Get an instant movers quote on HireAHelper.com →

2021 Study: Are They Real? The Truth about Moving Scams

Author:

Publish Date:

Last Modified Date:

Category: Moving Stories

Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Key Findings

  • A total of 230 moving scams were reported to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in 2020, which is 91% higher than reported in the previous year (130)
  • Americans lost up to $2 million to moving scams last year, according to the estimates from the BBB
  • As many as 148 moving scams are already filed in 2021, twice as many as were reported by the same time last year
  • Only an estimated 10% of moving scams are reported, meaning the real figure of moving scams is likely in the thousands
  • Roughly 1 in 13,000 moves in 2020 were affected by a scam, which is about as likely getting struck by lightning in your lifetime
  • Alaska, Oregon, and Montana are the worst states for moving scams (1 scam for around every 6,000 moves or fewer)
  • Utah and Missouri are the states least affected by scams (1 scam for around every 30,000 moves or greater)

 

Any scam you ever encounter or, even worse, fall for is a real bummer… to say the least. The Federal Trade Commission received 2.2 million fraud and scam reports in 2020 alone, with an estimated total of $3.3 billion lost to fraudsters. The majority of scams reported revolve around tactics like identity theft, credit card fraud, and suspect online shopping.

And though it pains us to admit it, the moving industry isn’t scam-free either. Suspect movers with hidden fees, contracts written in bad faith, and exorbitant deposits abound.

In this analysis, we zoom in on these moving scams to examine their prevalence in the industry, tally up the amount of money Americans lose to moving fraud each year, then see if the situation has changed much over the last few years (and explain what you can do to fight it).

What Exactly Are Moving Scams?

There are a wide variety of fly-by-night tactics that are more typical of those flyers you see on telephone poles, as well as Craigslist ads. Typical scams in the moving industry include (but aren’t limited to) situations where moving companies:

  • Hold your possessions “hostage” and refuse to deliver them unless you pay them a ridiculous amount of money
  • Change company names to avoid associations with previous scams 
  • Don’t mention additional fees, then charge them
  • Charge premium insurance by default
  • “Lose” valuable items and refuse to investigate or explain the loss
  • Don’t show up after they receive a deposit
  • Provide blanket estimates without asking to evaluate the size of your move

A Worrying Trend? Moving Scams up 91%, Year-Over-Year

Looking at the figures from Scam Tracker—a Better Business Bureau (BBB) analysis tool which allows people to report and track scams and fraudulent behavior they experience within the U.S. and Canada—it appears moving scams are largely on the rise.

Some 230 moving scams were reported in 2020 alone, which is 91% more than the number of scams filed with the BBB in the previous year. And so far in 2021, the number of scam reports has already reached 148, despite us only being halfway through the year. That’s higher than the total number filed by Americans in all of 2019 (121).

Partially, we can chalk up the rise in scam reports to the rising popularity of the BBB’s website and its initiatives, but it would be unreasonable to wholeheartedly deny the fact that scams are becoming more prolific.

Considering millions of people move in the United States every year, 230 scams a year doesn’t seem like such a high number. (And it isn’t, in scale.) However, citing the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau suggests that only about 10% of scams are reported.

With that percentage in mind, we can estimate that a more realistic number of moving scams last year is an estimated 2,300, while the number of scams in 2021 at the halfway point is currently estimated to be around 1,500.

Hidden Figures: Americans Lost up to $2 Million to Moving Scams Last Year

moving scamThe total number of scams alone doesn’t tell us much about the impact they might have on people who fall victims to various kinds of moving fraud. Another way to gain an understanding of a moving scammer’s impact is to look at the amount of money lost to moving scams over the years.

 

“…the Better Business Bureau suggests that only about 10% of scams are reported.”

 

Based on Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker, the reported amount lost to moving scams in 2020 was $207,000 and about $114,000 so far in 2021. 

Bearing in mind the high potential for scams going unreported, we can estimate that the amount lost to moving scams is in the region of $1.1 million during the first six months of 2021, and $2 million in 2020.

In that regard, the financial impact of moving scams seems to at least be in slight decline from the peak of $3.2 million lost in 2018 (when accounting for underreported scams). 

As Likely as Being Struck by Lightning: How Common Moving Scams Really Are

The rise of moving scams and the potential millions of dollars lost to scammers in the moving industry is, by all means, a concerning trend. But if we look at the number of moving scams relative to the number of moves taking place in the United States each year, it’s true that moving scams are rather rare.

