In May 2020, my boyfriend Stephen and I moved from Arizona to California. While we had planned the move for over a year, we didn’t expect the COVID-19 pandemic to send the world into quarantine just 2 months before our moving date!
Even though we were both experienced, our move was unpredictable and exhausting. However, it gave us valuable insight into the moving process. Here are my top moving tips and tricks that I learned after the most chaotic and stressful move of my life.
1. Declutter before you move.
6 months before moving day, I began to organize all of our belongings. I sorted every item into three piles:
- Keep
- Maybe
- Donate
Stephen and I immediately dropped off the entirety of the “Donate” pile to Goodwill. If we didn’t use an item in the “Maybe” pile in the months leading up to our move, they got donated as well.
This strategy prevented us from bringing items with us to California that we no longer needed. It also saved us time in the weeks leading up to our move. Instead of dedicating energy to organizing and decluttering our house, we were able to focus on packing.
2. Take time off from work to pack.
Stephen resigned from his job in Arizona one week before we moved. This allowed him to dedicate his time to packing our belongings with care and precision, ensuring nothing was lost or damaged.
On the other hand, I was working 12 hours each day leading up to the move. I spent my nights frantically helping Stephen pack. Understandably, Stephen’s moving experience was much less stressful than mine.
If you can, take time off work in order to decrease the pressure of moving.
3. Before you buy any packing supplies, estimate how much you need.
Purchasing extra packing supplies can be expensive and wasteful. On the contrary, if you purchase too few supplies, you may end up making multiple trips to the store, which is time consuming.
Save yourself the time and money by estimating how many boxes, rolls of tape, and packages of bubble wrap you’ll need before you begin packing.
4. Use household items as packing supplies.
Want to save even more money on packing materials? You can substitute laundry baskets, trash cans, and other household items as boxes.
You can also use blankets, towels, and pillows as padding when packing fragile household items. This also saves you from needing to pack all of those items in separate boxes!
5. Use descriptive labels.
When packing our apartment in Arizona, I made sure to use descriptive labels on my boxes. In addition to labeling each box with the room it belonged in, I also made sure to write a quick description of what was packed inside. This made unpacking easier as it allowed me to quickly prioritize which boxes to tackle first.
Don’t forget to also identify all important papers and documents to ensure they don’t get lost in the move!
7. Don’t place online orders right before you move.
As you get closer to your moving date, stop placing orders for delivery. Trust me, you don’t want to deal with the stress of unboxing Amazon packages only to pack them right up again!
Unfortunately, right before our move, several deliveries I’d placed were delayed for over a month due to the pandemic. During the week before moving day, I spent a lot of time on hold with customer service representatives to change my address so my deliveries wouldn’t arrive at my old apartment after I’d already left.
Save yourself the time and stop online shopping until after you get settled in your new place!
8. Eat your food before you move.
Three weeks before we moved, Stephen and I stopped buying groceries so we could use up the remainder of the food stored in our freezer and pantry. This greatly reduced the amount of food we threw away before the big day.
The morning we drove off, we loaded up the remaining items (mostly condiments and staples like rice) into a cooler to bring with us!
9. Hire movers!
The number one regret I have from our move was that Stephen and I didn’t hire movers. Due to quarantine restrictions, we didn’t feel comfortable working with any local companies or asking family or friends for help.
Instead, we loaded our belongings into the moving truck on our own. This was no small feat considering we were moving from Arizona during the month of May. When we packed up the truck, temperatures quickly climbed to 97 degrees! After a few hours of lifting I fainted, and Stephen had to finish loading the truck on his own. We were both exhausted!
Professional movers make the process so much easier. Companies like Big Deahl’s Movers take care of all the heavy lifting for you, allowing you to focus on the small stuff. They’ll provide packing assistance, moving trucks, and more for long distance moving in Rancho Cucamonga or surrounding areas.
If you can’t afford movers, you can also ask friends and family for help (in exchange for a free meal, of course!)
10. Have a place to move to before you move.
My second regret from our move to California was that Stephen and I hadn’t secured a new place to leave before leaving Arizona.
Of course, this wasn’t entirely our fault. We called numerous apartment complexes and leasing agents in the weeks leading up to our move. Due to the pandemic, no one called us back. We didn’t have the option of extending our lease in Arizona either, so we were stuck moving either way!
Luckily, Stephen’s dad gracefully hosted us in his home until we found a place to live one week later. Unfortunately, we had to store our moving truck in the corner of a parking lot- and paid $100 per day to do so!
Before moving, make sure that you have a concrete place to move to. Relying on friends or family to host you temporarily is great, but can be and impractical as well.
11. Pack a suitcase of essentials.
Pack all of your essential items into a suitcase. Make sure to include extras of necessities like socks, underwear, toiletries, and comfy clothes.
Having a suitcase of essentials nearby will give you easy access to items you will definitely need throughout your move. It will also prevent you from having to search through boxes for staple items.
12. Unpack one room at a time.
When tackling a new project, I’m often too ambitious. I’m so enthusiastic, I try to do everything at once.
I did the same while unpacking at our new house. Instead of unpacking one room at a time, I unpacked a little of every room because I was so excited.
My method of unpacking created a lot of disorder. Our belongings were completely disorganized- there was too much going on! We misplaced several items in the mess.
The best method is to unpack one room at a time. That way, you can get organized more quickly and minimize the chaos!
While our move from Arizona to California was chaotic and unexpected, I learned a lot about what to do- and what not to do! I hope my moving tips help make your upcoming move streamlined and stress-free.