Moving - curious

[Sadeesmom]

I have read a few times that the average American household has over 300,000 items. I'm getting ready to move next year, and just curious:

1 - how many boxes did you fill when moving last? (I know this will vary greatly depending on house & family size, but I'm curious what to expect/predict for my 3 bedroom, full basement, no garage home)
2 - what is your best & worst moving/packing tip?

 

[AndreaDM]

Oh, I just moved last month! I have no idea how many boxes because we moved 7 miles over a 5 day period so we moved lots of things in totes, laundry baskets, Ikea bags. We paid movers to move the big furniture.

Best tip, hire someone to clean your place after you move out. I didn't and was there until about midnight on the day before the new owners got the keys, I was on the verge of a meltdown, so utterly exhausted from moving. Yes I know I didn't HAVE to clean it that thoroughly, but I could never do that to someone. At least our house we moved into was also spotless.

 

[VandVsmama]

Re: Question 1 -
It depends. Depends on how long you’ve lived there and how much stuff you’ve crammed into your 3 BR home with full basement.

Re: Question 2 -
Start sorting and packing now. Don’t wait until the last minute. Get rid of stuff you no longer want or need. It’s going to take a little time depending on how much stuff you have. Start sorting just one room at a time. Do the obvious stuff like label the outside of the boxes - what room it’s for, and what’s in the box.

 

[AndreaDM]

Oh yes, definitely start sorting and decluttering asap. I took several car loads of stuff to thrift shops and even sold a few things online.

 

[mco65]

We moved back in Nov... large 4 BD home we been in over a decade.
We had been decluttering and sold many items in the months leading up to the move including 2 bedroom suites... the dining table and hutch... a living room set (couch and chair)..
We had been saving boxes (Amazon, etc) for over a year and still have to get more and then more and then even more. You will need more boxes than you think. We easily used over 75 boxes.. probably close to 100.

The only advise i would give is to seriously consider a moving company..... Next time i move, i plan on doing just that. I used to be able to move no big deal but no more. My son helped me and was a super warrior that day. He worked me into the ground... but i won't do that again if i can help it!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

1. Probably between 40-50 boxes. I did most of the packing.
2. We moved from California to the Southeast 6 years ago. Learned a lot: 1. If using a moving company, start looking for one now. Get a couple of quotes. Believe it or not, people schedule and book their moves way in advance. 2. If using a moving company, your boxes will be numbered (pick a sticker on it by moving company) and there will be a list with coordinated number and box. Those stickers fall off, use a marker to write the number on the box too. You get a copy of the list of box/numbers (you need this...don't loose). 3. When truck arrives, it is not uncommon for the driver to bring out that last and say sign....DO NOT SIGN, until every last box is checked off and accounted for. The lady from the moving company warned me about this. Said the truck driver will pressure me to sign, she was right, he wanted me to sign as soon as he pulled up. 4. Declutter your home, don't bring anything you know you'll be getting rid of. Especially furniture. We had a small 1500 square foot ranch, 3 bedroom (small), living room, dining/eating area, no attic or basement. One of the BR was an office and didn't pack the desk or daybed from that room. We were going to a much larger home (5 BR and 6 bath) and needed the furniture we had. But it costs a lot to move, and if using a moving company and moving truck, it goes by weight so if you know you're really not liking that couch or chair, just get rid of it now.

 

[_19disnA]

I agree as others have mentioned, start getting rid of things you no longer want/need. Makes no sense to pay a moving company to move things you intend to toss in the trash after you move in. When we last moved, our city has a recycling center where you can take various household items that are hard to dispose of. Might check to see if your city or one nearby has something similar. Local trash collectors can be picky on what they will/will not take, so this is a good alternative. Likely over the years you have accumulated a lot of things in the garage/basement that can be difficult/illegal to dispose of. Boxing up/getting rid of things is also good when trying sell your current home, since it will look less cluttered to potential buyers.

Depending on your budget and how far you are moving, hiring a moving company makes a lot of sense. They provide all of the boxes/supplies/labor/etc. needed to pack things. When they come out to provide an estimate they will also be able to tell you how many boxes you will need. I don't recall the number of boxes we used during our last move. They are also experts at packing and can pack up things far faster then you could. Mark the name of the room where each box will go at your new location to help speed things along when moving in. While every box will be numbered by the moving company, we did not bother trying to account for every box as it arrived. Far too much was going on, multiple moving company employees were bringing things into the house and trying to be the accounting department would have greatly slowed the process. When they finished unloading the truck, they will ask you to sign the inventory document. Reputable moving companies aren't going to steal your items and if you later find something missing/broken, you can still file a claim to resolve that.

