Yesterday, I described how my new storage unit, I mean “apartment,” was piled floor-to-ceiling with boxes after I moved from my larger home into a smaller 6-month rental. The one-car garage that came with my apartment didn’t fare much better. It, too, was crammed full of stuff and I had no idea what was where – not that I would have been able to get to something even if I did know where it was. 
Throw in 3 excited and nervous dogs – and the hottest week of the entire year – and you’ve got one miserable moving experience!
For days, I felt like I was bailing out the ocean with a thimble, but thank goodness my teenage niece and sister-in-law were there to help as we tried to create some sense of a functional and livable space. Fortunately, my new apartment was close to a Goodwill donation center, which made the process of freeing up space a little easier. Plus, my niece was about to move into her own apartment, so she laid claim to a bunch of stuff I was only too happy to get rid of at that point. (Nope. I’m not missing the irony that I paid to move all that stuff only to give it away days later). Even so, the next 6 months were pretty stressful as I tried to live around boxes and counted the days until my new place would be ready.
The worst part about this whole miserable, stressful and needlessly expensive process was that it could have been avoided – even though I had less than 10 days from closing on my former home until I had to vacate.
Hindsight being what it is – here is what I would do differently:
- As soon as I got access to my new apartment, I would clean the kitchen and bathrooms so they were move-in ready. I would also measure each room in the rental and write down all the dimensions. Remember, if your items are in larger rooms in your current home, you might not realize how much space they need. Taking detailed notes of your new floor plan will be a huge help when deciding what furniture will comfortably fit in your new space. Trust me, too much furniture in too small a space is something you’ll want to avoid.
- Rent a storage locker. I thought I was saving money by skipping this step. Wrong!
- When evaluating what to put in storage (i.e., what could I absolutely live without for several months?), I would be more ruthless. I thought I had done this before moving – I really did – but considering the boxes and truck loads of stuff I gave away AFTER I paid to move it – I was wrong. Next time, unless an item has significant sentimental value (such as a gift from someone I love or a family memento), if it hasn’t been used (or thought of ) in the last 6 months to a year, I would donate it.
- Before the movers arrived, I would rent a separate uHaul (or borrow a truck from a friend) and load up all the kitchen and bath items I would definitely use over the next 6 months and get those areas completely set up in advance. I would also stock up the refrigerator with snacks and beverages to make moving day more tolerable. I would also use this truck to make a trip to the storage locker for all items I wouldn’t need in the future and had survived the “should-it-stay-or-should-it-go” phase. No sense paying a mover to make two stops if you can find someone to help you get this stuff out of the way in advance.
- Pack up valuable, breakable and other personal belongings I don’t want the movers to handle and move them myself the day of the move.
These simple steps might be intuitive to a lot of people, especially if they’ve moved frequently (or recently). However, as someone who hadn’t moved in a long time, I ended up paying a lot more than I should have in terms of time, frustration and money. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes and save yourself some time and money on your next move!
Til Next Time,
P.S. Do you have any great cost-saving moving tips? If so, please share them by clicking on the word “Comments” below!
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.