Moving Tip #5: Packing Supplies

Woohoo! My first series is moving along swimmingly, and we are not out of ideas yet!

If you are just checking in, catch up at the "Moving Tips" label or the links at the end of this post. 

Moving Tip #5: Packing Materials

Here by Tip #5, I have already alluded to several packing materials that you will need. Here is a quick review. 

• Boxes (Duh!) - Hopefully you will get those for free because you read Moving Tip #1. 
• Stackable Bins - For permanent storage; again see Moving Tip #1. 
• Colorful Duck Tape - To distinguish between locations for where you want the boxes placed. 
• Masking Tape - To label your boxes clearly.
• Black Marker - You have to write on the tape somehow!

Here are a few additional materials that you may not have considered. 

Just realized there is a brand name thing going on in this picture.
I assure you it wasn't intentional. 

Packing Tape. Buy plenty of tape! Don't skimp. It isn't worth saving money on tape, just to dump all of your goods on the ground as you move into your new home. As if moving day isn't stressful enough, now you have to repair or replace various items. Not fun... now imagine that it's raining on moving day and everyone is miserable already. Yep, that was the scrapbook box that landed in the mud. Grandma's precious photos and notes are now covered in mud. Should have bought more tape! 

Packing Tape Dispenser. It seems like it would be so easy to save a few dollars on this item. Just skip it and save a few bucks for something more important. But this little devise takes taping boxes (which you will do frequently), from a multi-handed, frustrating affair between the box, the tape, scissors, and your hands to a simple flick of the wrist. And you don't have to get the heavy-duty version, just the small hand-held version as shown in the picture above. Make sure this item is on your shopping list! 

Bubble Wrap. Don't waste your money on bubble wrapping all of your breakables. I will help you with this one later, but there is one area that you shouldn't skimp on the bubble wrap. It is worth every penny to wrap your kitchen glass and china in bubble wrap. You don't want to save $20 on bubble wrap then find out that you have to replace $500 worth of beautiful plates, bowls, cups, and serving dishes. 

Box Cutter. Sure, ripping the tape off is an option, but sometimes the tape just won't budge from that cardboard box. That's when a box knife comes in handy. Just whip that puppy out, slice your box carefully. You don't want to cut the contents or yourself. And enjoy whatever is inside the box. Keep this item away from children. That blade is no joke!

Thermal Bag. If you are making a quick trip across town, like my recent four mile move, you probably aren't going to want to empty out the fridge and buy brand new condiments for the new place. If you shove everything into one of those lined thermal picnic or grocery bags right before you leave your old place, everything will still be cold or cool by time you get to your new place. Toss in a few ice packs and you should be golden. I was able to do this with some frozen meat and it made it to the new house just fine. In the summer, during picnic season, stores sell really cute bags. I should have grabbed one from Marshalls or Target when I had the chance.

Bungie Cords. It might seem like an unusual purchase, but it's not. My dad started using these for all kinds of things when I was a kid and I have since personally discovered the benefit of a jar of bungie cords. (I actually keep these in my car at all times.) So picture this... table legs wrapped in a blanket so they don't get scratched. Do you use packing tape to secure it? Isn't that going to ruin the blanket when you peel it off? Now take two bungie cords and wrap them around the legs. Suddenly you have a safe, secure way of transporting the legs without destroying the packaging. Another handy use for bungie cords is to secure boxes that are awkwardly shaped or won't close well with tape. You could also use the bunnies to secure a stack of boxes along the wall of your moving truck or attach the bike to the side of ceiling of the truck.

As I mentioned before, I keep a jar of bungies in my car. They come in handy when I am trying to transport an item in the back of my tiny Honda Civic and the trunk won't close. I can secure the items and the trunk by properly placing the cords. I also store my Christmas tree in the original box, though it no longer closes. The bungie cords seal the box, but allow the tree to expand as needed. That's a freebie. :)

Need to catch up? Read the previous tips here. 

Moving Tip: Intro

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-intro.html

Moving Tip #1: Where to Find Boxes

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-1-where-to-find-boxes.html

Moving Tip #2: Be Ruthless

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/10/moving-tip-2-be-ruthless.html

Moving Tip #3: Strategize

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/10/moving-tip-3-strategize.html

Moving Tip #4: Start Big

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/10/moving-tip-4-start-big.html 

The Forgotten Generation

Things to know about the Forgotten Generation:

• 20s to early 30s
• Recently married or single
• Recently graduated college
• Moved away from home
• Don't have kids

Interested in:

• Technology
• Learning/ideas
• Travelling
• Connecting with others

Concerned about:

• Jobs & money
• Relationships
• Growing spiritually
• Applying the Bible of our youth to our present life
• Making a difference in our sphere
• Being a Christian without compromising 

We are too aware of the current situation with teenagers and the fact that we are losing them to this world. We work hard to teach them and to protect them, but no matter how we look it, we lose them. They are going to grow up, and leave. 