At your new location, even when the relocation was job related and paid for by the employer, we found it does not make sense to have the movers unpack and put away things like your kitchen, since the exact configuration of cabinets will probably be different from your prior home. Good to pay them to move/setup heavy furniture/bedding/appliances/etc. They know how to safely do those things and you can injure yourself trying to move/lift heavy objects or carry things upstairs/downstairs at your new location.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We def. had a lot more when we moved from our rental house to our home we had built but as far as boxes I really don't know. Part of the thing is my husband and I had things over at our parent's houses in their basements. We had lived in apartments with little storage and then our rental house had zero storage and there really wasn't a rush to get the stuff..until we had our own large basement to shove stuff in

When we moved from our individual apartments to our rental house we just picked up a small u-haul truck, when we moved from our rental house to our home that had been built we largely used step-father-in-law's truck, his flatbed trailer, our cars and a few of our friend's cars. It was just several miles south our move.

I did label this time around about 80% of the boxes as far as what was inside with pretty good detail but eventually I gave up lol. Each box however was at least labeled with a color coded label what room it belonged in, this way with people helping out it was easy to tell them "kitchen" "basement" "master bedroom" "dining room", etc. That would be one of my biggest tips because it saves you from having to direct people all the time.

Another tip is use large trash bags for your clothes that are already hung up. Just wrap them up in it (bottom of bag bottom of clothing) and tie up by the hanger. You'll save time and energy from not having to take off the hanger, fold, then store the hangers, etc.

If you're thinking about moving next year take some time over this year to go through things to condense down. Do things over the next several months for items that you may want to have a garage sale for in the spring (assuming this is your garage sale season) if you want to have one. If you do this you can start accumulating boxes of things instead of rushing last minute and realizing you don't have near enough boxes or you have too much or you have the wrong sized boxes for your needs. Keep in mind boxes should be ones that can be picked up reasonably.

We have not hired a company yet for moving but if we move from this house we probably would for at least the big furniture. Only things I've worried about is damage to property. I'd rather the damage come from us than constantly worry about someone else but I may not have this worry as much by the time we would end up moving from this house.

 

[Disney.Dreamin.Dee]

When I moved I didn't have to move everything at once nor was it a very long distance.
I put some things in boxes or totes and emptied as I went over the course of a couple weeks.
As for how to pack again it didn't really matter because it was not very far and I was unpacking quickly. So really just tossed things in...

 

[loves to dive]

When I moved I didn't have to move everything at once nor was it a very long distance.
I put some things in boxes or totes and emptied as I went over the course of a couple weeks.
As for how to pack again it didn't really matter because it was not very far and I was unpacking quickly. So really just tossed things in...

This is basically what we did as well, our last move was about 20 miles away and we closed on the house a month before our lease expired on the one we were renting so we had a month to pack up and move over. I would throw a box or two in my car after work every day and the clothes I wasn't going to wear and take them to the new house and put everything up. I would clean a room while I was over here each night. We were lucky enough to be able to turn all the utilities on before we moved so I had electricity, AC and water. We moved the smaller furniture ourselves in our truck. We hired a moving company on the last day to move the big stuff like the washer/dryer, sofa, etc. and the bedroom furniture that went upstairs because we didn't want to carry it up the stairs. We had the company we bought our hot tub from move it (for a price of course). That way all the delicate stuff like the dishes and TVs were moved by us.

 

[barkley]

no idea how many boxes but it was allot!

tips-

don't cheap out on a moving company, use a reputable licensed and bonded-see what your existing renters or homeowner's insurance covers to see if you need to get extra in case (their base coverage is very low, extra costs but it's worth it if your coverage is insufficient),

we locked in fuel costs for a smidge of a fee when we booked, if it went down it would have decreased our cost but we were guaranteed the max was the price we booked in at,

if it's possible-anything you would be devastated to lose/be damaged/can't replace-get a small trailer and move yourself. we did this with some family antiques, photo albums, vital documents, meds AND the items we would need until moving truck arrive (we were given a 1 week range of arrival dates-it was an out of state move),

anything you are on the fence about taking/kids claim they can't live without...put in boxes marked 'miscellaneous'-put them aside when you move in (we had a pile in a corner of the garage), if in 6 months you haven't gotten something out it's not likely you need/want it so it can be tossed.

 

[holden]

We just moved in August. We did all of the packing and moving of boxes ourselves. A moving company moved the furniture.

We used a million boxes. Honestly I have no idea how many boxes we used, but we reused a lot (moved gradually over a few weeks).

If we ever move again, I will gladly pay someone to pack and move everything. Moving was one of the most stressful things we have ever done. Paying someone to pack and move is 100% worth it IMHO.

