12 Packing & Moving Tips: Pack Your Home Like a Pro
Are you planning for an upcoming move across town or across the country? If so, check out these 12 tips to get you and your family packing and moving like a pro! My family has moved five times in the last 8 years, and so today I’m sharing some of my favorite tips with you.
TIP #1: Have a yard sale or garage sale and get rid of unused or unwanted items. This is my favorite way to purge items that I no longer need. And at the end, I donate the things that don’t sell. The less items you have to move, the easier and less expensive the move will be! I have to keep telling myself this as I tend to hold onto my kids’ stuff. 🙂
Tip #2: Assign a different color duct tape to each room so the boxes are easier to identify. Throughout this last move, I really focused on being more organized – the colored duct tape can be a great timesaver during the unloading process as you can quickly identify into which room each box should be placed.
Tip #3: Pack a clear “First Day Essentials” bin filled with the things you’ll need most as soon as you arrive at your new home. As an example, I filled this bin with trash bags, box cutters, scissors, disinfectant wipes, paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates, paper cups, disposable silverware, hand soap and dish soap. I also fit my Keurig and K cups in here for coffee the first morning (coffee is an essential for me 🙂 ). I made sure to place this bin in in my car so there was no chance of it getting lost amongst the boxes.
Tip #4: Use plastic wrap or paper and tape to wrap silverware trays. This keeps all your flatware together and makes unpacking a breeze!
Tip #5: Use large Ziploc bags to keep kitchen and bathroom drawer things together. It’s so much easier to unpack when all the small drawer items are together!
Tip #6: Pack spices in a large slow cooker or pot to save space. This tip can really be applied towards any large item like baskets, trash cans, etc. Fill up their empty space with smaller items.
Tip #7: Use cardboard dish pack partitions to pack breakables. They are perfect to insert inside moving boxes and protect glass cups and dishes from breaking. Find these at your local U-Haul, Staples.com. or even sometimes on Craigslist.
Tip #8: If you already have items organized in bins like these toys, just use plastic wrap to secure them before packing. Then you don’t have to reorganize when you unpack.
Tip #9: Tape off all items that can spill like shampoo, cleaners, cooking oils, etc.
Tip #10: Use a trash bag to quickly pack hanging clothing. I used this method to pack my kid’s clothes and they were a breeze to unpack.
Tip #11: Get to know stretch wrap – it is by far one of my favorite packing tools! Stretch Wrap is a giant plastic wrap that allows you to group things together like garden tools, or a stack of smaller boxes. Of course, you can also use it to wrap blankets over your furniture.
Tip #12: Buy and re-sell boxes and packing material on Craigslist. There are many places to buy new boxes like U-Haul, and Home Depot. Before you purchase new boxes, I encourage you to try collecting as many boxes as you can by asking friends to save boxes and asking stores if they have excess boxes that they need to dispose of. Then try looking on websites like Craigslist for free or inexpensive moving boxes and material. Don’t forget to break down and resell boxes and packing materials after your move.
Do you have any favorite moving tips or ideas that have been helpful to you? Share with us in the comments!
Written by Lina for Hip2Save. Lina is a proud mom of 2 small kids who loves photography, all holidays, cooking, thrift store makeovers, bargain shopping, and DIY makeovers. Her goal is to create a beautiful life and stylish home on a dime!
Thank you Colin me and the hubby are previous military and picked up a few moving tips along the way but this article taught me a few awesome ones we will deffinatelly be using on our move back to NC thank you for all the tips .love the website and videos
Thanks for the timely tips! What is your sequence of rooms as you pack?
We do garage, play room, living room and dining, bedrooms,and kitchen last. We pack suitcases a few days before moving and essentials in the car. We pack pretty much everything and leave a couple boxes out for bedding in the morning (move day).
