Packing Tips? When to start?

NicNicP

We started as soon as the sale prices were agreed. We started boxing up dvd's (hubby has hundreds) and even stored them at the in laws so there was less to transport on moving day. As I did bits as and when I didn't find it stressful in the last couple of weeks as most of the packing had already been done. It's surprising how much stuff we accumulate.

penguingirl

The best time to start de-cluttering is before your house is on the market. But basically asap- even if you're not moving! We're expecting a baby at the moment and have had a huge de-clutter, it just needs doing evey few years imo. Gumtree, ebay and freegle/ freecycle are your friends. Freegle is also good for getting boxes.

In terms of packing- I'd pack things you definitely won't need, so get in the loft (if you have one) and start packing that up as it's unlikely you'll need christmas decorations. Same with things like winter clothes, most books, dvds, the good china etc. That being said we used a packing service and they were amazing and didn't cost as much as I expected- meant we had energy to unpack at the other end.

edit: sorry, just seen you are dyi-ing the move. You are brave! My BIL and SIL did that last year with a toddler, and it wasn't their best idea. My partner was roped in to help them move one day (and we babysat another) and seriously wished he'd just given them a couple of hundreds pounds instead as they had badly packed, the house was chaos and they left some items in the old property (a wardrobe and some white goods) that we reckoned they could have sold to re-coup most of their moving costs. Although if you are moving from rented and have a decent overlap it will be less bad.

jackomdj

As others have said declutter as much as you can. Car boot, charity, tip are the three categories I tend to sort into.

As you are renting you can pack boxes of things you don't need and store them in the corner of rooms. I tend to write on boxes what room they are for. If you have items that need unpacking quickly at the other end write it on the box. Try to have similar sized boxes as it is easier to put in the van.

Use this time to use up your food cupboards/freezer, that way you have less to transport. Also give everything a good degunge, means you have clean things when you get to your other house (it is a,axing how greasy bits in the kitchen get that you don't notice).

Use the time to clean the rental property, means you will be more likely to get your deposit back.

Moving doesn't have to be difficult if you are organised. We self moved last time, children were 4 and 6. We did most of the move with just the two of us and a friend came to help with a few bits that I was unable to help move due to a long term wrist injury. We dropped eldest to school, youngest to pre-school then a friend collected them, another friend took them to their swimming lessons and dropped them to us in the new house.

TheGardener

Packing tips: Work out how long you think it will take to pack - then quadruple it and it will probably still take about an hour longer
Pack stuff yourself or you will never remember where anything is:

1. Buy second-hand packing boxes of ebay - boxes that are all the same size stack better - several rolls of parcel tape - small note pad and a couple of chunky black maker pens
2.Number the boxes and number each page of the notebook with corresponding numbers
3. Pack stuff in boxes and jot down main items & which room on the corresponding numbered page of the note book. My kids took photos on their mobiles of the contents before they taped up their boxes.
4. Make sure one box - with kettle, tea bags, pet food, bit of crockery, shower gel, towel and toothbrushes (basically anything you will need in the 1st 24 hrs) goes in the back of the car and not on the removal van.
5. make sure you are insured

P.S. supermarket banana boxes are the best for books as even when full they have handle holes and are not too heavy to carry.

Pumpkim

LoopyLoops wrote: »

Get started on the de-cluttering, it needs doing anyway and can take a long time! We had a mass de-clutter before we put ours on the market and amazed at how much more we had than I thought

Same here. I spent the whole Easter holiday decluttering ready to put our house on the market. Starting early meant I've been able to list decent but unwanted stuff on selling sites or donate to charity and take the junk to the refuse centre. Hopefully it will mean less stress when packing to move.

Red-Squirrel_2

If one of you works in a job where they throw away lots of cardboard boxes, ask if its ok to take some home for moving. I've never paid for cardboard boxes! If you don't, ask a friend who does if they can grab some for you.

zagubov

Don't be afraid to hire a removal company and use their packing service. DIY housemoving may end up feeling like drilling your own teeth instead of hiring a dentist.

tealady

Make sure that one set of bedding for every bed, nightclothes, bathroom stuff, kettle, mugs, drinks and mobile phone chargers are packed last and unpacked 1st.
Soon as you are in read meters (take photos on phones its easier), make the beds, put stuff in bathroom and have a brew. The rest can wait.
HTH

Murphybear

zagubov wrote: »

Don't be afraid to hire a removal company and use their packing service. DIY housemoving may end up feeling like drilling your own teeth instead of hiring a dentist.

I agree. After our last totally chaotic move I swore blind I'd only ever use a firm with a good reputation who will do all the packing. We did this a few years ago and on packing day we put the cat into the cattery and while the packers were doing their job we went out for a long stress free drive into the country and a leisurely lunch. It was heaven.
:A

TBagpuss

As others say, declutter first, and continue to do so as you go along. Don' pack and move stuff you don't want / need; sell or freecycle it or throw it out.

Then follow the advice about starting with the things you need least. Label your boxes - I would recommend that you also have a notebook and record what's where. Make it easy on yourself - get some coloued markers or big colured stickers anduse a different colour for each room, and then numberand label the boxes..
So your box might end up with a blue sticker on it for 'lounge', the label might say 'Box 32 - Lounge books and pictures' and in your note book you'd have a note 'box 32 - books from small bookcase - mostly murder mysteries, plus framed fphotes from windowsill and bookshelf',

Obviously how much detail you want to use in your list depends on how many boxes you will need - but if you have a lot then it's useful to be able to distinguish between the 'kitchen cupboard' box which has your everyday plates in, and the 'kitchen cupboard' box which has the cake decorations and lemon squeezer that you won't need anything like as quickly!

Clser to the move, think about what you will need immediately and make sure those things are kept easily accessible. For instance - bedding, nightwear and clean clothes for the morning, kettle, enough crockery & utensils to be able to eat when you arrive and the next morning, and so on.

Last time I moved, I got the movers to pack, which was wondeful, but I did keep out a suitacase with a few days worth of clothes, a box with lastand-first stuff like the kettle, cleaning products, teabags and biscuits and mugs and so on, so I could do the last minute cleaning at the house as the rooms were emptied, and the bits of cleaning necessary a the new place before anything went in. That box, plus my vacuum cleaner and a box of important documents and personal items went with me in the car, not in the van with the movers.

I did a lot of decluttering before I put the house on the market, and a bit more as the sale progressed, and still ended getting rid of more stuff as I unpacked.