5 Moving Hacks Every Apartment Owner Should Know

Image Credit: Transport Executive

Moving into a new apartment is always difficult! If the task was easy, there wouldn't be an entire industry offering you moving services, discount packages and of course, lots of moving hacks!

How often did you move in your life? Was it in the past 10 years? As per the U.S Census Bureau 1 in 9 people are on a constant move which can be estimated to around 40 million people moving every year.

Even if you’re looking forward to your next move with your soul mate or you’ve landed a new job and require moving to a new city, moving will always be exhausting and time-consuming. You might lose items during the process, stress yourself out and skip a few meals too. Your home is where you relax and unwind from the daily stress, but when it comes to breaking your life and putting the pieces together, things can get a little frustrating.   

People have learned to move into a new apartment without fancy items. However, you must at least have the necessities when moving into a new apartment. To save your time and effort here are a few moving hacks that will save you a lot of chaos and instead guarantee you some peace of mind.

1. Donate unnecessary items, give it away in Charity

Yard deals are a thing of past. It is also a lot of hard work selling used items online. We believe in giving away to charity or pass it on to a younger cousin or friends willing to accept it. Have old kitchen utensils, electric kettle, and old toys? Give away anything that you are not taking with you in your new apartment. What’s even better is finding an organization or NGO that receives used items and pass it on to the deserving ones.

If you have old clothes that don't fit you anymore, especially office attire for both men and women then donate it to someone heading for a job interview, your one kind gesture may change their lives forever. If you have upgraded to an iPad or a Kindle then find another home for your books, you can also donate them to a local library. If you still own an old cell phone, give it to the NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). They have collaborated with Cellular Recycler to renew and resell old cell phones and the profits go to helping victims of violence.

Carrying less stuff with you will not only make your moving easier, but it’s also a new way to rid yourself of all the mental stress.  

2. Take Small Steps

We’re living in 2018- and it’s not just the home or apartment builders that can enjoy the advanced technology. Moving means you are getting a new address and this requires a lot of physical paperwork and time too. You need to figure out how and when you will update your physical address. The process can be lengthy especially if you’re moving to a new city.

Once you figure out the legal aspects, you must divide the moving task into steps. It makes carrying a wooden closet up the stairs seem like an easy task. But there are certain ways you can adjust well to it. The hack is to break down all your tasks in steps. Before the moving day, you can deliver your belongings to the new apartment, and inform everyone about the new address in a few stages.

While you may have to inform few companies beforehand, others you can update in short intervals.

3. Plan your Move in your Head

How great would it be if we could visualize every cup that would break or every item that we would lose on a moving day, beforehand? Although we don’t the ability to foresee the future, we can definitely help you prepare for the worst.

One common problem that most people complain about while moving is damaging or losing items. Most of the damages are not covered by insurance companies, or renters so you basically end up facing a financial loss.

If you plan to hire a moving company to help you move, as most of the movers do, make sure you are insured- in case of an accident or loss you can easily file a claim. You should also take a picture of your old apartment and the new apartment you are moving in to show your landlord, in case of any mishap.

While you’re taking all the precautionary steps anyway, you might want to create a moving inventory. This way you make sure your goods are safe and if they undergo any damage, you can claim them back from the insurance company.

4. Pack as per your new apartment

Since you have documented all the items, this step will be a lot easier and fast. The hack to a successful moving is to pack according to your new apartment rather than your old one. Packing this way sounds simpler than it actually is.

Get familiar with your new apartment before the moving day. This helps you make decisions based on the space that is available. Your new bedroom might be small, but you have packed a huge closet that might not fit in. Or what if your kitchen already has induction stovetops and smart appliances? No matter what is the infrastructure of your new apartment, it won't be anything like your old one.

This way the question of ‘where did my stuff go’ will become irrelevant automatically.

The key to a calm move is to know where your stuff is going before you even keep it in the boxes

5. Sort by usage

One of the easiest tricks while moving to a new apartment is to label your boxes, Labeling boxes can make moving stress-free. To make this task more fun you can label your boxes by each room (Bathroom, Bedroom, Kitchen), then prioritize with colored sticky notes, and lastly the frequency of usage. Experts suggest labeling red for items that are fragile and used frequently. Use blue and purple for items of least importance.  

And don’t forget to label some boxes as ’essentials’, and pack real essentials in it. Items such as a toothbrush, your phone charger, your phones, and laptop fall into this category. To stop yourself from procrastinating, prepare a checklist of all the things you will need in the upcoming few weeks. This will make locating the essentials a lot easier. When you’re done packing and unpacking the items, you can check them off of your list.

Author Bio:

Jenny Harrison is a passionate home and lifestyle blogger. She loves to engage with readers who are seeking home and lifestyle-related information on the internet. She is a featured blogger at various high authority blogs and magazines in which she shared her research and experience with the vast online community. Currently, she is associated with NYC moving company ‘All Around Moving Services Company Inc.’. Follow her on twitter @MJennyHarrison for more updates.