I’ve used the trash bag trick with clothes as a college student. While my roomates spent hours unpacking clothes I walked in, hung mine up and tore off the bag 🙂
Something that I did for my last move: go to the local newspaper and buy the leftover rolls of newspaper print paper. There is no printing on the paper and usually the rolls have plenty of paper left. My local newspaper charges $1 for a roll. It is way cheaper than buying bubble wrap or packing paper. Also good for crafts 🙂
Great tip!
freezer paper from Costco works greats so does puppy pee pads. I had lots left over and they worked great for wrapping up glasses and breakables!
That’s a great tip! I never thought about looking on Craig’s list. Thanks!!
We moved 2 weeks ago….your post was a little late!! LOL 🙂
Instead of a garage sale we put all our stuff on the side of the road and watched many older ladies pick things up with huge smiles on their face! Even had a lady take things who’s husband just died and she needed a lot of that stuff for her new place and she was SO excited to find our rocking chair so she can rock her new grandson! Even though we could have made some money doing a garage sale it was a nice way to give back and watch the joy they got from my old stuff. I figured with all the awesome deals and freebies I’ve gotten I could pay if forward 🙂 And I won’t lie it was much less of a hassle than a garage sale and sitting outside for 2 days to make $10! lol
That was nice of you and yes hassle free 🙂
The second we realized we were moving, we quit shopping.
Food: We ate whatever was in the house which made a huge difference in our fridge, freezer, and pantry. Not to mention our spending. (Yes, we bought milk and some fresh salads to stay healthy!) Had some interesting meals of all frozen and canned goods! We tried not to eat out (until the whole kitchen was packed) to help meet our goals of using consumables and saving money. At the end, we donated remaining nonperishables to a shelter and took a tax write off.
Stuff: We quit shopping, and donated lots of stuff. I admit we returned some brand new recent purchases to the stores, knowing we could buy again at the other end. Right before moving, we directed online purchases to (consenting) local friends/family who brought packages over when we arrived.
What’s the most affordable way of moving? Such as Uhaul, Penske,..? I’m moving across country and they want up to as much as $2300!!!
Have you looked at pods. ..ABF Had been cheaper for us. You load they pick up and when you get there call with a day and time. … they deliver. .. you get a week to unpack.
Use the companies against each other. I called UHAUL first and reserved a truck. Then I called Ryder and got a quote. Told them UHAUL beat their price and they price matched. Called UHAUL to cancel they offered me another rate. Did it one last time with Ryder and got out best price with them. We got the largest truck they had and we were going from SC to WA, plus we wanted the truck 3 weeks. We paid $2100 but were originally
quoted $3000.
Nice!
Watch the mileage, we were going to go with Uhaul until we saw the mileage included didn’t give much wiggle room for detours. So we went to Budget whom had unlimited miles and used a coupon code I found online. Got a $1900 truck for $1500!
ABF is the most affordable when doing cross country move. Hire a professional to load it, unless you want your stuff scratched, etc.
We had an excellent experience with ABF when we moved cross-country. No hassles. It was fast and easy. Packed and loaded our pod, then ABF took care of the rest. I was a bit nervous at first, but everything arrived in good condition. We even transported the motorcycle that way!
Go to https://iMovingRentals.com you put in your move date and cities, they show you the price of each rental truck company, Uhaul, Penske, etc. so you can get the best deal. Similar to the sites that show you all the rental car prices.
