So you’re moving, and the question remains: now what?  Do you do it yourself, or do you pay someone else.  Good question.  Probably the most important one.  It’s completely acceptable for an average-sized home to have upwards of a hundred boxes.  That requires a lot of manpower, not to mention vehicle space, to transport all of it.

First and foremost, a couple things have to be established:

• How big is your move? Are you downsizing or upsizing?  How many rooms are you moving into how many rooms?
• How strong are you? This is a serious question.  Depending on your age, your health, and your overall stamina, moving will take its toll.  Are you ready for that?
• Have you done the math? Moving always winds up being more expensive than you plan on.  It usually starts with the shipping boxes.  You think you will only need twenty but you wind up needing forty.  How about gas, tipping the movers buying your helpers dinner…

After you’ve answered those questions, hopefully with the advice of some friends weighing in, you can decide if you are going to do your own move or not.  If you have decided to hire movers, make sure you’ve done your research and read good reviews.  If you are have decided to do your own move, here are a couple tips to help you save time, money, and energy:

• Use shipping boxes to pack your stuff in. Boxes designed to go through the mailing system are usually a better quality cardboard and more enforced.
• Go through your belongings and get rid of what you don’t need. If you enough to get rid of you could even host a garage sale and earn some money towards the move.
• You can save on moving supplies by finding or purchasing used items. You shouldn’t have a hard time finding used shipping boxes from local stores or that someone else is trying to sell on Craigslist.
• Mark your boxes on the top and the sides. Be descriptive! Label the room they are being moved into, and what they are holding (Kitchen: hand towels, Scentsy burner, mixing spoons).
• If you don’t feel comfortable, or interested in, driving your own moving truck, you can at least save a lot of money by loading it yourselves. There are plenty of companies that will drop off a truck and then come back to get it after you’ve loaded it.
• Pack everything tightly, using enough padding. Make sure not to pack too heavy, so don’t use bigger boxes for books or kitchenware.  Be sure to label if a box is fragile!