<p>My D works full time, is about to start grad school as well (preparing for GRE now), and is moving from a room in a three-bedroom apt to a studio Sept 1. </p>
<p>If anyone has tips/experience about hiring someone to move her dresser/bed, etc. etc. we would greatly appreciate it! Right now, we haven’t hired anyone, and not sure where to turn. Husband has back issues and we can’t lift her furniture…</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Reserve a U-haul now if you can still get one. You can hire someone from craigslist to help. </p>
<p>September 1st has a long standing tradition as moving day in Boston when a large chunk of the population picks up and switches apartments. It’s really funny to watch if you’re not in the thick of it, but if you wait to long, you’ll have to drive 80 miles to get a truck.</p>
<p>Get her friends to help and buy pizza for all of them at the end of the day</p>
<p>Sept 1 is the BIGGEST moving day in Boston. Many students are not only moving from apartment to apartment, but many are also moving into college housing. </p>
<p>Does your daughter know anyone else who is moving? If so, I would ask them if she could pay to have her couple of items moved.</p>
<p>My husband was part of this moving frenzy a number of years ago…he moved FOUR kids with a rented UHaul from CT (where we live). He INSISTED on several things…first that each kid be there with at least ONE friend to help. Second…they loaded up the truck on August 31 and then drove it to Plymouth where they spent the night at a friend’s house (there really is NO PLACE in Boston to leave a loaded UHaul). DH insisted that they be back IN Boston by 7 a.m. so they could get a parking place for the truck near the apartment they were moving to. Yawn.</p>
<p>Since your kiddo is IN Boston, perhaps she can send a FB message to all of her FB friends to see if ANYONE is moving and can help her out.</p>
<p>Her school may have a job board. Post on it and you’ll get replies from students who’ll do a few hours of work. You can post on any school’s board, but people tend to post on their school’s. </p>
<p>We’ve hired BU kids to help in the yard. We’ve also hired kids to help at parties. My oldest used to find jobs like that through the boards. The kids tend to show up because the board gets feedback and that then affects whether they can get other jobs in the future.</p>
<p>If you do some basic web searching, you can find these. </p>
<p>The many, many, many young adults who live around me tend to use Craigslist if they don’t have a buddy or two to help.</p>
<p>Try Taskrabbit…
([Recent</a> Tasks in Boston | TaskRabbit](<a href=“TaskRabbit connects you to safe and reliable help in your neighborhood”>TaskRabbit connects you to safe and reliable help in your neighborhood))
You list your task and the max you are willing to pay; Taskrabbits, who are criminal-background checked, then bid on task and lowest bid gets job; when task is done, you pay Taskrabbit online, with most going to the rabbit and a small service fee to Taskrabbit.</p>
<p>You can read about the different rabbits, see their videos online so you know who to expect–and it feels safer to me than Craigslist. TR is popular in SF Bay area and a few other metro areas…</p>
<p>Try Goldstar Movers in the Cambridge/Boston area. They are a family-owned business with good rates and conscientious workers. DD used them and we were very happy with their excellent service. They do book up early, though.</p>
<p>
That’s what I was going to suggest, especially since she doesn’t have much stuff, but she’d likely need access to a pickup or SUV unless her stuff is Ikea or Ikea-like stuff in which case she can probably break it down and fit it in a car which maybe either she or one of her friends have.</p>
<p>The Boston paradox: Everyone has to be out of their old apartment on August 31. Everyone can’t get in to their new apartment until September 1. Where do they spend the night? And just to thicken the plot, many truck rental companies won’t give you a 2 day rental, so what do you do with the stuff overnight? I have actually seen kids rent PODS for 1 night (for their stuff, not to live in). </p>
<p>We have done this a couple of times. Once, endured the nightmare of Sept 1. (you can’t get near the apartment, let alone find an actual parking spot for the UHaul truck) Another time marveled at how relatively easy the task becomes if you wait until Sept 2.</p>
<p>Many of the simple suggestions offered here could still be difficult because many of her friends may be moving themselves, but it is worth a try. I used to suffer greatly from back pain, but was miraculously cured and have been pain free for years. The downside is I can no longer use that as an excuse. But now I am ready to tell my son I am just too dang old for this! :)</p>
<p>I recently moved apartments in Boston. We coordinated with the new residents of our old place and the old residents of our new place, and everyone moved on 6/2 instead of 6/1.</p>
<p>Zipcar also has pickup trucks and vans, if she doesn’t have that much stuff and you don’t want to get a UHaul. They also do overnight rentals.</p>
<p>We have used Oscar’s Moving Company in Cambridge multiple times. Each of her 4 years, D lived in a different place and each summer her things needed to be stored, with a new move in each fall. Whether they carried belongings down from a third floor dorm room or carried them up two long narrow stairwells in an older home, I found the employees punctual, able bodied, courteous, and quick workers. Their rate was the cheapest of all the movers I called too.</p>
<p>H and I have helped our kids move every year since '07. This is annual moving day in Boston. An amazing number of apartments turn over on this day. Everyone is moving out/moving in at the same time, so it is important to rent the U-Haul, if needed, NOW. Because eveyone is MO/MI at the same time, apartments do not get cleaned as they should, so make sure you bring cleaning supplies. Because everyone is MO/MI at the same time, line up phone/cable/internet installations as soon as possible. You need four people, minimum to be as efficient as possible. Two people minimum are needed to actually move the stuff. One additional person is the designated furniture sitter (DFS) at the MO site (usually on the lawn) and one additional person is the DFS at the MI site (usually on the lawn). The DFS is a VIP job, due to the fact that while most young people in the city are MO/MI, the few that aren’t MO/MI are roaming around looking for treasures to add to their current living situation. Anything left on a lawn/curb is up for grabs, so your stuff needs to be guarded. Also, you may only have your rental for a few hours, and your few hours may not coincide with others who are MO/MI, so there is a very strong chance that your treasures will need to be placed outdoors somewhere during the day. The fact that 9/1 is a Saturday and that it is Labor Day weekend really makes it a perfect storm type of situation, as the college kids are also moving into their dorms that day. If your D is in the BC area, there is also a football game on 9/1, so that adds to the fun in that area. Make sure you have a cooler of drinks and food and various tools that might be needed to help with the move. You do not want to make a food run or a trip to Home Depot or Loews on that day. H and I usually return home at night totally exhausted and incredulous that this indeed happens every year. We also swear we will not do it the next year and guess what…we have two moving again this year. Fortunately, one child has been able to arrange an early in the week move and one child swears he doesn’t need us this year. We know better! One final thing…keep your sense of humor.</p>
<p>BTW, the day is historically known as “key day.”</p>
<p>Make sure the cleaning supplies are the first thing that can be unloaded. Our kid thought I was nuts when I insisted that this be done…but was abundantly grateful when they got to the new apartment which had NOT been cleaned…and they could clean it. </p>
<p>Make sure you have plenty of water…it can be mighty hot that day. </p>
<p>Dogwood’s summary is great…and is exactly why DH insisted that each of the four kids he was moving have at least ONE friend to help out.</p>
<p>My daughter and her roommate are moving out on Aug. 31 and in on Sept. 1 as well. They have already rented a UHaul van and a dolly and booked 2 hours worth of heavy lifting from MovingHelp.com … they asked for two people for two hours to move their dressers down 4 flights of stairs in the van. I’m waiting to hear what she plans to do for overnight, but in the past she’s rented a storage space for a night.</p>