I hate moving (aka Moving is stressful)

[Freezer-TPF-]

Getting tired of packing. Running out of sanity and free space to put packed boxes. Putting my poor Sokoban puzzle skills to the test.

Even when you hire movers and are moving less than 10 miles away, it's a lot of work. We've been slowly moving a lot of stuff over to the new place ourselves just to make room for more boxes.

As I look at all the desktop computer equipment I have to pack, I envy my wife's little laptop. I also just packed up at least 6 boxes of DVDs and CDs, when I haven't listened to or watched physical media in over a year.

My biggest fear--being without internet for a few days, or even longer if the cable guy has trouble with the installation at the new place. All the cable outlets there are doubled up as if for satellite service, so I'm hoping that reconfiguring them back for straight cable is not a major hassle.

[Isgrimnur]

Last time I moved locales, I was moving out of a 550 sq ft apt. I had to rent a storage unit for a month to get the finished boxes out of the way. The movers were quite happy when I opened the unit and all they had to do was pick and move, as they'd had to box my kitchen for me earlier.

At least you've already got the new place to offload to in order to save that headache.

[coopasonic]

Even when you hire movers and are moving less than 10 miles away, it's a lot of work. We've been slowly moving a lot of stuff over to the new place ourselves just to make room for more boxes.

Hire movers + packers. So much easier. I'll never pack myself again. (of course I also said I would never move again, but that never works out)

[Carpet_pissr]

Even when you hire movers and are moving less than 10 miles away, it's a lot of work. We've been slowly moving a lot of stuff over to the new place ourselves just to make room for more boxes.

Hire movers + packers. So much easier. I'll never pack myself again. (of course I also said I would never move again, but that never works out)

How do movers+packers charge? By the hour/box/weight? Is there a nationally known company that does this, or better to hire local I wonder?

[Freezer-TPF-]

I think having someone else pack my stuff would be more stressful in many ways. I'd still want to pack anything fragile or sensitive myself, and I'd feel like we'd have to be ultra-organized for someone else to pack all of our stuff successfully.

[Smoove_B]

I like unpacking, but yeah, moving in general stinks. We hired movers to get us from the old house into the new one, but there was simply no way I was paying someone to pack my stuff. I'm weird about that, I guess. But to actually move it? I wouldn't hesitate to use them again...though we're never moving so it won't be an issue. I'd definitely check out locals but you want to know what their policies are for insurance, mileage. Ours had a "base" cost determined by the number of rooms and then I was able to add 50 or 75 boxes (which wasn't nearly enough based on all of my books) to the quote.

[Chaz]

Movers are absolutely the best money you'll ever spend when it comes to moving. They have the equipment to get stuff done fast, the experience to get furniture in and out of tight spots, and the motivation to finish quickly. I'll never move without using movers (the ones who bring their own truck) again.

I always, always, always use moving as an opportunity to purge my belongings. It's amazing how much crap you can accumulate when it just has to sit there. Last move, I finally pitched out a ton of physical PC games that I either knew I'd never touch again (Vanguard?) or were already digital and in my steam library. In order to justify existing in my life, I have to be willing to pack something, move the packed box to the new place, and find a new spot for it. If it's not worth doing those things, out it goes. I'm ruthless.

As for cost, I've used local companies. When you call for an estimate, they'll usually go down a huge list of items asking if you have them and how many. After you finish that, they'll have a good idea how much crap you have, then get the start and end points, and give you a time estimate, and they usually bill by the hour, factoring in how many guys they think they'll need. Rates go up depending on expected business and day of the week. Getting movers in Boston during May and September will cost you way more than the same guys on a weekday in December. For reference, I paid just under $300 for movers for a three-hour job moving from my last place, with a one-bedroom apartment's worth of stuff.

Another interesting note is that you can actually rent a Uhaul truck and then hire dudes to help you load and unload it, but you drive the truck. I did this once, but the cost savings didn't really make it worth it. It was only slightly more to get a full moving company, they bring a bigger truck so space isn't an issue, and they deal with driving it, which is huge when you're talking about driving around Boston.

Isn't the saying that the three most traumatic events in life are death of a loved one, ending a relationship, and moving?

[coopasonic]

Even when you hire movers and are moving less than 10 miles away, it's a lot of work. We've been slowly moving a lot of stuff over to the new place ourselves just to make room for more boxes.

Hire movers + packers. So much easier. I'll never pack myself again. (of course I also said I would never move again, but that never works out)

How do movers+packers charge? By the hour/box/weight? Is there a nationally known company that does this, or better to hire local I wonder?

