Moving!
So that said, what do you have to look forward to if you are going to move?
Let’s see, backbreaking work loading all your stuff into a truck that is probably six sizes too small for what you own. Add in the wrapping, collecting boxes, ensuring all the breakables are well protected and none of the lighter items are underneath the heavier items. Moving can be an absolutely dreadful experience. You want to avoid the moving woes pictured in 9 Moving Horror Stories that We are Trying to Forget.
I, for one, can attest to having moved three times so far in my lifetime. Once when I was younger right in the middle of my freshman year in high school, I remember tensions running high at this point and my parents actual movie closing date getting pushed back twice and the last time was to be right after Christmas. We lived out of moving boxes for weeks at this point (I, for one, hated this and couldn’t find the half of my belongings for weeks). I can even recall, my frustrated, Clark Griswald type dad (think Christmas Vacation variety) shouting obscenities and finally putting up a mini Christmas dream that used to decorate our window on top of a moving box and telling us Merry Christmas loudly and full of anger and rage. By the way, this was the extent of our Christmas decorations that year.
This was just the first of a few moves, I have made in my life.
And yet for those of us who have indeed made several moves in our lives, you might feel that moving is simple and no problem, until its time (not me, but still many do). How heavy is that dresser you have to get up the ramp? How come none of your friends showed up to help you move, even though you bought pizza and beer? Many times, moving entails late night, last minute packing to make sure you didn’t forget anything.
Let’s take a look back on the second time I moved which was years later, when I was getting married to Kevin. We even joked we would have a moving party. Well, my brother helped my soon to be husband moving into our first married apartment (as he moved in first while we were still engaged). They had to carry a large, heavy picture tube TV into an apartment that’s pathway was covered in snow and ice. Not sure how they didn’t drop the TV or slip or fall not he ice doing this! They definitely didn’t have a party after this one!
By the way, this move didn’t include a truck rental either. Trucks for moving are rented by the day and charge by the mile, sometimes as a package of miles for long distance moves, but this can be a very costly venture. Not to mention you have to figure out how to get your vehicle, the truck, and all your belongings from one place to another safely.
However the third time we moved, Kevin and I did have to rent a truck, because now we had not only belongings, such as TVs, but also had some furniture and many different items we accumulated over the first few years of marriage together that did indeed necessitate a moving truck to help us. So again family helped us, but along with the aid of a rented truck.
But once we did indeed have everything and everyone packed and said goodbye to the one friend who showed up late to eat all our pizza and drink all our beer, we almost needed a CDL to drive the truck and tow your vehicle behind the truck. This was going to be as slow a move as molasses going uphill in winter, for those who don’t get it, that’s really slow. As pictured in Moving Day Horror Stories, you would not want to do this to yourself.
So, if we would like to avoid these hassles and problems with our moving next time now that it is not just us, but 2 children too that we need to move, how can we or anyone else for that matter indeed move more easily?
Simple, hire movers to do it for you; they will pack, load, transport and unload all your stuff. Moving companies have different packages for you to decide from so the cost of the move can fit in your budget.
If you prefer to pack your own stuff, that’s fine. You can even hire long distance movers to bring out a storage unit to be placed in your driveway and once you are done with it, they’ll pick it up and take it to the destination for you. No more crawling along the highway at a snail’s pace, no more worry if your car is going to fall off the tow hitch, now you have some peace of mind about your move.
Best of all, you won’t need to have your friends tell you they will be there to help and not show up. If you have a storage unit put in your driveway, you can take your time getting it filled and the movers will take it when you are ready. Make sure you hire a moving company for your next move so it can be made in to an easy and enjoyable experience for you.
So, now I will totally have to take my own advice when the time comes sooner or later to indeed move!
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massholemommy says
I refuse to move until my kids are grown. My parents moved when I was in the 3rd grade and I had to change schools & I swore I would never do that to my own kids. It was tough.
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Janine Huldie says
Robin, when we moved I was 14, but my brother was in 3 grade also and he took it badly too and was miserable at first. Je even told my mom that it was the worst day of his life the first day of his new school. I will say this, when we do buy a house and move we are shooting to stay int he same school district so this won't happen to the girls at all.
spiritedlife says
I just moved across country with two little ones while I was pregnant. It was not fun, I was out of it, things that I thought I kept, I got rid of and vice versa. Overall, it's been no big deal, but it has not been fun. This is the first time that I did NOT unpack all the boxes within the first weekend of moving in. I've moved about a dozen times over the years, but being married with kids is definitely the hardest so far.
