apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i have to admit to using the day laborers, the ones that hang out by most home depot or uhaul places. it's great, i pack, get a truck and then watch (or help) as they load and unload for me.

I've gone both ways DIY and professional movers but the real plan is to stay put. 17 yrs. this house, 13 the one before, 1st house only 3 years, before that student slum apartment.

when my partner and I combined houses, i thought it would be cheaper to move slowly ourselves over our overlapping lease.

That was the worst approach ever. We didn't ask for any help from friends/family and moved in our own hatchback/truck from two seperate rooms to our apt now.

I will hire a mover next time, and probably from Craiglist. I heard Sultans were really good.

I've used a professional moving company, either just to move or to also pack, for the last 4 moves. I will never again do it myself. I don't even pack anymore. To be able to have it all packed up in one or two days, insured, moved and then unloaded is so worth the money. I'm not exhausted. I can just enjoy the move and no back pain from moving the big stuff.

Chelsea Handler says it best. "People over 30 should not ask their friends to help them move. If you are over 30 and you can't afford a mover, your problems are much bigger than relocating."

My other favorite is that "people over 30 should not ask their friends for rides to the airport. If you can't afford to get yourself to the airport, you don't deserve to go on vacation. Save a friendship, take a shuttle a-hole."

I've moved A LOT, and most of the moves I've done myself (my so-called style, therefore, is "default minimalism") with maybe a quick assist from a friend. When I eventually move from this apartment, I'll hire a mover. Probably Delancey Street, since a lot of readers here have had good experiences with them.

I ALWAYS offer to help friends and co-workers move. I like the activity of it, the work-out of it. I like loading the vehicle and then carrying the boxes to the new place. I like that I didn't have to pack and don't have to unpack. I know I'm weird. I know that. I like the controlled upheaval of change.

You know... Chelsea Handler is right. I wasn't able to afford movers (previously), and my problems WERE much bigger than relocating. Ha ha ha! Thank god for friends. But also thank god, I mean me, I can move myself.

But yeah... movers next time.

becky,
I'm totally with you on both points! I have always hired professional movers and I wouldn't think of asking my friends to help me move. What happens if you best friend drops and breaks something expensive? Do you make them pay for it or what? Problems like that could totally destroy relationships.

I've moved about 7 times since moving out of my parent's house a decade ago, and I've always always always recruited friends to help. I've never used a pro mover. I've heard too many horror stories from friends that use them. I had a friend rent our basement from us for awhile, and he used a professional mover. We ended up with several items and boxes that were NOT his, including a pretty nice bicycle. We called the moving company to let them know of the mistake.....and they never dealt with it. We shared "mystery bike" for awhile. I can't remember who ended up with her in the end.

Point being, the horror stories from pals are enough to keep me from using the "pro's". I've never had a single issue using the friend method. They can usually be bought with a couple of pizzas and a case of beer. Much cheaper than going pro. And it allows me to unload some of my stuff. "Uh...I don't have room for this, anybody want it?" *bickering over who gets to take item home ensues*.

While I often still get help from friends and family when packing, I decided a few years ago that it just wasn't worth the stress (or the toll on my friends and family) to have them do the heavy lifting. So depending on how far I'm moving I'll rent a truck and hire people on either end to load and unload or hire movers with their own truck.

It makes moving a much less exhausting experience.

We've moved more times than I care to admit in public. I'm not a traveler, but I am a nester - so I'm always lured by a new home.

For local moves we do it ourselves. It's exhausting, but we've done it so many times we've got the system down to a science. We have used day laborers to help us load/unload the packed boxes, heavy furniture, etc (I've always had good luck with day laborers).

For cross country moves we've done it ourselves and used movers. Movers is definitely the way to go on that one. It's a whole different packing system. Also, driving a huge truck cross country isn't fun.

I agree with Becky (never heard the ride to the airport one, but that's good too). We've used professional movers since we got married, and although it takes research to find good movers, I would never ask friends to do it again. It's a mean thing to do to people I call friends.

I used to help people move when they asked me because I'm a sucker that way until I broke my foot in a move; never again. I wish that some of them had actually packed before they moved; but more typical was "oh you're here, okay, help me throw 300 CDs into this garbage bag, then lug it out to the truck."

Family members have helped me pack on occasion, but only when they volunteered. My mom is an awesome packer, and she claims to enjoy it.

Becky, I agree with the theory .... but paying for things you don't need is a waste of money.

and that's what friendship is about.
I always offer to help move, or take a friend to the airport. Friendship trumps money.

Yeah chickchick, your logic is a bit circular, or backwards, or something. Re-read what you just wrote. You're basically making the friendship all about saving yourself money in the way you worded that.

Friendship is not about saving money, it's about being considerate. Moving and driving to the airport are my least favorite things to do right behind having all my fingernails pulled out with pliers while listening to a local "wacky morning zoo" radio show.

I should add, I never ask my friends to do that stuff, and I pretty much never offer it. It's mutual. I'd rather drag my mason jar of pennies to Coinstar than a selfishly waste a friend's precious weekend time, gas, patience, sanity and/or back health. I appreciate and enjoy the same consideration in return.

Perhaps it takes until 30 to realize the VALUE of these non-monetary factors. Kind of like, just because you can fit four people into a hotel room in Vegas that has two beds, you don't have to share a hotel room with three friends and then wind up having to hang out painting your toenails in the bathroom with LIz Park while Katie Cannon and Jill DiMartinis take their bizarre pre-going out hardcore naps in the pitch-black hotel room, when you really want to have your own room, or have a room with just Liz Park, so you can paint your toenails and watch Seinfeld in while lying on your very own bed with some lights on.

But I digress, as usual. Family is indeed another story - you're pretty much stuck helping them move and picking them up at the airport, and they do the same for you - it's in the contract.

Having friends help me save money is not what friendship is about to me. I'll bail 'em out of jail, drop them off at a strip club, pick them up at the clinic, but I'm not going to the f***ing airport! ;)

My husband and I have moved a lot. We've moved when we were broke, when we had a little bit of money, and now just a couple of months ago we moved with the great deal of the employer paying for the whole thing.

Maybe its all of the years my husband spent in graduate school, but I really liked the moves when all your friends show up in their beat up old hatch backs with the boxes they found for free (and have used many times themselves), and pack up all of your belongings (mostly books) in a day. When we get together now we still laugh about some of the moves we made.

At this point in our lives it would be a bit odd to ask someone to help us move all of our furniture, but giving up picking up a friend at the airport at 1 in the morning no way! Or sharing a room with an old friend who knew me long before I was a mom and had grey hair - no way. For me these are the kinds of moments that allow you to step away from who you are today and for a short time jump back into who you were many years ago.

I still have a few boxes I haven't unpacked, maybe I'll save them for the next visit with a friend and we can unpack them together and try to figure out how I ended up with way too many salt shakers or why I still own so many clothes that were never in style.

I've heard a lot of horror stories about movers, so next move we've already decided to rent a truck and drive. It's going to be a cross-country move; having made the decision a year in advance I'm planning for it - If I don't want it enough to haul it, then I/we can get rid of it now. Moving does not bother me as I've been doing it most of my life.

Also, one thing I never hear mentioned - I look for furniture that the two of us can move ourselves. Does it break down easily? Is it too heavy? etc. One current piece that we have is quite heavy and is getting replaced soon for that reason.