 

“Moving scammers are most common in the Western and Northern ends of the United States, with the states Alaska, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado all having the worst moves to scams ratio.”

 

Even if we take into account the fact that 90% of moving scams go unreported, the data suggests that only 1 in 15,000 moves that took place in the U.S. last year were afflicted by scams. For the sake of using a famous comparison, your chances of getting struck by lightning over the course of your lifetime are 1 in 15,300.

Where Are Moving Scams Most Common?

Still, rare as they might be, moving scams are actually more prevalent in certain states than others. Moving scammers are most common in the Western and Northern ends of the United States, with the states Alaska, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado all having the worst moves to scams ratio. 

On the other side of the scale, moves in states like Utah and Missouri were the least prone to scams, in that the ratio of moves to scams in these states is greater than 30,000 to 1.

State Moves Per Scam State Moves Per Scam
Alaska 3,494 Utah 37,931
Oregon 4,040 Missouri 32,941
Montana 5,963 Connecticut 26,370
Washington 6,077 Virginia 25,594
Wyoming 6,186 Wisconsin 23,544
Colorado 6,353 Tennessee 22,108
Pennsylvania 7,527 Louisiana 21,837
Minnesota 7,997 Texas 20,926
North Dakota 8,375 Idaho 19,481
Nebraska 8,945 Oklahoma 19,364

To get the details on the number of moves and moving scams in each state, check our map below, where we’ve assembled the data for the year 2020, the last full year for available data.

Moving scams are a nightmare for consumers and a source of great shame for the moving industry. The number of scams does appear to be on the rise, with a recent BBB report highlighting the suspiciously high levels of fraudulent activity since the start of the pandemic.

We may never know the true extent of the problem, but at HireAHelper, we make sure fraudulent movers cannot exist on our vetted platform of over 2,000 Moving Service Providers across the United States. All HireAHelper moves come with a $1,000 Safety Guarantee, industry-leading customer service, and verification of every single mover review. Nobody deserves to have their life stolen from them, least of all when they are at their most vulnerable. Moving day is tough enough!

If you feel like you may be a victim of moving scams, here’s what you might be able to do to get your life back on track.

Sources and Methodology
The number of moving scams and the associated dollar amount lost was taken from Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker. The number of moves in each state for the year 2020 was taken from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Illustrations by Heather Vaughan

This Is Why Shrink Wrap Is Essential for Moving

Author:

Publish Date:

Last Modified Date:

Category: How To Pack, Moving Boxes & Supplies

Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some call it “plastic wrap”, others say “stretch wrap”, and movers in a hurry call it “shrink”. But the most common name for that huge roll of sticky sheet plastic that movers use? It’s just “shrink wrap”.

Shrink wrap resembles Saran Wrap, but it’s bigger – about eighteen inches long – and it’s as thick and heavy as a log. While Saran Wrap covers your leftovers, shrink wrap covers your couch to protect it from dirt and more importantly, keep everything in place while moving.

Despite its name, there’s nothing small about shrink. It’s claimed its place as a staple in the toolbox of every moving team. This is why I’m going to share why using shrink wrap is so important and how you should be using it for your next move

Why do movers always use shrink wrap?

Some might say that the sky’s the limit when imagining how you can use shrink wrap. Once I witnessed wo of my fellow crew members, who were in the process of tackling a garage, enclose an entire plastic shelving system with everything still on the shelves as an alternative to packing everything on those shelves in boxes. It actually worked! (Although, I don’t recommend it.)

Most professional movers use shrink wrap for three things:

  • To keep dust and dirt off of upholstered furniture (“OS”, in mover-language)
  • To keep furniture pads in place around larger items like OS, major appliances, pianos, large TVs, and heavy tabletops
  • To keep things safely in place. This means keeping drawers from sliding out of your dresser, keeping the cushions on your sofa and loveseat from falling off and getting dirty (or lost); and keeping the doors on your china cabinet or armoire from suddenly swinging open and breaking right off their hinges

Now that we have covered why movers use it, let’s talk about how to use it. It might be a little harder than it looks.

How do you use shrink wrap?

