I am an expert at moving. Of our two most recent moves, one was from Gadsden, Alabama, to Dallas, Texas. Because my husband had been ill for over six months after we arrived in Dallas, it took nearly a year to get everything unpacked. No sooner had we finished unpacking when we discovered we were to move to New England. Oh no! And I had just recycled the last of the moving boxes. I would have to buy more, and I was stressed!
Moving was much easier when we were first married. For one thing, we had no furniture. Our first apartment was furnished—at least that was what our landlord called it. The Danish Modern living room seating was exceedingly ugly and most uncomfortable, but we didn’t care. Tom had participated in ROTC in college and was due to report for duty in the US Army within the year. It was during the Vietnam War, and he knew he would rather go in as an officer than take the chance of being drafted, though there was still a chance he would receive orders for Vietnam.
During the Army years, we moved in and out of four different places with nothing more than our clothes, personal belongings, cooking equipment, and an old TV. We were in our twenties, and it was an adventure.
Over the years, we have moved nine times. Each move is a bit tougher and wears us out a bit more. We now live in New Hampshire and plan to stay here for the duration. When our son tells us that he may need to relocate again, we suggest that he visit frequently and perhaps send plane tickets for us to visit him once in a while.
I hesitate to think about all the days of my life that have been involved with the activities involved in moving. It would not surprise me if I have spent one entire year at it—that’s right, 365 days.
That is why I am here to offer you these tips to help you reduce the stress you may experience with your next move:
- Start preparing early—don’t procrastinate.
As soon as you know for sure you are moving, start putting those ducks in a row.
- Plan, plan, then plan some more.
Buy or make a calendar that has blocks large enough to write in. Keep some kind of a journal or notebook for jotting down important information.
- Get rid of the stuff.
This is of utmost importance. When we were packing to move from Alabama to Texas, we had 30-years of accumulated stuff, plus stuff our son had left with us and some of my mother’s stuff as well. She had lived with us for twenty years, and we still had lots of her stuff, even though she had passed away 10 years earlier.
After donating carloads of items and books and having three garage sales in Alabama and a few more in Texas before moving to New Hampshire, we still have too much stuff!
Delbert McClinton wrote and sang a song about having too much stuff. Check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXyDJiUXqXY
- Use sturdy boxes and lots of packing material for anything you pack yourself.
It does save a lot of money to pack some of your own belongings. But be careful. You must use sturdy boxes and enough packing material so that when boxes are stacked in the moving van, they do not collapse upon themselves. Now the only things I would pack myself are books, unbreakable pots and pans, and clothes and linens. I would leave all the rest for the movers to pack.
Number the boxes you pack yourself and list them in a spreadsheet with details about the contents of those boxes.
- Get quotes from several movers.
This is especially true if, like us, your belongings need to be stored for a week or so before being delivered to your new home. Different movers have different discounts on various parts of your move. Also, the moving companies all provide some really good advice and tips of their own in their brochures.
- Make sure the mover only employs non-criminals.
Hopefully, you will not have this worry. But we had last-minute hires by one of our movers steal from us. They were relatives of one of the owners of what was a small, independent company and had been recently released from jail. We used this company as a personal favor to a relative. Never again.
- Use up as much of your supply of groceries as possible.
Moving companies charge by the pound. The last thing you want to do is to have them charge you to move canned goods that can be easily replaced.
- Find out ahead of time how to disconnect from service providers.
Depending on where you are, it can take days to get all your utilities cancelled or transferred to other providers.
- Pack your suitcases before the movers get there and put the suitcases in your vehicle.
Moving day is crazy. The last thing you want to be doing is last-minute laundry and packing of your clothes while trying to supervise the movers. If I were to do it again, I would have a set of old clothes to wear on moving day that I could just toss when the work was finished.
- Pack a box of supplies you will need as soon as you set foot in your next home. Label this “unload first” if it is to go with the movers.
This one makes me laugh a bit. It was a tip I saw in the brochure from the mover, and I thought it made a lot of sense. Hypothetically, when you let the movers in to your next home, this first box they would give you would contain paper plates, cups, paper towels, toilet paper, and anything else you had decided you would need immediately. I dutifully packed up a similar box for us, but since our belongings were taken to a warehouse to be stored for a week, the box got lost in the shuffle of all the other boxes. By the time a different set of movers came to deliver our belongings in New Hampshire, that box was among the last off the truck. At least I had tried.
Moving day can be fun. It can be exciting. But it can also be quite stressful. This and other stresses of modern life are hazardous to our health. The best thing we can do to remain healthy in times of stress is to plan adequately and be prepared.
Here’s hoping these tips I have shared with you help keep you as stress-free as possible during your next move!