4 lessons I’ve learned from moving every year for 12 years

We’ve moved around a lot, in fact, I’ve been moving every year for 12 years. I use the term we loosely I guess as Ben isn’t nearly as bad as me. I have moved every year for the past 12 years. The only sad part about that is, I’ve never lived outside of the country. Whenever I do move it’s typically down the street or to the next town/city over.

Despite that, I’ve learned a lot about moving over the years. If I haven’t learned a thing or two by now about moving, what good was all that hassle?

The biggest lesson though is that it’s damn hard. I find it very easy to settle in somewhere new. I’m a creature of change. If something doesn’t drastic doesn’t change for me in a year I get restless (ha!). One of my biggest regrets so far in life is not having moved to a new country when I was younger. Hopefully, I’ll get that experience in a few years but I know if would have been the perfect amount of change for me.

That’s enough about lessons I’ve learned from not doing things, I’m here to talk about lessons I have learned!

| Purge | 

The one thing I do say is that moving is the perfect opportunity for you to get rid of a bunch of stuff. Moving is like my spring cleaning. It’s my chance to purge the stuff that doesn’t matter to me. The best way to truly get rid of something is to sit and think: is this really worth packing and lugging somewhere else. Most of the time, it’s probably a no.

I always find it’s such a good feeling going through my stuff and getting rid of the things I don’t want or need. I find as we get older there’s just more and more junk lying around the house. It’s just so unnecessary. That’s why moving is great, it forces you to find those little things you hid in a dark corner or in the back of a cupboard.

The one caveat I would say to the big purge is to make sure you and your partner are present and in agreeance. The last thing you want to do is throw out something super valuable to them because it looked like junk to you. You know how the old saying goes…

| DIY | 

I’m all for paying someone else to do something for me if I can’t do it myself. Moving is not one of those things. I get it if you live in a 5 bedroom house and have lived there for 20+ years with more stuff than you care to admit. However, for most millennials (present company included) that’s not the case.

Why would you hire someone else to do work that you can easily do yourself? Talk about a waste of money. Not only that, moving everything yourself is fantastic exercise!

The one advice I would give is to spend that extra bit of money on buying boxes. For years I didn’t do this. I just shoved everything in grocery bags like the peasant I was. Now that I’m a ‘grownup’ I buy boxes and it makes a world of difference. Not only is it HELLA easier to stack in a car, it’s also fantastic for organizing. This thing called labelling is a life saver.

| Preparation | 

One fo the key things I learned from moving every year was having a plan. Knowing the dates we had to be out of one place and into the new was great and super important but the little things go that much further.

Have a meal plan. I kid you not. Having to lug half-eaten yoghurt or an opened can of coke is a pain in the ass. I also hate wasting food. We would plan out our meals about 2 weeks before and not buy anything new that we weren’t going to eat that night.

It’s also important to pack away things that you’re not going to need immediately, so make a list of the things you do. Obviously, you’re not going to pack your bedding but it may make sense to dismantle and pack your bedframe. It may seem like an obvious thing but it took us a few years to get the routine down pat. Before we moved out of the last place we were sleeping on just a mattress for a week or so. It’s not so bad though, always feels a bit like camping.

| Budget | 

Whether you’re moving into a place with less rent or just shifting or a different part of town, make sure you have a budget. There are always last minute expenses that are going to crop up, don’t let that ruin this time for you.

We’ve had to basically replaster a wall one time because the sticky stuff on the back of our frames took off part of the wall. That wasn’t cheap. Another time we completely forgot blinds and curtains didn’t come with the rental unit. That also was not cheap. The small things add up along the way so just make sure to have a bit of discretionary budget in place just in case.