The best moving tip is boring: move less stuff. Everything else on this list is downstream of that.
We sold our Florida house in June and packed up nine years of living in it. I made many of these deliberate choices to see what the impact would be on the move. Read on to see how I fared. See what worked, what I would tweak and learn from my mistakes.
Here are the nine tips, in the order you’ll actually need them:
- Start eight weeks out, not two
- Sort every single thing into a category: keep, sell, donate, or trash
- List the sell pile early enough that it actually sells
- Rent a temporary storage unit to declutter and stage your house
- Label every box by room on the sides, not the top
- Photograph shelves and box them by shelf
- Heavy things in small boxes, light things in big boxes
- Bag the hardware and photograph the back of your electronics
- Pack an open-first box and load it last
The short version: start eight weeks before moving day and sort every item you own into keep, sell, donate, or trash. Move the keep pile into a temporary storage unit so the house shows spacious and sells faster. Then color code your boxes by room, label the sides, and take a photo of the contents before you tape each one shut. Load with purpose beginning with the unload in mind.
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Why I’m the one telling you this
We bought our house in May 2017, renovated almost every room of it ourselves, and sold it in June 2026. Then we packed the whole thing up and moved out of the state.
Nine years is a long time to accumulate. I found three sets of allen wrenches, a box of cables for devices I no longer own, and a chair I pulled out of the trash in 2022 and flipped for my first ever blog post. That chair went back in the trash on moving day, which felt like closing a loop.
Everything below is what I’d tell a friend before they start moving, including the parts I got wrong and paid for.
1. Start eight weeks out, not two
Almost everyone underestimates this by about a month. Packing isn’t one job. It’s a few hundred tiny decisions, and the decisions are what make you tired, not the boxes.
Eight weeks out, start with the stuff you won’t miss. Holiday decorations, the guest room closet, books, the garage, anything in an attic or basement. If you can go two months without touching it, it can go in a box today.
The rule I’d give you: one box a day, every day. That’s fifteen minutes. Sixty boxes by moving day, and you never had to pull a single all-nighter. Compare that to the version where you pack sixty boxes in a weekend, which is the version most people pick and then swear about.
Starting early also buys you the thing that makes tip three work, which is time to sell.
2. Sort everything into keep, sell, donate, or trash
Four piles. Every item in your house goes in exactly one of them, and nothing gets to be undecided.
| Pile | What goes in it | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | You’ve used it in the last year, or it’s genuinely irreplaceable | Box it, label it, storage unit |
| Sell | Worth more than about $20 and someone else wants it | List it 8 weeks out, not 2 |
| Donate | Still good, but not worth the hassle of selling | One drop-off run per week |
| Trash | Broken, expired, or you’re keeping it out of guilt | Bag it today |
A couple tips. #1 know your bulk pick-up day or know the day where your municipality take large things like furniture, or appliances. Know what day this is before your move. #2 NO maybe Pile. Commit to putting things in one of the four piles and empty the donate and trash pile every week. So when something won’t sort itself, I use a tiebreaker.
The 20/20 rule. If you could buy it again for less than $20 and get your hands on one in less than 20 minutes, you don’t need to move it. That one question emptied more of my house than anything else I did, because almost nothing in a junk drawer survives it.
#3 Work one room at a time and finish the room before you move on. Doing it by category across the whole house sounds tidier and in practice it means you have four half-finished piles in every room and nowhere to walk.
One thing I’d do differently: I would have started this before we listed the house, not after. Decluttering and staging are the same job, and I did them twice.
3. Sell the sell pile early enough that it actually sells
Here’s the math nobody does. Every box you move has a cost, whether that’s a mover’s hourly rate, truck space, or a storage unit you’re paying for monthly. Moving a $30 lamp two states away can easily cost more than $30. Our two pods were 7′ W x 6′ D x 8′ H and cost about $3500 to ship. You can fit about 100 1.5 ft cube boxes in each pod so total 200 boxes. $3500 ÷ 200 = $17.5 per box to move!
Facebook Marketplace and Poshmark did most of the work for us. Marketplace for furniture and tools, Poshmark for clothes. It’s slow and a little annoying, and you will photograph things that nobody buys for three weeks and if they don’t buy them the they get donated or trashed. That’s exactly why you list at eight weeks and not at two.
We started selling ahead of time and managed to sell our couch ($200), A travel crib ($30), Some nice potted fruit trees ($300), tatami mats ($50) and a IKEA Kallax Shelf ($10). We also tried to sell some chairs, a entry way console table and an end table, these three eventually went out in bulk pick-up and were taken by neighbors, because they were all in good shape.
There’s a second effect I didn’t expect. Once you’ve sold thirty things, you stop buying new ones. Nothing kills an impulse purchase like remembering what it takes to get rid of it later. We put every dollar of it toward the $100,000 we’re saving to move to Japan, which made the tedious parts a lot easier to sit through.