3menmovers.com

The whole point of using shrink wrap is to create a tight protective layer of plastic over whatever you are wrapping. You’ll notice pretty quickly that shrink wrap doesn’t generally stick to your stuff; it only sticks to itself. So if you don’t have a shrink wrap dispenser and are shrink wrapping, say, your sofa, you’ll need to do the following:

  • Either tie the end of the plastic wrap around one leg of your sofa, or have your friend hold the end of the plastic in place against one side or corner of the sofa
  •  Walk backward with your shrink wrap in your hands, letting it unroll as you go, circling until you overlap the end of the roll (and probably your friend’s hands)

From there, with your shrink wrap now stuck in place, keep circling your sofa (or china cabinet or tool chest) until it’s safe enough to be loaded into the truck.

shrink wrap dispenser
A shrink wrap dispenser will set you back around $50, but can expedite a pack job, especially for junior crew members.

Important Mover Tips for Using Shrink Wrap

As we mentioned, the secret is wrapping tightly to keep the plastic from sagging and becoming useless. I recommend doing these things to ensure you’re using shrink wrap like a pro on all your moves.

Always wear work gloves when using it

Some shrink wrap comes with handles on either end, making it look like a big rolling pin. But I find that these handles just get in the way, especially when you try to wrap the bottom edge of your upholstered sofa or heavy dresser.

It’s much easier to hold your roll of shrink wrap loosely, letting it unroll around your fingers as you go. But be careful before you find out the hard way that the friction of the spinning roll of shrink wrap will burn the skin right off your fingers, kind of like a rope burn, but potentially much worse. Trust me. Find some decent gloves.

Don’t let your shrink wrap fall or roll on the ground

Suppose you drop it on the floor and damage one edge of the roll. The fall can cause the plastic to shred (!) as you unroll it over your furniture, and that will most likely result in you throwing that now-useless thing out the window in a rage of frustration because the stuff is also expensive!

Likewise, don’t roll it across the floor, or your driveway, or the floor of your truck or container. Even one small rock can nick the surface, causing the plastic to pull apart in pieces the next time you try to use it. Feel free to test me on this if you don’t believe me, but I will not be held responsible for your ruined roll of shrink wrap or the window you throw it through.

shrink wrap

Don’t use shrink wrap on wood and other specific surfaces without an extra layer of coverage 

One of the most common uses of shrink wrap is for OS and mattresses (But I strongly recommend reusable mattress bags over one-time landfill-filling shrink wrap). Wrapping OS and mattresses with shrink wrap generally does not cause problems because it won’t adhere to the fabric and damage it.

On the other hand, shrink wrap can get stuck to wood, vinyl, even metal. This is crucial for long-distance moves and items that are going into storage. Over time and in extreme temperatures, shrink wrap will stick to your wooden dining room chairs, your leather couch, and maybe the surfaces of your fridge. And it may never completely come off.

To guard against this, cover these items in furniture pads or thick brown Kraft paper sheets before wrapping them tightly in shrink wrap. “Tightly” is the key word here, because if it is not tight, it will not hold those pads or sheets of brown paper in place, and your fridge will slip right out of your hands.

Don’t ever lock in any moisture

While shrink wrap’s primary purpose is to keep dust and dirt away, completely sealing your sofa in the stuff can backfire. If moisture gets trapped inside and has no way of escaping, you can end up with mold (the black, blue, and green stuff) and mildew (the white stuff) all over your living room set. Again, extended time and extreme temperatures can exacerbate the situation. Be sure to leave a few openings when you wrap your OS (and everything else).

Don’t squeeze too tight!

As mentioned, shrink wrap should be stretched tight (within reason) when used. This of course, means pressure on what is being wrapped. So if you pull it too tight around your dining room chairs or your coffee table, you might snap the legs right off. This applies to any other pieces of furniture with legs, like upright pianos, sideboard tables, and the rare dining room or kitchen table with legs that don’t detach.

Similarly, I don’t advise shrink-wrapping cheap IKEA-type furniture. That bookcase you bought and put together yourself was probably not made to withstand a three-day bear hug.

Upholstered furniture will likely not get irrevocably dusty after one day in the back of your rental truck. Tape is often effective enough to keep furniture pads – and dresser or armoire doors – in place. 

However, if stuff is going into storage for a while, and you want to make sure everything remains safe and protected, shrink wrap might be a worthwhile investment, and it’s always important to keep some in stock back at headquarters. 

How to Pack up Your Kitchen: Pantry, Fridge, and Freezer

Author:

Publish Date:

Last Modified Date:

Category: How To Pack, Moving Checklists & Planning

Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Moving day is fast approaching and you’ve already utilized all the best tips for packing up. But you’ve left a few dreaded tasks for the last minute: how do you pack up your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer? 

