The disadvantages are the time it takes and the fact that making a moving company insurance claim on breakage with goods you pack yourself is more difficult.

Packing is an organization challenge. On the one hand, you want to pack as much as possible ahead of moving week. On the other hand, you may still be having prospective purchasers or friends coming through, so you don’t want boxes all over the house. Besides, things invariably get packed that you need the next day.

We’ve developed the following Steiner Smooth Move System, with lots of suggestions from friends, clients, and our survey respondents.

Packing Materials

The most economical source of supplies for packing materials is a specialty shipping and packaging material store.

Tip: If you don’t have a discount source in your area, and you’re looking to buy boxes and other staples in twenty-five-piece lots, call Bradley’s at (800) 621-7864 for a catalog.

It has almost everything -- boxes and plastic bags, in various sizes, bungee stretch cords to secure padding, rolls of thirty-six-inch corrugated wrapping material for padding, storage tubes for posters. Its prices are about half what a moving company charges. While Bradley’s can’t supply some things --wardrobe, dishpack, and mirror boxes, a few tools -- otherwise, it’s a big help.

Box Collecting. Start collecting boxes as soon as you decide to move. The penultimate find is somebody down the street moving in. Drop by and ask owners if they’d like your help in getting rid of boxes. We usually offer to buy the wardrobe and mirror/picture boxes that are in good shape for half price and cart everything away. If you happen to hit one or more of these treasures several months before you start packing, fold the boxes fiat and store in the attic or garage.

Check local stores. Furniture boxes are often too big to handle, but sometimes lamp departments or stores have good sizes.

Liquor stores have the best, sturdiest, most consistently sized boxes. They come complete with handy cardboard dividers for glasses and small items. Having boxes mostly the same size makes packing the truck much easier. Ask what days the store unpacks wines, and arrive yourself to break them open, so the lids are intact. The store usually slits lids, because it’s faster. If someone breaks open boxes for you, tip or do something to show appreciation.

Tip: Andy Smitters, one of our frequent mover respondents, advises checking boxes you pick up on the street carefully. Turn them upside-down and thump them before putting in your trunk, as they can hide some unwelcome insects.

Other sources to check are box manufacturers (in the yellow pages, under "Boxes") or packaging stores. Office supply store boxes aren’t good, because they come with separate lids, which are likely to pop off, even when carefully taped.

Moving and move-it-yourself companies tend to be the most expensive box source, but their boxes are sturdy, standard size, and easy to handle. Their wardrobe, dishpack, and mirror boxes are particularly useful. Sometimes local movers will sell secondhand boxes, and some moving companies have a box supply outside their warehouse for anyone to pick up. Ask all the companies you interview. If you can find one that rents or sells seconds, it also may pick up your boxes after you’ve unpacked for free.

Personal Resource Packing Materials. Use your own sheets, towels, clothes, and air-popped popcorn for wrapping and cushioning as much as possible. You can use old newspapers, but they may leave ink on everything. Ask your newspaper production office if it’s using the new soybean inks that don’t stain as badly as the old kind. Protect against ink by putting items in plastic bags before wrapping. We recommend using old newspaper for the bottom cushioning covered with a layer of clean unprinted newsprint between it and your things.

Bargain Packing Materials. Find out the most economical source of unprinted newsprint, which our Frequent Mover Survey respondents liked best for packing breakables. Besides checking with newspapers themselves, look for paper wholesalers listed in the yellow pages under "Paper Products." Query suppliers of restaurant/butcher wrappings as well as newspaper suppliers.

Shredded paper also may be a packing option. Look under "Paper Shredding" in the yellow pages or ask local government and business offices what they do with theirs.

Padding. Hoard any covers or blankets you don’t mind tearing to serve as padding for large furniture pieces. Ask friends and relatives if they have any of these things they were thinking of giving away.

You can buy Bubble Pack and Plastic Popcorn from moving and packing retailers, but we don’t recommend it because it’s expensive and it pollutes the environment.

These retailers also sell wide corrugated wrapping material for padding, but this is not as easy to bend around corners as woven padding. Look for blankets and covers secondhand at a thrift shop.

Strapping/Banding. You can tie padding on with rope, tape it with sealing tape, or secure it with long bungee cords. If you’ve got numerous large pieces that need padding, you may want to get the bungees for speed and safety. These can be bought at a notion’s wholesaler.

Tip: Never tie, tape, or cord furniture without padding, as the tape can leave marks and the tape or rope can cut into the finish. Always use extra pieces of cardboard to insulate the furniture from the rope at the corners. If you’re shipping something with fragile legs, nest a padded box inside the legs to brace them and use tape, not rope or cord, to secure the outer padding.

Plastic Bags. Get plastic bags in various sizes. If you’re going to need them to protect against old newspaper ink, you’ll need lots. If you’re using clean newsprint, get a good supply anyway, as plastic bags are great for storing desk, drawer, and cupboard items plus holding mounting screws from furniture you disassemble. Once you’ve collected items in a bag, tuck a slip of paper identifying the contents into it. Tape it shut, then tape it inside the drawer or to the underside of the furniture so it will be handy when you unpack.

Labels. All labels should be the easily removable type, but never put them on polished furniture, anyway. Order labels with your name and new address and telephone number or a contact number, if you don’t have a destination address yet.

Get small, self-stick, colored labels; tie-on labels; tape; twine; and fine-tipped, nonpermanent, black marking pens. Stock up on garage sale marking items at the same time. Packaging and office supply stores have a good variety of these products. Some of the larger moving companies include free labels with their estimator information packets.

Designate a label color for each room -- for example, Kitchen= Yellow, Living Room=Red so that boxes will be easy to place in the new home.

If you’re using moving company boxes, just stick a colored label on the printed area and write next to it the room location, the contents, and any special instructions, such as "Fragile," "This Side Up," "Take It with Me." (See the "Take-It-with-Me Tote" section later in this chapter.) Tie-on labels (look for the elastic, slip-on ties) go on non-boxed items that can’t have sticky labels.

Tools. An automatic, hand-held tape dispenser is invaluable when you’re packing lots of boxes. Ditto a razor-point utility knife at unpacking time.

Move yourselves? Or hire a mover?

Do a direct cost comparison between self-moving and hiring professional and investigate all of the potential hidden costs in self-moving before comparing it to an estimate from a professional mover. The difference may not be as great as you think it will be.

For example: Packing supplies, which protect your belongings from damage and you from injury, can cost hundreds of dollars. Renting furniture pads and dollies will cost $50 or more. Gas is now more than $2 a gallon -- and those big trucks may get fewer than 10 miles per gallon.

People who self-move often rely on friends and family to help. That incurs the cost of travel time, vacation time or both. All of that needs to be factored into the cost of the move, as do such things as the cost of food and beverages for the friends and family you enlist for help.

The end result of using a professional leaves you more time to attend to all those other details that accompany moving -- such things as transferring your utilities or registering your children in a new school.