3 Hacks That'll Make Your Next Move Easier

To put it bluntly, moving is never fun. In fact, it can be quite unpleasant and stressful. Fortunately, there are some ways to go about making your next move a little easier. Give these packing and moving hacks a try; you'll never go back to your old ways!

1. Cover Clothing in Plastic Wrap

One of the biggest hassles of moving is taking all your clothes of their hangers, packing them up, and then having to re-wash and hang them once you've arrived at your new place. Actually, this is a completely unnecessary hassle. Rather than removing all your clothes from their hangers, keep them hung; bundle them all together by tying a string around the tops of the hangers, and then use plastic wrap to cover them (or place them in a large garbage bag). From there, you can simply toss them on top of the rest of your packed items without having to worry about them getting dirty.

Once you're at your new place, remove them from the plastic, untie the hangers, and place your still-clean clothes in your new closet. Bam! That's at least a few hours of laundry saved right there!

2. Find Free Supplies and Inexpensive Storage

As you prepare to move, you might find that packing supplies are surprisingly expensive. Cut down on your moving costs by finding free boxes rather than buying them on your own. Check with local retail stores to see if they have any leftover cardboard boxes from their latest truck delivery day; they probably will, and they'll be more than happy to let you take them off their hands. You can also check websites such as Craigslist to find people who are giving away free moving boxes in your area. 

Furthermore, if you're downsizing and will need a storage unit after you move, many storage facilities offer weeks of free storage rental for new clients to try out.

If you know you won't be putting some items into your new house, you may want to look into moving storage options. Moving storage units are portable trailers that you can use during long distance travels. While this option isn't free, you'll drastically cut gas costs since you won't have to go back and forth between facilities in your new and old town! Check for deals in your area and secure a unit prior to your move.

3. Color-Code Your Boxes

Finally, save yourself the time of individually writing on each box to indicate what's inside or whether the items in the box are fragile in nature. Instead, get a package of multi-colored stickers (the ones you use for labeling at a garage sale, for example) and color code your boxes to correspond with different rooms in your home.

For example, all the boxes with red stickers can indicate kitchen items, whereas any blue stickers can be for labeling boxes with fragile items inside; and, boxes with yellow stickers can be put directly into storage. This will save you a lot of time from writing individual phrases while still helping you figure out where all your boxes need to be unloaded.