller trailer for the second load.
3. This is the Time to Donate and Sell
Don’t pack stuff you will never use again. This is taking up valuable trailer space. I wish I had started de-cluttering in advance, I know half the stuff I packed is probably gonna end up in a yard sale. I donated a pretty good amount of stuff in the beginning of the process, but towards the end I got pretty overwhelmed with packing and just started packing everything. So set aside an area of your packing space for things to be donated.
4. Start Packing Early
If you know about your move in advance and can pack a few boxes a day. That is the way to do it. Start packing up non-essentials that you can miss for a few weeks. Packing and loading boxes into a moving truck in the same day or even the same week can be overwhelming. I felt exhausted after loading the truck, but I can’t even imagine how exhausted I would have felt trying to do it all at once.
5. Set aside a Box for Just First Day Essentials
I learned moving that I needed to quickly access essentials. AKA COFFEE MAKER. Grab a box and make sure it is somewhere you can get to easily. My essential item that made it in the box first was the coffee maker, followed by the tea kettle. I NEEDED caffeine to get through unloading boxes and unpacking. Having to go buy things because you need them now and they are in the moving truck somewhere can get expensive. Moving is already expensive. So pack this box with anything you might need the first few days.
A Few of the Top from my List:
- Coffee Maker/ Tea Kettle
- Soap
- Towels
- Toilet Paper
- Snacks
- Pet Food
- A few Changes of Clothes
- Blankets, pillows
- Personal Hygiene Essentials
6. Do a Better Job of Labeling than I did
Remember a few paragraphs up when I said I got overwhelmed packing. Yeah…. I start just chunking stuff in boxes, no labels, all mixed matched. We were putting some stuff in storage and bringing only the basics to our short lease apartment. SO this was kinda a problem. When we move the stuff out of storage, I’m also due for some fun dragging boxes room to room trying to figure out what goes in what room. Don’t be like me. This is probably one of the more important things I learned moving.
7. Make Sure you Know what is Rented
SO we went to drop off the moving truck and I didn’t bring the moving blankets. It didn’t help we were on a time crunch to grab a rental car before they closed. I just thought we had purchased the blankets. So I had to turn around and take those back. I ended up buying a few from a local hardware store, so that we could have them for the next move and the price was not that much different. So maybe price them out before you rent?
8. Check Towing Capacity and Hitch Requirements
If you are getting a moving trailer. DO the research, talk to the customer service rep, and check some info out online. You need to ensure your vehicle can actually tow the trailer and you need to make sure you have the right equipment.
9. Grab Phone Chargers for Moving Truck
Check the moving truck to see what kind of phone charger is required. It could be a problem if you end up in the middle of nowhere, not sure where you are, and have a dead cell phone.
10. Have an Adventure
Remember this is a new beginning. You need to stay motivated to pack and load, unload, and unpack. It is a lot. I got pretty overwhelmed, and I couldn’t have done it without our friends and family. Ask for help when you need it and focus on the positive.
I hope you are able to take some of the things I learned moving to help you plan your next move. If you have any tips, share them in the comments below.
Thanks for reading!
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