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Janine Huldie says
See that is my biggest fear, because the first time when I moved at 15 with my parents, I literally was unpacked the same day and worked through the night to do it, because we lived out of boxes for so long (just could''t do it anymore). Don't want to live out of boxes again here, so I will try my best to have it done quickly again if at all possible.
stephanie2006 says
I agree that the easiest moves were the ones the Army did all the packing and moving for us. The last two moves we did was all us, and a mess. The transatlantic move was organized over months, sending out more and more boxes to my friend's APO address in Germany (only way to afford it), with a two-day climax of cancelling all of our services, getting rid of the furniture and cleaning the place, all that with a new-born and a seriously weirded-out toddler. Just a couple of months later, we had a slightly more organized one-day move to our current place, but I definitely HATE moving!! Not looking forward to the next move sometime this year.
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Janine Huldie says
I would love someone to pack for me and would totally have been all over it if the army could have for us in the past. That said, I feel your pain having to move with two kids and being pregnant. Seriously, you are my hero and truly not sure I would have been able to do it pregnant.
Leah says
Moving with kids is not the best:(( When Rob and I got married, we had two houses to pack up, and then merge into one. It was a very, very stressful time. However, we ended up having to give so much away, we felt so much lighter moving in!! That was a huge perk! I sort of feel like now we need to "pretend" to move so we can go through all the stuff we've accumulated again and purge!!
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Janine Huldie says
I try hard Leah to purge every few months, because it is crazy what accumulates ever few months here. And truly not looking forward to moving with kids in the future and just thinking of it kind of makes me nervous to be honest.
Sandy_Ramsey says
While I love the idea of living in a new house, moving is definitely a nightmare! I would definitely hire movers next time as the houses keep getting bigger, therefore more stuff! On the plus side, it is a good opportunity to get rid of stuff! I always tell Jeff as soon as the last kid leaves we are moving to a one bedroom condo!!
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Janine Huldie says
The getting rid of stuff, I am all for. I will tell you that I hate clutter and certain people in my house couldn't care less (not naming names, loll), but still drives me crazy. So that part, I am quite looking forward to, but the actual moving and packing not so much!! 🙂
ashleyinnc says
The thought of moving honestly makes me go rock in a corner and weep. And I can definitely say there is no way I would do it without movers!!-Ashley
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Janine Huldie says
Ashley moving and more snow make me feel the same way right now, lol!! 🙂
another jennifer says
Moving is definitely a stressful event, and much easier without kids! My husband and I moved across the country twice (sans kids). It was an adventure, to say the least. While we couldn't afford a moving company at the time, I'd hire one now!
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Janine Huldie says
Same here Jennifer and with 2 kids added to the mix, will totally hire a moving company the next time out! 🙂
LisaDottl says
The last two moves we did were cross country and the last one really took the cake. We moved both times by packing our own stuff and getting a truck through ABF. They require you to load your own truck or hire someone to load it for you. We have done both options. The first time we loaded it and barely got it done in time. We didn't even get everything onto the truck. We could've had we went past the allotted space but we didn't think we could at that time. It took what seemed forever for the truck to arrive in FL that first time. We wound up buying a bed so that we didn't have to keep forking out money for hotels. IT was cheaper in the long run to do this. We also bought a couch so we had someplace to sit while waiting for the rest of the stuff to come. So that turned out to be the better move out of the two. The second time we hired someone to load/unload the truck on either end. What a disaster it turned into to. The loaders were horrible. They packed things so wrong and put light things under heavy things and crushed all sorts of boxes. They loaded chairs on top of particle board shelves. Their wasn't a single shelf that survived the trip intact. All had to be reassembled and had to figure out how to be reassembled with some kind of structure to them. Steel ramps next to my standup freezer that poor freezer is so marred up. They didn't even get everything onto the truck we had to leave stuff behind. When they opened the truck on this end the poor unloaders almost had stuff fall on them. The unloaders really were awesome though. They were quick despite the way everything shifted and was damaged in the truck. They also documented the damage for us very thoroughly.
Janine Huldie says
Lisa, that was just an awful experience and so sorry you went through that at all. Just glad they did document it and got some compensation for it. Thanks so much for sharing that here today and seriously felt terrible reading that you went through that at all.
LisaDottl says
actually they refused to compensate us for any of the damage that was done (thousands of dollars in damages). The company we went through for the loaders said I should've sat and watched them load and noted the way the truck was packed. I hired so called professionals so that they wouldn't damage our stuff. Since I was not a professional how would I know how it was supposed to be packed like. That is why I hired these people in the first place. It will not be a mistake we will make again for our next move which hopefully there will just be one more move in our future (fingers crossed)
Janine Huldie says
Ok, now I feel terrible and truly even worse to hear. My fingers are definitely crossed though for the one more move you make be making. Seriously, hope and pray it is much smoother and never have to go through that ever again now.
