College Moving Guide: Tips & Tricks

Whether you are going to school in your hometown or moving across the country, moving off to college is overwhelming.  But with the right knowledge and organization, moving is no sweat.  Once you decide on the school that fits and find a place to live, the hard part is over.  But as the summer flies by the time to move away will be before your eyes before you know it.

The first thing is to create a moving check list that outlines everything you will need to pack.  Avoid bringing anything that you haven’t used in the past year.  If you haven’t used it in the past, then will you really need it in the future?  Remember that you will most likely be living with roommates and they will be bringing just as much clutter as you.  Make sure to coordinate with each of your roommates as to who is bringing the TV, refrigerator, and other big items.  This will keep you from duplicating items and save space.

Before you begin packing make sure you have packing tape, permanent markers, and boxes.  Then create a system of labeling the boxes so that you know what to unpack when.  You can implement a system as easy as labeling the important items with an “A” and less important items with a “B” and so on.  Remember you don’t have to unpack everything the first night you get there.  The only thing you have to do the first night is unpack all your essentials and set up your bed.  Anything else is an added bonus.

Once you have figured out a system, start packing room by room.  This also will help with unpacking in your dorm.  When you make it to your closet, don’t pack your clothes into boxes or gym bags.  Use a car rod which fits across the back of your car and keeps your hanging clothes from becoming wrinkled.  This prevents you from having to rewash or re-iron all of your clothes.  It’s simple, just hang the clothes on the rod and hang the rod across your back seat.  Once you get to your destination, simply carry the rod to your room.  It’s less hassle and less mess.

After you have everything packed up and are ready to move you can start loading it into your truck, if you have one, or you can call university movers.  They are reasonably priced and make everything much easier and less work on you, especially if your parents cannot help.

Once you get everything into your new living quarters, you are halfway done.  Now devise a plan to begin unpacking.  Unpack just as you packed, room by room.  As you complete each room you will feel like you are making progress and will stay motivated.

After you are comfortable and settled in, get acquainted with your surroundings.  Take a day to venture around and find the closest bank, post office, grocery store, etc.  One of the last things you should do, that most people forget about, is to have all of your bills and magazine subscriptions changed to your new address.  This will keep everything as normal as possible as you open up a new chapter in your life.