Moving can be a logistical nightmare, but I’m pretty pleased with how our recent move from Ohio to Massachusetts went so I wanted to share a few things I learned in the process.
Understanding our options
All of our moves prior to this had been pre-kids and just within the same state, so we always rented a uhaul and plied our family and friends with food to help us. Moving across half a country and with two kids meant we had to figure out a new plan.
This Moving 101 website is a great resource for understanding the different options you have when moving. I especially like the infographic charts like this:
I did a lot of research and found the myriad of options for what we could hire vs. DIY overwhelming. We settled on a hybrid move with us packing and loading, someone else driving, someone else unloading, and us unpacking. (As awesome as it’d be to have full-service movers take care of everything, I think I’m also maybe a bit of a control freak and would hate someone else deciding what to pack where.)
Moving Containers
We went to moving containers – the ABF relocubes – for three reasons:
- it was cheaper than hiring full service movers
- we wouldn’t have to drive a giant truck ourselves across several states (and I’d probably be driving alone with children for 10 hours)
- we ended up needing to use 2 weeks of storage because of the gap in between leases, so if we’d used a moving truck it would be an unloading into a storage unite, reloading backing into a truck nightmare.
A few things we learned doing this:
- Tape off a section of your home or garage the dimensions of a container so you can give it a trial run and see how things best fit together. It’s like a giant game of Tetris (This also helped us to realize that we had enough stuff for 1.25 moving containers.)
- Get rope or ratchet cords so you can tie down each layer as you go.
- Bag clothes or bedding in trash bags and use it to fill in empty spaces so everything is more snug and secure.
- Get rid of anything that’s already flimsy (we had a cheap desk and knew it wouldn’t survive the move) – it will probably break in the move and you could use that space for something else.
- We took anything that we absolutely couldn’t replace with us in our car – just in case. (For us, that was only our wedding album – we have no digital copies.)
Hiring Help
I decided to hire movers on the arrival end of our move because we’d have no family here to help watch the kids while we packed like we did in Ohio. Plus, sometimes it’s just nice to hire someone to do work that you’re dreading, you know?
We used HireAHelper to book the movers in Massachusetts – I liked the interface a lot and liked that I could sort by reviews, cost, toggle for how many flights of steps we have, etc. Plus I could book it all online with a few clicks. It was super easy (and even enjoyable – I took pleasure in paying someone to make my life easier!) to use. (Sidenote – I really wish they’d create something like this for hiring a house cleaner!)
I wasn’t sure how to coordinate the drop off our of cube and the arrival of the unloading help, but we just asked the UPack to bring the cube in the morning and the guys to come in the afternoon – it worked out perfectly. A team of three guys who unloaded our cube in about 45 minutes. It would’ve taken us hours to unload it ourselves and we’d probably have to wait until Theo was napping so he didn’t escape the house or something.
Someday we might have the extra income to spend on someone doing ALL of the work for us, but this hybrid method was a great combination of hiring someone and doing it ourselves. It made the whole process about half as terrible as it usually is!
Oh man, we are moving next month and it is my first move post baby (my son is 17 months) and I am dreading trying to figure out how to manage it. We aren’t near family, so we have to figure out how to pack and move with a toddler underfoot. Hopefully, we will be able to hire out some of it. The hybrid move might be our best bet, but talk about overwhelmed :)
Good luck!! You can do it! I seriously recommend hiring help because it makes an already stressful process a little bit easier. <3
I’m so glad the experience was less painful that it could have been. The last time we moved, it consisted of me, Knight, our cars (both packed full) and U-Haul. One of the giant ones where you drive it and it pulls your car behind you. Suffice to say we were sore for DAYS after an epic day of loading and then an epic day of unloading. (Nothing like motivation of having to return the Uhaul or be charged for another day to keep us moving quickly.) We’ve already decided we will NOT do all of the unloading if we move again. And I’m with you, I like to pack my own stuff how I want. Great to have full-service movers but at the same time, I don’t want anyone else touching all of my stuff.
