More and more I’ve been having conversations with people about personal finances, budgeting, saving money and making large purchases. Many of those conversations seem to start when they find out I bought a house by myself and I have no debt outside of my house. When people find out those facts about me their curiosity is piqued and they tend to have a lot of questions.

The two most frequent questions I get are

• How did you save enough money for a down payment?
• How do you not have any debt besides your mortgage?

Packing up my home and moving...it’s something I don’t like to do, but have done several times in the last 10 years. This includes four years of moving back and forth from college to my parents house, to various apartments in my hometown and then my most recent move to Florida.

For my first two years of college I lived on campus so my moves to and from college were complete moves. Meaning everything I brought to college had to leave at the end of the school year. So I’d start out by bringing only what I needed until the first break and then I’d bring the rest.

I also did this at the end of the school year. I would take to my parents what I wasn’t using over a few weekends and then bring the rest during move out at the end of the school year. From my college moves I learned how to pack suitcases and the trunk of a car.


One of my easiest moves was when I moved to my first apartment. Since I had been living with my parents I didn’t have any big furniture, just a desk and couple of bookcases. My next couple of moves were more intense because I was packing apartments full of furniture. From those moves I learned it’s best to start packing a few weeks, or months, ahead and pack one room at a time.

My most recent move was another easy one because I had movers pack up my apartment. Since this was a long distance move and the majority of my things would be in storage, I had to be more organized with this move than any other. It was important that I had determined before the mover arrived what I was taking with me and what would go into storage.


Though I’ve moved several times I wouldn’t call myself a packing and moving expert, I do have a few tips and tricks that have worked for me and I’d like to share with you. I’ve also created a handy-dandy checklist that I find helpful for moving.

Start cleaning house

Before I start packing I go room by room and sift through closets and drawers to determine what is going and what isn’t. By doing this I’ve thrown away several things I shouldn’t have been hanging onto because they were ready for the trash, were supposed be donated (but never made it out the door much less to Goodwill) or could be sold.

By going through these items before I start packing I can make a decision on whether I should keep the items or not that isn’t clouded by emotion or feels rushed because I’m pressed for time. I’ve found I’m more likely to get rid of items than hang onto them when it’s not a rushed decision.

Create lists

When the move starts getting serious I create lists for the following:

• When I need to notify my landlord (if my lease is being broken)
• Scheduling the movers
• Utilities that need to be turned off/transferred
• Where I need to provide a change of address - post office, bank, family and friends, work

Start hoarding boxes

Once you know you’re planning to move, if you have the room start hoarding boxes because they aren’t cheap if you have to buy them. One way I’ve done this is by saving boxes from deliveries, asking family and friends and even asking if I can take empty boxes from my workplace.

Pack room by room

For me packing room by room keeps me sane. Doing it by room allows me to keep items from each room together and not get mixed up with other rooms. I like to start with rooms that have items I don’t use regularly. In my two bedroom apartment it meant the spare room was the first room and my bedroom and bathroom were my last.

Label the boxes

I totally slacked on this during a couple of my apartment moves and regretted it. When my boxes are labeled I can tell the movers to read the box and place it in the appropriate room. This results in less searching around for items and having to move heavy boxes by myself from room to room.

Unpack at your own speed

After all my items are moved in I focus on my bedroom and bathroom. For me it’s really important that the bedroom and bathroom be put together for me to feel comfortable in a new place and to establish a routine. Once they are done I start working on the other rooms only unpacking what is necessary and then unpacking the rest bit by bit until I’m all done.

I am a saver. Most likely because I grew up in a family of savers. At an early age my parents taught me how to manage money, budget, save to buy what I want and determine how much I can afford when I buy something. They also taught me about paying off debt quickly and not accumulating a lot of unnecessary debt.

In 2010 I purchased a car that was two years old. I couldn't pay the whole amount in cash so I put a certain percentage down and got a loan for the rest. A couple of years later I was laid off. I did get a new job about four months later, but the salary was several thousand less than I was making previously. I changed jobs six months later and a year after that I was laid off again. This time for about seven months. One month after starting my new job I was able to pay off my car - about a year before the end of my loan.

So how was I able to save enough to pay off my car a year early?

1. Set and stuck to a budget

This was probably the most important thing I did to save money. To create my budget I used the site mint.com. With the help of mint.com I was able to see where I was spending my money and understand my monthly expenses.

Once I had an understanding of where my money was being spent I created a budget. A key thing to note is everything I had been spending my money on didn't make it into my budget. There were some areas I spent too much money in or didn't need to be spending in. Those areas ended up with small budgets or got cut completely if they weren't necessary.

In addition to expenses my budget included anticipated income. Income covered my paycheck and bank interest. It also accounted for transferred from my paycheck to savings and retirement accounts.

In order to stick to my budget I monitored it weekly. So if I was overspending in one area I could adjust and spend less in other areas to make up the difference and still come in at or below my overall monthly budget.

2. Created a rainy day fund

I set aside a lot of the money I was able to save by sticking to a budget. I put it in a savings account that I wouldn't touch except for emergencies. My goals was to save between 3-6 months of living expenses.

To do this I set up a savings account with an online bank so it wouldn't be easy for me to access the money. I also set up automatic transfers from my everyday account to my rainy day account. I believe I started off with transfers each pay period and then switched to monthly.

The rainy day fund came in handy when I was laid off and had no money coming in. By having this rainy day fund I still had enough money to live off of. I could pay my rent, utilities, car payment and for food. Once I started working again I started putting money into my rainy fund account again to replenish it.

I am a saver. Most likely because I grew up in a family of savers. At an early age my parents taught me how to manage money, budget, save to buy what I want and determine how much I can afford when I buy something. They also taught me about paying off debt quickly and not accumulating a lot of unnecessary debt.



In 2010 I purchased a car that was two years old. I couldn't pay the whole amount in cash so I put a certain percentage down and got a loan for the rest. A couple of years later I was laid off. I did get a new job about four months later, but the salary was several thousand less than I was making previously. I changed jobs six months later and a year after that I was laid off again. This time for about seven months. One month after starting my new job I was able to pay off my car - about a year before the end of my loan.

So how was I able to save enough to pay off my car a year early? I did it by setting and sticking to a budget, living below my means and finding ways to save money on purchases.

Set and stuck to a budget

This was probably the most important thing I did to save money. To create my budget I used the site mint.com. With the help of mint.com I was able to see where I was spending my money and understand my monthly expenses.

Once I had an understanding of where my money was being spent I created a budget. A key thing to note is everything I had been spending my money on didn't make it into my budget. There were some areas I spent too much money in or didn't need to be spending in. Those areas ended up with small budgets or got cut completely if they weren't necessary.

In addition to expenses my budget included anticipated income. Income covered my paycheck and bank interest. It also accounted for transferred from my paycheck to savings and retirement accounts.

In order to stick to my budget I monitored it weekly. So if I was overspending in one area I could adjust and spend less in other areas to make up the difference and still come in at or below my overall monthly budget.

Created a rainy day fund

I set aside a lot of the money I was able to save by sticking to a budget. I put it in a savings account that I wouldn't touch except for emergencies. My goals was to save between 3-6 months of living expenses.

To do this I set up a savings account with an online bank so it wouldn't be easy for me to access the money. I also set up automatic transfers from my everyday account to my rainy day account. I believe I started off with transfers each pay period and then switched to monthly.

The rainy day fund came in handy when I was laid off and had no money coming in. By having this rainy day fund I still had enough money to live off of. I could pay my rent, utilities, car payment and for food. Once I started working again I started putting money into my rainy fund account again to replenish it.