Last month I wrote about Why we Downsized. Now that we've been settled in our new home for a month, I wanted to reflect back on how we packed and prepared and did it all as frugally as possible.
Start Early
In July we spoke to our realtor and we knew we had a ton of decluttering to do, essentially it should look like no one lives in your home. EVERYTHING off the bookshelves, clear any surface as much as possible, reduce the amount of furniture and art drastically. This was a ton of work, and basically nothing got done during the week, due to the normal day to day routines. Many weekends were spent packing and piling up the boxes in our garage.
Boxes and Packing Material
We got all of our boxes and packing material FOR FREE! I started by posting on Buy Nothing for boxes and packing material. I collected from at least 4 different families. One warning here, some of them smelled strongly of pets or smoke. We aired them out in the garage and sprinkled them with doterra essential oils to neutralize the odors. Next we collected boxes from work. No matter where you work, you're likely to have access to boxes. For a few weeks, Ted and I would bring home a few each day. We also asked friends and family for any boxes they had. Some people do a lot of online shopping and seem to have an endless supply! For packing materials we used off-season clothes, dish clothes, table clothes, sheets, etc. Anything that could act as padding that we were fine being without for potentially 6 months. We also looked on Facebook Marketplace where you're likely to find fellow neighbors nearby that have recently moved and have a collection of boxes and packing materials to give away! Being on the moving end, the recently moved are just as eager to get rid of the boxes as the soon to move are to receive the boxes so this is a great resource! I also got boxes from Costco, you can contact the local schools, restaurants, ABC stores or grocery stores to find out about getting their boxes. There are so many options for free materials that it seems absurd to buy them!
Sell it!
Since we were downsizing by half we had to make many decisions about what was not going to come with us. After we got our contract on the house we were buying we immediately went to work thinking about room layouts and what pieces of furniture we would no longer need. The largest items we sold included; 3 couches, a vanity, a secretary desk, and an Oriental rug. Anything else that we no longer needed but thought still might have some value we posted and most of it sold. Ultimately we brought in over $1000 which was enough to cover our move! We sold baby items and curtains, wicker baskets and platters, outdoor furniture, even a gargoyle and a non-working lawn motor! We met so many gracious people and much to my surprise, no one tried to haggle. Now that we have moved we are still selling items that we don't need.
Organize and purge as much as possible
The packing part is tiring but when you're also trying to assess, "Do I really need this, how should I pack this, where is this going to go?" it becomes downright exhausting. We definitely reached the point of throwing everything we could find in a box and sealing it, but the awful part is, you then have to deal with it later! As much as possible we tried to make decisions before the move and get rid of unneeded items before the move. We still think we have too much stuff and are continuing to give away or sell items.
Get the kids on board
From the beginning the kids were excited about the move. They did not mind the idea of changing schools, neighborhoods, friends. They helped every step of the way. They picked what toys they could pack up early, and what toys they were willing to part with. They did not mind us spending a few weekends in a row mostly packing. We tried to work in fun breaks or treats at the end of the day even if it was just a trip to the playground or pizza and a movie in the living room floor after we boxed all day.
Move as much yourself as possible
Start Early
In July we spoke to our realtor and we knew we had a ton of decluttering to do, essentially it should look like no one lives in your home. EVERYTHING off the bookshelves, clear any surface as much as possible, reduce the amount of furniture and art drastically. This was a ton of work, and basically nothing got done during the week, due to the normal day to day routines. Many weekends were spent packing and piling up the boxes in our garage.
 |
| This is NOT what this room looked like normally! |
Boxes and Packing Material
We got all of our boxes and packing material FOR FREE! I started by posting on Buy Nothing for boxes and packing material. I collected from at least 4 different families. One warning here, some of them smelled strongly of pets or smoke. We aired them out in the garage and sprinkled them with doterra essential oils to neutralize the odors. Next we collected boxes from work. No matter where you work, you're likely to have access to boxes. For a few weeks, Ted and I would bring home a few each day. We also asked friends and family for any boxes they had. Some people do a lot of online shopping and seem to have an endless supply! For packing materials we used off-season clothes, dish clothes, table clothes, sheets, etc. Anything that could act as padding that we were fine being without for potentially 6 months. We also looked on Facebook Marketplace where you're likely to find fellow neighbors nearby that have recently moved and have a collection of boxes and packing materials to give away! Being on the moving end, the recently moved are just as eager to get rid of the boxes as the soon to move are to receive the boxes so this is a great resource! I also got boxes from Costco, you can contact the local schools, restaurants, ABC stores or grocery stores to find out about getting their boxes. There are so many options for free materials that it seems absurd to buy them!
 |
| Sprinkled the boxes with peppermint to remove odors and deter bugs. |
Sell it!
Since we were downsizing by half we had to make many decisions about what was not going to come with us. After we got our contract on the house we were buying we immediately went to work thinking about room layouts and what pieces of furniture we would no longer need. The largest items we sold included; 3 couches, a vanity, a secretary desk, and an Oriental rug. Anything else that we no longer needed but thought still might have some value we posted and most of it sold. Ultimately we brought in over $1000 which was enough to cover our move! We sold baby items and curtains, wicker baskets and platters, outdoor furniture, even a gargoyle and a non-working lawn motor! We met so many gracious people and much to my surprise, no one tried to haggle. Now that we have moved we are still selling items that we don't need.
 |
| The kids loved decorating as many boxes as possible! |
Organize and purge as much as possible
The packing part is tiring but when you're also trying to assess, "Do I really need this, how should I pack this, where is this going to go?" it becomes downright exhausting. We definitely reached the point of throwing everything we could find in a box and sealing it, but the awful part is, you then have to deal with it later! As much as possible we tried to make decisions before the move and get rid of unneeded items before the move. We still think we have too much stuff and are continuing to give away or sell items.
 |
| Who needs toys when there's a box!? |
From the beginning the kids were excited about the move. They did not mind the idea of changing schools, neighborhoods, friends. They helped every step of the way. They picked what toys they could pack up early, and what toys they were willing to part with. They did not mind us spending a few weekends in a row mostly packing. We tried to work in fun breaks or treats at the end of the day even if it was just a trip to the playground or pizza and a movie in the living room floor after we boxed all day.
 |
| Truck rental, $40, 24 hours, we moved EVERYTHING but the furniture |
Now this one might make some people uncomfortable! Ted and I are no strangers to hard work. We knew if we moved as much of our stuff as possible, we would save money, A LOT of money. We rented a truck from our local Home Depot, we worked all day while the kids were at school, we made two trips, I did 20,000 steps that day, and we moved everything except the furniture. Not going to lie, this was exhausting and not much fun, BUT I love that we are still able and willing to work hard like this and I was so glad we did it.
Shop around for movers
We asked for recommendations on Facebook, we got quotes, we went with the one that we got the best vibe from and we were very satisfied with them. They were friendly yet professional and nothing was broken or damaged, they wanted us to walk around and make sure everything was where we wanted it. It's good to take your time with this decision since no matter what, it's a big chunk of change.
As you can tell, moving is a lot of work, and we don't plan on doing it again for quite awhile. Everything is a trade off though, and I'm sure we could have spent a lot more money and saved some time, but I don't think we could have spent any more time or saved any more money as there's no way we were going to move the furniture ourselves, and we're getting too old to have friends help with moves!
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