Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Give me all of your moving/packing tips please!

48 replies

EatsShoootsAndLeaves · 03/03/2024 09:31

We are selling our 3-bed house (to a FTB) and moving less than 10 miles away to an empty 3-bed house (gone through probate, no chain). We don't have a completion date yet, but expect for it to be around 3 months. I'm all for making our lives easier, but finances are tight so we will be hiring a van and doing it ourselves rather than paying a removal/packing company, so where should we start? DH and I both work FT and have two DC's so bonus points for tips to take some of the stress out....

OP posts:
Malbab · 03/03/2024 10:26

Start throwing stuff away now that u won’t be taking to the new house
start packing crockery tv fragile items etc etc bubble wrap
pack everything except essentials that u need between now and then
get lots of packing materials boxes etc

Seaside3 · 03/03/2024 10:27

Get rid of all the stuff you've been meaning to get rid of. Be as strict as you can, because moving stuff just to shove back in the loft is pointless.

And get started now. Because it takes way, way, way longer than you think.

If you're in England I'd be tempted to hire two vans, the weird system where you get the new house when the old house goes through means you have to be out of the old house the minute the money transfers, I doubt 1 van will hold everything from a 3 bed house.

Cotswoldbee · 03/03/2024 10:43

Proper removals are not as expensive as you think, get some quotes before you dismiss the idea completely as there is a lot to be said for having boxes & furniture placed in the exact location you want them.

We moved twice in the past 3-years and although we did all our own packing, having professionals in on the day took away all the back breaking work.

First time was 40-miles. A 7.5t lorry, luton box van and 4-guys. Started at 8am and all done by 2pm.
Second time was 20-miles. 2 x 7.5t lorries, luton box van and 7-guys (more stuff this time as we had some storage items). Again, an 8am start and all done by 2pm.
First was about £1.2k inc vat, second was slightly less.

LucyLaundry · 03/03/2024 10:46

I think moving yourself is a false economy. Removers can pack and move you in 48 hours saving weeks of stress and time and chaos doing it yourselves.

Persipan · 03/03/2024 10:47

Frankly I would try to economise on literally anything else rather than pack and move myself.

If there's no avoiding it, ask on local Facebook groups or similar to see if anyone has removal boxes kicking around still - it helps if you can get a job lot.

BG2015 · 03/03/2024 10:52

We are in the process of slowly packing our house. I'm a regular visitor to the local charity shop now , I seem to go every weekend with boxes of stuff to donate.

I started by emptying the loft and getting rid of tons of books, DVDS etc.

We're downsizing so it's an even bigger task. I'm selling and giving away bits of furniture on Facebook Marketplace.

We are also moving ourselves and our new house is only 1.5 miles away. A Luton van is about £250-300 to hire for 24 hours where we live. We will get it late the day before and load it that evening so we are ready to go asap with the first load once we get the go ahead. We did this once before and it worked well. Just make sure the van is secure over night (eg reversing up to a garage door/wall and putting another vehicle in front of the van).

I've asked loads of friends and colleagues to save me boxes and if anyone local on Facebook market place is giving away flat cardboard boxes I'm getting them. I've bought brown tape from B &M.

A roll of bubble wrap is about £10 on EBay and you can buy furniture blankets for £30 too.

Once our sale and purchase is further along I shall start packing in earnest. We're away for the school Easter holidays so it will be after then.

It's been quite enjoyable getting rid of stuff that has sat in the loft for 9 years.

Good luck

Scottishshortbread11877 · 03/03/2024 10:57

Put everything in numbered boxes and have a log book with what is in each numbered box. Eg - cables box 16, pans box 7, bedding box 11. If someone is asking where something is just look up the log book!

socks1107 · 03/03/2024 10:58

Throw anyway everything you don't want and pay a company to pack and move you.

Cuppachuchu · 03/03/2024 11:01

Scottishshortbread11877 · 03/03/2024 10:57

Put everything in numbered boxes and have a log book with what is in each numbered box. Eg - cables box 16, pans box 7, bedding box 11. If someone is asking where something is just look up the log book!

