Make A Packing Plan Before A Move In 5 Easy Steps

Woman Packing For Moving In Gainesville
Without a doubt, packing is the most time-consuming aspect of moving. It’s a big feat to sort through a household’s contents, separate the cream of the crop, and move them to another location. For that reason, you may feel overwhelmed when you start packing.

One way to mitigate your moving-related stress is to team up with professional movers in Gainesville. Moving companies like UF Mover Guys offer a host of pack-up services to alleviate some of the burdens. If you wish to pack everything yourself, just keep in mind that nothing makes this process go more smoothly than having a packing plan.

As long as you create a thought-out, step-by-step plan before moving, the preparations will be as easy as a walk in Depot Park. But just in case you’re unsure about how to proceed, we’ve compiled a helpful guide that shows you how to make a perfect packing plan in five simple steps.

1. Mark The Date On A Calendar

Keep your moving date marked on a calendar to remind yourself of the deadline. On a paper calendar, circle the final date and X-out preceding days as they pass. This lets you better visualize the timeframe in which packing and cleaning need to be completed. For digital calendars and reminder apps, whether on your computer or smartphone, schedule weekly or daily reminders that count down the days until the move as well as remind you when to pack.

You’ll probably have to set aside several hours each week for packing. These can be during evenings and weekends, or whenever you’re free from work, school, and family obligations. But as your moving day draws closer, you should reevaluate how much time you’ll need to finish preparations.

2. Ask For Assistance

If people didn’t need help with moving, there wouldn’t be such a widespread need for moving companies in Gainesville. Yet, the fact that UF Mover Guys is busier than ever after many years in the business is proof that moving is absolutely a multi-person job.

A large family has plenty of helpers on standby — have the kids pack their rooms, especially their toys and games. Involving them in the moving process fosters a sense of ownership that can help them overcome anxieties they feel changing homes or switching schools. Adults in the family can pack the furniture, electronics, cutlery, and other items that need special care or require heavy lifting. In single-person households, friends and neighbors can fill in as auxiliary movers. You can also throw a good-buy cookout that doubles as a thank you and goodbye.

When family or friends are scarce, you can hire outside movers. Be leery of low-quality posts online that advertise cheap, discount, or budget moving services. Sometimes, these are from college kids trying to make a few bucks; other times, they are from scammers seeking access to your worldly possessions. To be safe, trust only a reputable moving company with a proven track record and verified reviews.

3. Donate Unnecessary Goods

Notice we said “unnecessary” — as opposed to “unneeded” — goods. This is because, if given a chance, most people will hold onto their belongings for eternity, much like the pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

While devotion to one’s possessions is understandable for perennially useful items, when it comes to worn-out sneakers or holiday pillows that haven’t seen sunlight since the last presidency, having attachments to these items is less justifiable. Unnecessary items can quickly become a burden when you consider the time it takes to pack them; the effort to load, transport and unload them; as well as the money you spend to movers to handle the items. Better alternatives are either to discard or donate such items.

As you pack each room, separate items worth keeping from those that aren’t. Once you’ve inventoried the whole house, further divide the pile of unnecessary items based on whether they are high quality enough for somebody else to use them. Next, take these donatable clothes, furnishings, utensils, and more to your favorite consignment or thrift store. Some of the stores in Gainesville suggested by our movers include:

4. Organize Moving Boxes For Tomorrow, Not Today

Ask just about any mover, and they’ll tell you the most efficient way to organize your boxes is to keep items from the same rooms together. It’s much faster to unpack a bathroom when the contents are consolidated into two boxes as opposed to divided among twenty. But not all movers remember to provide the second half of that piece of advice: organize the boxes to fit the layout of the new house, not the old one.

Planning ahead by packing boxes in order to furnish the new floor plan will hasten the unpacking process tremendously. This does take some forethought but is a fairly simple process.

5. Download A Moving Planner App

Students in Gainesville love their phones. And they’re not the only ones. Lots of people rely on mobile devices every day to communicate, find directions, and order lunch. Whether you’re a tech junkie or just looking for a digital solution to staying organized, a moving planner app may be the answer to your moving woes.

Here are the latest apps recommended by our moving team:

Sortly

No more writing out lists the old-fashioned way with paper, pencils, and polaroids. Sortly lets you take snapshots or scan barcodes of your items from your phone, creating visual, manageable packing lists. After you’ve built an inventory, add categories and virtual labels for even more layers of organization. The app also provides multi-user access, so your whole household, from novices to experienced movers, can keep track of belongings with ease.

