My Top 3 Moving Tips (From a Pro Organizer who Moved 3 Times in a Year)
Yes, you read the title right. I moved myself three times in 2021 and, honestly, I hated it each time. But, moving is part of life so I aimed to make it as easy as possible for myself.
And now I want to share what worked best for me so hopefully it can help make it easier on you too.
psst : sharing two links - one free and one on Etsy - at the end!
I’m skipping my usual fluff in this post and getting right to the good stuff. Here are my top three tips that I wouldn’t move without going forward:
1) Number your boxes and keep inventory
This is something I actually never did until my second move last year and now I won’t go back. The reason I never did it before, especially as a pro organizer? Honestly I was just lazy. Also, I do live a more minimalistic lifestyle in the grand scheme of things so it was easy enough for me to keep track of things. Or at least it seemed to be.
But with 87% of my things going into a storage unit between move #2 and #3, I knew I was going to need access to some of those things in storage over the course of a few months. And if I can be totally transparent here, I’m actually scared of storage units.
Like, not scared scared, but if I have to go into one after dark, I need to call someone and keep them on the phone with me in case I get kidnapped kinda scared. So I didn’t want to spend precious possible kidnapping minutes sorting through boxes. I wanted to be able to get in and out stat.
Anyway, I created a super simple spreadsheet (which you’re getting access to woohoo!) and was diligent about numbering my boxes and updating it each time I packed one up. I did it over a few weeks time so it was really important to be consistent with updating the sheet. I just left the tab open on my laptop for the packing period and it motivated me to use it.
I also got superrr specific about what was in each box. For the most part, I kept like items with like items (i.e. kitchen stuff with kitchen stuff) which is how one really should pack. But there are always the miscellaneous boxes towards the end or ones that you didn’t fill up totally so you add random items to it.
Ok so here’s a perfect case in point of how important it is to actually use the inventory sheet: I had room left in a box of less often used dog stuff so I threw a set of dumbbells in there. Don’t judge me but they were only 3lbs each so the box didn’t feel super heavy and I forgot to notate them on the spreadsheet.
My friend, when I tell you I was looking everyfreakinwhere for these dumb dumbbells (ok, they’re not dumb at all but instead super adorable and pretty and I need to show them to you), I looked everyfreakinwhere and was frustrated. The dog stuff was one of the last boxes I unpacked when I got to my final destination so I didn’t find them until a week or so after the move. Slightly annoying but totally avoidable if I just added them to the spreadsheet.
It might seem like a job in and of itself to inventory all of your belongings, however there are so many benefits:
It’s extremely helpful to get more accurate moving quotes when you provide an inventory list
It will keep you SO organized when you arrive at your new home and begin unpacking
It was force you to be fully aware of how much you actually own and motivate you to let go of the excess (which will also cost you less if you’re hiring movers or renting a truck)
The next tip will hopefully help you with the overwhelm of actually doing the inventorying.
2) Start way ahead of schedule
If you know you’re moving in 30 days from now, start today. Start sooner if you have a bigger window or, like yesterday, if it’s a smaller one. Hell, I had about a week to unexpectedly move out of an apartment once so I get it, sometimes things are out of our control.
But the sooner you start the better. Why? You’ll avoid burning yourself out and rushing things which can result in major disorganization.
What starting ahead of schedule looks like is:
going through room by room, closet by closet, drawer by drawer and decluttering
listing anything you’re selling on Facebook marketplace, dropping donations off or scheduling a pick up, having friends and family swing by to grab things you want to give them
packing up the things you know for a fact you won’t need between now and the move (servingware if no big holidays are coming up, summer clothes if you’re in the dead of winter, that kinda stuff)
By starting early, you can spread out the packing process over time. Spending a few hours a week working on it the month or two before the move is way, way better than spending entire days (and nights) doing it right before you gotta get out. Trust me and try it.
I used these white Sterilite bins (these are 18 gallon!) with custom Cricut labels for my storage unit items.
3) Use bins and/or bags for most clothing
This tip is kinda specific but the hatred I feel towards garment boxes runs deep. Your girl’s got alligator arms and I have worked too many moving jobs where clothes, hangers or the entire metal rod falls to the bottom of those boxes (which are about as tall as me) and I literally have to turn it on its side and crawl into the abyss to fish stuff out.
Ok, rant over.
Seriously, there are easier ways:
Medium sized bins can corral clothing by type (see: photo above) and be used to store off season clothes or anything else you need in your new space.
Garbage bags (unscented please!) work just fine to transport clothes as they’re soft and can be malleable when packing in the car or truck. If you want to label them (i.e. jeans, sweaters, sweatshirts), use a white or clear bag and a Sharpie.
You can also use bags to transport clothes on their hangers right off the rod. Simply poke a little hole at the bottom of the bag, take a chunk of clothes on their hanger and slide the tops through the hole, pulling the bag down to protect the clothing.
Honorable mentions here go to weekenders, suitcases and duffel bags. Use them to store smaller items like socks, underwear and bathing suits.
We all know moving sucks but hopefully following my tips will help make it a little less sucky for you. You can access my personal inventory spreadsheet here for free or you can get a physical version along with so. much. more help with the Sort and Sweet Moving Guide we have for sale on Etsy. It’s 30 pages that you can print out, throw in a binder and use to keep yourself organized before, during and after your move!
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.