Moving to a different home is never an easy activity — whether you’re moving just across the street or hundreds of miles away. A lot of people stress over how to stay organized, as well as keep the costs low. Others, meanwhile, get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of items to be packed and transported to their new place.

Indeed, the moving process is quite demanding, but you do not need to stress over it too much. With a few moving hacks, you can get a lot of the aspects done in no time without breaking too much sweat. Here are nine moving hacks to try.

1. Place empty boxes in different parts of the house a week (or ASAP) after finding out that you will be moving.

These empty storage boxes are for everything that you have no intention of bringing with you to the new place. Everybody in the house who sees these boxes will put something in, and by the end of the week, it’s most likely that all the items that need to be disposed of will already be in the boxes.

2. Bring in a new set of boxes after the first week.

This time the boxes will be for the items that you will be bringing with you. Instruct your family to start packing their belongings every chance they get.

When you adopt this strategy, you will find that the different members of your family will use their spare time to fill these boxes and in a somewhat organized manner, too. Therefore, on the day of completing all your packing with hired packers and movers , everybody will merely be adding in just a few more items in the boxes before sealing them off.

3. Take a video of big-ticket items that you need to disassemble.

Use your phone camera to your great advantage for the move. When you need to dismantle furniture and appliances for the move, take a video of the dismantling process. The video would serve as a great reference for when you need to put everything back together. This is better than using an old manual.

4. Put all the little bits and pieces of dismantled furniture in small resealable bags.

You need to keep the nails, screws, bolts, and nuts of your furniture or appliances in small plastic bags. You can label these bags to indicate for which items they are and place all these in your carry-on bag.

Or, tape these bags to the biggest pieces of the dismantled items. This way, you can avoid the often long and patience-challenging search for small pieces that will help you put your big belongings back to how they were.

5. Put all your cleaning essentials in the same basket.

This makes for quick packing. Plus, when you put all your cleaning essentials in the same container, not only will unpacking be a breeze when you get to your new home, but cleaning up as well.

So, put your Clorox wipes, magic erasers, scrubbers, paper towels, detergent, bleach, dishwashing liquid, garbage bags, and all other cleaning products in one basket. Your life will be so much easier this way.

6. Block out your calendar for the week of the move.

You need to stay focused during your last week in your old house. It’s crunch time, and you need all the time to make sure that you’re packing all the essentials, done making arrangements with utility companies, and ironing out other details.

Your friends may mean well to invite you to dinner or watch a movie together because you will be missed, but you will be doing yourself a favor by reserving the week to the move purely for staying on top of packing and other moving requirements.

7. Stock up on cling wrap.

Cling wrap is the perfect solution for containers that leak and those that do not come with a cover or lid. If you want to prevent liquid products from spilling during packing and the move itself, place some cling wrap on the opening before screwing on the lid.

Meanwhile, for open trays that hold dining utensils, accessories, and other small items, wrap them up tightly with cling wrap before putting them in boxes.

8. Plan your final week’s menu using whatever food you have left.

For the week of the move, you no longer want to be buying fresh groceries and putting them in your fridge. So, plan your menu based on the stock of food you have left. If that’s not enough, order in or eat out. Food should never be an issue when you are preparing to move out.

9. Set aside snacks and refreshments the day before the move.

Don’t bother ordering food or making a quick trip to the nearest convenience store to provide everybody with something to drink and munch on for moving day. Set snacks and refreshments aside (as well as a garbage bag) so people can just grab what they need during the flurry and scurry of the day.

No need to get fancy with the snacks — fruits, chips, pretzels, candies, and crackers will do. As for refreshments, bottles of cold water should be enough.

To keep stress to a minimum come moving day, be sure to consider these tips in organizing and expediting your moving process. This way, you get to stay unfrazzled despite the big change in your life.

AUTHOR BIO

Chris Humphrey is the General Manager of Easytruck Moving & Storage. In 2013, the company combined their expertise in professional moving services and storage to create an entirely new approach to the business – and mobile storage was born! Easytruck now operates over 30,000 sq.ft. of air-conditioned facilities in three convenient locations in Dubai and is the only Mobile Storage operator in the UAE.