I'll be using this when we sell our house - we used professional movers last time, and it cost $1200 (no packing, just moving boxes and driving truck) and we were NOT impressed with the service (likely chose the wrong company too).

So my thoughts for next time are this - find some friends not working or working hourly, and pay them a set price to do the move (ie $100 a day each). It HAS to be better than our last experience.

I don't think I'd be comfortable paying friends cold, hard cash to help me move. Bribing them with cold, tasty beer, however, is a totally different story.

embryoconcepts, me, too. My friends would be really weirded out if I started handed them cash like they're discount movers.

The general understanding among our friends when we were younger was that if you helped me move, I'd help you move. And it always worked out pretty well.

But this year, I'm hiring professional movers. I just feel too old to try to convince anyone to give up their Saturday to do backbreaking labor.

That said, I did drive 1500 miles with my best friend to help her move to a new state. It was fun.

wouldn't be able to give my friends cash either, but we help everyone move so i plan on having a good turn out when its our turn! beer and pizza (at least) are a must.

my BIGGEST pet peeve is showing up to a house to help people move and they aren't finished packing...

I helped some friends move a few months ago, and though they were not quite organized (or even fully packed!!), they had donuts, coffee and OJ to start the morning and hot dogs, pulled pork, drinks and more snacks at the house for after the move was done. We had lots of people helping, so it was a fun, social event, and helped them out!!

I have 6 bookshelves filled with books. I understand that while my friends love me, they don't love me THAT much, so I have gotten very good at hiring movers. My move across the city next week will cost me $400. Money very well spent.

(And yeah, I've helped people move in college who hadn't started packing before we showed up. Never helped them move again.)

I agree TOTALLY with J.Bo and with #3 on your list.

This past weekend-the ENTIRE THING-was consumed by a friend who was moving about 2 miles, but wasn't organized in the slightest and wasn't finished packing. We accomplished, in about a 20-hour period over two days, about 4 truckloads full of stuff and painted ONE wall.

It was horribly inefficient and I felt exploited.

Alternatively, when I moved from IN to IL, the entire house was packed up and as clean as I could get it - it took about 6 hours total (including a 3 hour drive and 2 blown tires on the trailer-yikes) to pack, finish cleaning, and unpack. Quick and dirty.

And then I made everyone a pie. :)

A tip I just thought of:

Move at least one day BEFORE you have to turn in your keys. Crap happens, and it's a lot less stressful to say, "oh yeah, we can come back for some of this stuff tomorrow because it's now raining cats and dogs" than to say, "OMG! all my stuff has to be out of here by 5pm!!"

I just moved, and two months before that I helped two close friends move. The system we've worked out is that everyone helps move, and once everything is loaded into the new place, the person who is moving takes everyone out for lunch. Especially in the summer heat, it's such a relief to get the move done and immediately head off to an air-conditioned restaurant and have a cool drink with lunch. Even with buying lunch for 5 people, it's still cheaper than hiring movers, and a lot more fun.

No way am I ever going to coerce others to "help" me move. It's tough work, it's labor-intensive, we're all white-collar weenies, and I don't want to injure someone.

We also have a few nice pieces and I don't want a friend breaking any of them.

We found a great movers in 2005, used them again last year, and they were worth every penny. They are insured & bonded, professional, fast, and know every trick in the book to get my furniture through the doorways without scratching anything.

I totally agree that you should be packed already before friends show up. But I disagree with number one. The sooner you tell them, the less likely they are to answer the phone to help. Also, providing unlimited snacks and drinks is the best payback.

Nope, sorry. After I turned 25, I vowed that I would never have friends move me again. I just started to have too much heavy stuff, and I worried that someone would get hurt, and I would feel awful. I've hired movers the 3 times I moved across state lines; for moving across town, I've rented a U-Haul and hired professionals to load and unload the van. Worth every penny.

(I do, weirdly, actually like helping people pack up their stuff, and I always volunteer to come help when people are moving. No heavy lifting for me, either, though.)

Other tips:

7. Liquor is Quicker. Use liquor boxes instead of egg crates. They are smaller and easier to handle, and you won't end up over-packing them. Plus, when they look at each brightly-colored smiling Captain, they'll remember the reward waiting for them as soon as you finish. Booze.

8. Call in the Infantry. Secure friends to help you with the move-out and enlist family to join you for the move-in. This will provide a surge of energy to the friends who are helping out all day, and provide them with some relief ("We packed that entire U-Haul! I am already exhausted at the thought of un-packing it!"). When parents/siblings see the sweaty cadre walking up to your new place, they will be sure to grab the heaviest boxes and do the most work.

9. Commemorate. Have a tradition of "last out" "first in." I think it's symbolic and makes the move more satisfying to take out the trash as the last thing from the old apt, and move in something memorable the first time you walk through that door. My Dad always carried a peace lily in to every new place he moved into. When he bought a house, it bloomed three new buds after his first night there.

10. Billy Joel shouldn't be your only inspiration. Play music, if you can, that you know your pals will dig. Sure, a mix of The Black Keys, Carrie Underwood, Justin Bieber and Hot Hot Heat might sound strange. But it'll be rewarding and very much appreciated by your diverse group to hear a favorite song or two while they're doing 4-7 hours of manual labor for pizza.