LisaDottl says
Don't feel bad we were able to piece everything back together and hide the big tear in the back of the chair with the wall :).
Janine Huldie says
I am glad ou were able to do that, Lisa, but still so wrong and sorry for what you did indeed go through.
Billybuc says
I don't know how many times I have moved….more than twenty for sure. I solved the problem of moving….I got rid of most of what I owned….now I can move myself in a pickup truck. LOL Have a great day my friend.
Janine Huldie says
Good solution Bill and will say downsizing, I think does help a ton in moving. Thanks as always and wishing you a great day again, too 🙂
ginnymarie says
I've moved several times in my adult life and have never hired a mover. But that was when I was single and moved from apartment to apartment! Now that I have a family, if we ever move we will think about hiring a mover for sure!
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Janine Huldie says
Same here other then when I was a kid moving with my parents has always been apartment moving, but with two kids now it would totally be having to hire movers here, too.
day-with-kt.com says
Funny – I'm one of those weird people who love to move – everything about it!! I like to pack and have actually thought about starting a packing business. The whole unpacking and setting up makes me happy, too. Our last move (just across town), took less than a week start to finish (from packing the first box to hanging the final picture) – the boys were 3 & 5. I packed all the boxes and loaded them in my van to drive across town and unpack. We hired movers for all of the furniture and by the time they finished I had everything else done.
I have always moved a lot – we have been in this house 10 years and that is more than double the amount in any other home.
My sister always calls me to come to TX and move her – she hates the process and I'm weird in that I like it!!
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Janine Huldie says
I love you love to move and when I was preparing this to share, I so wanted to hear both sides. You totally gave me the other side perfectly. Thank you and will know who to call on when we do move 🙂
notinjersey says
when we moved here, we had movers pack for us and it was so worth it. they did it super fast too! we unpacked ourselves though.
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Janine Huldie says
I tell you I used to be able to unpack I record time, especially when I moved as a kid, because I hated living out of boxes!
realhousewife says
Janine…I've moved MANY MANY times in the last 20 years..I hate it. BUT I do it very well! And I hire movers too..it's the only way to go…last time the movers cost close to 1000 bucks but it truly was worth it (I've got HEAVY furniture upstairs – solid wood furniture that weighs a ton.
So I will be planning a move this summer if all goes well…I decided to wait for spring rather than fight with the weather too and hind sight – that was a good call – today we have ICE and have had mountains of snow this year. Not looking forward to it but once it's done I'll be so glad:))
Janine Huldie says
Totally looks like you made the right choice, because this winter has been crazy and stay tuned more snow for us tonight into tomorrow. So glad I am not moving now either! 🙂
dishofdailylife says
We have never moved, but I am ready to downsize. Unfortunately the kids aren't. Guess we will have to wait a few more years!
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Janine Huldie says
We are looking to upgrade, but still need to make sure that we can afford mortgage payments. We totally have the down payment and then some, just don't want to be house poor right about now here in NY.
Lanaya says
Trust me … as someone who has made two out of state moves in two years, I totally get it! Thankfully going from California to Arizona wasn't as bad as moving from Philly to Cali, but still.
Movers all the way baby!!
The break my shit .. they pay for it! LOL
xoxo
Lanaya
Janine Huldie says
I actually thought of you when I was putting this one together, because of your recent move. And I should have had write the article, because you said it quite perfectly my friend! Love you xoxo!! 🙂
Kenya G. Johnson says
I don't think I can even count how many times I've moved. But I can tell you that I am spoiled and would hate it if we had to move now and the military wasn't packing up us. We only had one DIY move since I've been married to my husband. We were living in Florida at the time and had an apartment but decided to buy a house. So we had to move ourselves out of an upstairs apt. We did hire movers but to get the right price we provided our own boxes and had to pack up everything. They mainly took the big stuff and we drove everything else back and forth in our cars. It seemed to take forever. Fortunately the apartment and the house were on the same side of town.
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Janine Huldie says
I am seriously jealous that most of your moves were picked up by the army and have to admit that I can't wait to buy a house, but the moving idea does keep me up at night to be completely honest. But I am serious, I will find th money to pay for movers, because I just don't think with two kids I would be able to do it without.
