The main reason the move was so bad was because when we were supposed to move in we couldn’t because the water heater flooded the house and needed repair. In our old house the landlord was moving in a few days later. So we moved everything into the garage, stayed with a friend and urged quicker responses from the recovery company. Bottom line is never, never, and I really mean never use 1-800-FLOODED to fix a water damage problem. They are slow, disrespectful, totally unprofessional and do the bare minimum to get done…well, actually don’t even come to that standard. I had been in the rental business for 15 years and never saw slower movement or poorer attitudes of workers in all those years.
Adding to the joy is that we’d decided to down-size from a 3 bed into a much smaller 2 bedroom. Since our kids have been gone for years now, just made sense as I’m not wanting to clean all the time, and we’d like to lessen expenses as we get closer to retirement. I do believe that it’s probably a good idea to take a three-month approach to moving when you downsize, unless you’re going to just throw it all away and start fresh. I’m looking at a house that’s about half full and a two-car garage that is completely full…LOL…it’s going to be a long while and my trash company will hate me I’m thinking, especially since we already have about three bins full of stuff waiting in the side yard already. As you see piles of stuff I’m here to tell you things begin to take on less significance, and by the time three months of moving stuff, throwing away and trying to fit it in goes on, you’ll be done when you’re moved in (like I had last time), instead of just starting the process.
Move the bed in first and set it up with clean linens…you won’t regret that decision! Second need are the towels for a nice hot shower.
I’m a Mod at PSPMadeEZ and am currently enrolled in an online course at LVSonline, so the internet is very important to me. Like the good kid, I called well in advance of our scheduled move for reconnection in our new home on moving day with disconnect on the same day so there’d be no missing a beat. That was a great plan, but when we were unable to move in I had to reschedule to connection today. We have been without phone, internet or cable for that entire time (a week)….ay yi yi! Now we have to reconnect with everyone, do makeup work and listen to multiple messages…and try to let folks know we weren’t ignoring them. At least that part is over, thank God!
Don’t bury the silverware. Honestly, I spent all day yesterday trying in vain to find our cutlery so that we could eat without plastic. We’ve got the dishes, cookware, utensils, glasses and mugs but no way to eat normally. Seriously it’s in a pink plastic container that no one can miss…which I thought was so clever. If you run across it, let me know, okay?
Boxes – there are never enough. I’m serious. After purchasing some at WalMart because it was the cheapest I could fine, I quickly realized that I hadn’t gotten nearly enough, and then had dollar signs running through my head. Then I was told I could pick them up for free there. So, For three or four times, we returned to WalMart (between 3 and 5 a.m.) to pick up free boxes (thank you very much WalMart). Another hint is not to get boxes bigger than you can carry empty, and books are best packed in Campbell’s Juice boxes (thanks Campbell’s). If you do have big items that need big boxes, use two to lift and pack few items…do not load them down…especially if you’re older than dirt!
Computer and electronics – label them. We have two computers and this I learned when we moved three of them last time (7 years ago). Since the computers with XP will argue about the usb slot you insert items into and reconfigure automatically for you (thank you not MS), I’ve used labeling to remember where to plug each in to. Number the hub slots and labels….saves a lot of aggravation later. I also think using small notepad sheets stapled together worked better than labels I used before…there was no residual stickiness to deal with. Also, great boxes for the modems, routers, mice, etc. are either La Victoria or Gatorade boxes as they are really rigid and have compartments that fit nicely.
Make sure to keep what I call a ditty-bag handy. This is all your essentials like medications, phone numbers, account numbers, keys, couple changes of clothes and toiletries close at hand so you can grab them if needed….it would have made our week of staying with a friend much easier than having to climb through boxes to find each item…ugh, now that was a pain! Since I’m diabetic and asthmatic, I always have a bag with my medical supplies, but really didn’t think further than that. Couldn’t cancel the accounts at the old house til today because we had no accounts or phone numbers with us. I also wasn’t able to get onto my bank account online at my friends’ house because I didn’t have the secret hints handy – and well, y’all know I can’t remember anything….how was I supposed to remember when I started college…please!
Hope these items can help your next move run more efficiently. I highly suggest not moving at all if it can be avoided because moving really stinks, but when you must start throwing out stuff immediately if not sooner;O) I’m just glad the majority of the work is behind us now, and we have tons of birds here to watch while having our morning coffee. Life is good again!
