Oh, and related, Boston Meetup for those who don't read the grey.

These are god's gift to people moving by themselves. Cheap, packs flat, holds a lot, not so big you can't lift them even when they're filled with heavy things. Sadly suboptimal if you're using a moving company, as the lids can fall off.

Girl Scout cookie crates are also excellent for things like books. Look up your local council. Also has the fringe benefit of having Girl Scouts attached ;)

I'm buying a place in the spring and moving for the 13th time in the last 10 years. The idea is that it will be a place that I can settle, finally. Living in a place for more than two years is an incredibly foreign concept to me. I never bothered putting up window coverings or pictures on the walls of my current apartment because I knew it was temporary and I figured the less it felt like "home", the more motivated I would be to save money. That strategy has met with varying success.

If you are moving yourself, my #1 tip is to get a larger truck than you think you'll need. I am the Tetris zen master of packing; I am really good at filling in dead space in a truck. But the truck company (go with Penske!) didn't have the truck I reserved each of the last three moves, and gave me a larger one at no additional cost, and I filled the larger truck to the ceiling and to the door each time. Last time it was this 20' monstrosity with air brakes, a driver's seat on springs, and a hydraulic lift in the back. Scared the bejesus out of me to drive that sucker.

Repeat after me:

Everything will get done. It's okay. I will have some fun moving.

See?

Last time it was this 20' monstrosity with air brakes, a driver's seat on springs, and a hydraulic lift in the back. Scared the bejesus out of me to drive that sucker.

I only tell you this for bragging rights, but when I moved to CA I drove a 26' U-Haul and towed a car behind it. Across mountains, even.

It's become a benchmark in my life. Everytime I'm an a crappy situation, I tell myself: "It could always be worse, you could be driving that U-Haul."

Throw it away. Yeah, that. That thing right there. You don't need it and you can always get another one. Good. Now throw that other thing away. The thing over there. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Then pack the remaining books till they fill up the boxes half way and pack remaining knick knacks on top of them. Use sharpies. Label everything like crazy. Make sure you have a pizza/beer budget to pay your moving friends afterwards. Make sure the electricity gets turned on in your new place - aren't you glad you labeled the box with the candles now?

I got $136 from Half Price books the other day for all the boxes of books they bought from me - and I'm selling the left over bookcase for $30 on CL. That's not even counting the probably about $100 in trade I got for the "quality" books I took to the good indie used bookstore.

I like this getting rid of stuff business. I'm gonna keep it up.

I've moved approximately 1 gazillion times, and second mgl's tossing and labelling advice. Also, keep one box aside for the tools, flashlight, candles, corkscrew--anything you'll need in order to set up anything else or will want to get out right away--seal it last of all, and label it 'open first' in big-ass letters. Set up your bed right after your stereo. You will not want to do it later and will crash on the floor if necessary, but you'll feel so much better if you can crash in your own bed. Moving sucks enough; you deserve a decent night's sleep. This means packing your sheets where you can find them easily. Finally, never ever let the movers at the beer until you're very close to the end. Definitely, absolutely not at the beginning.

Exactly- throw away/give away/sell EVERYTHING. There's very little you're not going to be able to buy somewhere else.

Oh, and although I'm sure you're more than clever enough to figure this out, it's surprising how many people don't: heavy things=small boxes.

Try this thread.

You can unload your music collection on me if it'll lighten your load any ;)

I am moving on Friday to this place.

Eide, I think we touched on this briefly, but:

1) Freecycle / Craigslist / put stuff out on the kerb with a 'free!' sign on.

really. you don't need it!!! seriously

2) absolutely label everything. A Magnum marker is your next best friend.

3) liquor stores. liquor stores. liquor stores. for both boxes and therapeutic reasons.

4) don't pack too heavy. its better to have many small liftable boxes than to injure yourself.

5) plastic storage bins (depending on size) are awesome FOR LIGHT STUFF; i.e. clothing. otherwise they're just too damn big to lift comfortably and they're awkward as hell getting thru doors / round corners / up stairs.

6) don't be ashamed to ask for help. you have colleagues, right? you'd be surprised how happy they'll be to partake of free booze and pizza at a moving party (you'll have to provide this of course, reason #3 for the liquor store).

I'm absolutely serious about #1. you can always buy nicer stuff later on. when I split from my x, I went from having roughly 65% of a 3 bedroom + finished basement split level suburban house-load of crap, to next to nothing. I shared my first post-split housing situation with 3 college kids, and had to fit all my worldly goods into a 12x15' bedroom, a combo bath/walkin closet, and a small storage area in a 2-car garage. I couldn't afford storage, and didn't want the angst and bother of shipping stuff to the parental units. I know your situation isn't the same, but I can truly say that for me, the Great Purge was an extremely cathartic and rewarding process.

God, I hate moving, yet here we are in the middle of a multi-move disaster. We moved out of the house we sold recently, putting almost all our possesions into storage and we currently live in my Mother's garage. Soon (god willing), we will be moving into a shed at our new place while we build a house. Then we will move into the actual house. To give you some context, I once remained living in a place I hated for five years because I hate moving even more.

• Throw those things away. Yes, those ones too. No, it will never, ever, "come in handy sometime". Even if it does, it will be worn out/rotten/outdated by the time you need it and you'll have to buy a new one anyway
• PC monitor boxes (not these new-fangled flat ones, the real ones) are the perfect size - no matter what you put in them, you can still lift them
• Don't put books in big boxes
• Tape the bottom of the boxes up or your crap will end up all over the street
• Label all the boxes on the top and at least one side, so you can see what they are no matter how they are stacked (stack them with the labels facing out, duh)
• Gather twice as many boxes as you think you'll need
• Never, ever fill boxes above the point where you can fold the tabs back in and stack the boxes

Eideteker I am beginning to feel your panic!

Also, the usual single-walled cardboard box won't hold more than 50 lbs. and shouldn't hold more than 30 lbs. Get good packing tape, not necessarily the thickest, but sticky stuff. Pay for the Scotch tape, it's worth it.

Also, you can go to your local supermarket, and ask them to have the night crew save you water boxes. They hold four gallon bottles of water, are not too big, and very sturdy. Next, talk to your friendly butcher/meat wrapper for chicken and packaged ground beef boxes. The nice people won't give you messy boxes, ;^) Egg boxes are good, too. They have handles, and are smaller for more delicate items.

Damn, there's a job right in Waltham, but I'm totally unqualified.

Buy, beg, borrow, or steal a hand truck (pic provided in case it's called something else in your locale). Even if your new place doesn't have an elevator, it'll make getting lots of heavy boxes or pieces of furniture from the truck to the door so much easier on your back.

Move in naked. That way, you'll give the neighbours nothing to speculate about.