Packing is charged by the box. Of course they end up putting less stuff in boxes than you might pack in there, but that's the business. We've had our stuff packed for us twice and both times I was very happy with the results. I can't imagine spending weeks packing crap and dealing with boxes stacked all over the place when for a few hundred dollars it could all be done in a day and by someone else.

You really think you are better at packing than the people who do it all day every day and bring their own boxes and paper? Crazy.

[Carpet_pissr]

Of course they end up putting less stuff in boxes than you might pack in there, but that's the business.
vs.
You really think you are better at packing than the people who do it all day every day and bring their own boxes and paper? Crazy.

I will go with "yes" if they intentionally inefficiently pack boxes to increase their pay.

[coopasonic]

again - a few hundred dollars vs a few weeks of your time and inconvenience.

[KKBlue]

I'm moving stuff all the time, literally. Bringing stuff to consignment this AM because we are planning on moving this year. The more things I can get rid of now, the better. Actually have been in this mindset for over a year now and have pared down my things to what I love. My husband saids to take a picture of it, a photo album of things is easier to manage than boxes and piles for sure. Many things have been donated to various charities, my favorite right now is the vets. Nope, never will have another tag sale. The last one was the summer of 2010 WITH GOD AS MY WITNESS, never again... I am so scarred.

I've helped move too many family members out of their houses and refuse to collect things anymore and hold on to them for the sake of X. The final straw was spending a s-l-o-w and mentally wrecking year of lighting a fire under my pa's ass to clean out his garage. The whole ordeal was a psychologists dream with layers and layers of issues, childhood into adulthood problems, for everyone concerned. Just coming up with a sentence to reflect the situation is giving me heart palpitations, honestly too. I believe moving and packing is in part a mental challenge, being faced with yourself in a material way and figuring out ways to move shit around. You learn a lot about people (and yourself too, if you chose to) by their stuff. I'm just happy that moving people out of their houses is over, physically at least.

[Chaz]

again - a few hundred dollars vs a few weeks of your time and inconvenience.

I must pack fast. I usually only take a week, max. Part of that is because I refuse to pack the computer and TV until the last second, and those are two of the bigger packing problems.

My least favorite part of moving is acquiring boxes. You can either pay through the nose for them, or hit up craigslist and stores for second hand ones. Both are a pain. It was so much easier when I worked retail and I could take all the boxes I wanted from work.

[Isgrimnur]

I bought Sterilite plastic buckets to make my move. I still use them for laundry baskets and assorted in-apartment storage. Fuck boxes.

[Freezer-TPF-]

I used pro movers for the first time when we moved into our current apartment. Best money I ever spent. Their speed was amazing and they were great at moving furniture in and out without damage to stuff or walls. We're using the same service, and they will rent you those wardrobe boxes for use during the move. I love those things--so quick.

[Fitzy]

Movers are awesome. Letting them pack is even better. Keep the important/naughty stuff, let them handle everything else.

Currently preparing to move from MN to Washington D.C. area. Stress level is so high double homicide would be in the news if not for movers coming.

[coopasonic]

again - a few hundred dollars vs a few weeks of your time and inconvenience.

I must pack fast. I usually only take a week, max.

You were moving one person's stuff, right? A family is another matter. I have a 5br house full of crap. I wouldn't even consider packing for myself. Not. A. Chance.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Yeah, this is the first time for us packing together as a married couple. Packing two persons' stuff feels more like packing 3-4 persons' stuff. If we had kids, then boom, it would probably be like packing for a hard rock band tour.

[Chaz]

My first move with my last GF was hell. I'd moved into the house she was renting. It was and 800sq ft house with a basement and a garage. It was jammed to the gills with her stuff and a ton of her father's stuff. Girl was a major pack rat, and hated throwing anything out. She also hated packing, so I did most of it. That took forever. It also included moving a cast iron wood stove, two motorcycles, and a snowmobile. She doesn't ride a motorcycle, and none of those vehicles ran anyway. Ugh.

[Freezer-TPF-]

This is definitely a struggle. My wife is not as organized as she thinks she is, always overestimates what can be done in a certain period of time, and she has no sense of urgency (movers are coming Sat AM). She doesn't panic, but it stresses me out immensely. When we moved her into our current place right after we got married, it was the same deal. She was not nearly ready for the movers, and I ended up having to take off work and call a few friends at the last minute to get her out of her old place on the last possible day. I love her dearly, but, yeah. Not fun.

