Janet Baraclough wrote:

> I've never had to fetch the packing materials; the movers bring them
> when they come to pack.. We packed and moved ourselves, once. Never
> again.
> For the last several moves I employed a moving company to do
> *absolutely everything*. I just make the tea.
> A high-speed team of professional removal packers can wrap and pack
> an entire household , plus loft, sheds, garage, garden stuff, plants,
> every cupboard , hook, and shelf, in 24 to 36 hours. A job that takes
> me weeks and they do it better . At the other end they unwrap and unpack
> everything and put it
> in the right place, then take all their packing stuff away with them.
> The last lot even made up the beds after they had put them back
> together. Damages consisted of a spilled packet of rice
> (it had already been opened ) and a cracked tap connector on the garden hose.

Like many others, we moved frequently when we were young. Just getting
started, living in apartments and not having a lot of furniture, it was
not a major job. Pack things up, rent a truck, get a few friends over,
buy some beer and pizza and we were set to go. There were all short
moves. Then I tried a local moving company. It wasn't that expensive.
Our last move was to our present house and we used movers for that too.

Moving a full house any distance can be quite expensive now. My brother
and his wife moved back this way a few years ago. They had enough stuff
to fill a large trailer. Their hundred mile move cost $6,000. Luckily,
it was a work related move, so he was able to claim it on his income
tax. He didn't tell them that it was a part time job he took after he
retired, or that he quit the job after 6 months.