Best house moving tips?

[cowardlylionhere]

I need some serious pointing in the right direction. I have a week til I move and am completely daunted by the task of packing. It's just me and 3 dc, so I already feel I'm living in chaos. I've tried to make a start today but untidiness and disorganisation make me feel on edge (I know...) so having to stop sorting paperwork and leave it til the morning has stressed me out even though I know I just need to sleep. I can't seem to decide where to start. I've been doing the mountain of paperwork as I thought it was best to sort it all here rather than cart it all with me. But I know I'm going to do this with each and every single thing I come across. I'm dreading sorting the toys and books. Is it best just to bung everything in and be more choosy as I unpack? My tactic of tackling one room at a time isn't going to work while the dc are still on half term I don't think. I'm sure it'll all be fine in the end, I'm just worried that a week will fly by and I'm going to be rushed and stressed. I'm intending to just chuck clothes, bedding, toys in bin bags. And have thought of packign the last box to include things we'll need right away, so toilet roll, washing up liquid, teabags, the kettle, gin, that sort of thing How do other people cope with moving house when you have dc? I'm at the point of giving up.

Can you afford to pay a removal company? The full packing service isn't all that much more expensive.

tips are leave the kitchen til last, empty rooms one by one, but leave essential items till last like beds, tv, kettle etc.

empty one room at a time so start with the living room one day then the bathroom etc.

once you move unpack the kitchen first the essentials, tea, coffee, sugar, cup and wine or beer depending on your preference and unpack room by room.

I am moving a seriously long distance, the quotes I looked at just out of interest were over 2 grand . So, my grandad driving a hire van it is I do wish someone could just come and do it all fro me though. I've had a good cry tonight looking through the letters send to me by my grandparents who both dies last year, which I had chucked in with all the old bank statements and junk mail. I'm getting so sentimental about leaving I think. The personal stuff is the worst so maybe I am right to get that over with first. I just found a CD my ex made me too. I need permission to just chuck stuff like that. I'll never listen to it but I can't get rid of it. Argh.

you have to be ruthless chuck stuff you never knew was there even if you do find it and get sentimental, this is a new start for you. Save stuff from family but not ex's that you never knew was there, same with clothes not worn it in 6 months get rid (wish I could take my own advice lol)

I know it seems sensible not to move stuff you don't want,but now I think you need to stop sorting stuff or you will run out of time. Just concentrate on getting it packed and then sort as you unpack.

Trinn is right, you must be ruthless, if you don't love it or use it, bin it. I've just moved 300 miles, and we cleared out a lot. Also label boxes, and put which room they need to go into. A 'essential' box is good, with kettle coffee, longlife milk, loo rolls etc.
Good luck!

Right. With a week left to go you no longer have the luxury of sorting through stuff to decide on a per-piece-of-paper basis what must go and what can be binned. Although you should immediately chuck out a CD made by an ex - obviously! Do not attempt to read correspondence at the moment - although of course also don't throw away precious letters either.

If you're moving in a van, I take it you're not taking any major furniture with you? Do you actually think it will all fit in a van? I would focus less right now on getting the packing 'just so' and get the heck on with finding out how much stuff equates to how many boxes. That will then determine whether you go for a straight lift and shift, aiming to get rid of the crap as you unpack, or whether you need to find an emergency solution to how to get the stuff from point A to point B.

Why not aim to have 5 boxes packed by lunchtime tomorrow, with whatever is most likely to need to come with you but isn't needed in the week between now and the move - like summer clothes and/or favourite books. Worth out how much stuff the van can hold and then spend a bit of time doing the maths.

If you are likely to be back in the area, assuming you have friends/family locally, you could put some stuff into storage temporarily that you know you don't need to hand but can't throw away - a lot of your paperwork will fall into this category. You could then fetch it at a later date, and it can all be packed up and shipped out of the house as soon as possible.

Nope, it's a big moving van he's hired, and we too are moving 300 miles so it's take it all or lose it basically. It's also a bit of a problem that it's peeing down with rain, my daughter's really ill, and I have noone to collect any boxes for me. I can't drive so I can't just go and pick some up at a supermarket which was my original plan. I was thinking fro books I could just get lots of supermarket bags for life and tape tham at the top. The only things I really need boxes fro I think are the picture frames, mirrors and crockery. I'm going to aim to maybe empty the wardrobes tomorrow. I'll leave enough clothes out that we can just wash and tumble dry. Maybe then tackle one bookshelf in each room.

You could have some boxes delivered to you - Argos, for example.

I think you're right about books, however - they are so bloody heavy that a box full of box is immovable anyway. Better to move them in small containers with handles, bags for life should be fine. Picture frames and mirrors could probably be wrapped in bedding or towels if done carefully.

The first thing you need to do, then, is sort out what you're going to pack into. Any self-storage places nearby will sell boxes, as well removal firms. In the meantime, a good stack of bags for life or strong (garden-style) bin bags will get you off to a good start.

With only two of you to load the van, I think you're setting yourself up for a serious challenge . Is there no-one who can help put the stuff in when your grandad arrives?

