10 Things to Remember When You Move

1. The adage ,"you can never have enough", is WRONG! Keep in mind with every purchase that you make and every gift that you get, some day you may need to move it. If that doesn’t curb your enthusiasm on the new whatchmacallit, then you haven’t moved enough to truly understand the implications.

2. Furniture is way overrated. The 1st apartment décor of a couple of milk crates takes on a new allure. At least I could have flipped them over and used them to pack things in. (No more solid wood furniture)

3. Hire a mover. They are worth every penny. Instead we are paying with my husband’s back. Two prescriptions and back exercises later, he still isn’t walking quite right.

4. Put the cat in the carrier first thing in the morning. Moving is as tumultuous for animals as it is for humans. The difference is that we can’t hide in small unreachable places. It is very awkward to have to go back to the house after you sold it to try to coax your cat out.

5. Start saving boxesnow even if you don’t have a move planned. It seems to me to be the epitome of waste to buy boxes, plus it is an added expense when every penny counts.

6. Leave one box unopened from every move and then when you move next time it will be like Christmas. We found one such box. My son said, “Mom, why didn’t you tell me we had this?” As if I remembered that I had it from 12 years ago.

7. Don’t pack too early or risk your husband stripping open all of your nicely packed boxes looking for something or the other option is don’t make ham so that he doesn’t need the KitchenAid meat grinder. And in this market, if your house is on the market longer than you expected, you might need your winter jacket again.

8. Label everything. Dear Husband was pleasantly surprised to find the meat grinder neatly labeled in one of the “kitchen” boxes. He apologized for opening the other 15 boxes without reading what was written.

9. Call the people that offered you help. People will offer help and you will nod acceptingly knowing that you would never impose on someone. Note, they are offering because they have moved and done the same thing and have paid the price.

10. Think small. Instead of trying to conserve boxes and fit more in less, fit less in more. Your back will thank you.

11. Reconcider the move.