The Ultimate Family Moving Guide | Packing

Happy Friday! We have only a few days left until our big move, so the packing portion of my process is coming to a close. I have learned even more this time around about packing through trial and error. Every move is different, and every move I learn a little more. Here are my best packing tips.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

See what I did there? Anyway. I used to have trouble scrambling to find moving boxes, and then I found the perfect place to find them. Facebook Yard Sale sites. Just post that you are ISO moving boxes and I can almost guarantee that someone has a stack in their garage that hasn’t made it to the trash yet.

STOCK UP ON SUPPLIES

I found that Amazon is a great way to grab all the pro supplies you need on the cheap. I got plastic cling wrap, tape, space bags, markers, movers for under furniture, and more. Your moving company will try to sell that stuff to you, but you can totally get it yourself ahead of time.

LABEL. LABEL. LABEL.

While packing, make sure you label what is in a box. I know this sounds obvious, but I have made the mistake of thinking I would remember what was in a box OR know what the heck I meant by “downstairs”. This is a regrettable mistake once you are unpacking, trust me. Write what contents are in the box so you know exactly which room it needs to be unloaded in.

DON’T PACK DEAD WEIGHT

This kind of goes along with purging. It can be tempting (especially at the last minute) to dump an entire junk drawer into a box, etc. Don’t do it! If you see something you don’t need or can’t use, get rid of it. Don’t even bother moving it to the new place. See the purging post for more motivation.

SEPARATE IMMEDIATE HOUSEHOLD NEEDS

In a case like ours where we are moving a long way and won’t receive most of our belongings for a few days, we needed to make sure the things we need immediately were separated and could come with us in our vehicles. Again, I have made the mistake of packing everything and leaving none of the important things accessible.

BE RESOURCEFUL

You don’t need to buy an industrial roll of bubble wrap. One thing I have learned to do is wrap breakables with linens and towels. It gets two jobs done at once and saves on trash. You might even snuggle a ceramic piggy bank between stuffed animals!

HEAVY ITEMS GO IN SMALL BOXES

This probably also sounds like a “duh” thing, but it did not come as common sense to me in the beginning. Basically, heavy things like books and dishes need to go in small boxes. You might pack a larger box perfectly with all the heavy things but then it can’t be lifted. Not smart. The bigger the box, the lighter the contents need to be.

More moving guide: Planning | Purging