Packing / moving - what do you bring with you?

[piper84]

This will be our first big move (>3 hrs) and as I'm starting to looking through all our stuff, I'm wondering what all you ladies do when you move so often. Any advice or tips?

Do you pack and move EVERYTHING you own? What about food (cans of soup, pasta, spices, etc.)? Donate or bring with you? I've always saved and reused gift bags and I have a ton of them -- would you just toss (or recycle) things like this, or pack them and move them across the country?

[poppet]

Are you DITY or are you having the military do it?

I usually start by going room to room and spring cleaning/organizing. I ask myself if I like/use something enough to bother packing/unpacking it. My threshold for if something is worth it is a lot higher if I'm doing a DITY move! The one good thing about frequent moves is it helps keep me from collecting tons of crap! I've also found that if things are semi-organized (instead of just tossed in closets) before the packers come they do a better job of packing things together and unpacking is easier for me.


Make sure to clear a space where you can put things that you want to keep with you for the actual move (I usually clear out the guest bathroom and put large signs on the door to let the packers/movers know that those items stay). We usually keep our computers, suitcases with clothes/toiletries, and boxes with important papers/jewelry/valuables with us for the move.

[basilosaurus]

Depends on where I'm going. All my mil moves have had a body of water between locations, so that restricts what I can bring.

Going to Japan, I think the only food like stuff I brought were giant unopened jugs of olive oil (I had no idea if I could get them there!) and my extensive spice collection. Coming back from Korea, though, they packed everything. Even opened bags of dried fruit. It was kinda gross to think about, but I ended up being happy to not to buy more dry goods (I only used what had been sealed).

Basically, I try to think about what I'll need for 6 weeks. That might mean packing for a couple seasons. I don't worry about things like linens, but I was thrilled we brought our own pillows to Japan as we ended up in TLF for 5 weeks. I was also happy that I had bought a new set of pots/pans en route, so we had good cooking stuff instead of the lenders. I'm someone who feels grounded and home through cooking, so that made a difference for me, probably not for everyone.

I hand carry jewelry, hard drives (although I'm getting less anal about this as I have more sources of backup), and paperwork. I'll also make sure to hand pack my sensitive electronics (tv, stereo, etc) or supervise closely. I've been shocked at what movers have tried to force into a box without appropriate padding. Other than that, I don't really care.

Moving is a good time to really think about what you're saving for reuse or just saving indefinitely. I have some stuff that made it to Hawaii with a couple moves in between, but probably won't make it out of here. If I haven't used something in 5+ years, even though I meant to, I probably won't ever do it. This would apply to gift bags in my case, but maybe you're better about such things.

[piper84]

Thanks for all the info, ladies. You guys brought up some points that I hadn't even thought of yet!

On a side note, here is another question. There are a few furniture items that we've been planning to buy (a headboard/bed for our room, and a new dining table). Does it make more sense to buy then here in the Bay Area and have them moved with our other furniture? Or does it make sense to wait until we get to Del Rio and pay to have it shipped? The closest furniture stores look to be 3+ hours away from Del Rio (in San Antonio) so I'd probably buy online... I'm just not sure if shipping to a place like Del Rio would be super expensive, and what the protocol is for having deliveries while living on base. If you have any thoughts on this, I'd love the help!

[Deleted]

Definitely wait until you get where you're going to buy new furniture! Military movers are notorious for scratching things...and even though they pay to fix it, it still sucks to have your brand-new-never-been-used furniture banged up by the movers. Deliveries on base are NBD -- usually they just call you from the gate and you go out and meet them and sign them in.

When we move, these are the things I make sure we have with us:

- aero bed with one set of linens/pillows
- clothes for about 4-6 weeks (probably won't be that long, but if you don't get into a house right away you'll be glad you did this)
- whatever you'll need for LO (I'm not a mommy yet, so I'm not sure about what you'll need:-) )
- computers/hard drives
- chargers!!!
- all important paperwork (marriage license, birth certificate, ss card, passports)
- all military move-related paperwork -- I keep this in an accordion file -- orders, household good shipment paperwork, bill of lading, movers' inventory (you'll need these to get your stuff on the other end), any receipts along the way so I can get reimbursed, etc.

Most moving companies will let you pack your non-perishable food. Canned stuff is fine. No liquids (cooking oil, etc). If you have a booze collection, you might want to pack any UNOPENED bottles with you in your car. You may be able to take opened bottles if they are secured outside of the passenger compartment (but check open-container laws in the states you'll be traveling through). Take your cleaning supplies if you have room in your car -- it's a huge PITA to have to buy these new every time you move.