 

[Tommy Mo]

The last time I was moving we ordered a moving company. That was the best decision we've made.The guys from expomovers.com got me done in about 4 hours. They were really quick but careful. We had tons of boxes. When I was unpacking them I couldn't believe we had so much stuff.

 

[mrodgers]

I have read a few times that the average American household has over 300,000 items. I'm getting ready to move next year, and just curious:

1 - how many boxes did you fill when moving last? (I know this will vary greatly depending on house & family size, but I'm curious what to expect/predict for my 3 bedroom, full basement, no garage home)
2 - what is your best & worst moving/packing tip?

Ha, #1 is easy. Last time I moved I had no boxes. I had my clothes in garbage bags, bicycle, car, and tools. The tools were loaded in various tool bags to empty the big box so I could load it in the car.

 

[Moliphino]

I moved 5 miles from my parents' house to my house. I just kept reusing the same boxes to bring a car load over. There were no time constraints, so I wasn't in a rush to get everything moved at once.

 

[White Cat]

Pack towels, sheets and so forth on tops of the boxes so that they stack better. By the time you have all the boxes full those items should be packed.

Once boxes are tapped shut write a number on top large enough to go across the seams and tape. This way if the boxes were opened you will know.

 

[Darcy03231]

We moved 8 years ago and downsized from a 5 bedroom/3.5 bath home with a garage & basement (approximately 3,600 sf) to a 4 bedroom/2 bath with a garage & basement (approximately 2,400 sf). I have no idea how many boxes we packed.

We started purging about two years before the move. We started in the garage and basement first. Our adult children moved out about 6 months before we put the house on the market and they took all their bedroom furniture and belongings which also helped a lot.

We marked all of the boxes of the packed items with what room they came out of. I started packing everything about 4 months before we put the house on the market. Anything that wasn't essential was packed. We got a POD which worked out great for us as when we sold and closed we still hadn't purchased a new home. We lived temporarily in our summer camp. By getting all the extra stuff out of the house it showed much better. We took all the pictures off the walls, packed up all the decorative stuff, packed up all the non-essential furniture (for example, in the formal dining room we just left the table and chairs, packed the server, the buffet, the teacart, etc. - it made the room look so much bigger without all the furniture in there. Same with the formal living room - - we just left a few pieces so the room wasn't empty, packed up anything out of the kitchen cabinets that we could live without, etc. This strategy worked really well for us as we sold in less than 48 hours of being on the market. The buyer also wanted us out in three weeks so we were really glad we'd purged and packed ahead of time.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Given my parents are a few years from retirement, I’ve started to make them slowly purge things. We have started with holiday decorations.

We all in my family also donate old clothes and other things a couple times a year so we don’t have a lot a lot. Purge basically happens constantly. So it’s nothing insane when the time comes

 

[NannyBeBe]

When we moved, we hired an moving company who advised us on how to pack. Following their advice, I packed three sets of fine china and did not break a single piece. The provided special "china" boxes and sheets of newspaper-type paper. I wrapped each piece separately, butcher style. It was well worth the time and effort. We also purchased special boxes that allowed us to hang our clothes. We simply moved them from the closet to the box.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We have been preparing for this for a long time and has taken a lot more effort than expected, we have been fortunate that we have time.

First, don't underestimate how much stuff you have accumulated. I thought just filling the big pail weekly would do and all we'd need was one dumpster. Friends warned us a family home needs about 4 dumpsters and I thought it was an exaggeration, it is not, do yourself a favor and rent a dumpster to start now. Getting rid of things is both physically and emotionally exhausting so reduce the strain and do it in multiple bursts, it helps. On the upside, it is astonishingly freeing to let go of stuff after the fact. I think we will be getting our 4th and final dumpster in the spring

Second, before you sort get boxes to put the things you want to keep into and it helps me to think of the first run as a rough draft. Some things are easy answers and some have tugged at my heartstrings and it takes a second or third pass to throw them away.

Third, be nice to yourself. In my head I thought easy breezy but my last swing at this over Thanksgiving was super emotional and at one point I just wanted DH to keep me company so he went through his collections while I sorted through things I collected while building my family. I would suspect if there is a divorce or a loss involved it would be a good idea to make accommodations for the emotional side of it, maybe ask someone to help and by help I mean just be there.

Fourth, put out on Nextdoor or FB a request for help if you think you will need a hand. My DS and his friends were a monumental help at getting the patio stuff & old big grill into a dumpster and then being able to empty the attic space and basement office stuff. We paid $100 each and it was totally worth it.

Fifth, when you are satisfied with the boxes write the contents & the placement on the outside of the boxes then tape them and line them up against the walls around the perimeter of your space. This keeps the whole space becoming a stressful mess.

Good luck!