Top 10 Moving Hacks – For a Stress Free Moving Day

Best Moving Hacks To Save Time

Moving Hacks

The prospect of moving out from an old apartment or neighbourhood is without a doubt an exciting one. The new experiences on the offing plus the chance for you, your spouse and children to make new friends that such a venture brings to the table is enough to elicit some form of anticipation. However, the process of moving your stuff from one point to the other is not exactly everyone’s idea of fun. In fact, anyone can confess that the worst part in moving out is the dealing with the barrage of boxed-up clothes, broken glassware, messed-up electronics, etc; before and during transit. Moving hacks are like tips that help you relocate your furniture more effeciently.

But no one said that it has to be stressful.

Here’s a quick primer to some of the simple moving hacks that you can apply to the move less stressful.

1. Have a Separate ‘Moving Day’ Kit

Pack a personal and separate ‘moving day’ kit that contains you and your kid’s personal effects and essentials such as toiletries and a clean set of clothes to change after arriving in the new apartment.

The moving day kit should also contain a bunch of items that you will need even before you start unpacking, which could include:

  • A box cutter
  • Miscellaneous tools
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Trash bags

The whole point here is to keep this bag/kit at hand to avoid rummaging through stuff haphazardly when you start unpacking.

2. Find a Way to Organise Basic Utilities Before actually Moving Out

A great moving hack is to get your new connections organised before moving day. For instance, you can pay your water bill connection in advance and organise for a reliable internet connection a week or so before you arrive at your new apartment. This way, you won’t find yourself stranded and confused in your new place. You don’t want to have to left waiting for the water company to turn on your connection or the ISP to activate your internet connection.

3. Pictures, Pictures and Pictures

This applies for stuff that you would like to remain the same in your new place -such as the organisation of your bookshelf and placement of all those TV cords. If you wish to recreate such an intricate pattern in your new place, then you can make your work considerably easier by snapping a few photos before you start packing up.

4. Do the Legwork and Make Life Easier

Take some time off your busy schedule to plan ahead for the move-out. For instance, don’t forget to defrost and dry out your refrigerator at least 48 hours before you start moving your furniture.

At the same time, remember that there’s no other time that it will be easier to determine what you use and what you can donate or trash than when packing up. Do this a few days or weeks beforehand and save yourself the dilemma of struggling to decide what to keep and what to purge on the day of moving.

5. Improvise and Save a Small Fortune

You don’t have to shell out hundreds of dollars buying moving boxes to pack up your stuff. You can, instead, ask your local convenience store or local grocery for a couple of spare boxes rather than disposing them or storing them away. Most of them would actually be more than willing to give spare you a handful of perfectly fine, lined up, flattened boxes that you can reuse to ship your things.

In line with this, avoid spending money unnecessarily on yards of bubble wrap to wrap your glassware and other breakables and instead improvise by wrapping them with old towels, sheets and clothes. And although this might seem dis-organised at first, it will save a tonne of space and money when moving home.

6. Know How To Pack Your Stuff and Minimise Breakages

For starters, pack your plates vertically just as you would do with vinyl records to minimise the risk of accidental breakages. In the same tandem, your wine glasses should be packed upside down on a padded surface. This puts pressure on the wide/large rims rather on the fragile stems.

7. Pack Small Objects Separately and Make Sure They Stand Out

To prevent those small knick knacks from getting mixed up and lost in the course of moving out, gather them together in a brightly coloured paper and pack them separately. The bright/distinct colour makes it easy to differentiate these bags from just mere padding.

8. Mark Your Boxes Clearly

Just before the movers arrive, attach clearly-labelled stickers to each of your boxes to make it easy for your movers to know what boxes goes where without having to strain or keep asking you after every two minutes. Even better, you can use a colour code to match up the boxes with the rooms in question where they are supposed to end up.

That being said, you also might want to use a pen and a notepad to catalogue ( in as much detail as possible ) the contents of each numbered box and attach this note on the side. This way, you can know what exactly is inside the box without having to unwrap/unbox anything at all. That aside, this also assists in helping you account for everything in your house prior to moving. So if by any chance any box is stolen or gets lost, you will know exactly what to replace in your new home.

9. Keep Your Hardware Handy

This includes brackets, mounting pieces, tape screws and all the mounting pieces that you will need to set up your furniture. The last thing you need in a random collection of mismatched nuts and bolts when you want to start hanging or setting up things in your new apartment.

10. You Might Want To Transport Some Valuables Yourself

As part of your ‘moving kit’ described earlier, you might also want to include a few personal valuables such as expensive jewellery or things of sentimental value that could easily get lost. This will help you avoid the mental anguish of losing something valuable at a time when most things will be likely in a disarray.

The Bottom Line

Remember to be kind to the movers assisting you in the packing and unloading of your stuff. Offer them a glass of water and allow them to take frequent breaks to catch a breath. They are likely to appreciate your generosity and return the courtesy by taking extra care when moving your belongings. If you found these moving hacks helpful please share on social media.

Further reading for Tenants moving to a new property visit the RTA.

This moving hacks article was published by Michael Abbot from  www.no1removalistsbrisbane.com.au.