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A mountain of boxes

June 21st, 2013 at 03:17 am

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome. And so much good advice already!

Right now we are in the midst of packing up our current residence. Although we won't close until the end of next month, we have to be out of our current place by the end of this month, since our landlord is selling our house. We've got some plans for furnished temporary housing to bridge the gap, but in the meantime we need to pack all of our stuff for storage.

By starting packing so early, I am trying to be deliberate about getting rid of things that we don't need/use. We've been in the same house for four years, and we've accumulated a lot of stuff. (We've also had a kid since we moved here, and that sure brought lots of stuff into our lives!)

Every day this week I have made a run to Goodwill/trash/recycling center. Once I've decided it can go, I just want it out of the house! We've made a lot of progress, but there's still quite a bit to go.

Financially, though, I am ashamed to say that during this process I've found multiple things that I've purchased from Amazon that are STILL IN THE BOX! Like still in the brown shipping box. We have a subscription to Amazon Prime, and sometimes it is just too easy to buy something I think we need. Well, clearly we didn't really need it if it is still in the box!

The good news is, that some of the purchases were still eligible for return, so I filled out the necessary info and will mail them off tomorrow. Another item will make a good birthday gift for my nephew next month. The remaining few items I will chalk up to a learning experience and vow to change my ways!

Have a good night, everyone!

***Edited for grammatical errors.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “A mountain of boxes”

  1. snafu Says:
    June 21st, 2013 at 06:53 am 1371797634
    1371797634

    Work required we move a lot. I hope it's ok to offer suggestions that might be useful. Print a page of labels for New House {NH} as there is so much notification and repeats for those so disorganized. Make up a small tool kit It's expensive and time consuming to move stuff you don't like, don't use, disappoint, don't need or broken, Try to get as many similar boxes [4 cu] as possible as they stack better in the truck and you have two load/unloads. Segmented liquor boxes work well for glasses, vases, foods, bathrm supplies etc.

    Each cupboard or closet emptied seal with a bit of masking tape. When disassembling items, corral all bolts, screw, bit & pieces in snack sz zip lock bags and tape to the back of the item.

  2. snafu Says:
    June 21st, 2013 at 06:58 am 1371797905
    1371797905

    Get newspaper roll end or packer's paper as newspaper ink makes everything dirty. 1st pretend you're camping until you get re-settled in NH. Do your best to use up as much food as possible, it doesn't move well. Try to buy a used wardrobe box from mover, most efficient to move clothes on hangers from closet to box's rail to NH's closet & effective for seasonal garments long term. [Bounce type dryer sheets effectively keep out vermin.] I

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    June 21st, 2013 at 01:10 pm 1371820230
    1371820230

    So glad some of those items can be returned! And maybe the others since brand new, might be able to be sold locally on craigslist. Or if you are familiar with ebay, list them there.

    We just moved last year. The Army hired a moving company to pack and move our things, but we still had to separate out what we needed with us while in a hotel for three weeks. The less you take with you in a small space the better.

    When you get the keys, you'll want to clean first, place toilet paper, soap, hand towel and shower curtains. I know we needed to buy a toilet brush, curtain rods, a dryer vent, a new cord for our dryer when we first move in here. It seems you run to the nearest hardware store soon after moving in!

    Good luck with the packing!

  4. CB in the City Says:
    June 21st, 2013 at 01:23 pm 1371821015
    1371821015

    Be sure to pack an "open me first" box with everything you can't live without. I packed a shower curtain, bath mat, toilet paper, shampoo and body wash, a total change of clothes, mattress pad and sheets, my daily medications, and my coffeemaker and coffee!

  5. rob62521 Says:
    June 22nd, 2013 at 03:45 am 1371872754
    1371872754

    Good idea packing stuff ahead. Hope you can get refunds on the extra stuff.

    I labeled every box with what room it went into on a side and on top and a quick list on top when we moved, it was easier to know where the boxes should go and I could glance to see what needed to be unpacked first and what could wait.

  6. Elle Says:
    June 22nd, 2013 at 03:46 am 1371872817
    1371872817

    Thanks for all the advice! We've moved four times in the past eight years, so I always think I have it figured out, but never do. Each move is unique, and this one looks to be the most complicated one yet. But I hadn't thought about making sure the coffee maker is accessible right from the start, and shower curtains, since our current place has shower doors. I think is time to make a list of things to remember to do.

  7. Elle Says:
    June 22nd, 2013 at 03:50 am 1371873003
    1371873003

    Rob, I do have a master list with each box numbers and the contents recorded. The last few moves I have listed contents in a notebook instead of the box because others were moving our stuff and I didn't want them to know where the good stuff was! But I agree that labeling the location is the most important; otherwise you have to search the whole house for something you need!

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