House move - feeling totally overwhelmed 😫

[Youngatheart00]

We are due to move house in 10 days time. I can’t take any time off work until the day before completion. I am so stressed. Stressed about all the legal stuff as we haven’t yet exchanged contracts. Stressed about the amount of crap in the house. We’ve been steadily recycling / charity shopping / trips to the dump for the last couple of months but I don’t feel I’ve made enough progress.

We are both so busy during the week with work and DH has been working away. It seems like this weekend all I’ve done so far is catch-up on the weeks chores - dishwasher, laundry, change bed sheets, hoover, clean bathroom etc etc and no progress made on packing. I’ve not even made up any boxes.

Any advice or words of reassurance. Just feel like I could cry at the moment.

Why are you packing yourself if you can't even get time off work? Seriously pay for a packing service - it takes so much stress away. We did it last year, only added on a couple of hundred pounds to the removal cost and we literally only packed an overnight bag and box with kettle and loo roll - the packers arrived on moving day and did everything else.... absolutely everything!

100% agree - get professional packers. So so worth it

Professional packers all the way!

Professional packers are amazing, and surprisingly reasonable. Worth every penny.

Packers.

Drop in the ocean of the money you spend on a house move.

I'm normally really fastidious about packing everything in an organised fashion but last house move coincided with a relative going into hospital and me having to travel to see them so I literally packed everything in the course of one day (with a tiny EBF baby in tow too). It was chaotically done and took a while to unravel at the other end but I did it. Somehow.

It will be ok. If the bed linen is chucked in with the cutlery and the toiletries it doesn't matter that much really at the end of the day. Best of luck!

I got packers last time. Well worth the money.

And if you declutter as you unpack each box you can get rid of the crap you don't want or need without it escaping into your new home.

How big is your current house? Are you hiring your own van and doing it all yourself or you have professional movers?
As others have said, can you getting the packing service on top? This would take away so much stress.
If you can't, just start with 1 box. Do a kitchen cupboard or something, you will feel so much better having just started one and will e more motivated to do more.
Good luck with the move

I'd also suggest professional packers in your shoes.

If that's not an options, how about:
Depending on how much stuff you need to get rid off, hiring a skip.
Order a couple of moving packs of Amazon... Comes with lots of flat pack boxes. They also do label stickers for each room, colour coded which makes unpacking at the end much easier.
Can you husband take some days off, if you can't?
Start by packing up one fixed area..pick a kitchen cupboard for example. It's less overwhelming, as it's a fixed sized and easier to complete then a vague "pack up the kitchen". Do it in small chunks.

So... do packers look through all your stuff? I mean I'm sure they aren't interested, but is that what happens? They pack up drawers etc?

We’ve thought about professional packers but not sure how that will work with me working at home...I think we will get there it just feels like a HUGE uphill battle at the moment. Been in current house 10 years. Seriously contemplating minimalism after this!!

DH is finishing up work 2 days ahead of me.

And then there’s the admin. The bloody admin and paperwork. Bills and changes of address etc. It all just feels overwhelming.

OP my friend was in a similar situation and they just worked around her. She packed her own work stuff. The two packers worked a room at a time so they keep everyone covid safe.

Book packers now! They will work round you and they will do it so quickly and efficiently you won't even notice they are there. Seriously, it will be the best money you spend.

They cleared our house in 5 hours. They will work round you.

Re all the changing of addresses, dont do all that now. Simply contact Royal Mail and get your post forwarded to your new address for a year. Then as each forwarded letter comes through the door you can contact them with your change of address. Far easier than trying to remember all the companies you have dealings with now.

I’m sure packers are used to working round people especially now. Also maybe let some chores slide, minimal cleaning/ironing.

I think I know how you feel OP, we're hoping to move next month (no official date yet which is making me tense as it could be sooner than we think) and it's incredibly stressful. The paperwork alone is a lot, we have decluttered loads over the last year but it's not enough. We also have a break in the middle of selling and buying so will need to sort storage etc for (hopefully only) a couple of weeks.

I have no useful magic advice but what is helping me is writing endless lists so I don't forget anything and starting small with one thing at a time (eg make up a box and pack up a bookcase) and also decluttering more as I go. Can you break it up into smaller manageable tasks so it's not so overwhelming? Maybe do a room a day? Also maybe eat ready meals and takeaways for dinner for the next few days to save on cooking time and cleaning up!

I'm also in a near constant level of low panic but I'm desperately hoping that in a couple of months this will be a distant memory and we will be in our new home. Good luck!

Get packers. They’ve packed for me before, and I work from home. They did the rest of the house while I worked in one room and then came through to do the room I was in and I took lunch for a bit and then did admin sitting on the bed. They came back the next day to take the bed apart. They were great.

Wow, seems to be overwhelmingly for packers then. Budget is tight but it looks like it might be a very worthwhile expense. If I can now just focus on getting rid of the stuff I DONT want them to pack.....

Also, those who have booked removals, what happens if your moving date slips due to circs outside of your control? Do you lose everything you’ve paid?

Definitely professional packers. We did our underwear, personal docs and PC but they did the rest. It was the only part of moving that I don't begrudge spending money on.