A few moving hints

• Be sure to contact your internet provider to find out what is required to move your service to a new address.
• To get some free sturdy boxes, contact a big grocery store near you and see if they give them away. At our local Meijer store if you call the Produce manager around 5am they can plan to save some for you, and produce boxes are typically very strong (which mean you may not be able to break them down for easy transport).
• If you can afford it, I’ve found that Lowe’s medium-duty medium-size boxes are great for moving. It’s nice to buy them flat and assemble them yourself (a single piece of tape will do it), and there’s just something about having them all the same size and in good shape that helps me feel less stress during a move.
• Be sure to write the room it’s from/for on the box.
• When you’re done moving, you can easily get rid of the boxes by posting them for free on Craigslist, or donating them… in my area I’d recommend Shelterhouse Resale Shop, or Midland Recyclers.
• Moving companies often won’t handle delicate items… I would plan on moving lamp shades, electronics, fancy glassware/china etc. yourself, in your own gently-driven vehicle (rather than a big bouncy moving truck).
• Dust stuff as you pack it to keep the new place as clean as possible.
• Save back all the cleaning supplies you need to clean up your old place. The worst thing for me was always the tub/shower enclosure, until I discovered the wonder of blue-cap Easy Off the oven cleaner: spray it on the dry surface, let it sit for at least 4 hours, moisten it with water (spray bottle or handheld shower), and clean it with a wet dishrag/washcloth, rinsing often, and it will pretty much wipe clean with a single pass.  The blue-cap stuff is much less stinky, but you may want to close the bathroom door and put the fan on for the first hour anyway, if someone’s going to be there.