Hey, y’all!! I promised a few months back that after I moved I’d round up all of my top tips for moving out of state! I learned so much navigating this move, and I can’t wait to share all of my new-found knowledge with y’all! I’m hoping you can get some takeaways from my mistakes, and not make the same ones!
Top Tips For Moving Out Of State
1. Start Saving Early
I think this might be the most important. I chatted how I saved up for this move in this post, and honestly even with that solid plan in place, I wish I would have saved more than I did. There are so many expenses you don’t even think about that pop-up, and I started my new job a week later than I had expected so that didn’t help at all. It really helps to prepare for the unexpected. So I think if I were to do this again I would have stopped my debt payoff back in November/December and put all of that money toward the move instead of debt.
2. Plastic Bins Over Everything
Everyone kept trying to give me their spare cardboard boxes for the move, and as much as I was appreciative, I am not a fan. They don’t hold up and you have to tape them all shut. If it gets wet, you’re screwed. No, thank you. Target had these bins on sale for like $5 back in February and I stocked up. I love them, and because I know we’ll have to move at least one more time, I know I’ll use them again. I just put a small piece of duct tape on the side with a list of what’s inside on it.
3. Label Everything
If you haven’t realized it by now, I’m a little bit type A. Okay, maybe a lot type A. I’m a type 1 on the enneagram scale if that clears things up more. But anyway, my type-A tendencies got the best of me, and I labeled everything like a crazy person. Every box had a detailed description of what was inside. Some of them down to each item. It makes it so much easier to unload and know exactly where that box needs to go in the house.
4. Use Blankets
Okay, my biggest mistake was when Taylor moved out here earlier in the year [he moved a few months before me], I sent a ton of my furniture with him. I had posted on my Insta stories that I used bubble wrap and saran wrap to protect everything. I don’t recommend this. Especially if you’re moving any kind of tools or toolboxes. Taylor’s toolboxes ripped right through the saran wrap on my desk. Thankfully, it’s on the backside and you can’t see it but there’s a scratch on it now. When I packed the last of my stuff in the Uhaul trailer this June, I used blankets instead and it worked like a charm! Not even any scuffs on the blankets and I had one of Taylor’s exhausts wrapped in one. I’m definitely using those in the future instead of for sure. If you ever get ridiculous amounts of blankets for Christmas gifts save them!! Literally, all of the ones I used were gifted at some point in my life and were sitting in my closet.
5. Space Bags
Y’all I love these so much. Not only did I use them for clothes, but pillows and blankets too! I was able to fit so much more stuff in that Uhaul because all of my pillows were flattened in a space bag. You really don’t think about how much space they take up until you have to move them, and I have so many pillows lol. I used this set of them for the move.
6. Give Yourself Grace
I don’t care what anyone says, moving is HARD. Especially a military move. Thankfully, Taylor’s orders were to Texas where we wanted to go, but I can’t imagine moving to somewhere neither of us had been before and knowing no one. It’s stressful enough to have to pack your life up and deal with all of that change, but the loneliness of a new place is just as hard too. Texas is amazing. I really do feel like I belong here, but you best believe I call my best friends and my family constantly. I miss them like crazy! Those feelings are valid, and it’s okay to be sad.
Have you moved to a completely new place before? How’d it go? I’d love to hear! Comment below!
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