Kenya G. Johnson says
Oh yeah that's another thing. I never had to move "with kids". I was pregnant when we moved here. So I am SUPER spoiled. I have never had to pack up a kids room, all those clothes and itty bitty pieces of toys. Sorry did I rub that in? I will tell you the best thing about moving that I miss is getting reorganized. I never moved with stuff I wasn't going to use again. I didn't want to unpack trash or junk so that was a plus on the other end. So get a weekend babysitter AND movers 😉
Janine Huldie says
Hell yes to the babysitter, Kenya. I was already sold on the movers, but agree that babysitters are essential here, too!! 🙂
lovingmarshall says
Ugh. We've moved 5 times in the last 7 years, and it can be a pain! This past time when we moved to Seattle, we hired a moving company. We packed the boxes ourselves, but having someone load the boxes and unload them was SO MUCH BETTER! It was worth the extra expense for sure.
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Janine Huldie says
That is a lot of times and sorry you have had to move as much as you have just for the sheer pain of moving, but I am with you my next move is going to be hiring someone to pretty much do it for me, because I seriously don't want to do it again myself either!
Rosey says
We hired movers to take our things from Florida to Michigan, though we did all the packing. It was a small nightmare, but ended up okay (we got our stuff in one piece). 😉
My SIL used a storage unit in her driveway and she liked it.
Moving's just stressful. I don't like it. It is way more tolerable though if you have movers.
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Janine Huldie says
Totally way more tolerable if you have movers, otherwise i am like you Rosey and just not a fan!
.MIS. Manhattan Image & Style says
Oh, moving is so stressful! I am planning to hire a moving company next time I have to move. 😉
Diana http://www.ManhattanImageandStyle.com
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Janine Huldie says
Totally is Diana and hope if and when you have to move again you will hire movers 🙂
dianeroark says
Janine,
When I was a kid, we moved 5 times. I hated it! When I got married, I said I would never move. Well, that did not happen. I married a medical salesman. He sells C.T.'s. We have moved 7 times in 5 states since we have been married. It sounds horrible BUT at least the company paid for movers. I did have to pack everything, but did not load and unload the truck.
Great post and thoughts!
Diane Roark
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Janine Huldie says
Glad the company paid, but still so sorry you had to do all the packing over and over yourself. Truly my heart goes out to you and hope you don't have to do this again anytime soon again.
tamaralikecamera says
I swear I will never move again. I'm so traumatized by the last three. My anxiety could not deal with it! And when we moved here I was six weeks pregnant. Ugh!
I will say that I'm happy we have four acres because if we ever grew as a family or came into money, we could build onto here instead of moving!!
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Janine Huldie says
Sounds like a great plan, Tamara and I love your house, so I can totally see building upon it if need be. so seriously hope you never have to move again either 🙂
Katherines Corner says
I hate moving too. You would never know it based on the fact that we have moved 13 times in the past 25 years.We have lived in our home now since we built it in 2005. No intention of moving any time soon. giggle. I HATE MOVING.!Hugs
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Janine Huldie says
Katie, I had no idea you moved that many times and can understand fully why you now have no intentions of moving anytime soon, as well as why you hate moving so much. Hugs right back at you! 🙂
Nellie says
I totally hired movers when I bought my home 3 years ago. It made things SO MUCH easier!! I don't think I could ever do it myself. Not to mention that we moved after the great blizzard that brought 3 feet of snow? It was absolutely insane.
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Janine Huldie says
Omg, that does totally sound insane and hope to never have to move anywhere near a blizzard. Seriously, sorry you had to do that, Nellie.
gigigirl says
I have moved a few times in my life…once three times in a little over a year. I promised myself….never again! So I stayed in my West Side apt. 30 years. When I did move to LI, Ihad a few weeks to get the packing done and get rid of stuff I couldn't or didn't want to take. I got three estimates from movers and took the one that would keep my things overnight in the packed truck so I could get to LI the next morning. They met me at the apt. and the move went well. Everything was in place and then I began the unpacking process. It was a lot less painful than doing it myself and depending on help from others. Been there, done that and this was so much better and worth every penny. So, yes, I advocate for professional movers. The do-it-yourself is fine when you're in college….but that's it! Hope your move to your own home will be in the near future. It will be worth all the effort. xxoo
Janine Huldie says
Love how you said moving without movers is only in college and so with you on hiring movers here, too the next time out. Just glad all went well with your move and that it was pretty easy and painless, too!! 🙂 xoxo!!
Kiks says
moving is the hardest…my sister just moved on a different state in Australia and ended up with disorganized things..she didn't know what's on the boxes so it was a pain re-organizing the house.
