Moving over the course of a few weeks. What goes in the first/last box?
July 10, 2014 7:10 PM   Subscribe

I'm about to move! Yay! My move coincides with two weeks off! Yay! Given that I have all this time, this move is going to kind of trickle from one house to the next, moving stuff as I have it packed, with one big day in the middle where I officially change residences. So, what goes in the first box that I take over to the new place, and what goes in the last box to leave my current place?

Currently, I have the following lists:

First box: Toilet paper, power strip, phone charger, mug, coffee making supplies, speakers to listen to music, shower curtain, towel.

Last box (which is also doubling as a moving supplies box): Screwgun, spackle, spackle knife, cleaning supplies, tape, stack of printed directions from the old place to the new place, sharpies, phone charger.

What else needs to go in these two boxes?
posted by mollymayhem to Home & Garden (19 answers total) 38 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Paper towels or rags in case the mug of coffee gets bumped.
posted by shesbookish at 7:16 PM on July 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: First box - soap, shampoo, whatever other toiletries you need to clean up or shower comfortably. (Menstrual supplies, if applicable.) First aid box, including pain relief tablets. Light bulbs for fixtures. Snacks. Last box - daily medications, toothbrush and paste, window curtains/something to block the light in the bedroom. Light bulbs for lamps. Sheets, other bedding, if you haven't moved the bed and made it up on a previous trip.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:28 PM on July 10, 2014


Best answer: First box: bathroom mat, box cutter, garbage bags
posted by rideunicorns at 7:28 PM on July 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: You might find my answer to a similar question helpful.
posted by NoraCharles at 7:30 PM on July 10, 2014


Best answer: First box:
Garbage bags, waste baskets, paper cups for water drinking, door mats, wall hooks.

Last box: Scissors, toolbox.
posted by BostonTerrier at 7:31 PM on July 10, 2014


Best answer: Wine (or something), bath towel, snacks, bedding (sheets + pillow).
Snacks and take-out menus.
Cash (enough for take-out & a movie ticket, and maybe enough to tip the movers/pizza guy and get a spare key cut).
More suggestions from Joy the Baker...
*Any medication you take regulary. Toothbrush.
posted by jrobin276 at 7:31 PM on July 10, 2014


Put cushioning things with breakable things. I'd throw a couple of plates between the towels in the first box. Depending on how long it's going to take you to move you probably want the phone charger in the first box.
posted by vapidave at 7:32 PM on July 10, 2014


Best answer: You might consider adding some of the cleaning supplies to the first box or getting doubles of some things, so that you can bring some to the new place but leave a set behind to clean out the old one. Pre-moving is a really great time to do things like wipe down the insides of cabinets, clean the oven/fridge (if applicable), wash floors, etc., since the surfaces and spaces in the new house are still mostly empty.
posted by Austenite at 7:42 PM on July 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


Best answer: 1st box, at least a couple sets of dishes, move them, unpack them, and clean them now so that you don't have to unpack ALL your dishes for the first few days in the new house. Same for some clothes.

Basically, think about the stuff you use daily and have a few days worth of that stuff unpacked and ready to use. Otherwise I promise that when you want to use it, it will be at the bottom of a stack of other boxes.
posted by VTX at 7:42 PM on July 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Who has ever had the luxury of two weeks to move? (And even then it will be a trash baggy nightmare at the end, as moving always is. Anyway, ahem.)

More trash bags in both boxes.
posted by notyou at 7:48 PM on July 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: What's with this box stuff? I put my essentials in a clear tote, the small kind. And it goes with me in the car. Along with the cats and a few bottles of wine.

Seriously, I have a box of curtains because I don't like people looking in on me. TP is a given. Towels, etc. Coffee, and coffee maker or Husband goes out to get it for me.

Get the bed set up. Hang curtains or blinds. Move the boxes in. Put TP on the roller. A hand towel on the rack. Take said clear tote and move your toiletries in, or keep them in there until you clean the bathroom to your specs. Go to bed. Done.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 8:21 PM on July 10, 2014


Best answer: I was glad that I kept band aids and neosporin available during my last move. Two friends got scrapes and it was nice to have the solution at hand.
posted by sockermom at 8:35 PM on July 10, 2014


Best answer: If you are not moving/living there on day one, I would not put all your everyday essentials such as phone charger in the first box. I would move the stuff I least need and put it away. For example, I would move my winter clothes first and put them in the back of the closet. I would also move items like books or documents and put them away or in a corner.

I would make my last box, the last box I bring on the day I actually switch residences my suitcase packed as if I was going on a one week vacation. I would leave the cleaning supplies and tools needed to fix up any issues for the few days after you have changed residences but before you turn over the keys.
posted by 724A at 9:18 PM on July 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: From recent experience with exactly this type of situation: you will still need something to drink water out of as you are leaving your old place as you finish up your move, and if you have already moved all the possible drinking vessels you will regret it when you finish your bottle of soda and want to drink tap water. Same goes for napkins/paper towels to deal with the inevitable pizza grease.
posted by ootandaboot at 9:30 PM on July 10, 2014


Best answer: What I did was to move the specific things that I needed that evening at the new house, as well as loads of the most "important" things left in the old house.

At the end of the overlap period, I classified the remainder as junk and I put it in a skip.

+1 would move like this again.
posted by emilyw at 2:28 AM on July 11, 2014


From experience, I don't think the trickle is a good idea. You will leave way too much for the last day, and need to make too many trips then. The trickle also makes you think you can get away with not getting a UHaul but you really should since it's way easier.

I would use the time instead to properly prep the place you are moving into, and to properly clean the place you are moving out of, since you have the luxury of time that most people don't. But still do the move on one big day.
posted by smackfu at 4:04 AM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Any box that contains TP should also contain a plunger.
posted by superna at 6:01 AM on July 11, 2014


Best answer: I would bring cleaning supplies and tools in the first box AND the last box. You won't know until you move in exactly how clean the new place is, and whether or not you will need to take apart door frames and whatnot to fit new furniture in. Cleaning supplies includes a vacuum, toilet brush, scrub brush, mop, bucket, bleach/disinfectant, rubber gloves.

Last box cleaning supplies should include the above plus things like goo gone/degreaser, carpet stain remover (if necessary), magic eraser, perhaps some touch-up paint if you have any around--once you have all your furniture out there might be scuffs and marks on the walls that need to be removed. Granted, this is probably more relevant if you are a renter and need your security deposit back.
posted by inertia at 10:13 AM on July 11, 2014


Response by poster: Thanks all! The grand moving adventure begins today. Complicated by the fact that I was in a fairly serious motorcycle accident on Saturday. This'll be fun.
posted by mollymayhem at 10:24 AM on July 15, 2014


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