By: Guest Blogger Matt Harbut, FROGBOX of Madison: Madison Green Box
1. Manage your time properly
Start organizing and packing at least one month before the moving day. Start with things that you don’t use daily. Your ski suit, snow boots, winter clothes, most of the books, CD’s and computer games and other things you can do without for a few weeks. Start slowly and dedicate an hour or two every day for packing. The most important step is to go through your stuff and sort it.
2. Be sure to have recycling bins and donation bags and garbage bags
Before you start packing, you need to get rid of things that you don’t need. A good example are clothes that you haven’t worn for the last two years and that are taking up space you could use for new clothing. This applies to books, toys and home decorations.
3. Throw out the fridge
or at least a lot of it – Food and vitamins are not like good wine. They don’t get better with age! Go through your pantry, medicine cabinet and vitamins; throw away anything that has expired. Be sure to check-out the Wisconsin DNR for pharmaceutical disposal guidelines.
4. The “Maybe Box”
Sometimes it’s hard to let go. If you feel conflicted, put it in a “MAYBE box” that you have prepared especially for tough decisions. After a few days, go check in with your “maybe box”. Your clarity will increase and you may see things differently.
5. Use existing containers, suitcases, etc for packing
Take a look at your home. You probably have some plastic containers, suitcases and camping bags that can be used for packing. Sometimes these bags are stored in the attic and they are full of dust; clean them and use them for your move.
6. For the rest of your things rent reusable plastic moving boxes from FROGBOX.
They are easy to work with. Your belongings won’t get wet while loading/unloading in the rain. They are not only eco-friendly (since they reduce cardboard waste) they are family friendly too- if you by accident have packed your child’s most important stuffed toy… all you have to do is open the lid, take it out and close it back up. (You’d be surprised how often this happens.)
7. Soft Items
Do not pack all your towels in one big box. Use the towels to pad the bottom of each box when packing dishes and other fragile items. Use another towel on top and close the lid.
8. Label Every Box
Don’t label the top – always on the side, so when you stack them on each other you can tell what’s inside. When you rent FROGBOXes you get labels with your order but you can always just flip open the lid to see what’s inside so the contents of you boxes will never be a mystery.
9. Don’t let your junk mail move with you!
Use this as an opportunity to manage your mail with services like DMAchoice, OptOutPrescreen and Catalog Choice. Feel good about simplifying your life, while saving hundreds of trees each year.
10. When choosing a mover…
make sure they’re licensed and bonded, and have a great reputation. Call or email or a list of trusted Madison area movers. Madison Green Box>
11. Do it yourself moving
Consider renting the smallest van or truck that your things will fit into. This will make loading the truck much easier and you’ll save money and fuel. If you have a small amount to move and don’t own a car it might be a great opportunity to use a car share program like Community Car. They have some roomy pick-ups and mini vans that are great for moving and FROGBOX customer get 50% off the Community Car registration fee.
12. Set a goal to unpack
Unpack a certain number of boxes each day in your new home. If you rent FROGBOXes you’ll appreciate having a deadline for unpacking your boxes – sometimes a little motivation is healthy!. When you’ve reached your goal, make sure to treat yourself, you deserve it!
Good luck with your move and let us know if we can help!