Once these teenagers get out of college, a small problem arises. We ignore them until they are popping multiple babies, homeschooling, or mastering the art of house-wifing. 

But what about those of us who are in between? We are career women who may or may not be married, but we are certainly not rushing into those children. So what do we do in the meantime? 

Those of us who fall into that whole age-bracket/life-stage get ignored and segregated. Sometimes even treated as if we are 2nd class citizens. Believe me, I have been given the guilt trip multiple times simply because I don't have children. I have been left out or ignored for similar reasons. One of my closest friends (who is single) gets guilt-tripped all the time for not having a boyfriend. Is that really the way things should be? 

Do we really have to fit into the cookie cutter mold of Christianity? 

God created those of us who fall into this category uniquely. We are different. That's what God wants for us. He created us all differently for a reason. We don't have to be Betty Homemaker to fulfill God's individual plan for our lives. 

So if you have any say, please let us be who God has created us to be. Don't force us into your preconceived mold. Let us flourish in God's design, and above all don't ignore, forget, reject, or neglect us. 

Moving Tip #4: Start Big

Welcome to my series on Moving Tips. I just completed my sixth move in five years and I am finally home! It is a wonderful feeling. Moving can be stressful, especially if you rush into it, shove things in boxes, and plan to worry about it when you get to the new place. That's just not a good idea.

This is Tip #4: Start Big.

By now, you should have all of your boxes ready to go, your packing supplies ready, and your home as paired down as it is going to get. Now comes the fun part - actually packing!

Logic would say to pick a room and shove things in boxes based on how you use them and store them now. That actually is a terrible idea. In some rooms, it might work out just fine like an office. But you will use twice as many boxes in the kitchen and living room. Those large bulky decor items and kitchen appliances take up so much space and if you group appliances together, you are just wasting space and packing materials.

I highly recommend that you pack large things first, then fill in the empty spaces with smaller things. For example, instead of packing your crockpot in a box by itself, pack tea towels, spices, sugar and flour, dry goods or anything that will inside. You just maximized your space! Stuff your large, bulky tupperware containers with K-cups or cups or the smaller plastic containers. Use empty spaces in any way that you possibly can.

Once you have filled your box with all of the big things (serving bowls, your Kuerig, the stuffed crockpot, whatever), fill in the remaining spaces with any smaller items you possibly can. I would cushion my crockpot with cooking utensils or tea towels. Any items that I can find to fill in those empty gaps. This might mean you have four or five open boxes at a time.

Something to keep in mind here is that it is important to group by room, not by category. If you have dry goods mixed in with kitchen appliances, it is ok, because they both belong in the kitchen. But I don't want a box of office supplies mixed with my living room coasters and kitchen utensils.

To give you another example, one of my living room boxes had four lamps, a bunch of candles, and a picture frame in it. Not because those items were paired together in my decor scheme, but because the candles filled in the gaps between the lamps and the frame filled the last inch of the box to capacity. (If I had taken a picture of this box, it would have looked like a box with a picture frame in it.)

Hope you have gotten a few ideas to make your packing life easier. I have more ideas coming!





Missed the previous Moving Tips? Catch up here:

Moving Tip: Intro

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-intro.html

Moving Tip #1: Where to Find Boxes

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-1-where-to-find-boxes.html

Moving Tip #2: Be Ruthless

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/10/moving-tip-2-be-ruthless.html

Moving Tip #3: Strategize

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/10/moving-tip-3-strategize.html

Moving Tip #3: Strategize

Moving Tip #3: Strategize 

So you have collected your boxes and purged like a champ. Before you start shoving things in boxes, take a step back and think about exactly how you want to move.

How many rooms do you have? How many people are helping you move? Do you have multiple floors?

I am going to use my new home as an example. I have a basement with living space as well as storage on the lowest floor. On the main floor is a living room, half bath, kitchen, and a deck. The second floor has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, the laundry, and an office. Instead asking my friend-movers to figure out which room the box goes in which room, or asking them to dump everything in the living room (then leaving me to sort and carry later), I have come up with a system that bypasses all that struggle.

The top tape is orange,
but the lighting skewed the color.

It's simple, really - color coding. To make it as easy as possible, I assigned each floor a specific color then bought duck tape to match the floor. For example, the basement gets pink tape. The main floor gets green tape, and the second floor was assigned orange tape. Any box with the orange tape gets taken up to the second floor, no questions or confusion there. If it is pink, down to the basement.

I started doing this after my first move. I knew what was in each box, but the new church family in our new state, didn't, so they just brought the boxes in and dumped them wherever there was floor space. We were grateful for the help and didn't have a ton of stuff anyway, but as we unpacked there was some serious frustration. I couldn't find plates or bedding or anything that was really important. I had to open all of the boxes, redistribute them to the right room, then unpack. In a new church, in a new state, in a new everything, it was hard. If I had simply made it easier for the movers, I would have saved so much effort.

