I’m baaaaaaacccckkkk and the good news is that we finally have internet!  I never thought it would take so long to get everything delivered, turned on, and hooked up.  Thank you for being so patient.  The bad news is that we’ve decided to cut the cable cord, and I’m really nervous about it.  How am I ever going to know what’s going on with The Housewives?

Since we just moved, I thought my first post in the new house would be to tell you everything I learned during the moving process.  I hope it can help some of you that plan to move in the future, or this can be a place to share your tips if you happen to move around a lot.  There aren’t a whole lot of pretty Pinterest worthy photos in this post because moving is messy, so be kind to the photos.

We were fortunate enough that my husband’s company paid to move us, so most of my tips involve preparing for someone else to pack and move your household goods and how to help yours and the movers sanity.  It may seem nice not to have to pack anything, but there is plenty to do to get ready for someone else to pack all of your things.

Before the movers arrive, you definitely want to make sure you are organized and prepared so it’s an easy process for them and hopefully it will make your life easier once you’re ready to unpack.

1. Clean out and get rid of things that you don’t want to move.  This may seem like a no brainer, but it’s something that should be done before the movers arrive.  You don’t want to be telling the packers not to put certain things in boxes as they’re trying to pack, that will only slow them down.
2. Group like items together.  For instance, take all of your pictures off of your walls and put them all in the same area.  Make sure all of your glassware or books are together.  If you want certain items to remain together in a particular room they should be in the room you want so they can be packed up together and labeled appropriately.
   

   All pictures in one location

   

   All books in one location

3. Put any liquid items you plan to pack in zip lock bags or some sort of leak proof container so you don’t have a wet mess when you start to unpack.  Some moving companies have pretty strict requirements when it comes to liquids so be sure to ask those questions before the packing begins.
4. Set aside any valuables that you will be personally taking so the movers don’t pack them up.  Things like special jewelry, medical records, medications, important documents, or high value items make sense to personally carry with you.  Hopefully they’re small enough that they won’t take up too much room in your car or luggage.
5. Tip #4 brings me to a really useful tip #5.  Whatever you don’t want packed, put it in a separate area and block it off with a door, sign, or some sort of barricade so the movers know not to pack any of it.  Something I’ve done a couple times now is to put whatever isn’t to be packed in a bathroom and close the door with a “Do Not Pack” sign.  It’s the perfect space because you can close it off, there typically isn’t much you have to move out of the bathroom beforehand, and it’s a good size to house everything you don’t want packed.
   

   Bathroom with all “non-pack” items

6. If you have any containers with removable lids, it may help to tape the lids to the container.  Either in an effort to keep the contents of the container inside or even just to keep the lid with the right container.
   

   Sugar container lid taped to the container. I didn’t want to lose any of that precious organic sugar!

7. Make an essentials box to take with you or label it clearly so the movers know where it’s supposed to go.  Include the things you will definitely need the first couple of days you are in your new house.  Things like toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, paper plates and plastic utensils, tape, scissors, towels, sheets, and a wine opener (that last one may not be essential, but definitely useful when it’s time to unpack!).

While the movers are there, the best thing to do is try to stay out of their way and it also helps to buy them lunch!  This is what they do professionally so they are usually pretty quick, and bringing lunch to them will help them get the job done faster.  It only took our movers about six hours to pack up our entire house; kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, the garage, and everything else in between.  It would have taken me forever to do that myself!  Plus, I would have broken a lot of stuff along the way.

Once you arrive at your new house, there are several things you can do to make the move in process easier for the movers and yourself.

1. Label each room in the house so when you tell the movers to put a box in the Master Bedroom, they don’t have to guess which of your three bedrooms is the master.  This is also helpful to limit the amount of times you have to tell the movers where to take things because the boxes should be labeled with what room they’ve come from.  If you followed tip #2 before the movers arrived, then all of your like items are already together and labeled for the room they are going to.
2. Know where all of the heavy, large, too difficult to move yourself furniture is going to go.  The worst thing is having the movers put something where you didn’t want it only to realize it after they’ve left and having to move it yourself.  Plus you’ll feel more “moved in” right away if your furniture is where you want it, then all you’ll have to do is unpack boxes and decorate (which is so much to do actually).
3. Speaking of unpacking boxes, there are obviously numerous ways to do this, but I have to give my husband a high five for his style of unpacking boxes.  He recommends emptying one box, then put all the packing paper in it from the box you’re currently unpacking to minimize the mess.
   

   Unpacking the box on the left, then putting all the packing paper into the box on the right.

   Or you can do it my way and throw that paper all over the floor to let your toddler play in it then make them learn to clean up by putting it back in the box.  An added bonus of using your toddler to help is your very own weight to smash down all that packing paper into the box.

   

   The best paper smasher around

4. Have a staging area for all of your empty boxes, either the basement or garage so you can get them out of your way.  It also helps to break them down so they don’t take up as much room.  Some moving companies offer to come back and pick up all of the empty boxes and packing paper, so be sure to ask if that service is offered when talking to moving companies.  Or check out one of my random tips below for a lucrative way to get rid of all those boxes.

Other random moving tips:

1. Take a picture of your DVR so you know what you are currently recording so it’s a breeze to set it up again at your new house. (Womp, womp, I can’t do this because we don’t have cable, but think of all the money we’re saving!)
2. Set up utilities before you arrive so you have lights and heat the day of move in (and internet a lot faster than I did).
3. Try to sell all of your empty boxes on Craigslist or local Facebook sales groups.  People are always looking for boxes and more than likely yours will still be in great condition.  It’s a great way to make a few extra dollars, get rid of your boxes, and help the environment by reusing them.

I hope the things I’ve learned in this recent move are helpful to anyone that may be moving in the future.  What do you think is the best tip I’ve learned?  Do you have any genius tips for moving when using a moving company, post them in the comments to let us in on them.  Have you cut the cable cord?  Are you surviving?

It feels so good to be back after such a long break, stick around this week for a house tour of our new house.  I promise it will be mostly pictures and not nearly as many words as this post.