Chances are, your kitchen is well-stocked with everything from perishables, to frozen food, to shelf-stable pantry items—plus that one bag of musty beans that’s been following you for years now. The good news for your pantry, fridge and freezer is there are plenty of solutions for relocating your kitchen without wasting food, so read on for the down and dirty on packing up your home’s hardest working room.

1. Widdle down your groceries by crafting a 1-2 week creative meal plan that uses every perishable in your fridge

scramble

This sounds dumb, but it has to be said: stop buying groceries.

Got that far? Good. Now, start at your fridge, where it’s time to get galaxy-brained about how to use up any dairy, proteins, and fresh produce. As the first items to go bad, they’re not generally worth moving unless you’re traveling an extremely short distance. You might want to recycle the takeout menus cluttering your drawers to give yourself an added incentive, and layout a menu plan for the days leading up to your move.

Some menu ideas: 

  • For breakfast, a scramble or a hash is a great way to use up veggies, eggs, and bacon
  • At lunch, try a piled-high fridge-dump salad, or open-faced melt hot from the broiler
  • Come dinnertime, turn to stir-fries, casseroles, or even a hearty stew or pasta sauce that can be made in bulk and then frozen and reheated (check out the cooler tip below) as one of the first meals in your new home

If your household is small and you’re struggling to clear through everything, try baking for the neighborhood or hosting a dinner for friends (or your COVID pod, as is often the case these days). Feel free to label it a “housecooling party”, if you adore themes as much as I do. You can even send guests home with a goodie bag of snacks or condiments that you don’t want to trash but can’t bring with you.

PS: There’s a specific food donation service for people who are moving

move for hungerAnd of course, your local food bank will usually be grateful for any canned or otherwise shelf-stable goods you have to share. You can organize a drop-off yourself, or ask your movers to donate your extra food to Move for Hunger—a national nonprofit that mobilizes movers across North American to collect extra food while on jobs, and then deliver it to community outreach centers like pantries and food banks.

Donating to them is a very popular method for people who are moving. Last year, they coordinated the delivery of more than 5 million pounds of food throughout the US and Canada—all items that would likely have been discarded otherwise.

2. Expired or soon-to-expire items have got to go (moving them is expensive)

The more weight you’re bringing from your kitchen shelves, the more expensive your move is going to be, either due to weight, time, or both.

Keep an eye out not only for long-past expiration dates, but also containers with just a dollop of something suspicious left inside. Remember, that date on the label is technically how long the unopened product is good for, so why tempt fate?

Here are some specific tossable items to scour your fridge, freezer, and pantry for:

  • Opened bags of snacks
  • Opened packages of frozen foods
  • Unsealed condiments
  • Defrosted meats
  • Home-frozen meals from a year ago (gentle reminder to label everything you freeze)
  • Anything with freezer burn
  • Opened beverages
  • Lurking leftovers
  • Musty- or dusty-smelling herbs, spices, or baking ingredients

It can be time-consuming, but it’s truly worthwhile to get eyes on everything. A friend of mine recently realized she’d moved a single container of canola oil ten-years-expired to three apartments in a row, and boy did she feel silly (not to mention grossed out).

The Most Trusted Moving Checklist on the Web

The Moving Checklist: Everything You Need to Know to Move

3. Start your kitchen tear-down by boxing dry and specialty goods, and a week early

Can you spot the one item that SHOULDN’T be in this box? (Wrap your liquids!)

Now that you’ve pared everything down, it’s time to get packing.

I’ve found that the best way to start this process is to bring some empty boxes into your kitchen no less than a week before the big day. As you move through your farewell meal plan, you’ll get a good feel for the items you use on a daily basis versus those you get into more rarely. 

As soon as you identify a “shelf-stable specialty item”, go ahead and place it in a box. What are those? They aren’t simply canned items, they’re stuff like:

  • Liquor
  • Your spice collection
  • Fancy infused olive oils
  • Stashes of coffee beans
  • etc.

Don’t worry about wrapping anything liquid or fragile from this pile until you have everything in one place. You first gotta see what you can do without, as well as to make sure any heavy items are well distributed in a box, so no one box gets too heavy.

wrap fragile items
It doesn’t have to be bubble wrap, just make sure one fragile food item doesn’t ruin your entire box.