You can get reimbursed for weight of the goods that you move yourself, in your own car. It's called "Partial DITY" (for do-it-yourself). A "full DITY" would be if you moved everything all on your own then got reimbursed based on the weight of everything. Think of it this way -- you are ALWAYS going to do a "partial DITY" because you will always have stuff in your car. Basically you take your car to a weigh station, get it weighed, then pack it up and get it weighed again. You get reimbursed for the difference, as well as the cost of getting it weighed (usually $5-10 each time). Some people rent small trailers for their partial DITY's -- I've never had enough stuff to justify this, but depending on what kind of car you have and how much stuff you'll need for the LO, it might make sense. Usually the price-per-pound you get reimbursed for will more than cover the cost of trailer rental.

Hope this helps!

[meltoine]

I disagree with villain. Don't wait. There is an Ashley furniture in DR, and a few other local furniture stores. Most of the stores in SA charge an arm and a leg to deliver to Del Rio, and most stores from beyond SA won't deliver there at all.

Buy your stuff, leave it in the boxes and the original packaging and have the movers note on the inventory that it is "new in box". That way if there is ANY damage to it, they are responsible.

I'be never had movers damage any of my furniture. I've had them steal computers, but no damaged furniture, LOL!

[beachy]

I think buying furniture depends on a few things. Do you know what your weight limit will be and if you are anywhere near it? Do you know where you'll be living and what kind of setup you'll have in the new place to know how big of furniture to buy? If you have enough room weight-wise and have an idea of the space you'll have then buy it now and leave it in original packaging.

-I always bring with me about a week to 10 days worth of clothes. We always do laundry a night in a hotel during the move and usually find a laundromat in the area while waiting for our HHG delivery.
-Ditto the others about all pet stuff, baby stuff, and cleaning supplies.
-I bring an air mattress, pillows, and blankets to sleep on until the delivery
-I always try to bring garbage bags with me, and a box of tin foil. I use the tin foil to cook on in the oven instead of packing pans.
-All important docs- move paperwork, marriage/birth certificates, SS cards, etc. I usually just throw our small safe in the car with all of that in it.

-Make sure you get everything together that you plan on bringing with you in the car at least the day before the packers get there. If you have an empty closet, bathroom, or bathtub or something completely empty, put it all in there. Make sure you tell every single packer and mover not to pack or take the stuff in there. Even better if you can, put everything into the car so they have no access to it. That way you'll also know that it all fits.

-As for liquor, wine, oils, cleaning supplies, etc., it depends on your movers and packers as to what they'll take. Technically they aren't supposed to pack or move any of that. In our 2 recent moves they have packed all of it anyways so I didn't have to worry about it. But whatever they won't pack you can make the decision to hand carry it or just get rid of it. Usually anything they won't take (like the grill propane tank) I offer to the packers or movers if they want it since they usually live close, and they have always gladly taken them.

[audette]

Each move has been a bit different, but some generalities:

We try to eat down the pantry/fridge/freezer, and anything open when the movers come is given away (to friends, to coworkers, heck once to the packers themselves). Except for my spice collection. Anything sealed is generally OK for them to pack, so I let them pack it, or, if I don't want them to do that, I'll get rid of it before they show up (foodbank, friends, etc).

I do attempt to declutter/tidy/organize before the packers arrive. It makes the unpacking easier, and makes packing day a bit easier for us. I don't, generally, get rid of things I'm fairly sure we'll use again (ie: we have some of those gift bags, and tissue paper, and they are stored in a big plastic bin where we keep our envelopes and some shipping supplies, too - that all gets moved). We are doing a more extensive declutter prior to our upcoming (overseas) move, because we are limited on how much we can take, and what we don't take will be in storage for 2-3 years.

The packers will basically pack everything in a room, and they'll just keep packing until the room and eventually, the house are done.

[audette]

Oh, and bringing with us: clothes for 8-10 days (enough to handle doing laundry at a laundromat/hotel while we wait on household goods). That includes any hot/cold climate gear we might need for where we are moving from and to. This also includes whatever uniform stuff DH needs.

We also bring critical files/documents - marriage license, my immigration paperwork, passports, copies of DH's orders, etc. If we had kids, birth certificates would be included, as would shot records. Any medications should be brought along in sufficient quantity that you have some to spare after you arrive at the new base.

I bring along enough yarn to keep me going for a couple weeks. Yes, I can probably find yarn whereever we end up, but it's basically a comfort item for me. I also need to bring along certain things for work - I telecommute and would need access to these items before household goods might arrive.

The rest will depend on if we are flying or driving, really. When driving, we lugged along a bunch of other things - more filework, more yarn, air mattress and what we'd need to camp out in new quarters for a week or two.

[Deleted]

Oh yeah, definitely put stuff you will take in the car in a completely separate area! Don't forget to leave your purse in that area as well -- I've heard of packers packing up purses, wallets, car keys, bags of dirty garbage, and anything else that's not tied down:-)