Came to say exactly this! Saves a lot of time and stress. I number them and also Mark on each box the room they need to go to.

Tarantella6 · 03/03/2024 11:03

We packed ourselves but paid for removals. They're way quicker and you'll be physically exhausted from moving the furniture out of your old house, never mind having the energy to move it into the new one!

You can always do some of it yourselves, the quote will depend on how much you have. My sister paid half what we did because their wardrobes etc are all built in so there wasn't loads of big pieces to move / dissemble and reassemble.

A removal company will also give you boxes to borrow, and pick them up when you've unpacked. Alternatively people often offer them for free on Facebook once they've moved.

Start packing / clearing out now. Because it is also no fun and really tiring to be doing 20 boxes a night in the final week.

BoggisandBunceandBean · 03/03/2024 11:15

Frankly I would try to economise on literally anything else rather than pack and move myself.

This! We also have 2 DCs and both work F/T. 100% the best money we ever spent when we moved. We were going to do the packing ourselves as that's what we'd always done, but I injured my eye and wasn't able to do any lifting. So the removal firm did it. Game changer and I would never go back!

In your position I would spend the 3 months decluttering and throwing stuff away and working a bit of overtime to fund the cost of removers.

Spirou · 03/03/2024 11:16

In any case, decluttering ruthlessly asap.

But after that I’m afraid I’m with the “pay for it” side. We’ve worked our way through the move types: all ourselves, all ourselves plus man in van for heavy furniture, all packing ourselves plus movers on the day, and finally full pack and move. Like you we were moving from a 3 bed to a place around the corner. I literally packed absolutely nothing until moving day (just decluttered as above, even left all our clothes in wardrobes) and they did it all in under 2 days, had us all done by 1pm the second day.

Rather than weeks of misery spent in boxes, for me it was worth every penny at what is already a very stressful time and I would now always try to sacrifice something else to pay for a full pack and move. Get some quotes and see.

Howsoon23 · 03/03/2024 11:40

Yes agree with all there are loads of things. I would ecomise on but having had a packing and removal service a couple of times would never do anything else. Moving house is stressful and tiring anyway doing your own removal just massively adds to it

DistingusedSocialCommentator · 03/03/2024 11:46

I'm guessing you are working.

When we moved when we were working and had little time to arrange stuff etc - it was important we had our daily use items for the main bedroom in his and her boxes - these icluded our Id's, toielteries as we are partucilar - keys, important documents/passports etc - so easy to fine

We labbled up boxes for rooms, the kitchen marked the daily used cutlery and food - so we knew easily by reading the box what was where inc tools for odds and ends fixes - we made sure the writing was realtively big and on top and sides of boxes. - we were not in a rush and moves the bulky stuff one day and inportant bits the rest over the next few days

caringcarer · 03/03/2024 11:58

Don't take anything you don't really want with you. Declutter now.
Pack in boxes that are not too heavy/large to carry. Put things from one room together then label so kitchen.

Lifebeganat50 · 03/03/2024 12:00

Have a clear out, and get the removal company to do the pack-it’s a lot quicker and doesn’t cost that much more-total sanity saver

user1471548941 · 03/03/2024 12:03

We moved ourselves… 1 bed into 3bed so not even loads of furniture. We needed 2 van runs and it ended up taking 2 days to fully get in. Luckily we weren’t selling the 1 bed so didn’t need to leave same day, otherwise we would have been SCREWED and screwed buyers over too. We had help from friends and family also.

We said we would never move without professionals again.

RidingMyBike · 03/03/2024 12:14

Get some quotes from local removals for move plus packing just to see what the price is. We found it was well well worth it - it took 4 men 10 hours to pack up our house contents and load it onto several vans. Bigger house than yours but even so. There is no way with working full time we'd have found 40 hours to so it, and they did it so much more quickly as they're not emotionally invested. They can also take furniture like beds apart and reconstruct them and plumb in washing machines. All of that saves time and hassle. And they are ace at packaging breakables with no breakages!