Whatever hasn’t sold two weeks before moving day becomes a donation. Set that deadline now, because otherwise the sell pile quietly turns back into the keep pile.
4. Rent a temporary storage unit and stage your house
If you’re selling, this is the tip on this list that pays for itself.
A temporary storage unit lets you pack early and get the boxes out of sight, so buyers walk into rooms that look bigger and emptier than they’ve ever looked while you lived there. Full closets read as “not enough storage.” A half empty closet reads as “plenty of room.” Same closet.
A 10×10 unit runs roughly $100 to $200 a month depending on where you live, and most facilities run a first month deal for a dollar or close to it. Against what a faster sale or a stronger offer is worth, that’s nothing. Our first month was a promo, we paid $33.50, then we paid $257 for the second month.
What we moved into ours, in order of how much difference it made:
- Everything we already knew we were moving, some boxes that were already packed, and my tool carts
- Roughly a third of the furniture, especially anything oversized for its room, or things we were trying to sell
- Most of what was on the walls, including family photos, so buyers can picture themselves there
- Off-season clothes and shoes, holiday decorations so the closets stayed half empty for showings
- The garage. All of it. Our Florida house didn’t have one, but if we did I would have emptied it to look clean. Buyers open that door and you want them to see floor
Get a unit close to the house you’re selling, not close to where you’re going. You’ll be driving to it constantly during the listing period and exactly once at the end. We also put a lot of the furniture that we were selling in the storage unit, so the meet up was not at our house.
While you’re clearing rooms out, you’ll spot every scuff and nail hole you stopped seeing years ago. Fix them now. I had a real estate agent score all twenty five of our DIY projects for what they did to the sale price, and the full list is here: the DIY projects that actually add home value.
If you own the place you’re moving to and you’re not on a deadline, a shed does the same job for less over time. We built one in a weekend: how we built a 9×12 shed.
5. Label every by room box on the sides, not the top
Assign a room to each box you pack for the new house, then put labels room first. We even got several sheets of white name tag stickers and stuck them on the boxes and plastic moving containers.
The reason this works has nothing to do with you. It’s for whoever is carrying the box. A mover, your brother, a friend you bribed with pizza. Keep it simple and put the name of the room.
Write in big letters, with a real marker. What is in each box:
- The room it’s going to, not the room it came from. Those are different and the second one is useless.
- Label in multiple places on opposite sides of the box and possibly the top top
- Three or four things inside, the ones you’d go looking for. “Kitchen: coffee maker, mugs, kettle” beats “Kitchen: misc.”
- FRAGILE or THIS SIDE UP, when it’s true. When it’s on every box it stops meaning anything.
Take the time to label, it changes an entire unloading day.
Boxes get stacked. A label on the top of a box is unreadable, once another box goes on top of it. We did a good job of labeling but wrote the information on the top. I would definitely label and tape the sides next time.
Ban the word “misc.” It’s a promise to your future self that you’ll remember, and you won’t.
6. Photograph shelves and box them by shelf
Take a picture of the shelf, then label the picture and write what is on the shelf. Write that same label on the box.
This worked incredibly well for book shelves, but can work for any decor on shelves. We took a picture of our bookshelf and numbered the shelves and then loaded the shelves by box. We also did this for shelves with photo albums and then when we went to find a book after the move it was very easy to locate it.
There’s a real argument to take pictures of every box right before you close it and have a whole picture album of labeled boxes and then you know what is in each box. We only used this picture trick for our shelves, but it may be worth trying to document every box next time. . . if we have the time that is.
Also when packing up books, USE SMALL BOXES, these boxes get real heavy, real quick.
7. Heavy things in small boxes, light things in big boxes
Everyone does this backwards the first time. You see a big empty box and you fill it with books, and then it is murder to pick up and move or the bottom blows out when you are moving it. This happened to us.
Do not use large boxes for anything heavy, if fact you can probably to a whole move with small and medium boxes. They hold less but they are easier to Tetris in your moving container and they are way easier to move.
Books, tools, canned goods, dishes, anything dense goes in the smallest boxes you have. Pillows, blankets, linens, lampshades, winter coats go in the big ones. Aim to keep every box under about 40 pounds, which is roughly what one person can carry up stairs without regretting it.
And tape the bottom of every box across the seam and then again perpendicular to it. A box that lets go in the middle of a staircase will teach you this for free. We didn’t do the perpendicular tape and would do it next time.
8. Bag the hardware and photograph the back of your electronics
This one is pure DIY brain and it’s the tip my friends steal the most.
Every time you take something apart, put its screws, bolts, allen key, and brackets in a zip bag, write what it belongs to on the bag, and tape that bag directly to the piece of furniture it came off. Not in a bin of hardware. Not in your pocket. On the thing.
Same idea for anything with cables. Wrap the cable with a twist tie and then tape it to the side or back of that electronic item. Before you unplug the TV, the router, or your desk setup, take a photo of the back of it. Every port, every cable, exactly as it sits this will also help when putting it back together.
