Packing Up And Going Home

We’ve been really slow the past couple of weeks because it’s that time of year again. We’re moving out, back home for the summer.

Kitchen cupboards become sparse, stairs hear the clonk-clonk of suitcases being dragged down, students everywhere commandeer every willing pair of hands to carry the last bags out of their housing.

Inevitably, there is more stuff than you thought, lots more than you came with, and a mountain of rubbish that maybe should have been thrown away months ago. So, here’s some tips for packing up and moving out:

• If you can, move stuff out in stages. Pack a backpack to take home on a weekend mostly with stuff that isn’t going back with you. If you live oversees, this is probably impossible. If you live the other side of the country, then you’ll need a couple of months for this strategy. Or me and BP, whose parents live not so far away, we could do this in a couple of weeks. The thing is, whatever you manage to take home in stages doesn’t need to be crammed in the final carload.
• Have two sets of essentials. Keep one set at your term-time address, and the other at your parents’. This means you can always travel back and forth without having to take these items. If you’re not too worried about waste, you could just throw your term-time set away (not really recommended).
• Pack things to stay together. Place textbooks (for example) in one bag to take back. There are three benefits to this. Firstly, you can think “all the textbooks are gone”. Secondly, when they get home you can immediately put them where you want them without finding them again. And lastly, they can be taken back next year in the same bag/packing. I do this with any magazines I’ve bought over the year, with my new cookbooks, with coursenotes.
• Use every last bag. Strong carriers like the ones from bookshops, backpacks, fashionable bags, bags for life… All these can be filled with the stuff that needs taking back. Make use of them – it might mean the difference between another carrying-trip to the car or not.
• Use every last inch. When you’ve got a bag, especially a zip-up bag, pack it to the brim with stuff to get home – you’ll use less bags in the end.

Please keep tuned in – more is coming soon. More Basics review, more frugal recipes, more menu plans. Coming soon – other value range reviews, response to searching, and moving in advice that’s not to be missed!