Ah summer. Popsicles, swimming, rest and relaxation. And moving!

It’s true more families move during the summer than at other times of the year. I understand why, parents don’t want their kids switching schools mid-year; the housing market flourishes; less snow. But, geez, what a way to ruin a perfectly good season.

I actually had this post titled, “Moving Made Easy” then I realized, no move is easy.

There’s always a glitch or two along the way. No matter if you pack and move yourself or hire a moving company something always goes wrong.

And, if you’re claiming to have found a way to avoid moving glitches you should write a book and make bank.

Despite this, there are some some things you can do to help keep your move as smooth as possible. *Note: these moving tips cover tips for packing and moving yourself. Moving with a moving company is a long post all to itself. Which I promise to do later.

Pre-plan: Always make some preliminary plans. Make some lists. Typical lists may include:

• Which rooms you need to sort and get rid of before the move.
• Comparison of moving truck costs and or moving companies.
  
• What your family is going to need left out during the move. Clothing and toothbrushes are a good place to start — go from there.
• Set up services well in advance; this includes canceling your current services (phone, electric, gas, etc.)
  

Your rented moving truck:

• Price and reserve well in advance. Call and pester the company every once in a while. Long story short, when we moved from Humboldt to New Mexico the U-Haul company “forgot” that we reserved a truck. We got a truck at the VERY last minute but only after having to drive three towns over to pick it up.
• Make sure you get the insurance recommended by the moving company. The last thing you need is to pay for another vehicle crashing into you. You can check your insurance first because some polices do cover moving trucks.
• Start online. The best deals on trucks are usually given when you reserve online.
• When something goes wrong don’t be afraid to complain. Remember the moving truck we almost didn’t get? The one they finally gave us had a broken air conditioner. Imagine no air, moving from California to New Mexico, in July, through the Mojave desert; with a four year old. Nightmare! We complained (a lot) and got some considerable money back.

Packing:

• Start early. No matter how early I start I’m always throwing stuff in garbage bags at the last minute. That’s not smart packing and exactly how things get lost or broken.
• Make sure to have all the packing materials you need.
• If you want to score free boxes go check out the local supermarket at 3am. That when many stores are unpacking their merchandise and usually have no problem with you carting away tons of them.
• See here for a great comprehensive how-to pack article.

The actual move:

• Reserve hotel rooms far in advance for cross state moves.
• Pack a good first aid kit in each vehicle and the moving truck.
• Make sure each child (and you) has a box of stuff they’ll need for the trip. Cell phones, clothing, a few toys, coloring books, snacks and plenty of water.
• Map out your route. I think it’s a good idea to map out a few alternative routes in case of road construction or other delays. National Traffic and Road Closure Information can help you plan and so can AAA if you have a membership. Make sure the maps walk out the door with you when you go.

Need more (of course you do) we could never cover it all here: Century21 has a good site with tips and tricks for having a smooth move with the kiddos.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 at 11:47 pm and is filed under Home and Mortgage, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.