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Packing Hacks and Guides

Top 5 Reasons to Hire Packers For Your NJ Move

Top 5 Reasons to Hire Packers For Your NJ Move

Whether you live in a studio apartment or a three bedroom house, packing your belongings is a time consuming process. The DIY route requires plenty of planning and prep. You need to purchase all of the packing materials ahead of time, create an inventory of what you are taking with you, and then pack everything. Sure, you could throw everything into some boxes, but then you’ll be faced with a huge mess when it comes time to unpack. More importantly, haphazard packing could lead to damaged items.

If you want to make sure your belongings get packed in an orderly manner, consider hiring professional NJ packers to help with your move. While it will cost you more money than a basic moving package, it’s well worth the money if you can spare it! Below are reasons why hiring a professional packing service might be the right move for you.

It Saves Time

Moving into a new home is exciting, but it’s also a lot of hard work. Regardless of whether you’re making a long-distance or local move, you need to organize the logistics of getting your family from your old place to your new one. Packing is one of the main tasks when it comes to moving but it’s a time consuming process. Many people leave it to the last minute, but that leads to more stress since you need to organize, declutter, create an inventory, and then pack everything. Even if you start a few weeks in advance, that’s weeks of having your home in a partially packed state.

When you hire NJ packers, they can pack everything in your house in a day or less. After all, it’s what they do every day so it’s no surprise that they’re efficient. Not only that, but they will bring their own supplies so you don’t have to worry about buying boxes. They’ll handle everything for you and pack everything in an organized manner and label each box. That way when you have to unpack, you know exactly where everything is.

Less Stress

Packing for a move affects your schedule and can seriously affect your mental health. No one likes being in a half-packed house with partially filled boxes everywhere. It’s distracting and dangerous as you could easily trip over a box or accidentally knock one over. But not everyone can dedicate hours to packing. Some people might just be able to spend an hour or less putting things away. 

Hiring packers can help reduce moving clutter and gives you the opportunity to focus on other moving related tasks. And if you need to immediately get to work after your move, consider adding on an unpacking service so you can jump into your daily routine immediately.

Your Belongings are Protected

All professional movers and packers have to have the appropriate licenses and insurance. Believe it or not, professional NJ packers are very careful with your belongings. In fact, they might be more careful than you! On top of that, they all have the appropriate training and years of experience so they know how to pack your things safely and efficiently. That leads to fewer mistakes and issues. 

In order to be a registered professional mover, all moving companies need to provide free partial valuation which covers your belongings up to $0.60 per pound per item for free. They also need to offer full valuation coverage though this is a paid service. The catch here is that you will only receive compensation if the damaged items were packed by the movers. Boxes packed by you will not be reimbursed unless you can prove that the damages were the fault of the movers. So if you have a lot of fragile and expensive items, definitely hire packers to handle them.

It Can Save Money

It might seem counterintuitive, but hiring packers can actually save you money. You might think that you can find enough free boxes from friends and family, but chances are you’ll still need to go out and buy them. Plus, old boxes aren’t sturdy enough to hold your valuable items either! And remember, if there’s an issue with your packing or if your boxes fall apart during the move then the movers can contest any claims you might put in for the valuation as they did not pack your items.

Besides boxes, you’ll also need to purchase other supplies like packing tape, bubble wrap, packing paper, and so on. This can easily bump your budget up a few hundred dollars. While hiring professional packers might cost you more than a couple hundred bucks, the amount of time and stress you’ll save yourself is well worth the money. And, again, your valuables are protected should anything happen during the move.

Partial Packing

If a full service packing option is too much for your budget, then ask the moving company if they offer partial packing services. It’s a more affordable option that still takes a lot of the stress off your hands because you don’t have to pack everything yourself. Instead, you’ll be responsible only for the things you want to pack while the pros handle everything else. You can break the service down by room or area or even items. Whatever you decide, let the movers know and they’ll provide you with a quote. Naturally, you’ll have to pack the rest yourself so make sure you have all the necessary boxes and materials.

Hire Pro NJ Packers

Getting pros to pack your things doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, many people are surprised at how affordable it can be, especially for the partial packing option. Plus, you get more time to relax and focus on other aspects of moving. Let NJ Great Movers take care of your next move. We offer full and partial packing services for both local and long-distance moves. Give us a call and let us know what you need.

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General

The Best Packing Strategies for a Stress-Free NJ Move

The Best Packing Strategies for a Stress-Free NJ Move

It doesn’t matter if you’re moving from an apartment to a house or vice versa, there’s one step that you cannot skip and that’s packing. For most people, packing is the task that they dread the most because it’s time consuming. Doubly so if you want everything to arrive in one piece to your new home. Luckily, you can make the process easier on yourself by following the packing strategies below. Now only will you save time, you’ll also save yourself some money in the process.

Set Your Old Belongings Aside

Moving is the perfect time to take stock of everything you own and keep the items you truly want even if you’re moving from an apartment to a larger home. Unless you’ve lived an incredibly minimalist lifestyle, you probably own a lot of stuff that you don’t need or use that often. The less you have during a move, the cheaper it will be since less boxes = less time it takes the NJ movers to load and unload their truck. This is especially important for long-distance moves as these get calculated by volume, weight, and distance.

