Packing/Moving Tips?

[Bride010101]

Well I finished finals on Tuesday and Sean is taking his last final right now. Since we will be moving all around the state this next year, we decided to give up the house we are renting to save some money. Now we have the daunting task of going through all our stuff - and decide what to toss, what can go in storage for the year and what we need to take with us.

 

To make it more fun, everything we decide that we *need* over the next year... needs to be crammed into the tiny room I was demoted to (when I originally moved out) at my parents house... as we will both be moving in with my parents (and 3 siblings) over the summer. Needless to say, that will be an adventure in itself.

 

I tried to be good and get most of my clothes, toiletries, books out of the house and moved back to my parents the last few days as Sean studied. Once we left for his final today, I started going through our joint stuff and paper stuff in our room and have created a gigantic mess.

 

Most of the stuff HAS to go into storage. I was thinking of number each box/tote and then writing down what goes into each box. Is that me being overly organized... or will it be useful? I figure, it might be nice in case we decide we need something come January or whenever. Any tips on packing or previous experiences you would like to share?

[Yari]

I think numbering each box and writing down the contents is a great idea. You will be very grateful when you unpack down the road.

[Jessica]

I think it's a good idea.

 

I wrote a whole novel on our boxes, DH was so mad. I put the name of the room they go in, the person the contents belonged to and the actual contents (ie. summer skirts, hair products, etc)

[ErinB]

I think having a list will be really helpful. I would also designate the owner, contents, room instead of just a number. If you don't have your list handy how will you know what is in box #12?

 

Men don't really know how to move IMO. FI got so mad when we moved in. I too am a compulsive labler. Note that he still has boxes of who knows what in our basement that have been down there for almost 6 years!

[lucy106]

For our last move I took masking tape, smacked it on the side and would write "Glasses Fragile...To Kitchen" so, a general idea of the content and where it should go. That way anyone who was helping us move knew where to put that box. It made it a very easy process. Its the unpacking that sucks! Have a garage sale now!!

[Maura]

i bet morgan would have great advice about this seeing as she did something similar.

 

also becky, with regards to all your paper stuff -- have you already started a file of documents that you will eventually need when it comes time to file for sean's greencard?

[seaprincess]

I have done the masking tape thing too in the last two moves and it helped sooo much! Before you have a chance to unpack everything and you need to find something its nice to know where you can start looking.

 

As far as clothes go, whenever I move I go through my wardrobe and get rid of anything I don't absolute love and wear, doesn't fit, is worn or torn and the same goes for the FI (although he seems to think that some of the T-shirts he wore in college to workout in are still 'good' as he calls them...). We donate it all and it feels good to look at your closet and know that everything in it I love.

 

I try to keep that mantra when shopping too and it puts things in perspective when the thrill of the shop gets to me.