subject: Decreasing The Difficulty Of Packing [print this page] When it is time to move, you may not know where to start. A home is a big place and you probably are not even aware of everything in your home as it is all put away.
You know that this task is going to take more time than you expected, especially with young children. The first thing you need to do is take one room at a time.
As you go through each room, be sure to throw things out. The more your throw out, the less you will have to transport and unpack.
If you have enough nice things that you are getting rid of, you may want to consider hosting a yard sale. You may be surprised by how much you make from it.
Your yard sale may make enough to partly cover some of the transportation costs of the other things you are keeping. If not, it will at least pay for dinner on the road.
Try to throw out at least 1/3 of your stuff as you pack. The things you do not sell, donate to a second hand store or a recycle center.
Another tip you may want to consider is packing boxes on a table. Not only will you have to keep the weight of each box under a certain weight, but you will be able to pack them quicker.
In general, each box should weigh less than 30 pounds. At most, a box should weigh no more than 50 pounds.
After this point, you are seriously risking a damaged or broken back. This will cost a lot in medical bills and is something you definitely want to avoid.
As you begin taking apart the furniture, be sure to tape the screws and small pieces used to construct them to one of the boards or parts. This way you will not be left wondering which screws went to what when you arrive in your new home.
As you begin packing fragile items, use pillows, towels, and shirts as padding instead of purchasing bubble wrap. These things will protect your fragile items as much as bubble wrap, but it will not waste room on something that you will throw away when you arrive.
When a box is packed, be sure tape it well. Tape it across the flaps and in several different directions and be careful not to forget about the bottom.
You do not want your stuff falling out the bottom when you pick up the box. Then, make sure you label the box with what can be found in it.
This will help you know which boxes need to be unpacked first when you get to your new home. As you begin loading boxes into the truck, make sure that you put the heaviest boxes in first.
This will prevent the top boxes from crushing the other boxes as you travel. If you have a hard time judging how much should go into each box, keep a bathroom scale with you so that you can measure the weight of each box.
If you are not very good with electronics, you may want to consider taking a picture of how things are hooked up before you dismantle them. As you take apart the wiring, attach a piece of tape to each part and write which electronic it goes to.
Make sure the pictures are clear and easy to see how things worked. This will make it much easier on you when you try to start hooking things up.
If you kept the original packaging of an electronic, that is the best packaging to pack it in. However, most people do not keep the original packaging because it takes up too much room to store.
The electronics that are very fragile you may want to pack in box that is carefully packed in other box with padding. Or you can carefully wrap it in a box full of clothes.
Be sure to carefully wrap up each cord and tie the ends together. This will help all of your cords from becoming all mixed up together.
It will be very nice to not have to untangle ten different 14 foot cords when you arrive with your young children trying to play in them.
Moving does not have to be a tremendous, painful task that you have to suffer through along. There are probably many people who would be willing to help you out or babysit and they can make moving a much easier experience.
