Ten women who’ve been there share ideas to keep your move as smooth and stress-free as possible     

Miriam

Our move this past summer should have been relatively simple. We were moving from a three-bedroom apartment to another (ground floor) three-bedroom just a few blocks away. We got a decent quote from the moving company and went ahead. But then things went awry.

The company only sent four workers, one who spent a lot of time just sitting in the truck, and the move took all day. By four p.m., they hadn’t even started unloading anything, and I was standing outside the new apartment with my children anxiously looking for the moving truck.  I actually called the owner of the company to ask if I needed to book a hotel for the night, because I was still planning on putting my kids to bed at seven p.m. He got the hint and put pressure on the workers, but it was so frustrating.

A friend of mine who moved a few weeks later had a totally different experience. The moving company sent seven or eight workers, and she was in her new place unpacking by 12 noon. She had a few hours to get some unpacking done before her children came home. Moral of the story: Get a moving company who will send enough workers and get you unpacking as soon as possible. It’s worth everything!

Tema

In my office, everything is really organized. I have spreadsheets for the office supplies, the accounts, and everything else. I decided to organize my move the same way. I numbered all the boxes and made a spreadsheet listing every box and its contents. Yes, it took extra time when packing (though not that much), but it saved us tons of time afterward.

My husband needed his Megillah to show someone something? No problem; I checked my spreadsheet and there it was, in box number 17. My daughter needed her ballet shoes? Mom to the rescue. They were in box 23.

Sara

Do a Shabbos test run! Plug in your blech, your Shabbos urn, set the a/c or heat, and leave the living room lights on the way you would for Shabbos. If there’s an electrical issue, you want to figure that out on a Thursday when you can do something about it, rather than on Shabbos itself.