Moving Tips- Part 4

HI! It's Jilly. It's finally the post you thought would never come...Part 4 of our Moving Tips Series! We moved from Arizona to New York, and now that I'm getting a bit more settled I have just a few more things to share with you. Hopefully it will help some of you out!

First, did you know you can price match your moving truck?! All the big companies- U-Haul, Budget & Penske- want your business and are willing to beat their competitor's prices to get it. So, you can get a written quote from one company, take it to another company, and they will match or beat the other company's quote!

source

Some people like the fact that U-Haul has the lower truck bed, so you can get a quote from Penske or Budget, then take it to U-Haul and they will beat it. This is a great way to save yourself some moola on your move.

source

You can also save money on the truck rental by booking online. Most places give you a 10-20% discount. Plus, they usually have discounts for students, military, AAA, AARP, and other things. Look for promo codes online. Be sure to explore all your options and all the ways YOU can get a discount. Moving is not cheap, my friends!

image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We got our truck from Penske this time. They didn't have our truck the day we reserved it for (grrrr...). But, they gave us a huge discount as an apology, plus gave us an extra day, since we had to move our truck-loading help back when they didn't have our truck on time. So, in a way, not having the truck on the day we reserved it may have been a blessing in disguise, because it saved us even more money on our ridiculously expensive move cross-country.

source

Another way to save money on your move? Get boxes from local grocery stores. Some of the best boxes come from the produce department. Get apple and orange boxes, because they come with lids and are nice and sturdy. Check your local health store, because they usually have more produce boxes. In the Phoenix area we have Sprout's and Whole Foods. 

We got some great boxes from Albertson's. At the stores in Phoenix they call them "Ponca" boxes, because they are shipped from Ponca City, OK. The boxes come with hair & body products in them, and other non-food items. They store them flat in the back near the baler. 

Ponca boxes are great because a) they give them to you flat, so you can fit more of them in your car when you pick them up, and they take up less space in your house while you are packing, b) they are all the same size, so the stack well together in the truck and in your house, c) they are nice, sturdy boxes, and d) they are free. Mwahaha!

My friend, Pam, suggested making a schedule when preparing to move, i.e. Monday- Master Bedroom, Tuesday- Office, Wednesday- Kitchen, etc. This is a great idea, as long as you stick to your schedule. I am terrible at keeping myself on track. Hence, one of the reasons we left FOUR DAYS LATE! Granted, we left a little later because we had a lot of little projects to finish up on our house before we sell it, but still... If I'd stayed on schedule we would have been a LOT better off! Then I might not have looked like this because I was sleep-deprived and running on Dr. Pepper.

As a comparison, this is me at the park with my kiddos the other day, not sleep-deprived and running on Dr. Pepper. Ok, well maybe a little sleep-deprived. I am a Mom, after all. ;)

The last tip is good for anyone, but is especially helpful when preparing for a move. Do you have a pile of stuff you want to get rid of & donate, but don't want to/can't/don't have time to take it somewhere? Well, many of the places that take donations- like Goodwill, Deseret Industries, and The Salvation Army- will come out to your house and pick-up your donations. You just call them, schedule a pick-up date & time, then put your stuff out in front of your house. Everything from clothes, housewares, and toys, to bigger items like furniture, they will accept. Then you know your stuff is going to help people in your community, not just going in the trash. Plus, it's a tax write-off! 

source

We had DI (Deseret Industries) come out TWICE to pick-up a huge pile of stuff. SO easy!

That's the end of our Moving Tips Series. I hope at least one of these tips will help your move go a little smoother. If you missed the rest of the series, follow the links below.



And, I feel like I need to add a disclaimer here...just because I'm giving you all these tips does NOT mean I am a pro! I felt like I was in WAY over my head! Not everything I wanted to get done before I left got done. Not every road-trip activity I envisioned was made. Not every box was perfectly marked. (That's Ethernet cable, btw. Yeah...)

So, when trying to move don't let yourself get discouraged if things aren't going according to plan. Life happens. Unexpected road-bumps get in your way. Just go with the flow and do what you can to make it go smoothly, then just let the rest go. It will all work out somehow, I promise!

Sometimes I link up with THESE parties.

Check out the rest of the series!

Moving Tips- Part 1

Hi! It's Jilly. We have been super super busy getting our house ready to sell and packing for our big move. My hubby's parents are in town helping, which is awesome. But, my house is a disaster! Half packed boxes everywhere...tools and other construction-y things laying all over...suitcases from our trip begging to be emptied...you get the idea.

In the midst of all the chaos I thought I'd share with you some great tips if you are planning a move. Some advice I've gotten from my mother-in-law, some from friends, and some from my own experience. I hope you will find something helpful to you so that YOUR moving chaos will be less chaotic!

Today I was tackling the mountain of laundry on my couch waiting to be folded. Yes, I am showing you a picture of my laundry pile. I hate to admit it, but this one is a mini-mountain. There have been many, many occasions when the pile is at least three times this big. Yikes!

When preparing for a move a great thing to do is pack a week's worth of clothes for each family member in a suitcase or duffel bag, then box up the rest! Pretend like you are going on a vacation. Be sure to leave out a few 'normal' outfits, a couple sets of play clothes, and a couple sets of church/dressy clothes. This is also a great time to weed out any clothes that no longer fit, are stained up, or you never wear.

Oh! When boxing up clothes, line the box with a plastic garbage bag. Cardboard can stain up clothes, especially if the box gets wet, and when you're moving you never know what's going to happen!