I normally put paper in my glasses, cups, any thing with a hole before I wrap it in paper or bubble wrap. With my plates instead of wrapping each plate, bowl or saucer I put corrugated paper in between and wrap it with paper when I have 4/6 together. Save on wrapping paper. If I can dis mental cubes or furniture, I do it and flat pack it. Save space when loading your trailer/ truck or container. All electrical cable I roll it up and cable tie it. Then I try to put all cables and connectors together. Easy to locate. I saw something on face book and with our next move I’m going to do it. They use these plastic ties you get on your bread and write every cable and plug for your TV, DVD name on and all that’s going with your entertainment to make sure your set up goes easy and fast. I love the colour tape on your boxes and clear bin for the last and first day. You always have open spaces when you pack your boxes. I normally fill it up with some linen or plastic bags. I normally pack my clothes is suitcases, but with next move I’m going to leave it on my hangers cover with bags and pack it in my suitcases. Linen, Books, dvd’s and cd’s I normally put a plastic bag in the box, put my items in and cover with plastic. This way if something happens and your box get wet you still have all your dvd’s, music is save and linen clean. I use every space, like Tupperware. You can put so many things in there like your small baking gear, cutlery, knifes, even food. If you can stage up your items, like pots make sure you have something in between, like bubble wrap or tea towels. And it the last pot on top put something in there like tea towelled or candles, not the scented ones. I also wrap my candles before packing. Sometimes I put layers of paper between items, on the bottom of box as well on top before I close the box. Thanks for your tips. Christina
I learned in moving while in the Army, that it was good to have a list of boxes with numbers and some short description of each box as they get misplaced in moving. Some times there were more than one family in a moving van going to the same place or in the same direction. The military will reimburse you for lost items when you can estimate cost and descriptions of each box makes this easier.
I’ve used my off season clothes to pad fragile items and fill gaps in boxes rather then have to use paper, and have to deal with getting rid of it afterwards. I pack in recycling bags (the see through ones) rather then black or white bags to avoid having things mistaken as garbage and get tossed. And have a plan for take out for lunch and supper. Pack a set of sheets for each bed in a dresser drawer, easier to find late at night……and in the “1st box in” I always pack a bottle of wine for that first night.
Awesome list! Thank you! We moved out to renovate our home and after 6 months we are moving back. Only 5 more days!!!
My favourite tip, garbage bags around your clothes hanging in the closets. Super easy to transport and hang in the right spots. I also put a coloured label on the bags just because you can’t see what’s inside. It’s a fun, super easy job for the kids to untie and rip of the bags. I also found that using the black bags with the ties that go around them to cinch them are the best. You can tie them around the hangers to prevent the hangers from slipping out of the clothes. Happy Packing!
I always use my linens and towels to pack breakables. Why waste space using a box for just towels?
I do the same thing, I have moved 7 times (I think….) I also use grocery bags (plastic ones) to wrap things, and ask the grocery stores for boxes (most of them end of crushing them and sending them out anyway)
The first day stuff better have everyone’s outfits & set of towels & bath stuff . You will need towels bed stuff & yes the pillows. After about 10 moves I learned the hard way.
Where did you buy the stretch wrap? That looks like a great idea! Thanks!
Hardware store
Walmart has it too.
Home Depot and Office Depot usually have it. Great stuff! Home Depot has both small and large rolls. The large rolls can secure a stack of boxes together.
Moving companies have rolls
depending on the size of your home and what you are going to seal wrap .
when moving a large round mirror I bought pool noodles, made a slit down to the center but not completely through the noodle I then put the noodle around the edges of the mirror and used packing tape to secure it.
Someone in our neighborhood discarded the pool noodles and I nabbed them, realizing they are perfect to keep the storm door glass/screen panels from getting banged up in the shed (same as Ik did, slitting halfway horizontally).
I wish I would have known this a while back. Just sitting your mirror on the floor of the truck will cause it to break… even with card board under it. The pool noodle idea is a great one!
What helpful tips!!! I’m going to use every one of these! Thank you!
Great tips! We are moving next month and I am curious what other people do to protect their larger furniture. We have an expensive temperpedic mattress, new couch, chair and ottoman, maple platform bed, teak vanity, and a handmade fir farmhouse table that I don’t want to get banged up. I was considering calling the furniture store to see if they had materials I could use to wrap them. Any other suggestions? Thanks!