On the next move we settled into an apartment that was much smaller. I marked with colored tape all of the boxes that were going into the apartment. Anything unmarked went into storage. Everything was much easier!! (And in a small apartment with half of the stuff, we didn't have too many struggles.) The mover-friends were thrilled!

Now that I have really worked into this system (and I just want to say that I did come up with it without help from any outside source), I noticed on Pinterest that others have had a similar idea. They stuck a small economical amount of colored tape on a side of the box. I prefer to run a strip across the whole top of the box and down either side, so no matter how a person sees the box they know where it goes. If there is just a small strip of tape on one side, they are going to have to search for the tape and I don't want to make people do that. It would get frustrating as someone who has volunteered my time to help a friend move and have to search for a tiny piece of tape to figure out which room they want me to put the box in. Sure, it takes more duck tape, but it is a small price to pay.


One last thing to make the boxes easier to move: I will add a piece of masking tape across the top to identify either what is in the box or more specifically where it goes. The masking tape is a little easier to read and stands out on the box. It's an advertising thing. Make it easy to read and stand out against the background. So if the box is marked with green tape, it will go to the second floor. But to help the movers and myself, I will write on the
masking tape "Living Room Movies" or "Kitchen Utensils." A quick glance lets the person who is carrying the box know exactly what is in it and that makes my life so much easier.

It is true that you can always find a use for duck tape - even when you are moving. :)

This is probably my favorite moving tip. It has saved so much hassle through all of these moves.

Bonus Info: For this most recent move, we had to delay our move-in day because of renters. In fact, the earliest and absolute latest day we could possibly move in is the same weekend that I am required to be away for a teacher's conference. So I am going to be packing up, then going to the conference, and my husband and friends will be moving without me. My husband is getting clear instructions on where everything goes. I created a floorplan of the house in Microsoft Word and drew out where all of the furniture goes and marked where the boxes should be dumped in each room. My husband is just going to tape it to the front door, so as people are walking in they can see where stuff goes. If you are OCD like me, go for it. If you are going to be present at move in, I wouldn't bother.




Missed the previous Moving Tips? Catch up here:

Moving Tip: Intro

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-intro.html

Moving Tip #1: Where to Find Boxes

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-1-where-to-find-boxes.html

Moving Tip #2: Be Ruthless

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/10/moving-tip-2-be-ruthless.html

God's Thoughts

One of my favorite passages. So encouraging!

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

~Isaiah 55:9-12~

Moving Tip #2: Be Ruthless

Moving can be a pain! That's why I am writing a little series of Moving Tips to help you through some of the challenges.

If you missed the first Moving Tip, catch up here: http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-1-where-to-find-boxes.html




Moving Tip #2: Be Ruthless

One of the worst realizations when preparing to move is discovering that you have too much stuff. Like, way too much stuff. Well, now you have a golden opportunity. Get rid of your stuff before your move. Why take it with you? The reality is if you weren't using in one home, you probably won't use it in your new home.

Keep in mind that you want to start fresh in your new home, without the baggage of your old home. Go through each drawer, bin, closet and decide what you should keep and what you should get rid of.

If you haven't used in a year, get rid of it.

If you haven't seen it in a year, definitely get rid of it.

If it is broken, get rid of it.

Or damaged.

Or missing pieces.

Or aged and you were planning on replacing it soon anyway.

If it doesn't fit, or is strained, or a duplicate, or a triplicate, or any other logical reason, get rid of it!  It's not worth carting around.

Let's put it this way... You have a drawer of old sweatshirts from high school, your college days, and spring vacations. You don't ever open that drawer, but you have been holding on to the sweatshirts for years. You have since discovered that a great sweater, or blazer, or jacket solves the cold issue but in style. Why keep the sweatshirts? I know they have sentimental value, but you probably won't miss them. In fact, you might really enjoy having the extra drawer space (or closet space, or pantry space, or bin) for things that you need and use regularly.

Another example... The cup cabinet... I know you have one too. I have seen this cabinet in every home that I have ever been in. There are thirty extra cups. Some are from your college days, his college days, a football game, souvenirs from a road trip or gas station, the one that leaks, one that is so faded you don't remember what it is from, and the cute ones that you nabbed at Target for fifty cents. Now do you really need thirty cups? No, of course not. Pair down to the minimum that you need and regularly use. Make sure you are keeping the ones in best condition.

Be just as ruthless to your tupperware drawer, spice cabinet, beach towels, movie and CD collections, jewelry, everything.

Chances are you won't miss the items that you have either thrown away or donated. You might actually enjoy the freedom of fewer items to pack and unpack and the extra space in your new home.



If you have missed any posts from the series, catch up here:

Moving Tip: Intro

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-intro.html

Moving Tip #1: Where to Find Boxes

http://everdaysurrender.blogspot.com/2015/09/moving-tip-1-where-to-find-boxes.html