But once a box is getting close to full, encase fragile items in a layer of protective plastic wrap, then fill in any gaps with unopened bags of rice and beans to keep items in place during the move. For extra security, double-bag those makeshift rice-dividers in plastic grocery bags or freezer bags, and seal them with duct tape to prevent leaking or breakage. (You can also use crumpled-up butcher paper instead of rice or bean bags.)

A note on how to pack spices

Spices are both expensive and messy. You need to make sure the lids are tightly screwed, and that each spice is individually wrapped. (It’ll be worth it!) If their container is less than satisfactory, try to tape them shut so that nothing escapes into the box. A piece of scotch tape over the holes of any shaker you have wouldn’t hurt.

Once your boxes are ready, seal them up and label clearly and specifically with the items inside, how to handle them, and where they’re headed. For example: “PANTRY—dry goods” or “BAR CART—fragile”.

4. Make one essential food box for what you’ll want right away at your new place

essential food box

If you’ve been playing your cards right with that meal plan from earlier, your fridge and pantry shelves are nearly empty now with only your everyday items remaining. These hardworking darlings deserve a box all to themselves so they can be the last into the truck and the first out of it. (And so you don’t have to unpack every single box to enjoy your first meal in the new place.)

Depending on you and your diet, that could be any of the following:

  • Coffee (!!)
  • Dry pasta and a jar of sauce
  • Cans of tuna, bread, and an unopened jar of mayonnaise
  • Cups of soup that can be heated up easily in the microwave
  • Salt and pepper, which you’ll never regret having on hand 

Ideally, you’ll want these foods to come in plastic or otherwise unbreakable containers, but if you have to work with glass, just make sure you wrap them carefully.

5. For your freezer, consider a cooler, but only if you’re moving long distance

cooler
If you’re down to just a few frozen items, consider a smaller bag like this.

If you aren’t moving too far away, you can also pack up a cooler or two of any fridge or freezer essentials that survived the culling in step two, but didn’t get eaten this week. That includes frozen items like,

  • Steak
  • Chicken
  • Fish

These are generally cold things too expensive to go tossing out on a whim. (I don’t know about you, but I’m no millionaire; these shrimps are coming with me.)

Without a cooler, once again, double – or even triple- bag these items before packing with ice (or dry ice if you have it), because they’re going to give off some moisture as they warm. Make sure to note in big block letters that these boxes are holding perishable essentials for the fridge or freezer! There’s no point toting these items along if they’re just going to rot in a box on your fancy new tile.

6. Celebrate with a grocery trip in your new neighborhood!

Finally, a purely fun item on this list! Visiting grocery stores is one of my favorite ways to get to know a new area, so make sure to bake that first grocery trip into your moving budget to replace any expired items you had to get rid of.

With the combination of the old reliable items you brought from your old kitchen and some exciting ingredients sourced from your new spot, you’ll be feeling right at home again in no time.

The 3 Things to Never, Ever Procrastinate on When You Move

Author:

Publish Date:

Last Modified Date:

Category: Moving Advice

Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Procrastination, as a strategy, is starting to get more and more interest from the scientific community.

For example, Adam Grant points out in his book “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” that Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Frank Lloyd Wright and Leonardo Da Vinci were all notorious procrastinators. And hey, it worked out pretty well for them, so what’s the big deal? This train of thought has given me plenty of ammunition to justify all the times I’ve procrastinated for a test, a presentation, or heck, a daily shower.

But I know that one of these times this strategy is going to really backfire. Life is going to punch me in the mouth and, if it weren’t for my wife, our recent move would have been a disaster.

So Abraham Lincoln aside, here are a few areas where procrastination is absolutely not the best strategy. Take it from me, I’m an expert.

Finding All Your Moving Boxes

For our move, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say we used 50 boxes. And I’m talking good sized boxes, like the kind a kid would hop into to pretend they’re an astronaut.

So let’s compare approaches:

Procrastination Chris: “Oh, you know, we’ll figure it out. A couple nights before, we’ll go into a Wal-Mart and ask if they can spare a few extra boxes. That should be easy.”

The reality: Retailers aren’t always on board with giving away their extra boxes. I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s like going into a restaurant at the end of the day and asking for any spare food; On paper, it makes sense since they’re gonna throw it out anyways. But in practice? Places of business don’t want to deal with this every single day.

My wife’s solution: Reaching out to friends who work retail weeks in advance, then getting the boxes in. She began the process weeks before, rather than a few nights before.