You don't get an overlap to do shuttle runs between old and new house so you'll need enough van space to take absolutely everything out and have it in the van before unloading.

Declutter ruthlessly so you don't move stuff you don't need to.

Find childcare for on the day and ideally a few days after to give time to unpack.

Get proper removal boxes - people often pass on via Freecycle or removal company will include in their quote. They are sized so they're not too heavy to lift when full of things like kitchen equipment or books. And they fit on top of each other so van loading is more economical. A friend moved with boxes she'd acquired from shops but a lot of them were too heavy to be practical once full, didn't fit neatly together so took up lots of space etc.

Tupster · 03/03/2024 12:18

Honestly, I agree with others here. Get some quotes for removals. Personally I'd economise on not paying for the packing service, but by the time you've paid for the hire of the van (can you even get everything in one van? You'll need to be completely out of the house at completion), you may find the removals aren't so much more. Especially if you are working and have kids, the professional removals will be so much better. They are incredibly fast, have all the right equipment for loading and packing the van, strong like you won't believe what they can carry single-handed.

midgetastic · 03/03/2024 12:19

Unless you have loads of friends and family to hand pay for it

Family is p take the kids for a week
And everyone To help you load the van/s the night before, put you up a couple of nights , and unload at the other end

Most 3 bed houses need one or more giant ( too big for normal licence ) lorrys - get a quote and find out what they estimate in terms of vans , people and costs

I'd ask for professional help

Hire a skip and chuck whatever you can and chuck sone more
Pack as much as possible now - pictures on the walls, winter clothes , keep a plate and mug each for the last few weeks

Giggorata · 03/03/2024 12:19

If you have the time, you can do a slow pack and discard. For three months, start now. (We did ours over six months, after deciding we were moving. It sound ridiculous, but we have thousands of books)
But I would have removal men to do the actual removals, every time, unless you have a lot of strong and capable friends.
Definitely label all boxes, on more than one side.
If you know which rooms they are going into, so much the better. Also, record on a checklist.
Facebook or Freecycle, for boxes
Have a very distinctive box, which is packed last, with all the tea making supplies and equipment.
If possible, have one person in charge at both properties, to be the go to person for any questions. Keep in communication by phone, to be aware of each load setting off.
Don't forget to redirect mail and send change of address cards/emails
Get the kids out of the way, if possible, depending on ages. Older ones can help, after school. Or not.
Takeaway food.
Once you're there, immediately create a small oasis of calm and tidiness in one room, with sofa, TV, coffee table, rug, lamps etc, so that exhausted people can sit down and remember what life is like before all the chaos.

ClematisBlue49 · 03/03/2024 12:45

I'm hoping to move in a few weeks' time and started decluttering a year ago. I don't drive, so I've made many trips to charity shops with a large shopping trolley and put loads in the clothing bank at the end of the road. Friends have given me lifts to the local tip. I still haven't finished!

I'm paying for a packing service, but will try to make things simpler by consolidating similar items, and clearly labelling items that are staying in the house.

Don't forget to contact the council if you need parking bays to be reserved for either your hired van, or the removal company.

BiddyPop · 03/03/2024 12:51

Buy a packing tape dispenser and plenty of rolls of tape, a few sharpies, and some sheets of "'fragile" stickers now from
Amazon or similar.

Declutter now and get rid of broken items to bin, things that are fine but you don't/wont use to charity shops (e.g. the freebie serving dishes you never use) etc. Including outgrown clothes and any duplicate items in kitchen etc. Go through clutter drawers, boxes of cables, kitchen cupboards.

Start packing, aiming for a couple of boxes a week, immediately. Starting with the heirlooms that you love but don't use frequently, books and media (dvds/videos, cds, etc). As you move into spring and do your annual changeover of clothes, pack the winter things. Pack away to good tablecloths and napkins, Bedding for spare beds, guest towels, and reduce everyday towel/bedding down to max of 3 per room/bed until you move (wash,in use, and 1 spare if needed).