We own a furniture store. We use blankets between pieces. Sometimes they’re called mover’s quilts. We are also moving soon and I love the idea of the stretch wrap. I think I’ll use it to secure the blankets in place. I will use washcloths on the corners of furniture, secured with the wrap. Don’t let just anyone move your valuable pieces. Get professionals or people you really trust. I will only let my husband and his employees move the furniture (not friends/family) because it is what they do daily. Good luck!
Dollar store plastic wrap works too if you don’t want to spend $10 for a small roll. I’ve used both. I LOVE the plastic wrap for doors and drawers to keep them closed, and so many other things. Cheap too.
Also have used things like rubber mouse pads that do not compress much to place between heavy objects that might bang into each other and dent wood or crack mirrors.
I am moving in35 days and all of these ideas are great. I have totally cleaned out my missed matched sock basket by using the socks to pack things like glasses, wine glasses, cups. Ect, Just slip the item into the clean sock and tuck the Sock ends into the item.
I saved all the decent-sized bubble wrap envelopes the samples often come in and used for picture frames. Saved bubble wrap from deliveries and didn’t have to buy any for dishes. Also saved some heavy-duty bubble wrap from a neighbor’s fridge delivery to use for protecting furniture corners. Storing these packing materials in the attic inside the plastic bins and a few sturdy boxes that appliances came in, along with any specially-shaped styrofoam inserts for particular products for the next move.
I’m moving in two months, my neighbor suggested I take a pic of my computer, tv etc as they stand now, so I can put all the wires back where they belong after I settle in new place.
Most liquor stores have the boxes with dividers for breakable glasses or small fragile items. They usually well part with them since you are saving them money on trashing them. Also, most stores like General dollar, dollar General, dollar tree, etc…Will let you have as many boxes as you need. Just inform them and they will let you get what you need. With these boxes, however, they are mostly broken down, but get a really good packaging tape for them. I live the colored duct tape idea. We are moving this summer and I ask definitely going to try some of these.
These are great ideas! I love this post. Thanks for the helpful tips.
When we moved the last time I went to the local beer and wine store and asked for their wine boxes. They were free and already had dividers in place. I packed 72 pieces of Waterford crystal that way and not one piece was damaged.
This is awesome, thank you!
One thing that would make this post even better would be a list of the moving/packing items you mentioned!
Thanks!
im getting to start packing up my stuff & moving, I will definitely be useing these tips, thank you for them!
You can get GREAT boxes from McDonalds. The chicken nugget and french fry boxes are very durable. If you can get the kids meal boxes, those are double lined because they are shipped internationally and great for breakable items. Wendy’s cuts off the top folds of the boxes, so dont bother and BK boxes are not as good as McDonald’s.
Best tape prices we found at Sams.
We got matress covers at the $ store and doubled them up…worked great and didnt spend $20 plus bucks on moving covers.
If you have painting drop clothes, you can use them to cover and protect furniture in place of moving blankets.
If you will have a moving company-I numbered all of my boxes and made a spreadsheet of all my boxes with a description of the items. I also took a picture of the items in our house. Draws, bins, etc in case anything was lost.
That is all I can think of now…hope it helps someone! 🙂
You have to be VERY cautious w/ food boxes simply because MILLIONS of insects are attracted to the sent in them even if they contained frozen items, the company that packed/shipped them pre-cooked/partially cooked items prior to them getting boxed for most restaurants & you can EASILY end up w/ an accidental infestation that you did not see coming. The only guests you want, are the ones you invite! lol. (my parents own a historic hotel/restaurant & learned this the hard way when taking some food home that was left over in a box that frozen items were shipped in. yuck. & we started seeing a trend so we became super cautious to get non-food type boxes. Just in case someone is temped in…it is not worth it.