Then, label your box with what room it belongs in and what's in the box. A friend of mine gave me some great advice. Number the boxes as you go, then write down the contents of the box in a notebook. Then, when you need something you can reference your list and know exactly which box the thing you are looking for is in. Pretty clever, eh?! Just make sure you don't lose the "master notebook". ;)

Those are my tips for today. Stay tuned next week for more great moving tips!

Want to make sure you don't miss Part Two?! Then become a follower of "Hi! It's Jilly", "like" me on Facebook, or follow me on Pinterest! :)

I'm linking up HERE.

Check out the rest of the series!

Moving Tips- Part 3

Hi! It's Jilly. The last couple of weeks I've been sharing Moving Tips with you. I have loved reading all of your comments! It has been so much fun. Much more fun than getting ready to move! ;)

In Part 1 one of the things I talked about was making a list of what you have packed in each box, then last week in Part 2 I mentioned making that list in a word document or e-mail to yourself. Well, this week I was living proof that making a digital copy of your list is important. I lost my notebook and had to start a new list!

Luckily, I found my notebook, but I was not a happy camper about it for a few days! So, I will definitely be making a copy of that puppy!

Now, let's move to the kitchen. Pack up everything in your kitchen except:

• one large & one small pot/saucepan
• one skillet/frypan
• a can opener 
• a 'chef' knife & a paring knife 
• a spatula
•  a mixing bowl
• a mixing spoon
• a cookie sheet
• a vegetable peeter
• tongs (if you grill a lot, which is quick and easy if you're in the midst of moving)
• a cheese grater? 
• anything else your family uses a lot to make the type of foods you eat (I kept out the salad spinner)

You might think you can't live without all the other stuff, but believe me...you can! What do you take to cook with when you go camping? That's all you need. Pack up the rest!

Then, use paper plates & plastic silverware. It saves you time on clean-up after meals.

Speaking of clean-up...when you are getting ready to move, and possibly getting your house ready to rent or sell, be sure to go to bed every night with a shiny sink! 

Amid all the chaos it is nice to have at least one part of your house clean and smiling at you when you wake up in the morning. Plus, it helps you keep the rest of your kitchen a little cleaner, which makes things easier when you are using the sink all day to fill buckets to wash walls or wash out paintbrushes or whatever.

This one I learned from the Fly Lady. Any fellow FLY Babies out there? I don't have all my routines down, but I try and that's what counts, right?!

When labeling your boxes it is a good idea to put a colored dot on all 5 sides on the box. I had a couple people tell me about this one. In the stationary section of the store they sell colored dots like this.

They also have these cool labels that are like post-it notes, except the whole backside is sticky and peels off easily. You could write what's in the box and slap the label on your box.  (Thanks for the tip, Sara!)

But, me and my cheap self decided to go with these dots. They are called Reinforcement Labels. It was only a dollar for the pack and you get 924 of them versus 315 in the other pack for the same price! Sweeet!!

So, designate one color for each room and stick dots on the box in the right color. My sister-in-law said this is really helpful when you are looking for a box for a certain room. You can just train your eye to look for the right colored dot and find the right boxes a lot faster. Clever, eh? 

That does it for tonight. Stay tuned next week for more helpful moving tips! Follow Hi! It's Jilly here on the blog, on Facebook, or on Pinterest so you don't miss anything!

I'm linking to THESE parties. :)

Check out the rest of the series!

  

Moving Tips- Part 2

Hi! It's Jilly. I am blown away by the response I've had to last week's post, Part 1 of the Moving Tips series! Thank you for the sweet comments!  When I was telling my husband about the post he said that I should have had tip #1 be "Don't. Just don't move if at all possible!". Ha ha!

Now, it's time to dive into Part 2. Last week I talked about lining your clothing boxes with garbage bags.

But, I forgot to mention another awesome thing about using bags inside your boxes! After you fill the bag inside the box gather the top of the bag in your hands,

squeeze all the air out while pushing the bag down,

then twist it closed

and tuck the 'tail' down into the box.

It's kind of like when you would make a balloon out of your empty sandwich bag in elementary school so you could pop it, only this time you are squeezing the air out rather than blowing air in. Does that make sense?! Hopefully the pictures will give enough guidance for you to pick up what I'm layin' down. ;) E-mail me if you need any more explanation.

So, for the awesome part...because you've squeezed so much air out and squooshed it down you can fit more clothes in the box than if you had just packed them in there without the bag! Woo hoo for DIY Space Bags! See Before...

And After!

Last week I also mentioned making a list of the things packed in your boxes in a notebook. I was thinking about it some more, and making a word document with that information would be even better! Then you would have a copy on your computer, which is less likely to get lost. And, you could e-mail a copy of the word doc to yourself so you can access it on your laptop or iThing if you haven't unpacked your PC yet. Actually, if you have a fancy phone there is probably an app for that kind of thing. But, I don't have a smartphone so I wouldn't know. :(  Here's the proof. Like my dinosaur?!

Sometimes when you are moving to a new place, especially one far away, it is intimidating meeting new people and making new friends. One thing you can do when preparing to move is do a Google search of your new area. Find out if there are any mothers groups, or a book club sponsored by the local library, or activities & classes at the community recreation center.

On a playdate at the park with a mothers of multiples group

 Explore the websites of nearby museums, parks, zoos, and other fun places. See if you can connect with a local church of your preferred denomination and find out about their upcoming activities.Try to "friend" a member or two on Facebook before you arrive. Getting a feel for some of the people and places ahead of time can help make the transition easier!

Those are all my tips for this week. I hope they are helpful! Next week we tackle the kitchen. Follow me here on the blog, on Facebook or on Pinterest to be sure you catch Part 3!

I'm linking to THESE parties! :)

Check out the rest of the series: