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Moving Tips from some ole’ pros

August 20, 2010 by

You’re sick of hearing about it I know, I’m sick of talking about it but I want to share some info to make your next move easier.

The more organized you are before the move the better the outcome. But that is much easier said than done. Moving can throw even the most organized household into chaos. Getting organized before you take on moving is a commitment, but is well worth the effort in the long run. Here are some tips to help you on the road to an organized move:

Start planning as soon as you find out you have to move. The more time you have, the more organized you can be. Come up with a storage and moving to do list that you can follow and amend from now until moving day. Put everything you can think of on that list, no matter how trivial it seems now. When things get busy and hectic as you dismantle your house and get closer to your moving day, your very detailed to do list will assure that you will not forget anything.

Get rid of things you do not need. Go through everything in your house and put aside those items to either donate or sell. Most charities will send a truck to pick-up donated items but don’t give someone else your trash.

It is never too early to pack. Begin packing non essential items EARLY. Start with out of season items, decorations, the coat closet, garage tools and kids gear that is outgrown but being saved.  If you plan to put a stuff in storage, pack those items first and move them as soon as possible.

Label everything. Have loads of permanent markers, tape and labels handy while you pack. Label the contents of every box and in what room the box belongs. I even labeled something “Random Box of Sh!t” then listed everything that was in it.

Leave a few open and empty boxes for last minute items. You will want things like bed linens, toiletries and cleaning supplies readily available when you are unpacking. Label them clearly with “open first” so you can spot them and put them on the truck last or in the car with you.

Happy moving vibes to anyone going through it!

This is a sponsored post but the opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! Your experiences and reactions may differ from ours.




PackRat Makes Moving Easier

July 16, 2010 by

I know you’re all tired of hearing about the move; I just have one last post. This one is to tell you about the actual process of packing, organizing and moving. With a month left to move and house to paint and rugs to clean we knew we needed help. We shopped around for a storage pod; we needed immediate availability, large size and competitive pricing and 1 800-Pack-Rat fit all those requirements.

We needed to get furniture out of the house in order to complete the task of painting and cleaning. 1-800-Pack-Rat came through the day after calling with a 16ft portable storage unit placed in our driveway. The timing was perfect; no one else was able to come through so quickly. If you’ve never seen the un-load of one of these it’s pretty cool, not once does it tilt or tip or even shake; a good indication that your belongings are secure. The process took about 15 minutes. We were ready to start loading it up with boxes. Seasonal clothes, toys, seldom used appliances and dishes and some furniture were the 1st to go. This freed up tons of space in the house to do what we needed to do.


Over the month we continued to pack and rearrange and organize the things in the pod. On move day they showed up and hauled it away, a couple hours later it was in the driveway of the new house. It took just a couple days to unload and it was gone again in just a few minutes. The highlight of working with 1-800-Pack-Rat was dealing with the delivery/pick-up drivers. They were super nice, friendly, answered questions and didn’t get mad when Shaun got in the way.

Arranging the actual move was a little different than I had expected. The company assures pick-up and delivery at OUR convenience but it wasn’t entirely that smooth. I wanted the unit moved 5 days prior to our move date then placed in on-site storage for a short time then delivered when we moved in. We were told that wasn’t going to happen, it was going to be picked up on move day. For some this wouldn’t be a problem but we needed to fit a moving truck in front of our house too. This was impossible. We were left playing musical cars with the neighbors, begging for extra space, blocking people in and saving space that was meant for overflow.
We did receive the MOVE of the unit for free but paid for the storage/delivery for the prior month so I’m guessing that is why we didn’t receive the same service a “paying” customer would have gotten. I understand the costs involved with the move and storage but we were reviewing the service also, not just the use of the unit. I’m hoping we were just the exception when it came to the moving aspect of the process.

Would I use 1-800-Pack-Rat again? Yes! Would I recommend 1-800-Pack-Rat to friends and family? Yes!
Visit 1-800-Pack-Rat for a quote for an upcoming remodeling project or move or visit their Facebook page for tips on organization, packing and storage

This is a sponsored post but the opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! Your experiences and reactions may differ from ours.