Don't overpack any box but make sure they are full so they don't crush under weight above them.

Mark EACH box with the room it should go to, which side is top, if it contains fragile items. I had a master list which was numbered, and had the contents (roughly) of each box, and numbered each box accordingly. When I moved house and had time, I did a foolscap sheet with the exact contents of each which sat in the top of each box as it was sealed (saved a LOT of rooting when we arrived as I could open, see what I needed wasn't in it and just close over the lid again until I was ready to deal with it - but find things I was looking for).

Keep every bit of packing type material you get now to reuse - bubble wrap, foam peanuts etc. Newspapers are very useful to wrap around and scrunchie up to fill space (sometimes print can transfer so anything delicate, wrap in a sheet of plain tissue paper first, then newspaper).

Consider buying a bulk pack of moving boxes as they will stack better, but you could also ask local supermakets for boxes.

I found plates survived better stacked on their sides but wrapped in sets of 2/3 only and with a sheet or 2 of tissue paper between each and also surrounding them all to hold them
Together securely.

Towels can be used to wrap things like lamps or big decorative things.

Don't make any box too heavy. Use smaller boxes for heavy things like crockery and books.

If you have them, use vacuum bags for textiles (sheets, towels, clothes but also duvets, cushions, pillows etc). Real space saver to reduce the number of trips you need to make in and out and possibly reduces the number of physical trips with van.

If you plan to bring any fixtures and fittings, or plants from the garden, replace them
With functional versions in old house. So the fancy toilet roll holder can come with you but put something similar but cheap in its place. And tell buyers you will be taking plants, dig them
Out now before the growing season starts again and put them in decent sized pots to transport them and keep them
Until you have time to replant.

Make up 1 box that should move early on moving day - with mugs, kettle, instant coffee and teabags, sugar, biscuits etc. Paper plates and kitchen towel. Glasses or couple of packs of paper/plastic glasses, squash, maybe even some
Fizzy drinks - but be able to give thirst quenching liquids and snacks for all who are helping. Cleaning ispreay and cloths and gloves, loo roll for each bathroom. A few tees towels and a hand towel. A screwdriver, Stanley knife, no bags. The kit you need in the new house to make the job easier basically.

And also have a suitcase or easily identifiable box with a set of sheets for each bed, couple of towels, 1 change of clothes for everyone. So there's no rush to find anything else but someone can quickly make up beds and you have something to wear. (Sheets and duvet could be swopped for sleeping bags for night 1 if you already have those - or at least know where those are in case if gets late and you are too wrecked to make up beds).

Plan on moving night involving takeaway for dinner.

BiddyPop · 03/03/2024 12:58

I'd also echo others about packing yourself but getting a removals company to physically move you - especially for furniture. "Man with a van" type operations could be fine.

I've moved us twice, my uncle (priest so regularly moves parish) at least 4 times (some involving professionals, some not) and had the full packing and moving service for a recent so move overseas for work.

Even with the professionals, it's a tough process and a very busy and active day on moving day. But doing it all solo, especially if any kids involved, is absolutely exhausting!!!

If no professionals, try to rope in lots of friends with the promise of wine and pizza from paper plates and plastic glasses - if most things are already packed sensibly -! And well marked with where to go - that can work well. Clean bathrooms, kitchen and dust/ hoover on arrival before u packing anything.

BG2015 · 03/03/2024 12:58

We've had movers in the past and done it ourselves, so experienced both - I'd rather keep my £1.2k+ to spend on my house than pay movers.

I have 2 adult sons and a partner. They are going to move everything. My parents will also be on hand with extra cars to help move smaller stuff. We're moving 15 minutes away.

My buyer has already sold, is living with family and his stuff is in storage, so there won't be that mad rush to get out so he can get in. He's told the EA there's no rush.

I can appreciate people with busy lives would prefer to get packers & movers but I just think it's a lot of money - that I actually haven't got.