Apartment hunting in New York is the worst. But after trudging through dozens of shoeboxes and listening to brokers tell you your price-range is unreasonable, you’ve finally done it.
You’ve signed the lease on a perfect (i.e. budget friendly) pad that’s hopefully somewhat near a subway that will eventually take you to your place of work.
The only down-side? Four or five floors of narrow, airless stairs.
At least you won’t have to worry about working cardio into your day anymore.
No matter how you cut it, moving in is going to suck but if you keep a few things in mind, you could make your move-in a blast (not really, but it will definitely suck significantly less)!
1. Throw out some of your crap
Hit up a Buffalo Exchange and sell some old clothes. Donate books you’re never going to read again. Get rid of that butterfly chair you bought your freshman year of college. It’ll be cathartic, I promise.
Once you’ve rounded up your belongings deemed worthy of remaining in your life, instead of cramming all your stuff into as few large boxes as possible, save your back and try spreading your things out into a bunch of smaller ones.
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With furniture, try to disassemble everything you can. If possible, take the legs off of tables. You’ll also be amazed at how much lighter a set of drawers is when the actual drawers are removed.
2. Get a sharpie and label EVERYTHING
Nothing will be worse after a long day of moving in than sifting through all of your kitchen supplies to find your damn toothbrush.
Unless all your boxes are translucent plastic, once all of your stuff is in a jumbled heap, you will not remember where anything is.
3. Lock down some help
So you probably think you have a pretty solid squad that’ll come through for you in a snap, right? Well, you don’t. Ask for help well in advance and remind everyone involved a few days beforehand.
Prioritize any unicorns you may know who drive a van or a truck, especially if you don’t actually have enough stuff to fill a u-haul.
If your buds are all suspiciously booked on the weekend of your big move, resort to bribery. Invite everyone to break in your new neighborhood bar with a round on you or at least, promise pizza.
If all else fails, lie and say your new place is on three Pokestops and a gym.
4. Maximize your resources—er, friends
Unless you and whoever you’ve managed to sucker into helping you are all in excellent physical shape, consider setting up a relay system. When you pull up on your new block and finish unloading all your crap out onto the sidewalk, position your buds on each landing of your building’s stairs.
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Hopefully, you already did #1 and you packed light, well-labelled boxes that everyone can now pass up to each other, one flight at a time.
This obviously won’t work with larger furniture but on that note...
5. Re-watch S5E16 of Friends, “The One with the Cop"
If the “PIVOT” scene doesn’t make you re-think how much you value your friendships and decide to hire movers, take heed: Measure your stairwell. Measure your furniture. Act accordingly.
I know you just dropped first and last month’s rent, plus a security deposit. Your checking account is emptier than a Planet Fitness in February and the last thing you want to do is spend more money.
But if you have a big-ass couch and only wrangled up two friends who are both Ross’, definitely hire movers.
[Feature Image Courtesy via 212century.com]