I use disposable foam plates between each breakable plate when packing. That’s how I store my Christmas dishes, too. Just wrap the whole stack in packing paper and pad the empty spots. No cracks or chips so far. 🙂
I thought I knew everything 🙂 Definitely using 3-4 of these tips I never thought of. Coming out of winter, instead of packing or hanging all our heavy “parka” like coats and jackets, I have used them each to wrap wall pictures that will fit into a larger sized moving box with a bed pillow at the bottom of the box. They want crazy money for “Art” boxes. Also using our sweat shirts, hoodies, etc. to wrap around vases, breakables. I’m a couponer, so I bought about 50 boxes of Zip Lock Freezer Bags, Gallon & Quart size – mostly all free. And they weigh nothing so perfect to fill in spaces instead of the stuff I’ve saved from online shipments. We have 2 large Wicker Trunks I use at the foot of our beds to hold extra bed pillows, cushions, etc. I put my comforters & a set of sheets in each chest with some pillow but wrap a very sculpture in one and a larger, somewhat heavy vase in the other. We’re using pros for an intrastate move (again) and they go by weight. SO I’m keeping my huge stockpile of paper towels, toilet paper, kleenex, cereal and similar pantry items light weight that work great tucking into boxes to line the sides, bottoms and tops of wrapped dishes, breakables, etc. Moving day, my purse, our computers, jewelry, most important paperwork/files get locked in the trunks of our cars parked next door. We pick up donuts for the movers and keep them supplied with coffee & water. They tend to go the extra mile.
This came at the most perfect time. I was my father’s care giver and he just passed. My siblings want to sell, so, I have to move. It’s rough because I have lived here for over 20 years. My 3 older kids and I are going our separate ways. First time we have been apart for more than a month. The idea of different color tape will help with organizing what box belongs to who. I also never thought to look on craigslist for boxes. Just looked and found some for free. Thank you for these ideas.
I love these ideas so helpful! Ruth I read your comment and my heart hurt for you I had to take a minute just to say hang in there! I can only imagine how hard that must be to deal with all at once! Just remember…the caterpillar thought his world was coming to an end…then he became a butterfly! God bless you!
Great tips!! My husband and i are looking for a home and these tips will come in handy. Also, we’ve already decided to sell everything but clothes we wear consistently, our nice pots and my baking supplies. It’s cheaper than having to pay to move all the rest of the stuff. With the $3,000 quotes some of you posted about I’d recommend selling what you have (via craigslist is prob the fastest and most efficient way in my experience) and buying new furniture instead.
I really like the colored duct tape idea! Organizing boxes by room is the easiest way to get things where they need to be, color coding the boxes would make it that much easier. All of these tips help keep things together that belong together and that’s one of the hardest parts of moving. Thanks for the great read!
These tips would have been extremely handy for our family a few months ago, when we moved for the first time. I especially like the idea to mark boxes with colored tape to indicate which room they are meant for. We spent far too long playing musical rooms with our boxes trying to get everything where it needed to be. Moving is, in my opinion, one of the most stressful things we do in life, so anything that eliminates some of that stress is great.
Thank you for several great tips, especially using photography, listing of boxed items, and labeling with colors of duct tape! I am using another tip I learned on Pinterest: plastic storage boxes can be secured with locking plastic cables (electrical supplies dept.) through holes drilled through the tops and handles. I have also found a few wooden packing crates on Craigslist that have been useful when packing some antiques.
I am preparing to move overseas and would appreciate any tips for wrapping or boxing a few pieces of upholstered furniture.
Buying your boxes is cheaper than renting them, but then you have the problem of disposal. Still, using uniform boxes makes stacking and loading easier. And a tape gun (or two) is useful since you’ll be taping up a lot of boxes. I live near Washington, DC, and it seems like movers speak just Spanish or just Russian, so maybe labeling boxes like this: living room/гостиная/sala de estar would help (thanks to Google Translate!).
I have a friend who moved to Australia and wanted to take her grandmother’s antique lamp. The packing/shipping store she bought it to wrapped it in plastic, put it in a box and sprayed expanding foam into the box, creating a custom made foam case.
That’s what’s good about the colored duct tape. You can put a strip of it on a piece of computer paper and hang it on the wall where you want the movers to put the boxes. Most people can match colors or patterns even if they can’t read the same language as you.
