10 tips for moving:

I recently moved from Las Vegas to South Florida and this was my eleventh move in ten years. I know a thing or two about this topic so I wanted to share my top 10 tips for moving efficiently and environmentally friendly. I hope you enjoy!

1. One Stop Shopping:

I always get all my moving materials from The Home Depot (No this isn’t sponsored by The Home Depot, I just think they’re the best.) I love the Home Depot for a couple reasons. First, all their boxes are eco-friendly and are 100% recycled. Secondly, all sizes come in regular and heavy duty, not just their small boxes. Next, They have EVERYTHING, bubble wrap, tape, wardrobe boxes, mattress bags, glassware separator, you name it, they have it. They are affordable, their boxes are reasonably priced and if they don’t have regular and you have to buy “heavy duty”, they will only charge you for the regular.

2. Sell Your Unwanted Items:

You can use Craigslist or Facebook to sell your items or you can go to a furniture consignment store. If you choose the latter they will take a commission usually around 50% but you don’t have to worry about scammers or strangers coming to your home. I also reached out to girls I used to work with and asked them if they were interested in anything I had. Once I sold as much as I could, I invited family to come look through everything before finally donating the remainder to Goodwill.

3. Write a Ledger:

You should keep a list of everything you put into any box. This is helpful for finding things after as well as in case you need to make an insurance claim with a moving company. You can make it as detailed as you like or keep it generic. “Nightstand contents”  will help you find what you’re looking for without writing “vibrator” just in case someone else sees it.  Here is an example of what my ledger looks like:

4. Use Codes for Organization:

I will be putting some things into storage for a long time and some things will only be stored for a couple months. Also, some items will be coming directly into our house and won’t be stored at all. Because of this, I need my boxes unpacked in a specific order. I marked all my boxes with codes like (FA) for “Front Area” so I can access them in my storage without digging. I used code (DB) for Delray Beach which is where we live, so I’ll know those are boxes are for the house without having to look in the ledger.

5. Mark every box the same and in the same location:

This is super helpful and functional. If you write your information like box number, packing code and special instructions in the same place every time you’ll be more efficient. Knowing to always look in the same place will save you time spinning your boxes around looking for the markings. I write on my boxes in the top center of the two sides where the flaps get taped closed. So quickly looking at a box, I see the top where the flaps meet and I know right under that on the side will be all the info I need. I also mark the top in two opposite corners. My markings look something like these:

6. Use a lot of Tape:

Honestly, just buy extra and use it all… Sometimes I even wrap the tape around the whole box once or twice. I always reinforce the corners of my boxes where they are glued together with a few horizontal pieces of tape as well as tape all along all the flaps on the top and bottom. My worst nightmare is a box tearing open and everything spilling out and breaking. I feel like the extra investment in tape and time is worth it.

7. Use Items you own to wrap delicate items:

Instead of using (and buying) expensive and cumbersome bubble wrap, use blankets, towels, scarfs and clothing to wrap breakable items.  This will not only save you money but space too and it is better for the environment as bubble wrap is generally single use. I usually just wrap items and place them in without tape. If it’s a super delicate item you can still use bubble wrap but make sure you save what is reusable and give it to whoever takes your boxes. I also love to use old bubble wrap in used large ziplocks to stuff my purses.

Even if you plan to purchase all new sheets and towels in your new home, you should use all your old ones to pack with. Once you’ve unpacked you can donate them to local Women’s or animal shelters depending on their condition.

8. Stuff your bags:

Speaking of stuffing my bags, packing them into a tight box for even a short amount of time can distort and misshape your bags. To prevent this I like to stuff them with other items. So, I might wrap a vase in a sweater then stuff it into one of my handbags. I usually do this with my sunglasses too, wrap them all in shirts and fill bag by bag. After the bag is stuffed I put it in its dust bag and make sure to pack it without anything super heavy, sharp or dangerous to its shape or leather. I usually pack it with other bags placing sweaters or towels between any sharp hardware or buckles that could damage another bag.

9. Recycle and Donate:

Once you’re done with your boxes you can easily get rid of them by posting “Free Moving Boxes” on Craigslist and someone will come get them. I have done this several times and people really appreciate it This is also a good tip if you’re on a budget and can’t afford all new boxes. Either way, it’s good for the environment to reuse and recycle! (Just remember to cut the tape/boxes open rather than peeling off the tape so you don’t weaken the boxes.)

I know I mentioned above donating old towels and blankets as well as taking in left over or duplicate items to a thrift store, but (if you’re moving across town this may not apply) if you have a larger move you should consider donating your non parishable food items to a local food bank or shelter. It will take a little bit of time to go out of your way to drive food items to a food bank or other items The Goodwill (when it’s so easy to just tke them to the dumpster), but you can get a tax write off that will eventually save you some money. Plus just think of the karma you’ll get from doing good.

10. Get Screw Top Wine:

This is important! You will have already donated or packed your wine opener so make sure when you’re getting your wine that you purchase a screw top so you don’t have to jab it with a loose screwdriver and drink wine with bits of cork floating around.. Not that I know from experince or anything…

I hope this helps next time you move!

Thank you for reading!

With love from Florida,