The 5 Cardinal Rules Of MOVING
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The 5 Cardinal Rules Of MOVING
Hello lovely friends! This last week has been A LOT. If you didn’t already know, Jacob and I just moved houses, which is always a difficult process. In fact, Jacob and I have moved every year we have been husband and wife! When we first got married, we lived in Charlottesville for a year while he finished his degree at UVA Law. Then we moved all the way to Omaha, Nebraska. After that, we moved back to Virginia, but this time we were closer to Washington, DC…and now we are moving basically next door to where we were living! (That’s a story in and of itself, but basically it comes down to the fact that we had mice and our landlord didn’t want to take care of it. Gross!)
So now, after moving so many times, I feel like I’ve picked up some important ways to make the moving process easier and I want to share those tips with you! So buckle in, get out your notebook, and let’s get started.
ALWAYS get the kitchen unpacked first. It is NOT easy to unpack the kitchen, don’t get me wrong. The problem with the kitchen is that we have all these tools and ingredients for the things we make about twice a year, and then we have the stuff we use every single day. Trying to figure out how to store the products that we don’t use very often but still use sometimes can give you a real case of decision fatigue - making decision after decision regarding where things should be stored.
BUT, as I always say, the kitchen is the heart of the home. If you don’t have a working kitchen, you can’t cook meals. You can’t make breakfast or dinner for you or your family! And if you’re trying to save money during a move, the first thing you will blow your budget on is takeout. So start by unpacking your most used items. Anything you don’t use very often - leave it in a box until you need it. But now you can actually get started on making your new house into a home.
Get one room TOTALLY clean. This is a non-negotiable for me. If every room of your house feels like a mess, you just can’t relax. But if you can get one room under control, one room that you can sit in and chill out, then you can take a break at the end of the day. It doesn’t feel like everywhere you look is another box you have to tackle.
This time around, we actually have about three rooms totally unpacked. We unpacked the living room (which is a simple one because you don’t usually have much storage there), the kitchen (refer back to point 1), and my office (so that I can actually sit and focus without losing my mind). Taking the time to unpack just one room so you can really enjoy your new home without worrying is imperative to making your move easier.
If you see something you forgot you owned, get RID of it. Nothing will make you feel like a hoarder faster than packing or unpacking your belongings. “How do we have so much stuff??” is a question I constantly ask myself when we move. There are so many things that you acquire over time and simply don’t get rid of. So my rule is this: if I come across something while packing or unpacking that I had truly forgotten I owned, I get rid of it. If I didn’t know that I had it, then I can’t really have missed it or needed it. That item goes into the donation bin.
You’ll feel so much better when you start to declutter and let go of things you never use but that simply live in your home. Now, if it’s something sentimental, that’s a different story. But if it’s just a product you have that you never use, throw it out or give it away. You didn’t even know you had it - so it will not be missed.
Ask your friends to HELP! Jacob and I were so lucky to have so many generous friends come over to help us. They helped us cart things over to our new place and it made such a difference. You’d be surprised how many people are actually willing to help with a move! Especially when you offer pizza and beer as a reward.
Don’t feel like you have to take on moving by yourself. It’s not unreasonable to ask people for help. Just make sure to pay it forward the next time someone asks for your help moving!
Figure out the best unpacking method for YOU. There are two kinds of people: the people who want to take four days, focus, and get everything unpacked, or the people who want to take it slowly, unpack a couple of boxes a day over the course of a month, and take it easy. Figure out what works for YOU, and do it.
My mom, for example, is definitely an example of the first kind of person. She doesn’t want to be unpacking a little bit every day. She wants everything done, all in one go. As her daughter, I get the benefit of this because she’s always so helpful when we move! On the other end of the spectrum, I have a friend who prefers to take things easy. She’s not bothered by boxes because she recognizes that she’ll have it all unpacked soon enough. So she moves at her own pace. Whatever your style is, embrace it, work with it, and accept it. Soon enough, you will be all settled in!
So those are my five tips for moving! What about you? Do you have any tips you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments below!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: This Month's Book Club Selection!
I’m excited to share this month’s book club selection! This month we are reading fiction (we switch up month-to-month), and I can’t wait. The book we will be reading is…Catch-22! I’ve never read it, so I’m looking forward to diving in.
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I grew up in a military family and we moved, on average, every three years. All of your tips are excellent!
Moving is rough! I am glad you found a system that works. For my last move my folks were very generous and paid for movers for me. I mentioned before my last apartment had mice, what I forgot to tell you was some of them tagged along in my vehicle! I was having all these problems with my car when I first moved to my current place a few years ago. Took it to the dealership... and found out an entire family of rodents had created a NEST in the engine of my car and were chomping away at the wires my car needed to function. That was an expensive fix and the last time I had to deal with rodents. I hope you and Jacob never have to deal with them either. Nasty little things!