Booking the Moving Truck

I feel like anyone who buys a pickup truck automatically puts a bullseye on their back. You really need to start coming up with excuses for why you can’t help everyone in town move well before you put down your first downpayment.

Case and point: I remember being at a buddy’s bachelor party down in South Carolina and everyone that showed up had a pickup truck. Ford F-150, 250, even the 550, which is a monster truck that also fires off a cannon. I looked around and thought, “Man, if you ever have to move, you’ve got a small army here!”

But in most places, a lot of people don’t even own cars, let alone pickup trucks. And no offense to your buddy with a Mini Cooper, but that’s not gonna get the job done.

Procrastination Chris: “Eh, we’ll just get a U-Haul. Easy!”

The reality: Moving trucks aren’t totally simple. For one, they don’t have a normal rearview mirror; They’ve got these big side mirrors that stick out to give you a view when backing up. If you’ve never driven one before, it’s a lot to get used to. And maybe it’s just me, but it’s amazing how accustomed you get to a backup camera once you have one in your car. Without a backup camera and none of the “beep, beep, beep-beep-beep”, I’m surprised anyone before 2007 ever had a scratch-free bumper.

Most importantly, moving trucks get booked ahead of time. Yeah, that means you’re supposed to coordinate your move date with the date you need the truck, usually well ahead of time – especially during the busy season. Oops.

My “I got lucky” solution: One of my buddies loves helping people move. It’s like having a friend who enjoys doing taxes. He once drove a U-Haul from Chicago to New Orleans, so driving this one a couple block was small potatoes. Phew.

See prices for movers by the hour – instantly.

Read real customer reviews.

Easily book your help online.

 

Getting Help From Your Friends

In fairness, I sent out a calendar invite at least three weeks, maybe a month in advance to some co-workers and another friend.

I cannot, cannot, cannot stress this enough! Without a minimum of four regular friends helping out, I don’t think any move has ever been possible. And yeah, I know there’s an exception out there: the dude who sleeps on an air mattress and only owns like two outfits. But for the vast majority of us, we actually need help moving all of those boxes.

This is where procrastination can backfire big time. If I would have reached out only the day before – nevermind the morning of – they could have all had other plans and/or they could have quickly come up with an excuse. (“I, uh, gotta walk the dog.”)

This is one you don’t want to leave up to chance. Even if it works, it’s sort of like when a basketball player fires up a terrible shot and the coach screams, “No! No! No!”, but then it goes in anyway and they let out a sigh. Yes, procrastination may work every now and then, but not a great long-term strategy. Especially for moving.

My “hope-they-still-talk-to-me” solution: Very patient, very tired friends.

Make Moving Not Suck

Everyone’s moving situation is different, whether the city, suburbs or small town. I think back to that fleet of pickup trucks in South Carolina; Some people are lucky or they’ve got all their buddies around with the right vehicles for a move. They’re all set.

But for most of us, we’re not so lucky.

Most moves involve someone fresh out of college with their mom and dad, and the dad is getting upset because his kid procrastinated, and now his back hurts, and the mom is upset because the dad is upset, and then someone’s like, “Hey, you can’t park here,” and the mom looks over at the dad before he snaps, “Carol, I know, but I have to go feed the parking meter!” All the while the kid’s younger sibling is on their phone taking a selfie (#MovingDay). And everyone is about one step away from not getting together for Thanksgiving.

It’s not worth having one of the worst days of your life with your friends and family. Find some help. If you’ve got the friend brigade of pickup trucks, awesome. If not, hire it. It’s cheaper than you think.

And whatever you do, just don’t procrastinate on this one. No matter what DaVinci says. 

Chris O’Brien is an author writing out of Chicago. His latest release, “Moving Sucks”, captures all the pain of moving day, but with a comedic twist. Watch for its release on Amazon.com this November. For more info, email Chris@mediumraresizzle.com.
×

I'm Moving

Moving? Thinking about moving? Whether your move is off in the distance or you already have one foot out the door, you'll learn about everything you should expect through our useful how-to's, cool articles and much more. It's all specially curated for you in our "I'm Moving" section.
Explore
×

I'm a Mover

For rookies or veterans alike, our "I'm a Mover" section is filled with extensive industry news, crucial protips and in-depth guides written by industry professionals. Sharing our decade of moving knowledge is just one way we help keep our professional movers at the top of their game.
Explore