preparing to move

no1catman

A useful source, to think about, is your local car dealership - the bigger the better. Parts get delivered from the 'factory' in large pic-pack boxes, and body parts e.g. door skins come with plenty of bubble wrap. Even smaller boxes e.g. for batteries or anti-freeze can be usefull because of threir strength.

ValHaller

Clear one room as the departure lounge. Mostly by processing everything in there - but just move stuff out to other rooms if you can't quite deal with it or you need to keep it. Then box stuff up or throw it from the rest of the house, putting boxed up stuff in the departure lounge.

mrsbmartin

I pack my life up in the same way I pack for a holiday...albeit on a much larger scale...

So...get rid of junk (usually fill about 20 bin bags!!). Sell anything that is saleable...it all helps...freecycle anything useful but not really valuable/would be a pita to sell!

Then pack everything into boxes (I get mine from newsagents and shoe shops - the big ones from shoe shops are great for light weight or bulky items, crisp/wine boxes etc are great for heavy things - bubble wrap can usually be gotten from freecycle).

Once all packed - take the time to go trough each box and de-clutter again. Keep doing this as time permitts...

Live a bit like a student...keep a couple of plates/cups etc, the fridge, tv, microwave and live off that. On the day before get MIL/friend/kennels to take in the kids/dog/husband (is that just me?!) and get a good night's sleep. Wake up, grab a mars bar and get going to your new life...woohoo!!!!

googler

Sit down for half and hour and make up your list of the people you want/need to tell that you've moved. There's a list in this thread that may prove useful

golfergirl28

Thanks for all the great suggestions. The next question........we have 2 cats. Nervous ones. Best way to deal with them? Should we leave them in old house till removal is complete?

golfergirl28

Thanks for all the great suggestions. The next question........we have 2 cats. Nervous ones. Best way to deal with them? Should we leave them in old house till removal is complete?

ValHaller

golfergirl28 wrote: »

Thanks for all the great suggestions. The next question........we have 2 cats. Nervous ones. Best way to deal with them? Should we leave them in old house till removal is complete?

Removal men, house emptied? What if they do a runner? What if they come back and find you are not there?

I would suggest 48 hours in a cattery. It's not ideal, but better than losing them

gayleanne

Label every box with what is in there, it then saves you going through dozens of boxes looking for something. Try and keep everything in the box from the same room, i.e. all kitchen equipment in one box, all bedroom stuff in another it saves a lot of time unpacking.

no1catman

golfergirl28 wrote: »

Thanks for all the great suggestions. The next question........we have 2 cats. Nervous ones. Best way to deal with them? Should we leave them in old house till removal is complete?

I agree with the cattery suggestion.

At the latest the day before you move - I did it late afternoon early evening. That way, no distractions, your evening is now free to concentrate on the final pack. We gave up at 12.30! Went to bed., and before the removal people came - carried - they were late - aaarrrgh!
Moved, to new house, unload, rearrange how we wanted the essentials - late afternnon collect the cat. Who, starts exploring sniffing known furniture - then goes and hides upstairs!!

But, we were free to do what we needed to do, without risk that she would dissappear who knows where - she was safe!

alexcarter

When we moved i offloaded a lot of the kids old games & books to we buy books.. they also gave me 10% extra on my stuff because i followed them on twitter.

It was a fast and easy process as well would defo recommend.