I don't know trib, I'm hoping a friend's dp will be off work as she's hurt her back. It doesn;t help that I'm on the first floor either. If push comes to shove, I'm hoping if I get a tin of chocolates in and a wad of fivers I can bribe the students next door to give us a hand. I don't think there's masses of heavy stuff, 2 wardrobes are the only things that won't flatpack down, and they're not heavy so much as just awkward. The van is coming on friday afternoon and he'll be driving it back on saturday morning (I have to get the train there with teh dc as we won't all fit in the van, so it's already a bit of a logistical nightmare).
I know anything I don't use I should just chick. It'll only gather dust in the new place.And it's not like I'm a hoarder- I really don't have that much. It's just that there seems an awful lot of it and only one of me

Exactly, cowardlylion - possibly if you had a month still to go you could really go through everything and declutter as much as possible, but now you need to make best use of your time - which means bunging everything into boxes and bags and worrying about it at the other end. Bear in mind as well, actually getting shot of stuff (to the tip, charity shop, whatever) is also very time-consuming, and you just don't have that luxury at this stage.

I would start getting the students on side now. Hoping they might be up on a Saturday morning is overly optimistic; thinking they might move their sorry, hungover arses if they know there's some dosh in it for them is much more realistic!

Packing the van and leaving it overnight could be risky but I don't see you've got much choice. Don't leave any valuables in there, though.

I'd be tempted to leave the wardrobes behind if it comes to it. Ruthless pragmatism is the name of the game.

I'm worried that you are seriously underestimating this.
Just you and Grandad ? Really ? What about washing machine, fridge, freezer, cooker , etc.... have you ever tried lifting one of those ? Even your "stuff" mounts up when you are going back and forward to the van (clothes, toys etc.) and that's before you take into account the first floor.

Agree with others though, you've now run out of time to be looking at paperwork. You need to be packing a room each day (don't forget any sheds / lofts / lean to you might have).
You really need some proper boxes - put a few books in boxes with other lighter things, don't try and pack all books in one box. Use things like towels / blankets / sheets / your dressing gown /etc to form a protective padding in the boxes to protect crockery, glasses, etc.. Again, don't rtry to pack a box full of crockery - share it out (it's heavy!) and fill boxes with lighter things.

Label every box as you pack it, both with contents, and the in another colour pen, what room you want it in, in your new place.

BackforGood - I'm assuming cowardlylion is moving out of somewhere that is furnished, so white goods, beds and so forth are not an issue. I bloody hope so ...

DP does removals. His pet hates are big boxes stuffed with books (so your idea of packing them into Bags For Life would go down okay with him), and clothing/bedding/curtains etc stuffed into cheap binbags. Because cheap binbags burst, and he wants you to be sleeping in muddy footprints as little as you do. When you do get hold of some decent size boxes, pack things like shaded lamps in them.
Students will do quite a lot for cash (give it to them only after they've done it) and beer, but agree with Tribpot, ask them now and mention the cold hard cash, otherwise they'll have an epic fail at getting out of bed.
Hope dd feels better soon.

We're right that you don't need to move the white goods aren't we CowardlyLion

Agree with above advice but the best tip I can give you is to arrange for your home to be cleaned once you're on the road with all your stuff. There is nothing worse than scrubbing where the fridge has been etc when you are exhausted from the pack - up. Save that energy for unpacking and nesting!!

Last time we moved I found the moving house list on the flylady website was helpful. It's called the Packing control journal.

Now moving again, I use most of her tips (although I find it cheaper/easier to use one colour pen per floor, rather than room, as like you we are moving ourselves this time). I number each box and write the contents in my 'moving book' - a cheap hardback exercise book, which I've used for the past three moves.

Agree with above advice but the best tip I can give you is to arrange for your home to be cleaned once you're on the road with all your stuff. There is nothing worse than scrubbing where the fridge has been etc when you are exhausted from the pack - up. Save that energy for unpacking and nesting!!

Stop sorting paperwork and start packing.

If you are able to tie a length of reasonable strong rope at the back of the van, group clothes on hangers into 5-6 items, put hole in top of a bin bag and cover said items, this acts as cheap protection for clothes and saves boxing certain things up - they can be hung straight up at other end.

Use a colour code for each room and scribble the colour in felt tip on boxes, saves rewriting stuff out and you can just put 'glasses' 'crockery' and the colour code shows which room the box belongs in.

If you can get hold of sons of those cheap, big laundry/ironing bags (they're usually a red and blue check design, cheap but v strong, they are great for eg towels and bedding and anything really!

Make sure if you use bin bags, use strong ones. I manages to get some semi clear blue ones from Robert Dyas - sooo good because they held eg mountains of soft toys and I could see what was in them.

Remember no newspaper to wrap directly round crockery etc as the newsprint leaves marks and everything needs washing at other end. Do initial wrap of kitchen roll, then newspaper. Bubble wrap better but can be expensive.

With the paperwork I boxed 'very urgent crap' 'urgent crap' 'stressy crap' 'just crap' etc. It seemed to work.

Sons?? Some

Those students could be brill, paid in cash as others have said. Get them started asap packing, will make things a lot calmer for you as the days go on.

If can only find black bin bags, get some cheap white labels so you can write what's in the bags.

asda sell crate and boxes and deliver them.

Ooo lion it's you! I'm moving on Wednesday, my house l

Ooo posted too quick!

My house looks like a bomb site and dd is merrily unpacking every box she can find!
This time next week it'll be over, eyes on the prize lion, eyes on the prize! X