Move a few months away, advice on what could be sorted before hand

[gallery]

I am thinking of getting the magic, pack the lot for you service but my husband wants to do the hire a van and move himeslf service.
Here are my questions

1. What did people who did either think were pros and cons
2. As my move is some months away, what do people advice can get packed up well in advance and what should be left till the last (I have just been reading that post about moving on Friday so I know about the very very last minutes ideas and I will be putting a scissors in my handbag tonight

We have done the van and move yourself (pre children). It was hell; took hours longer than we expected, and my stupid DH left my 18th-birthday-present-expensive-radio-cassette-player behind the front seat of the van. We were moving less than a mile as well.

Last time we had a proper van but didn't have the pre packing service. It was much less hassle.

do loft and shed well in advance- there is alway so much crap and then you can enjoy looking through photos, deciding which item of clothing needs to be kept etc. def do packing service and def def def use removal men. it is relatively inexpensive and the best money you will ever ever spend.

The best money I spent over the whole move was the full pack and move service. When it came to it my son and I had scarlet fever and then my daughter was sent home with it on the day as well. We were so ill there was no way I could have done a physical move myself. But even if I hadn't been ill I would still pay the money, it made the day a no stress day and believe me it was worth every penny. You have enough to do on the day without lugging boxes.

Pack the loft and shed 1st. Books and photos can also be packed well in advance.

Don't hire a van yourselves and move your stuff. The people who sold us this house did that and they were still clearing it out at 5.30pm. It was our house from 2pm!

Agree over loft and shed, also anything you may want to get rid of from the garden if you stashed any rubbish anywhere.

Be brutal! We are hoping to exchange shortly and we have a 3-4 week delay between exchange and completion as the vendors of the house we are buying are going into rented and need time to find somewhere.

I have started mentally packing, I have planned weekend tip runs, charity stuff etc.

I have recently sorted my house out so there isn't too much for me to pack and I am a SAHM so have lots of time in the day to pack too.