Moving!! - Cherryville,MO

the best tip I can give you is to go to the uhaul place and get the colored moving tape. they have packages with 2,3,and 4 bedroom options each is adifferent color along with liv rm, din rm and kitchen, bathroom, garage etc. we had a different color for each room and put a pc of cardboard with the corosponding color on each doorway at the new house. that save buku time for those who moved us.

It is not really any extra work lol. You have to tape the box tops shut anyway to move and the tape is just a big roll of tape in different colors with the name of the room on them. no marking on boxes needed unless you want to label whats in the boxes. it helped us a lot. and I then gave the extra tape to another friend who was moving and she used it to label her boxes. good luck

If someone offers to help or bring in meals-do not turn down their offer! That's my greatest and best advice-good luck!

My best advice gained from the numerous times we've had to move: when unloading the truck, take a few extra seconds to put it in the room it needs to be in. We made the mistake of unloading things into the garage because we had to hurry and get the truck returned, then it ended up taking us months to completely unpack. If you have enough help with moving (people to unload the truck), then have yourself or someone else who would know where things belong unpack as things are being unloaded. Otherwise, the labels on the boxes of what is most important will be a huge help in getting the necessities unpacked first, then you can take things one room at a time after that to completely unpack and set up each room.

Also, as you are packing, be very selective as to what is necessary to keep (really only applies if you have any issues currently with clutter). We have a family of 8, and clutter is nearly unavoidable. The last time we moved, we filled up a really large dumpster with things to throw away, and had half of our garage filled with things to donate, and we still filled an entire U-haul after that! Packing up a whole house turned out to be the easiest way to clean my house of everything that we no longer needed.

It doesn't help you now since your moving date is so close, but we actually started packing things a month prior to our moving date. We started off with things that we didn't need every day, and stacked it in our garage until we had a truck rented. It made it easier for us because everyday life was so chaotic anyhow that it let us spread the hassle out over a longer time span.

I agree with Sherry, but rather than the Uhaul place, we just bought colored index cards from Walmart. Each card represented a different room, and we simply wrote on the card what was inside rather than writing on the box. Tape the card to the top of each box and call it good! :-)

Last thing I can think of offhand, break down your boxes as you go so you don't have a mountain of them accumulating. If you have no use for them afterward, you can either recycle them or post them on sites like Freecycle or Craigslist; someone is ALWAYS needing boxes and you will be able to get rid of them quickly. Good luck!

Clearly mark the boxes when packing room by room. Put all the boxes into the rooms they belong instead of dumping everything in one location. Set up and make the beds first and then move to the kitchen and get that squared away. Do the bathrooms next and then call it a day. As long as you can take a shower, sleep in a fresh bed, and make food then life is good. Everything else can be picked away at a little at a time.

it's been years since I moved as well - I think I would have a full on anxiety attack if I had to move right now!!! :) I really do miss moving every 3 to 4 years..it really kept down on the clutter!!

if you are doing it yourself instead of hiring a crew:
* Get different color markers for each room.
* Packing blankets for TVs and sofas
* paper to wrap collectibles and breakables in best if you have the original boxes too
* kitchen - instead of making it hard - take the silverware holder out - wrap it in paper and tape it up. Put it in a box. Same with other utensils.
* any OPEN food stuffs - set aside. DO NOT PACK with unopened items. Decide to keep or throw away.

Have a pizza party with friends - ask for their help. I personally would hire 2 guys and a truck or the college guys - and have them come in and do it.

GOOD LUCK!

Cheaper than colored moving tape - neon colored file folder labels from CVS or Office Depot - worked for us

I wrote on the top of the box the room it needs to go into. I see the tape advice - a good one. But you can just use a marker if you're feeling thrifty!!

Set up one box as the unpack right away box. In that box put a roll or 2 of toilet paper, hand soap, hand towel, maybe even shampoo, conditioner and bath towels. Also add necessary kitchen stuff, paper plates, plastic silverware, salt-pepper, coffee, coffee pot, cups and glasses and night lights also baby formula, baby food and necessary spoons, bottles ect. Maybe even an extra couple of diapers and wipes.
Go over tonight if possible and wipe out kitchen and bathroom cupboards and clean bathroom and kitchen. Don't worry about the floors but get stuff like countertops clean so if you need to make sandwiches you don't have to clean first.

On the day of the move the first box to go on is the right away box, kids always need to potty at the most inconvient time. Have a girlfriend or two be there to help get beds made and kitchen and bathroom set up. Pack the truck so bedrooms come out first. If the living room is in disaray for a few days it's okay but you need to be able to use the bathroom, kitchen and a place to sleep the first night.

Also number dresser drawers on the bottom of the drawer. Leave drawers full, take out drawers move dresser frame and put drawers back in. You can often pack other things from bedrooms in the drawers.

You can also toss together a crock pot supper and start at old house and plug in at new house so dinner is ready when you want it. Or just plan to order pizza or chinese or pick-up subs.

On second day of move let the men handle the rest. Spend your day organizing, again if a few girlfriends can help so much better. I aways like to start in bathroom and kitchen then do bedrooms. Make sure you know where work and school clothes are -- everything from socks and undies to backpacks and homework.

A spinoff on Sherry's idea - I bought Post-It labels. They're cheaper than the U-Haul packs of tape and come in many colors.

Do everything Flylady says - seriously. I did that on my last move, 2 years ago, and everything went so smoothly I couldn't believe it.

My other suggestion, since you are doing it yourself, is to hire laborers through U-Haul at one or both ends of your move. They are insured/bonded, and you can choose the number of hours you hire them for. SO much easier and cheaper than begging all your friends and then buying 10 pizzas plus a case of beer to feed them all!! The guys we hired from U-Haul came for 4 hours (so, 8 man hours total) and moved EVERYTHING into the house. All the big furniture, including a piano, all the boxes, everything! I had each room labeled as per Flylady's directions, and by the time they were moving in the living room furniture downstairs, I had the beds made upstairs and a lot of the clothing unpacked. Seriously. I think I had the whole house unpacked within 3-4 days. Organization is key (that, and don't bring clutter with you - de-clutter before you pack! ;)

Good luck with your move. Let us know how it goes!