5 Tips For Moving

Moving can be pretty grueling. In fact, I’d put it up there with getting a root canal. I guess that’s a little dramatic, but I think we can all agree with the fact that moving is oftentimes stressful, chaotic, and kind of unpleasant. Of course it’s exciting to move, but the actual logistical process of it is certainly less than.

As most of you know, I somewhat recently moved from NYC to Florida (and Houston prior to that, and I moved several times prior to that!). Was the actual process of packing and moving fun? Nope, not really one bit, if I’m being honest. And you don’t want me to lie, right?! But was it an overall efficient process? Yup!

Below I put together five of my top tips for moving, so be sure to bookmark this if you have an upcoming move.

It totally depends on your situation, and each move is unique, but from my experience and talking with friends of mine who have moved, many times it makes sense to sell big items prior to the actual move. Now, this can vary depending on if you’re moving within the same city, cross country, etc. For me, it made sense to sell most of my furniture. Actually, all of my furniture. I loved every piece in that studio apartment of mine, but to spend the money to ship it and get it moved cross country would have been way more expensive than just buying new, especially because some pieces I wouldn’t need beyond that studio apartment (I wrote about the sites I used to decorate my apartment here, btw).

Where to sell your items:

1. Personal Network: Send an email to your friends, family, and colleagues to let them know you’re selling furniture (make sure you have a list handy of the items, photos, and prices so if someone asks for more information you can send it to them right away).
2. Social Media: I sold a lot of my furniture via my Instagram account, through my personal Facebook, and through Facebook Marketplace. Take advantage of your social networks. But BE CAREFUL. It’s ideal to sell to someone you know or someone who knows someone so you know it’s safe, but when selling via FB Marketplace or the sites / apps I mention below, you NEED to be careful. Do not meet the person alone or let them come over if you’re alone. Go with a friend or have a friend over when they come by. Or if the piece is easily transportable, meet them at a public place. You can never be too safe.
3. Apps and Websites: Now, I know there are TONS of apps and websites out there, but I’ve had the best luck with Next Door, Offer Up, Let Go, and one that I didn’t end up using, but my friend had great luck with is Apt Deco (think white glove service for moving, as in you don’t have to lift a finger!!).
4. Your Building’s Portal: If you live in an apartment building, you might have access to a building portal (mine was called Building Link, and I think that’s the case for many buildings). I sold many items that way and it was so easy because I was dealing with people within my building.

Your items might sell quickly, but they very well might not, so be patient, but persistent. It felt like a full time job selling my furniture, but definitely worth it because I sold basically everything. Keep checking back on your items because, for example, on FB Marketplace you can renew your listing after a week. I didn’t find paying money to boost posts on any of the apps / websites to be helpful, but you might!

Obviously I don’t mean leave clothing behind for the new tenants because that would be just kind of odd. I mean keep behind a week’s worth of clothing if you’re shipping your items or having movers take them in a truck. That way, in case there are any unexpected delays (weather, etc), you’ll be covered for a bit.

If you’re the one moving everything (as in, it’s all going to be with you the entire time), it still might be good to have some items easily accessible for when you get to where you’re moving so you’ll have some things right away vs. waiting until everything is unpacked or having to go through tons of boxes to find what you’re looking for. As well, as you’re packing up, wait until the end to pack the clothes you’ll need for those days leading up to the move or else you’ll find yourself going through boxes and bags daily as you get dressed, and that wouldn’t be fun.

Damn straight I used my garbage bags. And a lot of them. I only have so many garment bags, and rather than buying new ones, I simply used trash bags for my clothing. That way, I didn’t have to take anything off hangers. I simply used large garbage bags and cut a hole at the bottom, put the hangers through it, then tie up the other end. Easy! You can also do this if you’re using garment boxes. That way, the clothing will be protected within the boxes.

Do not leave this until the last minute. Get prepared in advance. Order supplies prior to when you start organizing and packing. I ordered packing paper, tape, and the aforementioned garbage bags via Amazon and had everything ready to go. You don’t want to be thinking about running out to grab things when you’re in the midst of packing up your life, trust me. It’ll be the last thing you want to do. The first being, wine…you’ll want to drink lots of wine during this process. Or maybe that was just me.

If you’re able to, do it. My friend hired someone via TaskRabbit for some things she needed done at her apartment and she recommended I get in touch with him to help me with the move. I’m SO grateful to her for the recommendation and SO happy I hired him. I don’t know how I would have done it without Khalil. For my move from NYC, I shipped very few things, sold my furniture as I mentioned above, and packed up the rest, and Matthew and I rented a suburban and drove it all down. We timed it so as Matthew pulled up with the car, everything would be ready to get packed into the car. Khalil helped me with that. He helped bring everything down (and it was a lot of shit, believe me) and helped us load the car. Worth. EVERY. Penny. So, check out TaskRabbit or ask around for recommendations, and ask for help if you think you’ll need it.

As a reminder that can be easy to forget, if you live in an apartment building be sure to find out the building’s policies on moving in and out because the last thing you want is your movers to arrive to take your things down and you’re not able to use the elevator to do so. So make sure to set that up in advance, if necessary.

Alright, I think that’s it, guys. I hope this was helpful! Happy Moving!

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