11. Happy bellies. Speaking of pizza, look around your new neighborhood for deals on food in bulk. On my move in day I found a great chinese place that offered a "Buy six entrees, get two free" deal and it was much cheaper to feed everyone. Overtip the delivery guy (everyone'll despise you if they sit around waiting for food or, worse, if you leave before everything's done being unloaded).

12. Safeguard your shizzle. If you can't afford movers for a whole day, supplement your move with them. For example, hire them to come in for just 2 hours to bring in your great-great grandmother's 8 foot tall angular armoire up the spiral staircase.

13. Caffeinate. For the love of all that is holy. Caffeniate the entire time.

My opinion - if you're gainfully employed and are above 25, HIRE MOVERS. Your friends are not there for physical labor, and by 25+ you have enough crap to pony up some cash for professionals.

I agree with many here. After a certain age, pony up the cash for movers. If you need help then ask your friends to help you put things in boxes.

I made a promise to myself after another Uhaul debacle ( do yourself a favor and rent Budget or Penske) that I would never move without professionals again. It has made moving much less stressful.

I haven't moved much so during my last move I had friends help.

And you know what? I am way too damn old to move this much stuff, and so are my friends. I felt like everyone had to go home afterwards, and take painkillers.

More power to you if you're under 35 and/or strong and fit!

The best way to express my gratitude to my helpers was to ensure them that I would never, ever again move without hiring movers.

If you can afford to move, you (or your employer) can afford the movers - If not, maybe it's smarter to stay in your existing place.

Yup- move yourself by yourself. If you can't, and you're a woman, use your boyfriend. That's what he's for. If you can't and you're a guy, 1) admit that you're a wuss, and 2) hire a mover. I have moved households 7 times in 10 years and have never stolen my friends' hard-earned weekend by being a cheapskate.

On the same subject, quit asking me to pick you up and/or drop you off at the airport. Hire a service for $50, or pay $10 a day for parking, cheap-o. Good Lord.

I wouldn't ask my friends to help me move. If everything you own still fits in your car then it is okay to ask for help, otherwise hire people.

wow...i'm glad some of you aren't my friends...pick pick pick...

my strategies for moving a surprisingly large amount of stuff from an apartment to a house last year:
1. call it a moving PARTY! keep a fun, cheerful demeanor--it's so easy to let the stress consume you.
2. supply as many meals as it takes. we provided lunch and dinner.
3. always help friends move so that they'll help you.
4. throw a party as soon as the bare minimum of stuff is unpacked. even if the house isn't 'ready' yet, your friends will be glad to see the results of their work.

and advice for others--
5. have everything packed up when the help comes. one time I showed up to help my friend move and no clothes, shoes, or kitchen equipment was packed yet. it took hours longer than we'd anticipated, I felt like I was rifling through all of her stuff, and it made me less likely to help her in the future.

one more caveat:
while we felt fine asking friends to help us move out of an apartment, now that we're homeowners (and probably will be for a while) the sensible thing for next time is to hire movers. once you're in a dwelling larger than 2 bedrooms, it's too much of a burden to ask friends to do it all.

My mom hired movers for her last move. What would have taken a couple of friends 2 days, took professional movers 2hrs. They hauled down 4 flights of stairs into the truck, then out of the truck up 3 flights of stairs in ONLY 2 HOURS! Thus, I think a good way to determine how you move is what the move will entail. (Ugh, think of all of those stairs!)

Perfect. Just sent this to my friend who's moving this week and already asked me.

After trying it both ways, I learned this, only ask friends to help if you have a mutual aid moving co-op in place (or today I'd add if someone's unemployed and needs the work) - otherwise - professional movers. Otherwise it's just not worth burning out friendships, or their backs, to save a few hundred!

Oh for Pete's sake - why would I want or expect my friends to give up their weekend and help me move? For free beer and pizza? Come on.
Unless we are talking futons and egg crates and you are under 25, grow up and hire the professionals.

HIRE PROFESSIONALS

Late to the game on this thread but I have to chime in. EXACTLY what offbroadway said.

I strongly believe that if you are no longer in your mid-twenties or younger you should just hire a mover. We all help friends out, and friends help us...that's good friendship.

But after countless, "Show up to my place at noon sharp and I'll give you pizza and beer offers" only to be presented with panicked friends who still are no where close to being finished packing, giant boxes of books that weigh 80 lbs and fall out of the flimsy grocery store recycled boxes they should have never been put into, and what could have taken an hour or two stretched into a 4 hour ordeal for various reasons, I said enough. There was even a friend who, and she did not tell us this beforehand, asked for help moving but failed to mention that she had back issues and couldn't really participate other than barking orders at us. I felt hoodwinked and taken advantage of!

Now, I just offer to help pack for a few hours a day or two before the move, offer to help clean a room or two after the move, and other things. If my friends are cash strapped, I'll even give then 25 bucks or something towards the cost of the mover.

Last time we moved, my sister helped us, but she's my sister and she's really, really strong for her size. Kidding aside, next time we are definitely hiring movers. Having to book a two hour window for moving out at our old apartment, and an overlapping window for moving in at our new apartment was really, REALLY stressful with our dinky little UHaul. Never again. I want big strong dudes who can pack a huge truck like a game of 3D Tetris and be done with it lickety split.

Just hire movers.