5 TIPS TO INSURE A SMOOTH AND SERENE MOVE
We moved last week. And it was a good move! We now own the condo that we sold 14 months ago. We are blessed to have this condo back! It is in a beautiful 55-plus community full of fun things to do! We bought it for less than we sold it for 14 months ago! We hope we can live here for a very long time. I will make a video tour soon!

This is our 28th move in almost 50 years of marriage! We started out as college students renting an tiny attic apartment for $40/month. We had 5 pieces of furniture – ha!
Moving can be hectic, exhausting, and chaotic. Hopefully, these tried and true tips will help! This move went very smoothly except for our internet service is slow to get going. The company was so confused when our new address was one of our old ones – ha! We admit we are hard to keep track of lately!
TIP ONE: KEEP TRACK OF IMPORTANT STUFF!
KEYS: I wore my keys around my neck on a lanyard- not only to our new place but to our old place.
CELL PHONE: I wore mine either around my neck in my mini purse or on a holder while in the moving process.
IMPORTANT PAPERS:
I put them all in my briefcase along with chargers and laptop.
TIP TWO: KEEP ESSENTIALS AT BOTH PLACES
I kept a bottle of ice water, a gym bag, and snacks at the new place. Also, I made sure I had toilet paper, hand soap, and paper towels at both places. The gym bag is for when I go swimming or pilates class. I highly recommend keeping up with your exercise routine no matter how busy!
I went swimming a lot to relax and stretch everything out! I also tried to attend my 3x a week exercise classes.
TIP THREE: PACK WISELY
Use bags, not boxes. I use large shopping bags and small sturdy ones as well. Don’t overload. Keep them lightweight. You don’t want back issues because you lifted heavy things! Ziplock bags are handy for what I call “The Littles” – small items you can easily categorize. Don’t unpack your dressers – the movers will be moving those and you don’t need the drawers empty. Pack them to the max!
I love these large shopping bags for easy moving, especially now that I am older and no longer like lifting heaving boxes!
Bags are so much better for car loads of stuff. Boxes work for the movers but not for me with my car. I can see over them, lift them easilly and store them to use again without a lot of space or fuss.
FOUR: DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AS EARLY AS YOU CAN
The following applies to a local move. But you want to
start early no matter if it is local or far away!
Move all the small stuff over yourself and unpack as much of it as possible- get it out of the main walk areas. Start this early. Accept help if asked but only with the hauling, not the packing and unpacking. I also make sure I have clean bedding to put onto the beds on moving day and make the beds as soon as the movers put them up. You don’t want to wait until bedtime to do this because you will be too exhausted!
I kept track of how many loads I made to the new place. I did a total of 13 loads all together (one or two each day) and 2 friends did one load each the day before the move.
TIP FIVE: DON’T LET CHAOS IN THE DOOR!
My kitchen looked so beautiful shortly after the movers left because I moved all the stuff over before the big move!
The cupboards were pretty much all full at the new place before moving day!
This is my cleared out kitchen at the old place. I tried to keep my horizontal surfaces cleared so I could use them for working areas when needed!
It was so nice to treat ourselves to a delivered dinner the evening before the BIG MOVE!
Keep up with regular chores. Things like dishes and laundry need to be done on a regular basis. Who wants to pack dirty dishes or clothes over to your new place? And try to keep horizontal surfaces cleared off so you can use them as work areas. Close your kitchen 2 or 3 days before the movers come and take it all to the new place and unpack into cupboards and refrigerator. Eat out or eat microwavable meals remembering to keep some forks and spoons at the old place. Dan and I can’t stand plastic forks!
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM!
I post a tip a day on Instagram @sandrafmarthaler. I posted several reels about moving if you want more than my top five moving tips! I post other things too – every day. So follow me on Instagram, I would love to share my wisdom with you!