[zakk]

Discuss any and all things having to do with changing residences... tips about acquiring moving supplies, movers, moving yourself, etc.

I'm moving from California to Texas in a few weeks. yikes!

[dreamdeferred]

Wow.... that's a serious move!

The key to a successful move is being a jerk. Seriously. What you need to do is call your burliest friends/cousins etc and invite them over to your place with promises of food and "hanging out". Then when they get there... BAM... you hit them with the old switcheroo and tell them what you meant by "hanging out" was working like dogs all day and what you meant by "food" was some lousy pizza once the work is done.

This works. Trust me.

[sumi]

^ what he said. we've done many a hangout-slave labor-pizza trick.

[zakk]

I don't have burly relatives. We've always used movers.

[AM415]

When we moved, we got a bunch of boxes from Wal-greens (stores generally have a lot from their deliveries). And when packing the box, I wrote a list of everything in it, and what room it should go to on top of the box. That way, if you need something after you moved but still haven't unpacked, you'll know which box it is in by reading it. And by writing which room it belongs to, it makes it easier for the movers/friends-conned-into-helping-you-move-for-cheap-pizza.

Once an uncle in our community tried moving heavy stuff himself and had internal bleeding the next day. So paying movers is worth the money.

[zakk]

Yeah, there are a lot of places you can get used boxes. And organization is vital to moves, otherwise you wind up not knowing where you packed your underwear.

also, www.movingscam.com is a great place to read about people's experiences with different moving companies and auto transport agencies.

[foozball]

We moved across the street last year. We bought boxes pretty cheap from home depot. You can also get free/cheap moving stuff from craigslist but my husband thinks everyone on CL is an serial killer.

Also, movers are great!! Friends are cool but most of them ain't built to lift heavy stuff up stairs without damaging everything. Especially not desis

zakk are you shipping either car?

[sumi]

we get all our boxes free off of craigslist.

use newspapers to wrap glass and dishes.

bubble wrap or those air big pocket thingies are great to cushion fragile items.

[kababqueen]

a tape gun is your best friend when you're moving.

[dreamdeferred]

foozball said:

We moved across the street last year. We bought boxes pretty cheap from home depot. You can also get free/cheap moving stuff from craigslist but my husband thinks everyone on CL is an serial killer.

:lol:

Yeah Craigslist is a great tool for picking up the odds and ends you need for projects like moving.

All jokes aside movers are an excellent idea considering the scope of your move.

The best idea I can offer is to invest serious time in organizing prior to putting things into boxes, like AM415 said. It saves so much time. Creating and printing labels (or just using a plain old labelmaker) and typing up an inventory of sorts beforehand can reduce the headache factor of unpacking a thousandfold.

Other than that, be sure to check up on the moving company you go with online to compare rates and service quality.

Insha'allah your move will go smoothly. Good luck!

[foozball]

We were moving to a 3 story townhouse from an apt so I bought neon colored labels. Pink read floor 1 yellow floor 2 and green floor 3 and then we printed labels for which room it went into. Made it easier to make sure each box got into the general area it belonged in by doing a quick color check.

[SugarB]

foozball said:

We were moving to a 3 story townhouse from an apt so I bought neon colored labels. Pink read floor 1 yellow floor 2 and green floor 3 and then we printed labels for which room it went into. Made it easier to make sure each box got into the general area it belonged in by doing a quick color check.

thats a great idea! color coding is always helpful

[Imaan4Life]

I moved across town (about 40 mins. away) last week. Use movers. Begin packing asap. ALWAYS pack while the baby is sleeping because she like to be annoying and make her mother's life hard by crying at the exact wrong moments (its okay, I still love her).

[BaronChairman]

Great thread. I'm thinking Chicago has worn me and so I plan to hit the road myself.

But how do I get myself set up in another city before actually moving?

And if that proves impossible, what do I do in my new hometown to get set up if I end up just moving there with the clothes on my back and 30 bucks in my pocket?

[foozball]

There's a ton of free stuff on craigslist and freecycle that u can use to set up a home. You will have to pick it up. But don't expect me to offer anything on there. Because again my husband assumes it's all serial killers looking for a free crockpot.

[Mozlem]

Try to purge as much as possible before the move. You are paying by the pound, and more stuff is more to unpack and organize later....

[zakk]

Fooz, we are shipping both cars.

Blue Pheonix, we had been prepping for this move for about 2 years, but weren't sure if it would happen. It really depends on your finances, hubby was figuring out his employment/self-employment options so he was flying in and out. We checked out (rental) housing on the internet. You could probably check out jobs on the net and line up interviews for when you actually hit the road. If you have friends in the area, you could arrange to crash there for a fixed amount of time while you find a place.

[Summers]

we moved quite a bit away too. didnt really need movers, though.
And like phdgirl said, try to toss/recycle/donate as much as you can. It means less unpacking and sorting once you've moved.

[zakk]

Yeah we are purging left and right. I would advise against purging the big items unless they are old and you have the $$$ to get new stuff, it isn't easy to get rid of a lot of things for a price that will enable you to get the same quality replacement. A lot of the stuff we're purging is old or stuff we've never used in 10 years....

[Imaan4Life]

btw, enjoy the weather in the Bay while you can Zakk. That's one thing I can guarantee you'll miss. I do

Good luck with your move. May Allah SWT make it easy and stress free for you and may your good intentions for the move be successful in the future