Moving is stressful. Period. From months of planning (not only planning the move itself but also planning the many elements of a new life), to the day of the move itself, to settling in over the longer period, all these events are full of uncertainty, hard work, expected as well as unforeseen costs, and plain old stress.

Luckily, we are not alone. Wiser and more organized people than us have been through this ordeal before and have shared their experiences along with great words of advice for us. Here is a round-up of some of the best moving advice from around the web. For each section I am just providing a quick summary. Make sure to read the other authors’ original articles to get the full goodness of what each has to offer.

The Organized Moving Home Checklist 

Over at The Organized House Wife, Kat believes the key to moving is to purge your clutter before you move. In order to make it easier for her readers, Kat has provided a Moving Home Checklist that includes moving tips and packing tips.  The handy list of packing tips include:

• Take care when packing items, carefully wrap all breakable items and label the box as fragile
• Pack heavy items into small boxes
• The less space in the box results in less damage, so try to pack as much as you can into each box
• Pack items from each room into separate boxes, this will make the process of unpacking easier for you
• Remember to reinforce the bottom of heavy boxes with packing tape, this will make the box stronger
• Put bubble wrap on the corners of precious furniture so they won’t get damaged during the move
• Pack all jewellery and important documents in one box, keeping them safe and with you during the move

FlyLady’s Moving Tips

FlyLady does not want her readers to feel overwhelmed by the pressures and anxieties of moving, so she has provided a post on Moving Tips.

FlyLady feels strongly that they key to avoiding uncertainty and chaos has two simple answers:

• Baby steps!
• Don’t move anything you don’t love

She then provides super-useful recommendations on:

• Packing supplies you will need for moving
• Removing the clutter from your house
• Packing itself

I particularly enjoyed her common-sense, stress free approach. Here is an small example:

This move can be peaceful if you take it slow and steady and not stress out. You did not get packed up and moved in a day, and you are not going to have the house put back together in a day. Stick to your plan and take BabySteps unpacking. After you have the basic household items unpacked, just take five boxes a day and put things away where you want them to go. Toss out what you really don’t love or need and put the things you do love in its new home.

7 hot tips for moving house like a pro

Jacqui at Domain gives us a bit of a different spin, focusing as she does on some elements of moving day I wouldn’t have considered. In her article 7 hot tips for moving house like a pro, Jacqui covers

• Keeping security in mind
• Getting insurance for the big move
• Backing up your electronic files
• Packing a “survival kit” for the day of the move
• Verify your physical access to your new destination
• Make sure you have enough sets of keys to the new place
• Arrange for professional cleaners to go through your old place so you don’t have to

Here are Jacqui’s ideas on the survival kit:

Pack a moving-day survival kit containing essentials to get you through the day and your first night in your new home. Include toilet paper, a kettle, tea, coffee, water, snacks, cleaning products, garbage bags, basic tools, a set of plates, cups, cutlery, a first aid kit, toiletries, a change of clothes, bed linen and pillows.

Moving On Up: 10 Tips to Make Moving So Much Easier

On Lauren Conrad, Lauren herself shares 10 Tips To Make Moving So Much Easier, based on her own experiences after leaving the parent’s next and moving frequently in the college years and beyond. The nuggets include:

• Purge before you pack
• Start packing the items you use the least
• Pack a bag with all of your essentials for the first few days in your new home
• Try to keep all of your clothes on their hangers
• Find a sitter for your four-legged friends on moving day. It will make things less stressful on you and your pets
• Use a company that rents reusable plastic cratesbecause they’re sturdier and better for the environment than disposable cardboard boxes
• If you can get off from work to move during a weekday, chances are you’ll get better rates, AND you’ll have the weekend to unpack and unwind
• Have a labeling system
• Pack tightly. Don’t leave empty spaces in boxes

My personal favorite is the very last one

Pay it forward. If you want to do something nice for your old place’s new residents, leave behind a box of useful information (appliance warranties, favorite local boutiques, takeout menus, etc.). It’s a small gesture, but a sweet one.

Isn’t that nice?

7 Steps to Successfully De-cluttering For a Move

Helen at We Organize U writes a post on one of the most important steps that needs to happen before the move: decluttering.