Look at uline for new boxes. I used to work in the box industry and know this is likely going to be ur best deal new
Most important to us was that the bedding was packed together for each bed and labeled brightly!! Wow we need our bed after a move.
I labeled boxes with a number corresponding to a room number in the new house. Then before the movers arrived, I put numbers outside each door. Worked perfectly!! Don’t forget to fill suitcases with clothes…or really heavy books if your suitcase rolls! Much easier than a box of books.
I do this also and it really helps. I also keep an excel spreadsheet for the rooms with those numbers listed and a brief description of contents.
Assign an identification number to each nonvisible packages(eg.,card board boxes)and make a list of items packed in each of them separately.This will make it easier to locate items easily while unpacking.
If it may rain during shifting cover all packages with plastic and tpe them for additional protection.
If you are using professional movers it’s a good idea to put the job number, the new home address and your name on each box and piece of furniture. To make this easier, use preprinted labels so you can just peel and stick on.
I also use towels and sheets to pack with!
Using a trash bag for clothes is a great idea! We recently helped someone move that had clothes loose individually on hangars and it kind of became a mess. You must have a lot of experience, these are really great tips! Thanks!
Great tips! I would also add a shower curtain and bath essentials in the First Day Essentials box. After moving all day, it’s nice to take a shower.
I absolutely love finding good tips for moving, as I find it to be one of the most stressful and difficult things in my life! Now that I see the idea for “First Day Essentials” it seems obvious, but it apparently wasn’t obvious to me the last time we moved. We got to our new home and were far too tired to get things unpacked, but we had many of the things we needed for the night still packed away. They were scattered throughout many different boxes and took a lot of extra energy to find.
shower curtain and towles if you have small children you want then bathe and in bed after the move.Snacks also. Tylenol for you or movers. Someone always cuts hand have banaids. Rags in essential box. plus tampons or pads.We moved NY to MI one of the movers needed food he looked so pale. P and J sandwich helped much.
I’ve also moved a lot and am getting ready to do so in a month. One thing I did that worked well last time was to use cardboard boxes for unbreakable things, but plastic totes for breakable ones. Everyone helping me knew they could toss the boxes around w/o fear plus the totes were easily stackable without squishing anything.
Don’t rip off those trash bags that you packed your clothes in. You can reuse them to collect all of the paper that your breakables are wrapped in. Fill ’em up and it’s all ready for the recycle bin or to give to someone else that’s moving. Also, check the produce department at your grocery store for great heavy duty boxes. They have lids and built in carry handles. Perfect for dishes, pantry items and heavy books. Also, for extra precaution, put glass bottles of perfume, ect., in Ziploc bags. If the worst happens, you’ve just lost the one bottle and it doesn’t ruin everything else in the box. If everything arrives in good shape, you can reuse the bags.
My beautiful wife and I live in Temecula, CA and we are hoping to be moved out of our house in a few months. We are still showing it and our realtor suggested packing some of the things that we don’t use and storing them. The problem is that we don’t have a whole lot of room in our home to store anything. Some friends of ours suggested self storage and I think that it’s a really great idea. We will be sure to incorporate these tips, thanks for sharing.
Great tips!!!! Amazon has colored tape that is labeled for each room. I am packing right now and it’s wonderful. The tape isn’t super heavy duty, but it does the job! Here’s the link:
https://www.amazon.com/Bedroom-Packing-Tape-Bedrooms-Bathroom/dp/B007PBKEE4
Go to liquer stores. Some save partitioned boxes to give to people who are moving/ They are great for drinking glasses, etc.
When putting computers, sound systems, etc together I colored coded them with some acrylic paint I had. I used a match, toothpick, or paintbrush(small) to put a dot by one end of the lines and also put a dot of the same color where the other end of the line went. This stays and you can move it later and still have the colored dots to follow when setting it up again.