Believe it or not, people do search the internet for tips on the best way to pack up their belongings.  Things used to be a lot more straightforward in the 80s and 90s, because things were a lot more straightforward.  Does that make sense?  The point I’m trying to make is that you didn’t need internet packing tips in the 80s and 90s because people owned a lot less, and their belongings were a lot simpler.

But what do I know… maybe if YouTube and Pinterest were around twenty years ago people would have been using them…  For now, let’s leave the past in the past.  Here are seven tips to help you with packing:

• Start by properly securing your cardboard boxes. It all goes to crap if the bottom is going to fall out of your boxes.  Padding the bottom and sides with newspaper helps with strengthening the bottom.
• Pack like with like and then label them correctly. There is nothing beneficial about throwing different stuff from different rooms in the same box.  And if you don’t wind up labeling what is inside of them you wind up with a bunch of heavy cardboard boxes and no idea what to do with them.
• Cardboard boxes are expensive! If you want to save money, leave your stuff in their drawers and keep the contents in place using masking tape or self-stick plastic wrap.
• Wrap your plates individually in paper and stand them on their sides. They stand a lot less chance of breaking without the weight of each other on top and underneath.
• This is one is my favorite: when you are about to tape your box shut, put a piece of string along the seam, with a couple inches hanging off to the side. When it’s time to unpack you can just pull the string and it will cut the tape along the seam.
• Did I mention properly labeling your boxes? I cannot stress this enough.  Label what room the boxes are supposed to go in your house, and what they are holding.  This way you don’t have to go breaking through all of them and moving them all around at the end of a long day/days.  Do I need to point out that the label should go on the sides?
• Do yourself a favor and start packing well ahead of time.  You are obviously going to want to start in rooms that are less important, but you will be giving yourself a huge high five when it starts getting down to the wire and you are ahead of the game.