Moving can be chaotic and stressful and even more so if you don’t pack efficiently. I’ve moved over 30 times myself so I know a thing or two about how to do this! Here we go:

1.       As soon as you know that you’re going to be moving, start eating up all of the food in your house. What’s the point of moving it?! You might end up with meals that don’t necessarily go together by the end, but who cares? It’s less boxes and weight to move. Essentially, all you should end up moving are your spices and maybe some oils, vinegars and condiments that you didn’t get to use up. If you don’t eat foods before your move simply because you don’t want to eat them, ask yourself if you’re going to want to eat them in the new house. If not, discard or donate them. When you do pack your food right before your move, very clearly label the boxes. Think about how long these items are going to be in transit and if they’ll be able to withstand the elements they’re exposed to. Is it going to be hot? Humid? Freezing cold? Will any of this affect the edibility of the foods? Keep these boxes easily accessible. You’re going to want to unpack them right away in the new house so you can eat!

2.       Purge before you pack. Just like with food, why would you move something to a new home if you’re not going to use it there? Is your décor changing or is the size of your home changing? Don’t wait and spend extra time, energy and money moving something that you won’t use in the future. Just cut your losses and trash, recycle or donate it before you even get started packing.

3.       Buy some sturdy bins with great lids. I truly am not a big container or bin user but they are super helpful for moves, especially for heavy or fragile items. However, you should only buy as many as you’ll be able to use or store in your new home after you move in. One of the bins I have usually holds a bunch of old sheets that I use to protect furniture in moves and renovations. During a move, I use the bin to store something else, though. If you move often or need to store more items in the new house than in the old house, this will help save money on purchasing and repurchasing boxes too. Bins can be used to move liquids in case there are any leaks and this way, your shampoo or whatever spills wont ruin furniture or anything else.

4.       If you’ve saved the original boxes from dishes, small appliances and electronics, check with your packers to see if they will be able to pack those boxes. Some movers only allow you to pack those types of boxes but only if they are packed inside of one of their company’s boxes. Other movers do allow you to pack original boxes right alongside their moving boxes. If you are allowed to use your original boxes then start packing those items first.

5.       Label every box according to the room it’s going to be used in in your new house and write specific notes about what’s in the box. Having 20 boxes that say, “kitchen” doesn’t necessarily help you when you’re ready to unpack. Think about who will be unpacking and make sure that what you’re writing will make sense to them.

6.       Use sheets, towels and plastic grocery bags to protect fragile items within boxes. Don’t forget to add those “packing materials” to your labels, though. You can also use paper towels between plates and even use clothes to pad items. No matter what you’re protecting items with, make sure the items go into the boxes clean so you don’t get your “packing materials” dirty.

7.       Use boxes that one person can carry on their own and don’t pack any box too heavy. You’re going to be tired enough as it is while moving and you don’t want to get stuck not being able to move a box around without breaking it or your back. Large boxes should only be used for light items, like pillows. You can buy boxes from big box stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot or you can get used boxes from dollar stores, Walmarts and grocery stores for free!

8.       Do invest in clothes hanging boxes if you can. There’s little that’s more time consuming than taking clothes off of hangers, folding them to fit in boxes, untangling hangers to fit in other boxes sand then re-hanging clothes in your new home. If you have the option in your vehicles, you could also use a clothes hanging bar and transport your hanging clothes that way.

9.       Pack your cleaning supplies last so that you can clean out your old home before you leave but more importantly so that you can clean your new home before you begin bringing boxes in to unpack. No matter how your new home is cleaned before you arrive, I promise you that you’ll find things that were missed and you’ll want to be able to clean them before you can rest easily at night.

10.   Don’t leave packing to the last minute. Start packing as soon as you can so you don’t run out of time. Think about things that you won’t need and pack them first. Potentially you could get your entire guestroom and all of your patio packed up and never even know the difference.