45 minutes to unload all that stuff? Those dudes were awesome! Hope you are settling in nicely :)
is’nt the help amaaazzzzzing? next time, hire someone to pack the cube too, you won’t be sorry ;)
also, i used to think that about the “having someone pack” – too control freak, touching my stuff, etc. and then…. i had someone pack me. and angels sang! lol
so glad you managed to get some help for some parts, making your life easier during a move is the bEST!!
You also have double the amount of kids I do. Sooooo I think you need double the help! ;)
It’s really my first time to hear and read something about Moving 101. Seems like a great website to recommend to our readers too!
I liked your idea for the trial run in your garage. I had always wondered about renting one of these, you have given me some great information – thanks!
Moving can probably be explained really well as multiple games of Tetris, as you compared it to above. This is true in both packing the boxes with stuff, and packing the truck or trailer with boxes and furniture. Sometimes a table works best on it’s side, or a chair can be wedged upside down in between two things so they aren’t loose and clanking about.
I like for this sharing ideas, i really need a crew who can organize my stuff and do proper packing my things because i’m planning move away my residence in a few month’s. Thank you for the good suggestion and tips guys.
Wow! these are very useful moving tips. I did all the packing and unpacking myself when we decided to move to a new place. and I can say that it was a really stressful and tiring experience. even planning makes me crazy! I wish i knew all about this before. : (
My wife always reminds me to be ready with our checklist when we move next month. We probably just need to properly sort our things and leave those that we don’t need. Will be sharing your post to my wife.
Wow, this is an excellent post! Moving can be so stressful and really take a physical and mental toll on you and your family. Hiring help and making sure you have all the right resources to transport everything in an orderly and timely fashion is really important. You give some great tips and information here. Thanks so much for sharing!
I used Shea Moving Corp to pack my cube in Queens, then an ABF U-Pack cube to have it moved from NYC to LA.
It was the cheapest, least headache of a way to do it. They gave me a month of free storage at destination and I could choose the day I wanted them to drop off and pick up the cube both when packing and unpacking. Unless you are paying full service movers, this is definitely the way to go.
what an excellent post you got there Ashley! Your infographic is very informative, your comparison of moving options is a big help to people who are planning to move.
When you move to another place, you will need to save money. Thank you for sharing your post to save money when preparing and going through a long distance move. I like to think of moving like playing a game of tetris, where everything has to be organized and in the right place in order for everything to run smoothly. Thanks so much for the awesome advice!
Hey buddy..!!!
Moving is indeed a real head ache. Prior planning is the best way to escape the pre and post mess that can be caused due to moving. If asked what events in their lives top the list for being the most traumatic and tough, a lot of of people will answer that moving day takes the cake.
But you have mentioned a lot of helpful tips that can make moving really easy. Very informative post buddy. Loved it.
These have always intrigued me so I might just have to give them a shot instead of using movers this time. Thanks so much for sharing!
Whoa, this moving storage is definitely comfortable and affordable to hire. Nevertheless, I will add on my checklist that important information and tips. Thank you, Ashley.
Those facts you mentioned is amazing, moving one place to another place is really a tough thing to do. I hope this could be guide us.
I have unfortunately had to move quite a few times, and may have to move here again in a couple of months. One thing I find that people wonder about sometimes is boxes – you sometimes can find used ones for free online that you can pick up locally, there are places that sell used boxes, Home Depot sells a great range of boxes, and depending on your Packing and Moving Company
they may provide some boxes to you as well if you need them. You have provided some great tips, thanks for sharing!
These are very useful moving tips. I did all the Packing and Moving
myself when we decided to move to a new place. and I can say that it was a really stressful and tiring experience. even planning makes me crazy! I wish i knew all about this before. : (
Outstanding moving tips, Ashley..!
Moving is definitely difficult, but I am pretty sure if I decided to move and follow this way of relocating I know it will make smooth and easy for me not totally but, the advantages is I know of what should I gonna do and what to avoid when relocating.
Thank you so much, for the help…