Moving is just a part of life for many of us. A whopping forty million Americans move every single year. 

Unearthing your entire life to move to a new home, a new state, or even a new country is extremely stressful. You may be wondering how to make moving easy or if that’s even possible. 

While it might not be possible to have an entirely stress-free move, our tips below can help.

How to Make Moving Easy

Though we can’t erase all the related stressors of moving, there are things to do when you move that can make the process easier on you. Below, we review preparations to take, as well as packing and unpacking tips to help simplify the process.  

Preparations

1. Create a Checklist

A moving checklist is your key to organizing during a stressful move. There are many online moving checklists that you can print, have handy, and check off as you complete your tasks. Set deadlines and work off of your checklists.

1. Give Yourself Time

Nothing feels worse than being pressed for time. Make sure you give yourself a realistic amount of time to complete the moving essentials including researching quality, dependable movers, and packing up your home, so you’re not rushing last minute. 

Packing Tips

1. Don’t Touch Your Drawers

Make moving easy by not emptying your dresser drawers. Not only will you save on boxes, but you’ll also save on time too. Leave everything in the drawers and secure them in place with plastic wrap. 

1. Put Your Towels to Use

Any of your soft linens – socks, hand towels, and dishcloths, for example, can be used to protect delicate items. Use your bath towels or kitchen linens to provide cushioning for some of your more fragile items like lamps or vases. 

1. Put Pots to Use, Too

Pots and pans often create some unused space when they’re packed away inboxes. Fill the pots with small, simple items like spices or other little kitchen gadgets. 

1. Color Code Boxes

Use colored duct tape on your boxes to indicate which boxes belong in which room of your new home. This will help you when it comes time to unload your items and unpack. Just make sure the people unloading your boxes know your color-coding system when setting down the boxes.

1. Use Your Luggage

Fill up your rolling luggage with some of your bulky, smaller items. Heavy books, for example, will be easy to move with the help of the wheels of your suitcase. 

Unpacking Tips

1. Start in the Kitchen

Empty your kitchen boxes first. This will allow you to prepare a snack or meal when the hunger – or hanger – hits. The kitchen is often the most time-consuming and stressful room to unbox, so getting it out of the way first will take a weight off your shoulders. 

1. Get Rid of Empty Boxes

As soon as you’ve emptied a box, break it down and set it aside for recycling. This will reduce clutter in your new space, and allow you to focus on the tasks at hand.

1. Set a Deadline

Plan a housewarming party for a few weeks after you’ve moved into your new home. A deadline for unpacking will keep you on task.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful

Moving and packing don’t have to be a stressful event in your life. You might not be able to eliminate all stress, but with our packing tips and tricks, you can get off to the right start.

If you’re still not sure how to make moving an easy task, contact us at Browning Moving & Storage. We specialize in household, commercial, and international moving and would be more than happy to assist you.

Whether it is for work, family, or cost of living, every year, 40 million people move from their homes. This means millions of people have to say goodbye to their friends and coworkers every year.

Breaking the news can be hard on everyone involved. There will be tears and heartfelt goodbyes. Saying goodbye does not need to be a painful affair.

Here are some ways to say goodbye to make parting a little easier.

Examples of How to Say Goodbye to Friends

Saying goodbye to your friends will be difficult. These are people you have come to view as an extension of your family.

Tell Them Right Away

Since your friends are no doubt important to you, when you go to move, you need to give them time to process the news. So, it’s important to tell them right away instead of putting it off.  

If you tell them right before you leave, the chances are that they will feel hurt and think you don’t care about them. Your friends will feel under-appreciated. When you tell them earlier in the process, it gives you time to say goodbye. It will make it easier for everyone to accept that this is happening.  

Tell them in Person

Your friends are an essential part of your life. Like any critical information you share with people, you want to do it in person. Your friends will appreciate the gesture.

Telling them over the phone or social media might put a strain on things before you leave. You want to make sure the last few weeks/months you spend with them are happy ones.

Spend Quality Time

A great way to make the goodbye process a little easier is to talk about all the fun you had together. You can re-visit the places you have fond memories of with each of your friends. Once you leave, you will be able to cherish the old memories and the new memories you created before you left.  

Throw a Party

Throwing a party is a great way to have fun with your friends while making the transition a little easier. This may be the last chance to talk to one another and really get all your emotions out. The party doesn’t have to be anything fancy or large, it could be a small get together.

Examples of How to Say Goodbye to Coworkers

Your coworkers are people you are guaranteed to see almost every single day. They have an impact on the atmosphere where you work and how you each interact in that work environment.

Goodbye Letter/Email

A great and easy way to let your colleagues know you are leaving is to send out a goodbye email/letter. Depending on how close you are to each of your coworkers, you may want to send out different types of emails.

You could write a more generalized email to coworkers you don’t know as well. At the same time, make more personalized emails to coworkers you spend a lot of time with. This will show everyone in the office you cared about the contributions they have made.

Sending goodbye messages will show your colleagues that you are professional and polite. When you leave, there will be a more positive atmosphere.

Tell them in Person

For colleagues you are close to, you may want to tell them in person instead of sending a message. You can talk about the projects you worked on together or funny moments you shared.

This would be a great time to take them out to lunch as a final farewell.  

Connect Through Social Media

Moving doesn’t have to be a finalized goodbye. After all, we live in a day and age where the internet is in full swing. Many social media outlets allow you to stay in touch with both your friends and coworkers.

You may be sad that you won’t see them every day, but at least you can remain in contact with anyone you care about.