[Jaymon]

last few times I have moved I used frogbox having all those big easy to carry stackable totes made everything much easier.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Movers coming in approx. 3 hours. Going dark... See you on the other side (cable being installed Monday, fingers crossed).

[Freezer-TPF-]

M-Day +2. After two days of darkness, we are back online. The cable guy was awesome--he took the time to replace all of our connecting bits, splitters, etc. with new stuff. We are now running with 30 down/5 up, a little better than the 25/3 we had at our old place. The DVR interface seems very old and user hostile so far, but you can't have everything. Now I need to shop for a new flatscreen TV and TV stand to replace our old tube TVs!

We also seem to be getting a nice wi-fi signal from the top floor router all the way down to the basement, so that's a plus.

The professional move on Sat. was a marathon--9 hours--and also featured our first new house mishap. My wife was unloading the hanging clothes from the wardrobe boxes upstairs, and from down below I heard a big crash. In her zeal to get everything quickly into the master bedroom closet, she overloaded the bar and it collapsed onto the closet floor. She noticed it was getting wobbly a split second before it went south. It would have happened to one of us eventually, as it's a very long clothes bar that apparently needs more intermediate brackets for reinforcement than it had. We grabbed a freestanding clothes rack from the Container Store to fill in until we can get the closet fixed. As far as mishaps go--anything that doesn't involve plumbing/water, electrical, or major drywall repair is just a minor inconvenience.

Now we have 2 weeks to fully clean out our old place. Bleh.

[$iljanus]

Now we have 2 weeks to fully clean out our old place. Bleh.

That was the worst. Kept on finding more crap to throw out and it seemed like it never ended. It was so liberating to be free of it eventually. Are you off from work for a bit to get this done?

[Freezer-TPF-]

Now we have 2 weeks to fully clean out our old place. Bleh.

That was the worst. Kept on finding more crap to throw out and it seemed like it never ended. It was so liberating to be free of it eventually. Are you off from work for a bit to get this done?

I was off last week to make sure we were ready (barely . . .) for the movers and today for the all-important TV/internet hookup. I've got two weekends left to clear our stuff out of the old place, which is annoying since what I really want to be doing is unpacking and setting up the new place, shopping for a TV and stand, etc. I'm also pretty much exhausted at this point.

We're going to hire someone to do the final actual cleaning of the old apartment. After my last move, I vowed never to do that myself again. Ugh.

I need to find the good TV shopping advice threads...

[Kelric]

My wife is not as organized as she thinks she is, always overestimates what can be done in a certain period of time, and she has no sense of urgency..... She doesn't panic, but it stresses me out immensely.

That sounds just like my fiancee. We'll be moving this September just like 33% of Boston will be. Yay?

I've always been pretty good about going through stuff every once in a while to get rid of things, but nothing helps like moving. Back in 2010 I moved twice in a three month period, so a lot of stuff got trashed / donated during that first move. A few other things during the second move. About ten months ago I moved to my current tiny apartment, so even more stuff was allowed to leave my possession. Before moving in with me, my fiancee got rid of five trash bags worth of clothes and shoes, so at least we don't have to worry too much about clothes. A lot of her stuff (most of her books, all of her DVDs and CDs) are at her mother's house in CT and won't be moving up here until we are at the new place (I hope!).

Other than finding a new home in the fall, my biggest moving stress is hoping that my fifteen year old futon frame can make it another five months until we move before it falls apart. Two supports are duct-taped to the frame, another one has fallen off completely, and I think there is a third that I need to tape up. If it can make it until we move, it is going in the trash and will let us throw away the biggest piece of furniture in our apartment rather than move it.

Edit - Oh, and our TV is bolted to a frame that is drilled into a brick wall. That is going to be a bitch to get out.

[Freezer-TPF-]

It's going to be 86 today and 90 tomorrow, so I guess we will finally find out if/how well our air conditioning unit works in the new place. I also need to figure out how the dampers on the HVAC work. Right now they seem to be set for air to flow to the basement and first level and none to the second level, which is correct for heat/winter. Once we turn on the AC, I will need to redirect them so that it will just pump the cold air to the top level and let it settle to the middle level. The basement should stay plenty cool enough on its own

I only see one damper arm, so I hope it is as easy as just turning that 90 degrees to shut off flow to the main level and redirect it to the top level. I've never lived in a three-level dwelling so this will be a learning experience.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Total success. The a/c works fine, and I was just able to reach and adjust the vent dampers by the furnace to direct air flow to the top level. I am sitting in my upstairs office and it is nice and frosty.

I feel like a real homeowner now. (Reality will hit harder when I get my first summer electric bill.)