Moving to another home is a super-busy and ultra-stressful period during which anything can happen – from unfortunate situations caused by sheer bad luck to wasted time, lost money and shattered nerves as a result of moving mistakes.
Mistakes are never fun to make, especially during a critical time like a house move. The good news is that not all move-related mistakes are too costly, so you can actually get away with some minor errors and still get the desired happy end for your house moving adventure.
Although many things can go wrong when packing for a move (no moves are 100% blunder-free), your major goal is to avoid the serious packing mistakes and to stop worrying too much about the ones that are OK to make during such a stressful and chaotic period.
Here are the top 7 packing mistakes that are OK to make when packing for moving.
#1. DELAYING the start of packing
Because packing is viewed as the most time-consuming task in your moving calendar, failure to start packing as soon as you possibly can is often considered a serious packing mistake. However, it all depends on how much time you actually have to prepare to move out.
If you’ve got 4 weeks or more to get ready for Moving day, then delaying the start of the packing task with several days or even an entire week may not prove to be a costly packing mistake.
Of course, when you start packing up your things earlier, you will be able to finish the job on time, without having to constantly worry and stress out whether you’ll make it or not.
So, start packing for a move ASAP but don’t panic if you are a bit late – you should still be ok in the end.
See also: When to start packing to move out
#2. PACKING without a clear plan
According to the best packing practices, you should follow a detailed packing timeline to make the packing process more effective – that is, to make it easier and faster. Packing things randomly without a clear plan is definitely a mistake, but it’s not something you should be excessively worried about either.
Packing your things in you-see-it-you-pack-it fashion may still work OK for you, especially when you don’t have enough time to create a personalized packing checklist – the do-to list that will inform you what items you should pack up next, and when.
So, it’s much better to follow a PACKING CHECKLIST when moving house, but it’s not a serious packing mistake if you don’t, especially when you have TIME as your ally.
Must-read: Packing timeline for moving: packing calendar
#3. PACKING the easiest rooms to pack first
Packing for a move has an internal logic that favors the ones that follow it. One unwritten rule is to start packing from the rooms that are really difficult to sort and pack (garage, basement, attic, kitchen). Why?
The idea here is to tackle those tough-to-pack rooms first while your energy and motivation are still fairly high. And then, when exhausted and party demotivated, to move on to the areas that are relatively easy to pack for a move.
To start packing from the rooms that are easy to pack is definitely a small mistake that you should be OK to make. For one reason or another, you may find out that it makes sense to you to pack up your bedroom and living room first.
And that’s OK – as long as you keep on packing.
Good to know: What rooms to pack first when moving
#4. OBTAINING fewer packing materials than you need
You may soon learn that some packing and moving mistakes are nothing but judgment errors that won’t likely create serious problems for you during the house moving process.
You’ll often read that you have to prepare all the packing materials you’ll need in advance so that you don’t lose precious time looking for more supplies once you’ve started packing. That’s good advice, of course, but it can be really difficult to estimate how many packing materials you’ll need (especially cardboard boxes) from the very beginning.
It’s OK to start packing with fewer packing supplies than necessary simply because you can use good substitutes found in your home: suitcases, bags, trash bags, baskets, trash cans, buckets, and even drawers instead of cardboard boxes. Also, house blankets, bed sheets, towels, and even socks are excellent wrapping and cushioning materials – great substitutes for packing paper and bubble wrap.
FREE packing materials in your home
#5. NOT LABELING your moving boxes
Failure to label your moving boxes is clearly a packing mistake because you just won’t know what’s inside each container after the boxes have been delivered to the new home. And with all the boxes stacked into a huge pile in one room (no destination rooms marked on them either), you’re going to lose plenty of valuable time figuring out where each box should go.
And yet, not labeling your boxes is far from being one of the most serious packing mistakes you can make throughout your house move. “Forgot to do it” seems to be the most common reason for leaving your packed boxes unlabeled. Whatever the case, you’ll lose some post-move time but your packing error will not disrupt the momentum of the residential move itself.
Useful info: How to label moving boxes
#6. LEAVING some packing jobs for moving day
You must have read or heard many times that you should not leave any packing jobs for the day of the move. Yes, that seems like an obvious mistake, but under your unique set of house moving circumstances, it may be acceptable, reasonable and justifiable to do it.
Let’s say your movers won’t arrive before noon. Then, you may choose to leave your bathroom unpacked so that you can use it until the very last moment, then pack all those bathroom items in the morning just before the moving truck appears down the road.
If you do make the mistake of leaving some packing tasks for the move out day, you should still be able to finish them as long as you wake up early enough and give yourself more time.
Read also: Mistakes to avoid on Moving day
#7. NOT ASKING friends to help you pack
There is no doubt that packing for a move will be the most arduous (understand never-ending) task in your MOVING CHECKLIST. And as such, you may find it really difficult to pack up your things on your own without asking your friends to give you a hand during that tough transitional period.
At first glance, failure to get your pals to help you pack seems like a big packing mistake that may bring serious consequences for you – like falling behind schedule and not being able to move out as planned.
However, asking your good friends for a favor is never an easy thing to do. And besides, you’ll have to return that packing favor when the right time comes.
So, it’s OK not to ask your friends to help you pack as long as you 1) pack and move only the things you love and will need in the future, and 2) break down the entire packing job into mini-tasks, thus increasing the efficiency and motivation when packing for a move.
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