Head straight for the liquor store!

Skip the booze, get the fabulous, strong, clean, pretty uniform-sized boxes for free if you ask.

Use bubblewrap, which you can buy in big rolls from packing supply places.

Separate and mark the boxes you will need to set-up rudimentary house the first evening in your new digs. Include everything down to the soap and TP. Paper towels, basic cleaner spray or boni-ami and a sponge, lamp, flashlight, extension cord, towels, jammies, pillow, set of sheets (blanket in cold areas) , a good book or a couple of mags you haven't read, canned food (tuna, small jar of mayo, pickles, etc. canned fruit, or something like that that, cookies, spray cheese if you eat it & crackers, breakfast bars, etc.) basic kitchen utensils, light bulbs.

Have these boxes loaded last, and pulled off first and set aside.. Then you are good for the first hours. Mark these boxes prominently.

Good luck.

L.

I've moved several times ...

1 - Get rid of everything you don't want to move now, even if you just stack it on the curb and post it in the FREE section of Craigslist.

This is your best chance to declutter.

Give your children a couple of boxes for "treasures": and let them decide what they take and what they give away, but only those boxes can have "treasures". Show them how to pack and leave them to it.

All clothes they take must be current sizing, and clean, and suitable for the new climate, if that's an issue.

2 - Pack yourself ... they send gorillas to do the packing. And because they charge by the box, you will find they packs as many boxes as possible. They will even pack the trash!

Do not pack more in a box than you can pick up.

3 - Pack and label for the intended location in the new house, not where it came from in the old house. If you have games, for example, scattered all over the house, collect them, dispose of the ones you don't want to move, then pack them all in the same box.

4 - Set aside just enough things to survive on between now and the move and start packing.

5 - Do NOT send your survival kit in the moving van: take it with you in your vehicles, because the truck can be delayed.

Also take all meds, valuables, etc.

6 - Label the boxes on the top with the contents and/or location. "Kids bath" or "board games" or something. Pack the necessaries and mark the boxes on all sides and top with a BIG colored mark you can see across the room ... a red star or something.

7 - Turn on the time and date function on your camera and photograph all existing dings and scratches on furniture before the movers get there. They habitually list it as "scratched" so they can deny damage claims.

Go with the movers as they collect the furniture and have them point out anything they think is existing damage and photograph it.

Photograph the boxes - don't use smashed ones, use ones with no rips and dings.

7 - When you get to the new house, have the movers place the furniture. Have them place the boxes in one room, in a long skinny stack.

8 - Station an adult at the truck and check ALL furniture and boxes for damage as they come off. If you think you see damage, immediately take photos of it right there at the truck, before it goes in the house.

9 - That long skinny pile of boxes ... pull out all the ones with red stars, look at the label and move them to where they are needed. Leave the rest of the the boxes until you have the important ones unpacked.

RULE FOR UNPACKING: You must unpack and clear one box before you can start another one .. no rummaging through boxes for the item you need.

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If you have boxes of stuff in storage (except seasonal decor) that you plan to put right back into storage ... ask yourself why you are doing this? Open up those boxes and make the stuff defend it's right to take up your space and money on the move.

^^ Fantastic advice!

Especially note the "chance to declutter" advice. We emptied a full, unfinished basement on our last move. Literally filled a dumpster and two garage sales' worth of years of crap. Makes your new home feel so much roomier.

a veteran of 20 plus moves,#1 tip:
make sure your bed is loaded last onto the van, and it will be removed first. Immediately after it is brought into the new home, set it up and make it up with fresh bedding and proper pillows, all also loaded last to make finding them easier.
This way when you have all "had it" it for the day and you are exhausted, you will not have to search around to set up the beds so you can lay your stressed out, crabby, teary, weary bodies down for a well earned rest.
#2 put towels, TP and soap in all bathrooms when you first arrive at the new house. You will want them as you move in. #3 A cooler with drinks and pre-made sandwiches, etc will be appreciated and you won't have to stop as long as if you had to go out to eat someplace. If your movers are working on an hourly basis, or you are paying by the hour for your rental truck in do it yourself moves, this may be important. best wishes

All good info. I am a veteran of many military moves and will keep it short:
- If you are letting them pack for you, carry around a couple of big sharpies and label, label, label the boxes as you walk around and supervise the packing. They will not label well, guaranteed, other than "kitchen". They don't know the difference between bedrooms, they don't know what your things are - you'd be surprised what they label as "kids toys".
- Pack and put away EVERYTHING you don't want them to pack. I usually put that stuff in a single closet or utility room and taped it off with a big sign "DO NOT PACK" - stuff like toiletries, medications, firearms, jewelry - all the same stuff that you don't want out at an open house - as well as electronics, trash, pets, food. (Yes, I put the birdcages with birds in a small room just in case)
- You'll be surprised how they pack glass. They pack it un-cushioned, which is how I would've packed it with bubble wrap or packing peanuts. Instead, they pack it really, really tight in the thicker-walled boxes ("dish packs", they're called) so that they don't move and therefore can't bang together and break. My movers have never broken a single dish or glass this way. Amazing.
- The stuff that's been broken has always been sports equipment, which is de-valued at a very high rate (50% for one-year old equipment, 34% each year after) so that if it breaks, you get hardly anything to replace it. Protect your expensive equipment or insure it, or move it yourself. We've always moved our bicycles and boats ourselves because of this.
- We've always had original packaging for electronics so I don't know how they fare using packers.
Good luck! It sucks no matter what, so have chilled wine and a wine glass ready at both ends!

Our moves (yes, plural - one move now to a rental house, and the second move in 6 months or so to the forever house being built) are all within the same town, so all things considered, it's been painless.
We've hired a pro crew (after obtaining three quotes) to move just our furniture and large/heavy items. Everything else, we're moving ourselves in our cars (both small SUVs, which helps). We'll do the same thing on he other side, in an effort to control cost.
I just can't get my head around paying someone to pack my dinner plates, pillows, shoes, and the like and load it on a truck. It's just so easy to take care of that stuff oneself.

You are selling your all old furniture that's the good point. So you may not need any professional movers. You can perform complete job from yourself as today their are many moving brokers cheat their customers.

The move is complete and I'm so glad we hired movers. I had way more stuff than we thought and no ones backs hurt! zthanks for all the suggestions esp. the liquor store boxes!

Even better than liquor store boxes are boxes from the paint store. They hold 4 gallons, are all the same exact size, have lids that have not been sliced open the way liquor store boxes often are, and are never too big to get heavy. There's an endless supply, and places like Sherwin Williams are happy to give them away.

Glad the move went well.