Moving and Need HELP!!

amother

Plum

Tue, Jan 24 2017, 2:45 am

So IYH I will be moving to a new place. I am excited as I hate my current apartment (the building isn't well maintained and things just are gross. The landlord hires the cheapest handymen to fix things and it doesn't stay fixed. THEY ARE NOT HEATER REPAIRMEN!!) and the new one will be slightly bigger with some nice features.

I don't want to bring any garbage to our new place. I am tempted to just dump whole drawers full of stuff into boxes but I know I will kick myself later for that.
I seek advice here:
How do I know what to get rid of? Any advice for a nice purge of the accumulation of random assortedness that just seems to pile up? Some of the massive amounts of stuff just happens because we live in too tiny of a place so things don't have a proper home. I don't want to bring things that wont have a place, but how can I decide that without living in the new place?

How is it best to pack in an organized manner?

We aren't moving far so weight or the number of boxes won't matter. So no external limits or cost (it doesn't pay to move this...) type arguments.

And how to get DH to sort through his own paper piles?

So overwhelmed thinking about this I can't sleep! Maybe I should sleep now and then buy tape for the boxes in the morning... AHHH!

LisaS

Tue, Jan 24 2017, 3:31 am

Think about the things you have now and which room they will go in in the new apartment. Box them up according to what room they'll be in. Leave a pile in a laundry basket of the things you aren't sure you'll need. At the end you can make a decision about the things in that basket.

I personally wouldn't have my husband go through his papers before the move. There will be so many other things to do, I would just box up the papers and move them, and plan that after the move he'll make time to look through his papers and sort/file/recycle.

amother

Peach

Tue, Jan 24 2017, 9:36 am

As you pack things, try to throw out anything that you know you really won't use, and be especially mindful of things that will be hard to find a place for in your new apartment, but don't stress too much now about getting rid of things. You can always throw things out as you unpack if you see you don't have room for them. When I moved, there were things I just couldn't decide what to do with, so I brought them along to the new apartment. Some ended up easily fitting into a spot in my new apartment, and some I ended up throwing out because I realized they were hard to place and I didn't really need them.

I think the more important thing is to try to pack in a way that will make it easy to unpack. Pack things that you use all the time together, and things you rarely use or that you might not end up keeping in other boxes. Don't pack boxes that are half things that you need right away and half things that you might not even keep. For example, don't pack your everyday dishes in the same box as random mugs and kitchen gadgets that you don't need so much and that you might throw out if you can't find a place for them. That way, when you unpack, you can unpack the stuff you need right away and put those things in their places. After that, you can start on the less-needed items and you will see what you have room for and what needs to go. It's a good idea to number the boxes and write down in a notebook what's in each box, or at least which boxes needed to be unpacked first.

amother

Peach

Tue, Jan 24 2017, 3:26 pm

amother wrote:

Great ideas! Keep them coming!
Why have a list of boxes vs labeling the box with content and location?

I did write the location and general content on the boxes, but I found it easier to write a location and/or general category on the box and then to be a little more detailed on my list. It's hard to be so specific/detailed when writing on a box, but I wanted to minimize having to search for things. When I got to my new apartment and had boxes piled everywhere, I found it easier to look up the item I was looking for in my notebook and know that I needed box #6 and to look for the box with that number (it's easy to write a big number on all sides of the box), rather than looking for the box that said "milchig pots" - especially since I may have had more than one box that said that, and I may not have had patience to write "milchig pots" on all sides of the box.

This won't necessarily work for everyone, or be necessary for everyone. My situation was that I had plenty of time to pack, so I was able to take it slowly and be detailed, but I knew my life was going to be very hectic after the move and I was going to have to unpack bit by bit. Therefore, it was important to me to pack/list in a way that I would be able to find the things I needed as easily as possible until everything was unpacked. I didn't want to have to open four different boxes to find something I needed.

amother

Apricot

Wed, Jan 25 2017, 2:56 pm

We just moved a few months ago. We made a lot of mistakes, so learn from us Smile

Write location on the boxes, but the label on your boxes hsould be specific. For exxample - parents room - closet, kids room - cubbies, living room - big bookshelves, kitchen - pareve. Etc. Master list is a waste of time. When the mvoers bring the boxes in to yoru new place, have them put the boxes in the appropriate room (and they'll know, since it says on the boxes) - this was a lifesaver, as we were able to completely unpack the kid bedroom the same day we moved, so it could be slept in that night.

Throw out everything you possibly can. I wish I had thrown out more stuff. If it's something that would be expensive to replace, have some boxes labeled 'maybe'. Unpack them last - if you missed the stuff, then keep it, and if you didn't, toss it.

Pay people to help you pack and unpack. This was the biggest lifesaver. Do it.

amother

Plum

Thu, Jan 26 2017, 11:19 am

amother wrote:

We just moved a few months ago. We made a lot of mistakes, so learn from us Smile

Thanks!

How do you pack when you need the stuff now?

amother

Apricot

Thu, Jan 26 2017, 2:19 pm

The moving company we hired has people that pack as their job. They sent 4 people out the day before the move, they packed up our entire place in about 8 hours. There were a few boxes of more sensitive items we packed ourselves beforehand though. So basically, we were only packed the day before the move, and were able to use everything up until that point. Made things so much easier.