Janine Huldie says
Kiks, reorganizing is the absolute worst and truly don't look forward to that anytime soon again to be honest.
Karen says
OMG…Moving is the WORST…THE WORST…I hate it…the packing, the unpacking…I want to cry just thinking about it. We've moved three times and will have to move again one day out of this apt though I hope it's not for a LONG time. *eye twitch* and *crazy laugh* starting.
I start to just throw things out rather than pack, LOLOLOL
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Janine Huldie says
I am with you Karen and trust me when I do move, I will most likely be throwing a ton out, because I too just hate and loathe packing and unpacking, too!!
MelChi says
That's so strange, I could have sworn I commented here yesterday! Oh well… better late than never 😉 I used to love moving. Chucking out old stuff and making everything pretty in its new place. Love that still. But oh my goodness. The BOXES and newspaper and mess and sheer exhaustion. Arrrrg. I hate it. And because I work from home, I usually end up doing most of it. We get professional movers but they only move the boxes onto the truck and then off again to the new place. I like to pack my own stuff so I know where it is and so it doesn't break. Hopefully, our next move – whenever that will be – will be to our own home. I'm done with this renting and moving when the owner decides to sell. Hope you're having a lovely Tuesday my friend 🙂
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Janine Huldie says
Melanie, I swear sometimes I think I commented somewhere, too and not sure how I haven't. But hope when you do move again soon, that it isn't too much for you and I know just can't take how much actually does go into moving. I get ill just thinking about it! Also hope you are enjoying your Tuesday now, too!! 🙂
JeriWB says
I moved cross country two times in two years. Move #1 was paid for by hubby's business and a corporate apartment and storage was provided while we found a place to live. Talk about easy. The only reason why I packed any boxes was so I could paint before we moved out. Well, two years later we decided to move back to the house we'd been renting out. Sold our "other" car and picked Allied. BAD CHOICE. It's long story, but it took over three weeks for our furniture to arrive. We would have been better off renting a Uhaul. If we have to make another big move again, we're going to put a tracking device in one of the boxes so we know if the truck is moving or not.
Janine Huldie says
Like your plan Jeri and serious;y the first move did sound the a breeze, but the second not so much. Sorry you went through that and hope you never do again if possible.
The Vanilla Housewife says
We have moved so many times in the past and the last one was the only time we hired a moving truck. Unfortunately it did not include packing so I still had to do it myself. Well, the kids helped but you know how that goes. 😉
Janine Huldie says
Totally do and god help me not looking forward to the kids help this one bit! 🙂
lizzy allan says
Oh Janine, I had to giggle at the Clark Griswald reference! I am gearing up for a major move right now and it is not fun at all. I never know where anything is – I have about 6 single shoes and I can't find their partners! I never moved as a kid, but as an adult I've lost count of how many times I've moved. when I was younger, it was fun, but now with two kids, it's the opposite of fun! I almost wish I could just give everything I own away so I didn't have to pack it and think about what has to be done with it!
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Janine Huldie says
Lizzy, my heart just broke that you are going through this right now and will say that moving as an adult with kids is seriously no fun at all. that said I wish you an easy and quick move now and sending good thoughts your way 🙂
pfchico says
Moving is a horror story for sure. I hate it. When my husband & I were looking for a house we moved twice in one year. Yuck! I moved in with him to save money while we searched & then we found one only a couple of months later. We were fortunate that we have friends that did show up for the pizza & beer. Lucky for me my husband's friend really like beer. Lol!
Janine Huldie says
I know it truly is, but love that your husband’s friend did help and likes beer so much! 🙂
@AMomBlogs says
OMG I have moved with my husbands job so many time and every time is stressful. Our longest moves were KY to CA then CA to MD and recently from MD to KY. The only good thing is unloading junk you aquire that you don't want unpack from a box at the new house. The relocating has kept my life clutter free.
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Janine Huldie says
I keep hearing that Kim and I do think that decluttering is a huge bonus and couldn't agree more 🙂
cgacad says
i am all for hiring movers to do everything…the packing, the moving, the whole shebang. my husband wanted to do the packing himself (which took him forever) and if we had just left it to the professionals, it wouldn't have cost that much more!
Janine Huldie says
Totally agree Catherine and must admit I keep asking on this one, "Where do I sign up!"
Manon says
Moves can be very unpleasant and stressful, indeed! As movers (Man with Van Enfield Town Ltd.) we can say that there is always something that can go wrong during a move so the best thing to do is to plan everything and by everything I mean packing, cleaning, decluttering, meals and this is making the process way easier! Good read! Thanks!
Janine says
Thanks so much Manon for weighing in here.