1. Start packing early. Like over a month before you move early. My stuff multiplied while I was packing, and I couldn't believe I had so much stuff! I ended up shoving a lot of it into boxes to deal with at this house and now I'm kicking myself. I did start with some cold weather clothes and a few craft boxes a month before, and that seriously make it so much easier!
2. Sort before you move. If you start packing early, you'll have the ability to sort through all your stuff before you move. You'll also have plenty of time to itemize it and donate it. Again I had some stuff, but I'm going through more now that I'm all moved in.
3. Have everything packed and ready before getting the van. The man and I were still packing and running around while we had our truck, and it really was stressful. I was able to have the majority of my stuff packed when we brought the truck to my house, and twice the boxes loaded in half the time. Also make sure you can lift everything yourself if you plan to move. We had to get help at his house for a couple things we thought I could manage, but then once it got to the stairs I was useless.
4. Pack heavy things in suitcases. I did this and it was magical! I had a ton of books in one of my suitcases and just rolled it into the truck. We had a box with half as many books and I couldn't even lift it. I had another one filled with candles, decorations, frames, etc.
5. Pack food to eat. The last thing you want to do when getting into a new house (especially after driving half way across the country) is go to the grocery store. We had to and we both were so cranky and hungry at the point of breakfast it was not fun. Dry cereal, spaghetti o's, easy mac, chips, bread, peanut butter, and instant coffee are my big suggestions. Anything you can eat as is, or pop in the microwave with water are great (make sure you have a microwave available if you're doing that).
6. Create Box #1. This had a few shirts, pants, underwear, sheets, and towels, really everything you need for a couple days without unpacking any boxes. We had our toiletries out since we stayed at a hotel, but you may need those too if you're not stopping. It's just one less thing to worry about when you're in your new home.
7. Map out your neighborhood. Luckily the man already lived out in this area so he knew where everything was. I, on the other hand, have found that I need to go different places, and miss some since I didn't realize there were two stores close together.
8. Unpack everything before going shopping. Besides groceries, wait to go shopping until you know everything that you will need. We keep finding things as we unpack that we thought we had, or we didn't think we had and now we've found it. It will also save some trips to the store until you know everything you need and can map out what you want (plus it should save some money since you can shop around for the best prices).
9. Wrap your fragile items in towels. I used paper towels for the kitchen stuff, and then I had an amazing towel pile for cleaning and use until we could make it to the store for more. I wrapped pretty much everything else in bath towels. It was really nice to not have a giant pile of newspaper to recycle and everything was ready to go.
10. Label your boxes. This may seem obvious, but we ended up with boxes that we had no idea what they were. Label the room they belong in on all sides. If you're feeling extra organized, make a list of the stuff inside the boxes so you know what is in each, and what is important or not.
11. Create a moving budget cushion. Moving is expensive, allowing a cushion of money for the initial expenses would have been very helpful for our budget planning. It never hurts to have more money available that you think.
12. Allow extra time. Seriously. You may think you only need so many hours or days to pack, but allow at least a few extra hours or an extra day. It's much better to be sitting around fully packed then racing around last minute to get everything.
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