Packing It up

Saying goodbye is never fun; you want to avoid it at all costs. You will think if you don’t say anything you won’t really be losing these people from your life.

That’s why it is essential to say the appropriate goodbyes. You can enjoy the time you have left with your friends and coworkers. This will make the transition a little bit easier for everyone.

If you want more moving tips, visit our blog.  

Moving is always an ordeal. Even the most low-impact moves take several hours on average, and that doesn’t factor in packing time and other prep. With everything else to consider during a move, the last thing you want to worry about is breaking things in transit.

Electronics are particularly susceptible to damage. Considering most of us rely on our computers for important tasks, it’s important to decrease the risk of damage whenever possible.

Luckily, there are some ways to ensure your computer’s safety. Keep reading to learn how to pack a computer for moving.

How to Pack a Computer for Moving

There are a few key steps in this process. We’ll cover each one in detail so you don’t accidentally miss something crucial.

Back Up Before You Pack Up

Backing up your data is imperative. No matter how thorough you are with your packing, there’s no way to guarantee your computer’s safety one hundred percent.

Losing your data can be much more than a simple inconvenience. These days, a lot of important information exists exclusively in digital form. That’s why you need to make sure to back up all of it before packing your computer.

Even if you’re not planning a move, backing up your data is something you should do periodically.

Use the Original Boxes

Though this is not always possible, if you have the original packaging for your computer, use it. It is your best option. The boxes your computer came in are specially designed to prevent damage during transportation, making them ideal for your move.

Even if it’s not an option this time around, make a mental note and set the boxes aside the next time you buy a computer or other new tech.

Get Proper Packing Supplies

If you can’t use the original boxes, you should do your best to recreate the same level of security. To do this, you need to get the right supplies.

Here’s what you need:

• A box twice the size of the computer
• Bubble wrap
• Packing paper
• Heavy-duty packing tape
• Labels
• Marker

The large box is to ensure that the computer remains as far away from the walls of the box as possible. This way it doesn’t sustain any damage if the box is dropped or bumps into anything.

1. Place extra tape on the bottom seam of the box to assure that it is sturdy and will hold the computer.
2. Wrap your computer, monitor, and keyboard separately in multiple layers of bubble wrap.
3. Secure the bubble wrap with tape.
4. Place crumpled packing paper on the bottom of the box to act as a cushion.
5. Fill the rest of the space with crumpled packing paper until you can’t fit any more inside. You want these to be as tightly packed as possible.

Once you’re confident that you’ve adequately filled the space, it’s time to tape up the box. Don’t skimp on the tape. Get high-quality packing tape and double tape the openings.

Finally, mark the box as “fragile.” This will help if you’ve got friends, family, or professional movers assisting with the move.

One more important note: If you’re packing an older style desktop computer with separate parts like speakers, monitor, tower, etc., pack all the pieces individually. Putting them in their own boxes keeps them from banging into each other. Other than that, use the same technique described above.

You’re Ready to Move

Now that you know how to pack a computer for moving, you’re ready to go. As you can see, it’s not a difficult process. As long as you’re careful to follow all the steps, you shouldn’t have any issues.

Of course, the best way to keep your belongings safe is by having someone who really knows what they’re doing take care of it. If you’re interested in getting some professional help with your move, follow this link.

37% of American homeowners would rather have a small house than a large one. If you’re one of these Americans and are downsizing to a smaller home, it can be a challenge trying to determine what you need to bring along with you.

Moving is a stressful time, so take the time to reduce some stress before the big day. Here are six great tips on downsizing to a smaller home.

1. Start Planning Early

When you leave things until the last second, you won’t make the best decisions. Early on in the moving process, take inventory of everything you have and note which items won’t fit in your new house.

When you have a clear list of what you have and where each item needs to go (either to your next residence or sold to someone else), you won’t be scrambling around trying to put things like oversized furniture into your smaller home.

2. Clear out Your Wardrobe

You may have accumulated a large collection of clothes over the years, but do you really wear every single piece? Go through your drawers and closets to determine which garments you don’t wear anymore. Donate your unused clothing to charity.

3. Get Rid of Old or Large Furniture

You may have an old couch that’s very comfortable, but it may be too large for your new place. Don’t try to make it fit; not only will it make the room look smaller, but it will probably detract from your new environment.

4. Eliminate Duplicates

It’s particularly easy to collect duplicate items in the kitchen. Go through everything from cookware to utensils to eliminate things you don’t need.

If you have numerous spatulas, large spoons, oversized stock pots, multiple sized cookie sheets, this is the time to pare down and only take with you what you need.

5. Reduce Things From Rooms You Won’t Have

If you’re relocating to an apartment or townhome, the chances are you won’t have a garage, basement, or office. Virtually everything in those spaces should be sold or donated unless you know you have space available for them in another room in the new home.

Consider selling these items at a yard sale or online. Outdoor tools and solid office furniture bring in more money than old sofas.

6. Use an Off-Site Storage Unit

When you’ve gone through and determined everything you want to keep and find that you can’t fit them in your new home, then you might want to look into renting an off-site storage unit. This can be a temporary solution while you work out if you’re going to sell them or make more space in your new home.

Use These Tips for Downsizing to a Smaller Home

When you use our tips on downsizing to a smaller home, you won’t have too much difficulty bringing the things you need to your new residence. With proper planning and resource allocation, your move will go quickly and smoothly.

If you’re moving soon and need a professional mover, get a free quote from us today.