The main points that Helen emphasizes are are:

• Start NOW
• Take pictures of all the large items you know will not work or fit in your next home and post them on one of the resale sites online
• Go through your house one room at a time and get rid of the no-brainers first.
• Do some research ahead of time and decide where you will take your discarded items.
• Fight the ‘what if I need it someday’ fear
• Set up your supplies in advance.
• Get the whole family involved

For myself, I appreciated some of the good points that Helen made about the costs of moving things you don’t need.

Our tendency is to put it off until packing time, but most people are in a time crunch at that point, and will often put things in a box to deal with them ‘later’. Remember that you are paying for each item you move, not only in the time it takes to pack and unpack it, but also by the space it takes up in the moving truck. Why pay to move something you don’t really need? You’ll be busy when you move into your new home, and will probably put off going through those ‘deal with them later’ boxes indefinitely; believe me, when I work with clients, I come across unpacked boxes that have been sitting in the basement or garage for several years after a move.

An essential checklist for moving in to a new home

Tsh at the Art of Simple has moved around quite a lot, and has come to the realization that are just a few things you can’t do without. As she puts in her essential checklist for moving in to a new home …

We’ve been through most everything when it comes to moving. Yet each time, I forget about those basic things you want to have on hand that first week, when I honestly don’t know where anything is. Every move I make, I’m reminded of that feeling of chaos, of helplessness, of not being able to do the most basic of things (drink of water, anyone?) without certain items within arm’s reach.

So here’s my list of those absolutely essential things you want to have on hand from Day 1 of moving into a new place. These are the things you’ll want to bring in your first load, and will want to locate easily all throughout the moving process.

I won’t give it away here, because it’s a fun list, but it is broken down into three main categories;

• The things you need for human survival (e.g. snacky food for the family)
• The things you need to actually function (toilet paper, keys, etc)
• Cleaning supplies you will need
• The things you need to spend the night at your new place

How to Plan, Purge, and Pack For Your Next Move

Amy the Frugal Mama has written a 4-part series on moving that is very helpful. The 4^th article in the series focuses on How to plan, purge, and pack for the next move.

The essenatial element that amy covers includes:

• Keeping all your papers related to the move in one file
• Organizing your furniture needs with a floor plan
• Purging stuff you won’t need
• Tips for when you are packing your things yourself
• Tips for when movers are packing your things

One tip I enjoyed reading about, which does seem overly retentive for my own tastes but that I’m sure many readers will embrace dig, is to figure out the floor plan of your new digs, put it up on a foam board on the wall, and do all your furniture placement planning with paper cutouts. As Amy says,

You may find this totally obsessive-compulsive, but when we moved to New York, I had the apartment’s floor plan blown up as large as possible at an office supply store. After gluing it to foam board, I measured all the furniture in our house and made cut-outs with colored paper.   …

… Before we even set foot in the apartment, we were able to figure out:

1. What I could take
2. What I had to give away or sell
3. What I needed to buy and the approximate size
4. Where to tell the movers to put stuff on moving-in day

Knowing we would have no car for picking up new or donating old furniture, this kind of anal planning prevented a lot of headaches (and backaches).

How to stay organized during a move

On I Heart Naptime, Jamielyn shares here 10 best moving tips.  They include:

• Use a moving checklist
• Make a moving plan
• Start early
• Use garbage bags to cover your clothes and keep them clean
• Store items inside of large bowls and pots
• Use a phone book or packing paper to wrap your dishes and breakables
• Place foam plates between your glass plates to protect them
• Throw out what you don’t need
• When in doubt, tape it up
• Label everything correctly

If Pinterest is your thing, head on over and check out the gorgeous, and ready for posting, pictures that accompany the article.

5 Ways to Protect Your Identity During a Move

MovinGal offers an entire blog dedicated to “calming the chaos of moving”. Now who wouldn’t what that? The blog contains many articles, each related to one particular facet of moving. One particular element of moving that I hadn’t personally given much thought to is protecting your identity. Here is what Keith at MovinGal has to say about that.

• Update your information as soon as possible
• Be careful what personal information you share out loud
• Make sure you use a reputable moving company
• Remain vigilant about your personal information before, during, and after your move
• Keep your identify protected by securing your electronics and your wireless communication

Round-Up Wrap-Up

I hope you’ve enjoyed this round up and may your next moving day be filled with calm and focus!