Moving Advice Here!!!

[MrsK]

I looked for something like that last year and didn't come up with anything that met my OCD. I ended up merging a bunch of lists but didn't do it in a document I could share.

I have a feeling that this is what I'm going to end up doing. If I get a good workable form, I'll post it. In the meanwhile, if anyone has anything, please show me what you've got.

[alotofyarn]

I'm adding a few bits of advice that we've learned from a few moves:

- Don't move anything valuable - this seems obvious, but we didn't think about letting the company pack and move our Wii, and it was stolen.
- Review the inventory that the company writes - anything specific that you want to make sure arrives safely needs to be written explicitly on the inventory, and it doesn't matter what the box says (one of our boxes said Wii, and the person who stole it scratched it out on the box, and it wasn't on the inventory so the company claimed they didn't pack/move it).
- Check your renter/homeowner policy, because they'll probably cover the cost of anything that is stolen or broken, and you can save money by not purchasing insurance from the moving company.
- Review all documents that you sign on moving day very carefully and make sure that the numbers on those documents matched what you agreed to when you booked the move, because some companies will try to add things in on moving day, counting on the fact that you aren't playing close attention.
- Don't be afraid to file disputes with the BBB.

When we moved for med school, I negotiated the cost of moving expenses into my job offer. I'm hoping we can do this again when I get a new job for residency, because that will certainly make things easier. We're trying to get rid of stuff now so we have less to move, but we're having a hard time making time to do that.

[OrionGrad]

Martha Stewart has a handful of moving checklists you could probably incorporate.

http://www.marthastewart.com/274838/...cklists#233629

[ladymoreta]

Regarding doctors, what I learned this move is to just keep their contact info, and they can fax records to your new doctor for free. Obtaining your own copies means paying per page and having to keep up with them. One less thing, right?

[JDAZ11]

BUMP

Alright, I have three guys here (2 + driver) and they are making pretty quick work of the move. We tipped the packers $25 a piece yesterday (I call bullshit on taking 8 hrs to pack this house and also they spilled a coke all over my newly cleaned refrigerator).

How much do I tip these guys? $150 to the driver and he can divvy it up as he sees fit?

We gave everything to the driver to divvy up (he was the only one we would see again). I think we had 5 guys and I think we only gave 250 - because it's all the cash we had (we didn't think it would be so many guys).

But my stuff isn't there yet - so who knows if that was sufficient.

[ides]

Yes. I gave $50 per person and gave it to the head person to divy up.

[MrsK]

So, I've never had packers before. Do you tip the packers and the unloaders? What if a different crew packs than loads? I'm thinking that we'll probably pack one day, load the next, and then unload a couple days later if not the next day. May even be the same crew since our move is only a few hours away. Do we tip three times?

[ides]

So, I've never had packers before. Do you tip the packers and the unloaders? What if a different crew packs than loads? I'm thinking that we'll probably pack one day, load the next, and then unload a couple days later if not the next day. May even be the same crew since our move is only a few hours away. Do we tip three times?

I think so, unfortunately.

[medpedspouse]

I tipped both the packers and unloaders AND the driver each $50. Also, they took a couple of days packing and DH or I bought them lunch. We had an extremely positive experience with our move. Only a few random things were damaged and everything arrived with us. We also had the whole truck to ourselves. I do not know if it had to do with the tips OR if it was a fluke after hearing horror moving stories. I would do it again though. We were able to write it off the tips as a moving expense.

[MrsK]

So, it's $50 per person per day + lunch? Ouch!

[medpedspouse]

No, $50 per person and lunch was burgers from McDs or Sonic. I think we ended up spending $350 in tips.

[MrsK]

Right, but you gave $50 to each of the packers, $50 to each of the loaders, $50 to each of the unloaders, right?

[medpedspouse]

Yes. The packers later became loaders on the second day. I had 4 people packing/ loading and 3 unloading...both included the driver.

[JDAZ11]

We only had two packers. W gave them each $50 (even though they were also very slow). We also bought them like $10 lunches and had drinks and snacks for them both days. the second day the same guys came back, but that day we just gave all the cash to the head guy. They were done before lunch on day 2, so we didn't buy them lunch that day.

[SuzySunshine]

I'm pretty sure we did $20/ea plus we provided lunch and drinks. Our packers and loaders were different except for one guy and then we saw the driver on each end and the guy who helped him unload was new. We were annoyed there were only 2 guys to unload our entire truck. I would have gladly tipped another if there had been more.