What I have learned with this Move

As many of my readers may know, I moved from Montana to Washington state this past week. Being that this was my first “big” move, I had a lot to learn and boy did I!

Here are some of my tips for moving if this is your first time:

• Start packing way earlier than I did. I started about a week before we moved. I procrastinated way too much. This meant we had to spend 10 hour days packing for most of the week leading up to the move. It was exhausting and tiresome. A lot of it could have been packed way before then.
• Make reservations for your moving truck (we used Uhaul) weeks or even months before you move and make sure in the weeks leading up to the move, you check in to make sure you still have things set. Uhaul is also very good at replying to customer issues. But, make sure that you don’t just take the first quote you get from your moving truck company. I was very pleased to find out Uhaul will price match their competitors. Also, if you are moving your vehicle by way of tow, I found Uhaul to be far cheaper.
• Have plan “B” for everything that could go wrong with your move. Save more money than you think you will need. Little things like food along the way add up quickly.
• If you can, reserve your truck for 1 day longer than you think you will need it. You can then spare yourself the unpacking until 4 am that we did. I never knew it was possible to work so hard that you literally can’t work anymore.
• If you can, pack clothes in black trash bags. I know this seems weird, but it was a lifesaver for us since we could pack the bags around our furniture and cushion them.
• Mark your boxes. There were a couple boxes we didn’t do this with and we just threw whatever in them. Don’t do this. You will only aggravate yourself during unpacking.

Overall, be kind to yourself and those helping you move. Moving is extremely stressful and if you try to cram it into a short period of time when you didn’t have to, to begin with, you will only add to that stress. One final note, make lists. Add to it as you think of things. It will be a lifesaver.