Where To Get Boxes For Moving

Here I have gathered for your some of the best ideas on places to get moving boxes, from free ones to cheap ones, or to the more elaborate and sturdy regular priced ones. Moving, or home relocating is something that more and more people are doing these days. Globalization is real and distances between places seem to shrink.

People move due to new jobs, or because they are starting a new family, or simply because they want to move out from their parents' place. The reasons are many, but no matter how you go about it, getting sturdy moving boxes and relevant supplies to pack your things these days is a major part of any move.

Photo credits: schaufi

In most cases these will be used boxes, so check that they are sturdy, strong and are not falling apart.

1. Liquor stores
2. Friends and family who has spare boxes left from their own move
3. Bookstores (books are heavy so how sturdy do you think these boxes are once discarded?)
4. Behind your supermarket, near the waste bin (ewww)
5. Grocery store (beware of soggy boxes!)
6. Recycling bins
7. Freecycle
8. Furniture stores
9. Kinko or other copy place for smaller boxes
10. Your own workplace
11. Albany Freecycle Group
12. Your friends on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter
13. Free Cardboard Boxes
14. Free section of Craigslist
15. McDonald's fry boxes
16. Starbucks
17. Uhaul exchange forum
18. Schools
19. Leftovers from moving companies
20. Electronic stores
21. Office supply stores

While this article will focus mostly on places from where to get boxes for moving, before we tackle the issue of where to buy them, you first need to be clear as to what other supplies you also need for your move. Some are obvious, however others are not so, and many people have panicked at the last minute because they were missing an important moving supply that they haven't thought in advance about.

So here is a list of the most important moving supplies you will most probably need for your relocation.

1. Moving boxes - these boxes should be sturdy, and you need a couple of sizes, since each size will be used for a different purpose. More on that below.
2. Packaging tape / mailing tape - you will need these tapes to assemble your moving boxes with ease. These are perfect both for moving as well as for storage.
3. Protective stuff - you will need lots of these, depending on how strong or fragile your items are. For example you will need bubble bags, cushion foam poaches, wrapping paper, packing peanuts, quilted pads and also furniture pads.
4. Lifting tools - If you are moving the things by yourself and you are not using truck rentals for moving companies to do the move for you, then you will need various moving or lifting tools, such as a forklift, a hand truck or even a furniture dolly. Not only that but you will most likely need also accessories such as an easy cut knife or a utility knife.
5. Covering accessories - some of your belongings need to be properly covered. This is why mattress bags, computer bags and generally moving bags or storage bags are a must.
6. What about locks? some of the popular locks that you can get for the move are the security locks made of steel or brass.
7. Finally tie down ropes and elastic straps - they are needed moving accessories for holding your precious belongings in place. Don't even attempt to do a move without these.

If you thought that getting moving boxes is easy, think again. Boxes come in various sizes, and you will need at least 3 different sizes, if not more. When we moved to a new city, I counted 7 different moving box sizes, ranging from very small to huge ones.

I never knew before that there are SO MANY different sizes of boxes!

There are standard sizes boxes (including small moving boxes, book boxes, medium moving boxes, large moving boxes, XL moving boxes) then you have mirror / picture boxes in various sizes, clothing moving boxes depending on your wardrobe size, moving boxes for the kitchen, coming in various strengths (for example you can have boxes for shipping wine, glass, dishes, and so on), and of course, you have boxes for moving electronics and even your entire home office.

I bet you thought moving is so easy, didn't ya? And we haven't even come yet to the best part!

Photo credits: pieterbeen

OK here's the deal. When you're looking to get boxes for moving, you CAN find good boxes and pay nothing for them. They're free. In most cases all you need to do is go pick them up.

However I have to warn you that I've been there, done that, as the saying goes. The truth is that free moving boxes are in most cases not worth the hassle, and this is why.

Let's face it, there is no such thing as a free lunch, everybody knows that. When you get something for free, there are ALWAYS some perks associated with it. You either have to travel miles and miles for getting your boxes (and paying for the expensive petrol doesn't make your boxes quite so free now, does it?), or the boxes have already been used (sometimes more than ones), so they might give way their bottom right in the middle of you packing or even worse - moving it to the car or truck.

I really hope you don't have some crystal, glass or other breakables when that happens!

I've tried getting free boxes, but in most cases, I had to throw them away. They were dirty, soggy (and fouls smelling in most cases), the strong bottom part was not so strong anymore, and in most cases I had to use tons of tape to make them hold my items. And take costs money too!

But they say that the best way to learn from mistakes are learning from your own, so here are some ideas to get free moving boxes if you choose to go this route. You've been warned!

Photo credits: R-tem

If you've decided to stick with me (wise choice!) and get your moving boxes from some more reliable places, even if it means paying a bit of money for them (c'mon they're not THAT expensive!), then good news, as I've already done the research for you!

I will give you the actual boxes that you can get so when you click through, you go directly to that listed box and buy it without having to do any previous research.

Buying moving boxes has never been easier!

Here is a list of other moving boxes that you can buy. While I prefer Fellowes as my trusted brand, I understand that preferences vary from person to person. So here are some other options that are equally worth getting.

They are especially useful if you have to pack from a large home with several rooms, as Uboxes have bundles of boxes at great prices. You will definitely save money with these boxes!

While boxes for moving are a major part of any relocation organizing and carrying through, I have to admit that I was quite surprised when it came to actually packing and putting everything in the truck rental. I thought I had it all covered, but BOY I was wrong!

I soon realized I needed so much more than what I had. So I left everything on the floor unpacked and rushed to the nearest store to get my extra moving supplies. Needless to say, because I didn't do my previous careful research, I sourly overpaid on my first move. Lesson learned for the second time around!

So here are some other moving supplies that you will need, unless you have EVERYTHING at home (which I quite doubt). Go through the list and see what is missing from your inventory, and make sure to stock up on whatever you need BEFORE you actually move!

Photo credits: rms519