While it will be hard to part with your stuff, it’s important to set aside a few days to sort through your belongings. When choosing what items to say goodbye to, ask yourself how often you’ve used it in the past year or two. For expensive items like furniture, you should take into account its condition, whether it will fit in your new home, and if it will match whatever aesthetic you want for your new place. Buying a new couch isn’t cheap, but lugging one to your new home and realizing there isn’t a place for it is even more expensive.

Once you’ve separated out all of the items you don’t plan on taking with you, host a garage/yard sale. It’s a great way to make some extra money to pad your moving budget. Of course, you won’t sell everything, so try and donate whatever you can. Items that aren’t in good condition you should recycle if possible. If not, then throw it out.

Have All the Supplies You Need

There’s nothing worse than starting the packing process only to realize halfway through that you don’t have everything you need. You might think that boxes and some tape are enough, but for a smoother move you should consider investing in the following:

  • Bubble wrap, packing paper, packing peanuts to secure fragile items
  • Plastic bags to group smaller items together like toys, pens, etc.
  • Sharpies to label your boxes
  • Stretch wrap to secure your dressers drawers or keep items together
  • Mattress bag to keep your mattress from collecting dust and debris
  • Packing tape to close up your boxes. Don’t skimp, get more than you think you need!
  • Boxes to pack your items. While you can always try and find free boxes, it might be worth it to purchase boxes specifically designed for moving as they are more durable. You should also get a variety of sizes to account for the different items you are moving.

Buying all these supplies can put quite a dent in your wallet, so ask around to see if you have friends or family that might have some of these items.

A Fully Organized Inventory List

Before you start packing, you’ll want to know exactly what you plan on bringing with you. A well organized inventory can help you manage what’s in each box, where each one needs to go in the new house, and keep track of valuable items. If you’re hiring professional movers, they will always request an inventory of items to make sure they don’t forget anything during the move.

Creating an inventory might sound difficult, but it’s a relatively straightforward process. It does require you to keep track of everything you plan on moving right down to the last nail. For best results, you’ll want to do this while you pack. A good moving inventory lists the following:

  • Box number to keep track of boxes
  • Contents of each box
  • Room where each box came from
  • Whether items are fragile
  • Whether items in the box are valuable
  • Color code/label used for each box
  • Picture of fragile/valuable items in specified boxes and market value
  • Take pictures of your electronic setup so you know how to set everything back up in your new home

Pack Everything in the Best Way

It might sound funny, but there are proper ways to pack a box. In fact, you can train yourself on the best way to pack a box to make the most use of the space while still keeping your items safe. Plus, a well packed box also makes unpacking a lot easier as everything will be properly organized. If you’re not sure where to get started, below are some useful packing tips:

  • Use the right box size – heavier items should go in smaller boxes and lighter items should go into larger boxes. You should also put fragile items in smaller boxes as you want to reduce the amount of pressure you put on the fragile items.
  • Put heavy items on the bottom – this sounds like common sense, but many people simply toss everything into a box without considering the weight. If you put heavy items on top, they will crush and/or break the lighter items. So, pack heavy and bulky items carefully.
  • Don’t leave gaps in the box – these gaps can jostle your belongings, which can lead to damaged items. Fill any holes with packing paper, towels, etc.
  • Tape boxes securely – use more tape than you think you need and tape both the top and bottom. Then wrap a couple times around the edges. You really don’t want the boxes opening up on the top or bottom during the move.
  • Buy speciality boxes – They might cost a bit more, but things like wardrobe boxes, speciality boxes for art, dishes/glassware, and televisions are designed to provide an extra layer of protection. If you don’t know where to find these boxes, the NJ moving company you use might have some.

Another useful hint is to pack similar items together – books with books, toys with toys, etc. Go a step further and organize by room. So if you have books for the living room and books for your bedroom, put them in separate boxes. It might seem like a hassle, but you’ll be able to unpack a lot faster when you put the effort into the initial packing.

And sometimes the right way to pack is to not pack! For example, if you have clothes on hangers, don’t take them off. Instead, bundle the clothes together and then wrap it in a garbage bag to protect them. For clothes in dressers, simply wrap the drawers tightly with stretch wrap.

You’ll also want to back a separate box specifically for essentials like clothes for 2-3 days, toiletries, bedding, toys for children, food for pets, etc. That way, you won’t have to dig through all the boxes to find exactly what you need and you can take your time unpacking since you already have the essentials easily accessible.

Need Expert Assistance

If you’re strapped for time, you can’t go wrong with hiring professionals. Luckily, many moving companies also offer packing services. Naturally, it will cost you more money, but if you simply don’t have the time or energy, it’s a great option. Plus, you can have them pack up certain rooms or areas instead of the entire house to save some money. Sure, you’ll still need to do some packing if you choose this option, but it can reduce your overall workload significantly.

The reason it’s better to hire professionals than asking friends is that they know exactly how to pack your boxes and will handle each item with care. Your friends or family members won’t have as much experience and knowledge so could inadvertently pack your boxes incorrectly. Or perhaps they’ll simply jumble all of your belongings together so you don’t know where anything is. Obviously, those who volunteer to help mean well, but they don’t always know the best practices. It’s well worth it to find some money in your budget to hire packers.

Make Packing Less Stressful

Following the packing strategies above does mean you’re putting in more upfront work. However, it is well worth the time and effort as you won’t have to worry as much when you’re unpacking. And if you don’t want to deal with the hassle, then you can call in professional NJ packers like us!