How to Stay Organized During a Move

Today’s post is a guest-post from Roxy Barnes,  travel blogger and writer

Moving into a new home has to be one of the most emotional experiences one can go through. It’s a time of change, usually big change. Whether someone in your family is taking a new job somewhere, moving to a summer house up north, moving because their loved one is in the military, to take care of an elderly parent, or for any other reason, getting and staying organized is not an easy task with everything else going on in life. Here are some helpful tips that can really make your life easier in a stressful time

Packing Ahead is Key

We all know it’s not the easiest thing to do before any move, but finding and making time to move all your clothes, books, cookware, and (dare I say) home clutter into boxes can save you loads of stress and fretful hurrying if you’re on a strict timeline. You can also pack up off-season clothes that you know you won’t be using for a while, such as coats, jackets and cardigans if you’re moving during the summer. Getting through the small things can really make a world of difference for your mood. And having a planning checklist for a move can be a benefit for your logistical and organizational needs. It also helps to ask yourself, “What other things do I not need for a while?” and you can pack those first. Especially if you have three or four TV’s or computers in your house, you probably won’t need all those for a week or two before you move.

Coordinate your Boxes

One of the most creative things I’ve ever seen someone do is to use different-colored boxes and use one color specifically for each room of their house. I had a roommate from Virginia who once did this, and it blew my mind because it’s such a creative idea, and I had never thought of it myself. And it helps to keep moving fun. I’ll just stick with using different colored sharpies to write on my boxes, thank you- the whole colored boxes is a bit much for me. Also, if you have asked anyone to help you move, it makes their job much easier for them to move all the boxes of each color to a certain spot in your car or moving van, whichever you use.

Utilize Luggage and Other Packable Items

This one didn’t occur to me until I was moving out of college, but there are so many items that you can use to put others items in, and take the place of small boxes. Luggage is a really good one for this, because, voila! That’s its natural purpose anyway.

You Can Always Donate Unwanted Goods

Moving always seems to be a time when you realize you have more stuff than you thought you did in your house. If you’re like me, and you literally have bought the shoe department at Macy’s (I have like thirty pairs of shoes and sandals), you may be able to help someone else out by donating something that maybe you don’t wear all that often, or as much as you thought you would. I know I used to shop at stores like Goodwill every once in a while, and sometimes you can find some good quality stuff that people just give away. Check and see if there is a Goodwill location near you. You might luck out.

Plus, if you already have a whole ton of boxes from your last move that are just lying in waste somewhere in your closet or basement? If neither they, nor the stuff that exists inside them is of much use to you, you can decide whether to throw them away, or put them in your truck or moving van. If you do decide to keep them around, it makes part of your moving job that much simpler.

Planning For the Worst

If you have to move in a short period of time, what can make your job much simpler is putting your belongings in a convenient storage location near you or your final moving destination. Or maybe you have some items that you don’t use very often that you may want to store away. I had a move once where my moving van broke down literally in the middle of nowhere in western Kentucky. It was the worst experience ever, because it was at 11 o’clock at night. Safe to say, it was no easy task for a 2-month pregnant woman and her hubbie to find a close hotel to stay in, but luckily we were able to use this app from our phones to find a cheap hotel near Louisville, Kentucky in the middle of the night. For this, it helped to have AAA service to come rescue us. I would highly recommend planning ahead with your auto insurance company and having roadside assistance added to your plan the month before you move if you don’t have it. It usually only costs an extra $10-20 per month.

Let’s face it. Moving can be a harrowing experience. If you’re like me, and you feel like you could have a heart attack at any moment when you’re trying to prepare for a move, it is so important to take every step you can to make the whole moving process easier.