To make moving as stress-free as humanly possible, InstantVan’s team have put together this series of time- and money-saving packing tips and tricks.
We’re not promising that it’s going to remove all the stress from moving home but you’ll find that you’ll feel a lot more organised, a lot more in control, and in a place where a lot less can go wrong and surprise you.
Get removal company quotes about a month before your intended move date
We recommend you get three. Removals companies will always offer you more and charge you less if they know they’re in a race because they want to win your business, not lose out to their competitors. You might want to make sure that the removals companies you ask to quote you are members of the National Guild of Removers and Storers or the British Association of Removers – as part of their membership of these organisations, they have to have something called “furniture in transit” insurance.
This next tip is not always possible but you’ll probably be able to download and print off a floor plan of where you’re moving to by going online to one of the big houses-for-sale type websites (like Rightmove) and finding your new home’s listing or by logging onto the website of the estate agent representing the people selling the home you’re buying.
You can then use that floorplan to show the removal companies putting together quotes for you where everything is going to go – this will probably reduce the amount they ask you for because they’ll be better able to plan how to use their staff on the job with this knowledge.
Start a schedule of packing two weeks before the big day
Whether or not you’re going to be using the removals company to be doing the packaging for you, device a schedule for packing two weeks before the move day. This is going to save a lot of time and frayed nerves later on.
If you’re packing yourself, try to pack everything that’s on your schedule on the day you’re meant to do it. If you’re getting the removals company to do the packing, move everything that’s on your schedule on a particular day to an area of your home where they can be later packed by the removals team.
Start to work through your frozen items and other foodie tips
It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to stop your frozen food from spoiling during the move so make sure that you use as much of it as you can before the big day. You’ll save money by using food that would have otherwise gone to waste and you won’t have to pay the delivery company to take this food with them.
On the day of the move, make sure that you’ve got a morning survival pack ready – cereal, long-life milk, bread, teabags, and so on. Try to leave packing your toaster and your kettle until the very last minute.
Stock up on snacks for you and the removal team before the day of the move. Moving is both hungry and thirsty work – it’s hard on the removal team physically and it’s hard on you and your family emotionally because it’s such an important day.
Declutter – chuck out what you don’t need
Use moving home as the ideal opportunity to get rid of stuff you don’t want or need anymore. There’s no point in it taking up room in your new home or paying the removals team to transport it from one place to another. You may want to sell the items on eBay or give them away to others using sites like Freegle and Freecycle.
It’s amazing how our wardrobes fill up over the years with clothes and we only ever really wear 10% of them at any one time! Unless a particular outfit or item of clothing has emotional significance, you could give your unwanted shirts, trousers, shoes, and so on away to a local charity shop or clothes recycling centre.
Don’t mix up your packing
Everything that you’re packing has to be unpacked. If you just aim to fill every box to the brim and Sellotape it up, that’s great. The problem comes when you get to your new home and you open a box which now contains items for the bedrooms, the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room and more – you’ll be running around everywhere more than you need to just to put everything in its correct place.
Don’t make your boxes too heavy
Some items are going to be heavier than others – that’s going to make them difficult to lift and to get your hands and arms around. When you have a heavy item, use one box to pack it in and put nothing more in that box unless you’ll risk doing yourself or your removals team member an injury.
Plus, with all your boxes, big or small, make sure that you can holes in the sides to make picking them up a lot easier.
Jewellery and other small valuables
For jewellery and other small valuables, you might want to put them in an eggbox, seal them up, and take them in your own car. Even the most professional removals firms misplace items occasionally, especially when it’s a big move, so better to be safe than sorry and take the responsibility yourself.
Take photographs of your valuables and other items
Big TVs, computers, PlayStations, Xboxes, furniture and more – they’re the items in the house we use more than others. Take as many photographs as you can before the move to show the state they were in prior to the move just in case you need to launch an insurance claim for damage.
Important documents
Driving licenses, passports, bank statements, car log books and more – keep them safe. Put them in Lever Arch folders, Sellotape them up, and put them in boxes clearly marked so you know the importance of the contents of those boxes.
Get three quotes
It’s always best to get three quotes and using InstantVan’s free service, we can get three of the most trusted local removal companies to give you their best price. Our service costs you nothing and you’re under no obligation to accept any of the quotes you’ve been given.