We already have a loose cable and we don’t know what it went to!
9. Pack an open-first box and load it last
Your first night in a new house is not the night to be looking for toilet paper.
Pack one box per person, in that bright reserved color, and put it on the truck absolutely last so it comes off first. Better yet, keep it in your own car.
What goes in ours:
- Toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, trash bags
- One towel and a full set of sheets per person
- Phone chargers, a power strip, and a lamp with a bulb in it
- Medications, toothbrushes, and two days of clothes
- Coffee and whatever makes it, because morning one matters
- A utility knife, a screwdriver, and a tape measure. You will need all three within an hour.
- Pet food and bowls, if that applies
The tape measure is not a joke. The first thing you’ll want to know in an empty house is whether the couch fits on that wall, and you’ll want to know it before four people carry it in.
What you actually need to buy
Short list. No gatekeeping and no filler, because moving supplies are where people spend $300 they didn’t need to.
- Label or Name tag stickers, any labeling system works and it costs almost nothing.
- A tape gun. If you buy one thing on this list, buy this. Taping sixty boxes by hand is miserable and you’ll do a worse job by box twenty.
- Chisel-tip permanent markers, a multipack. Fine tips are unreadable across a room and you will lose four of them.
- Small and medium boxes an, more than you think. Everyone buys large and you really don’t need them.
- Storage bins for things that will stay in storage spaces (garage, attic or basement)
- Ziplock bags in a couple of sizes for hardware.
- Stretch wrap. So handy to keep thing together. Wrap dresser drawers shut and leave the clothes inside, wrap a silverware tray as-is, wrap anything with a lid. It turns furniture into its own box.
- Packing paper. Great for fragile items.
- Furniture sliders and a couple of moving straps. Cheap, and they save your back and your floors.
- A box cutter that isn’t the one you’ll pack. Keep it in your pocket.
Skip packing paper if you have towels, skip specialty dish boxes if you have small boxes and linens, and get your boxes free if you can. Liquor stores have the sturdiest small ones, and Buy Nothing groups are full of people who just moved and want their cardboard gone.
What worked and what didn’t
Three things, and I’m already applying them, because we do this again when we fly to Japan in early 2027.
What didn’t work:
- Our labeling on top was a mistake. Label on the sides.
- I would declutter before and start selling two or three months before the move because you need time to find the right price people will pay.
What worked:
- Storage unit, was a slight extra cost, but the staging photos, and living in clutter free house was great. Also we had an offer on our house within 3 days.
- Sticking to the 20/20 rule and being stickler on the Keep, Sell, Donate, trash principles.
What I would do different:
- I would label on the sides and maybe even try a color coding system. Do not use “Misc” anywhere.
- I would try to document each box with a picture so there is no guess work as to where something is when we arrive.
If there’s one sentence to take from all of this, it’s that the cheapest box to move is the one you don’t pack.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should you start packing for a move?
Eight weeks before moving day for a whole house, and six weeks for an apartment. Start with things you won’t need in the next two months, like holiday decorations, books, and the garage. One box a day for eight weeks gets you about sixty boxes without a single bad weekend.
Should you get a storage unit when selling your house?
If you’re listing while you still live there, yes. A temporary unit lets you pack early and get boxes, extra furniture, and family photos out of the house so rooms and closets show bigger. A 10×10 runs about $100 to $200 a month, and many facilities offer a first month for a dollar, which is small next to what a faster sale is worth.
How do you code moving boxes?
Two stickers or labels with the Room first followed but a few items in the box, put them on opposite sides and then one on top of every box going to that room. Movers sort by room without asking you a single question. Never write “misc”
What is the 20/20 Rule?
If you can replace it for under $20 and find a replacement in under 20 minutes, let it go. Donate it and let someone have a great find at Salvation Army or Goodwill.
What is the keep, sell, donate, trash method?
In this system every item in your house goes into exactly one of four categories: keep, sell, donate, or trash. There’s no maybe pile, which is the point. When something won’t sort itself, use the 20/20 rule. Work one room at a time and finish the room before moving to the next.
Is it cheaper to sell your furniture or move it?
For long distance moves, selling usually wins on anything you’d replace for a couple hundred dollars or less. Movers charge by weight or truck space, so a heavy dresser can cost more to move than it’s worth. Compare what you’d pay to replace it against what it costs to move it, and list anything that fails that test at least six weeks out.
What should be in a first night moving box?
Toilet paper, paper towels, soap, trash bags, one towel and sheets per person, phone chargers, a power strip, a lamp, medications, toothbrushes, two days of clothes, coffee, and a box cutter, screwdriver, and tape measure. Load it last so it comes off the truck first, or keep it in your own car.
If you’re moving because you’re selling, start here instead: the DIY projects a realtor said actually add home value. And if the move is funding something bigger, here’s how we’re saving $100,000 to move to Japan.
Until next time,
Selene
