When it comes to changing places, Americans are a group on the move:
- Forty million people in the U.S. move each year. Of that number, about 75% move to a new city in the same county or a different county in the same state.
- Nearly half of people surveyed said they were moving to find better or less expensive housing and overall quality of life. Moving for the sake of being closer to family was the second-most provided reason, with job factors coming in third.
- The busiest time of the year for moving is the month of May; it’s dubbed National Moving Month. It’s prime-time for families to move ahead of a new school year, and because the weather in most parts of the country is perfect for driving and hauling boxes and furniture.
With so much to consider in the months and weeks leading up to the day you box up your belongings and bid farewell to your old abode, here are five reasons why employing yourself as a mover creates bad memories, good comedy, and an excruciating experience for everyone:
Injury to yourself and others
You have no idea how much stuff you own or how much you can really fit into those boxes until you overload them, force them closed with cheap packing tape, burst the bottom seams, re-tape them and then try lifting them into your car or truck. Aside from the humiliation of your inability to properly pack a box, there’s the issueof packing them (you did remember to buy a handcart, furniture dolly, garment boxes, blankets, bubble wrap, markers and mattress bags, right?) and lifting them from room to vehicular conveyance without an ambulance on standby.
Speaking of vehicles…wait, you are using a real moving van, right?
A DIY move means you need to rent a moving van (and pay by the day or hour, which may cost more than hiring a team of professionals and their vehicle) and hope it’s in sound mechanical shape, at least long enough to get your worldly goods from Point A to Point B and get the truck returned on time. And be careful how you treat what’s not yours; any dents or dings will cost you. Any breakdowns mean you wait for another truck. You think your friends will chip in their time and their cars to help you move, risking their Armadas, Sierras and Tundras for the sake of your stuff?
Not enough pizza and beer in the world to win back the friends who “help”:
OK, so maybe you do have some genuine friends who love you and want to help, or maybe they help because they plan to call in a return favor in the near future. The favor asked of you will be something big and borderline wrong, perhaps involving the hiding of a body. In the old days, friends who assisted friends in a move received pizza, beer, and heartfelt thanks; maybe an invite to watch the big game as soon as the big screen TV arrived and the cable guy did his work. Young people today have greater needs than mere food and screen time. They need people who can help them get things done because they have so little time in their digitally busy lives. So be prepared to work like a Mount Everest sherpa in return for help with that couch.
Moving stuff is not a teachable moment for your kids
You want your kids to understand the value of hard work, and how it pays off in rewards above and beyond mere money. Like your friends, you kids literally aren’t buying a word of it. They have needs: new tablets, smartphones, and a wardrobe to make their friends jealous. You can prattle about the virtues of labor and how blood, sweat, and tears built this country, but your kids will find their happy place on the front seat of the moving van, posting photos of your bloody, sweaty, teary-eyed form as you curse the day you ever considered moving anywhere. Your only option is to pay them, preferably by the minute, not to whine, sulk or complain. Double the offer, and they might even help you move a box or two.
It’s not just the packing, it’s the unpacking and set up, too
The job is only half completed once everything is on board and rolling to your new destination. You cannot leave the boxes in vehicles. Now comes the hauling and remembering what boxes go in which rooms, which order to unpack things (really…you unpacked Grandma’s fine china before taking the china cabinet off the truck?) and thinking for the millionth time, “Why didn’t I donate or toss out some of this $&!* before I packed?”
Your time is priceless and meant for things besides packing and moving; let the professionals at Capital Movers Texas handle the logistics of leaving your old neighborhood or office and starting fresh. Whether you’re moving across town or across the country, our trained professionals move the contents of your office, cottage or grand estate with a careful eye to every detail, from packing the first box to setting up the last chair.
Contact us for more information regarding your next move or request a FREE quote today.