Wunderlist

To move efficiently as a couple, a family, or a group of roommates takes special cooperation. Each person has a role to play: for example, one could buy boxes and tape, another could drop off the donations at the thrift store, and still, someone else can research moving companies. In the midst of a big move, however, communication can go haywire, and organization can break down. One way to keep everyone on track with their designated responsibilities is Wunderlist. Though not an app exclusive to moving purposes, this list-creation software allows multiple people to share a to-do list, check off completed tasks, and keep everyone else updated on new developments. It’s moving-day communications for the modern age.

Magicplan

Anyone who’s ever attempted to pre-organize a room using only their memory of its layout for reference knows that sometimes the mind’s eye and reality don’t always align. Magicplan takes the guesswork out of room design. When you enter your new home or apartment, even before officially moving in, open the app and scan the floor plan for a 3-dimensional model. Now, you can refer to this true-to-spec rendering while making packing decisions.

When it comes to residential and commercial moving services, UF Mover Guys has seen and done it all. For more tips or advice, or to hire us for your next move in Gainesville, contact us today.

Moving? Leave These Items Behind

Girl Donating Clothes Before Moving In Gainesville

When it’s time to move, you may become overwhelmed by the number of things you own. But as you browse your inventory of items, you’ll probably find several items worth leaving behind, either because they’ve outlived their usefulness, or because they’re not worth the time, hassle, or expense of transporting them. But we get it — it can be difficult to know whether to toss something for fear it may be useful in the future. To help you discern keepers from non-keepers when it comes to your belongings, UF Mover Guys offers this handy list of things you shouldn’t be afraid to ditch when moving.

Hazardous Chemicals

Many of the cleaning and household products that people use on a regular basis qualify as hazardous chemicals. These include obviously toxic substances such as bleach, drain cleaners, and pesticides, as well as seemingly innocuous products such as air fresheners, dishwasher detergents, and carpet shampoos. In your everyday life, these products pose health risks only when they are ingested (either by small children or pets) or exposed to bare skin. When you’re moving, though, the danger posed from hazardous chemicals is that during transit they could spill in the moving truck and ruin other items.

If you’ve hired a moving company, you can ask the movers to pack any chemicals they find in plastic bags or containers that will contain a spill. However, it’s probably worth having the movers focused on heavier and more valuable items since you’re footing moving the bill.

Where To Go For Hazardous Waste Collection

To be environmentally responsible, dispose of hazardous waste only at designated waste collection sites. In Alachua County, you can drop household chemicals at the main waste collection center, located at 5125 NE 63rd Ave., in Gainesville, or at any of the county’s five rural collection centers.

Over- Or Undersized Furniture

Before you move, get an estimate of the size of your new home or apartment. The layout and square footage of the new floor plan can help you determine which furniture to bring with you. If a couch, dining table, bed frame, or any other piece of furniture isn’t the right size for your new home, don’t be afraid to move on from it.

How To Donate Furniture

Unless your furniture is completely trashed, you can probably sell it online to somebody locally — most pre-owned furniture buyers only pursue items near their homes. If the items are moderately stained, dented, or scratched, though, consider donating them to a worthy cause instead. The Habitat For Humanity ReStore in Alachua County specializes in selling used furniture to fund charitable initiatives; the organization will pick up donations in greater northeast Florida, and it also has a drop-off open during regular business hours at its Gainesville location. Furniture that’s too dirty or damaged to even donate, though, should be brought to a waste management facility, such as North Central Solid Waste Collection Center. If you need a vehicle to transport furniture, appliances, or other large items, UF Mover Guys has some of the most affordable truck rentals of any moving company in Gainesville.

Unfashionable Threads

Nobody’s saying you have to be a fashion icon. But we are saying those torn, stained, and funky-smelling T-shirts have got to go. Any clothing that you haven’t unpacked from your last move, or that has not been worn in a year or more, aren’t worth folding, packing, and shipping to your new place. Instead, ditch your less useful threads prior to moving.

How To Participate In A Clothes Drive

Sometimes, worn out shirts and pants are no better than disposable dish rags. Other times, such articles of clothing can be worth a fortune to vintage collectors. It all depends, but one place to find answers is Plato’s Closet. This store buys and sells clothing of all styles and sizes. If your wardrobe is worth a pretty penny (or just a penny), they’ll be the ones to let you know. And if you can’t sell your old clothes for a small fortune, don’t fret. You can earn some good karma by taking the clothes to local nonprofits, such as Goodwill thrift stores.

Once you’ve decided which things not to keep, UF Mover Guys can help you pack up the rest and safely transport your property to your new address, whether it’s in Gainesville or across state lines. Receive a free, no-obligation moving quote today!