I have moved more times than I can count. I have moved streets, cities, states, and countries and it’s always the same. When I know that I’m moving, I suddenly hate my current home. The wait time for me can be excruciating. I become obsessed and I can’t stop thinking about where I’m going to put my furniture and how I will organize my bathroom and closet. I scan Pinterest for decoration ideas. But it’s still too early to pack. You may be like me, or you may be that last minute person that has to take a million trips back after moving to pick up stuff. Either way, these tips are for you.
1. Use up all of your liquids
Try not to buy any new shampoos, soaps, or cleaning supplies. Make it your personal goal to use these up. Try to get by using hotel soaps and shampoos (you don’t want to move those anyway). If you run out of everything else, you can clean almost anything with a little dish soap. Its also a great time to get rid of any products that you don’t use or that have expired. Same goes for your medicine cabinet. Nobody wants to pack and unpack half empty bottles, and you will enjoy buying these new items in your new place.
2. Eat all of your food
First of all, clean out your fridge. Check dates on your dressings and throw away anything expired. Do the same with your freezer and pantry. Check the dates on all of your spices and toss the old ones. Now look at what you have in the fridge and pantry and try to think of meals you can make with it. If you still don’t eat the food, maybe you don’t like it and it shouldn’t make the move. If you can get by without doing your usual grocery hauls, this is a great way to spend less in a time when you have more expenses. It’s also nice to not junk up your new fridge with these old foods.
3. Clean out your closet
You may think that getting organized can wait until after you move, but its actually a great thing to do beforehand. Try following the Marie Kondo method. Go through your closet and donate or sell clothes that you haven’t used in a while or that don’t fit you. Stop hanging onto your “skinny” clothes. When you lose the weight, you deserve new clothes. Do the same with your books. Books are HEAVY. If you’ve already read them, maybe you want to give them to someone else to read. They aren’t trophies.
4. Get stuff cleaned
This is a great time to get your rugs cleaned. You will love unfolding your fresh new rugs in your new place. I usually spend this time washing things like curtains, blankets, duvet covers, etc. You will want to pack all of these things clean.
5. Pack stuff that you don’t use often
I always start by packing our decorative items very far in advance. These are the easiest thing to live without during your transition period. Then I move on to pack the kitchen items that I don’t always use. When it gets down to packing crunch time, you will be happy to have a few boxes already done. On my last move, I actually packed up 50% of my son’s toys in advance. He was so excited to see them again in the new place and all of those toys were suddenly new to him. Make sure you put these packed boxes in an area that doesn’t get a lot of high traffic. You don’t want to be dodging these boxes all month.
Before you know it, it will be time to move and it will be a breeze. You will actually enjoy unpacking and organizing your new place now that the heavy lifting is done. Lets do this.