Knowing when to do which is a gift to our planet. And the less we move, the lower your final bill. Provided you have advance notice of your move, take this opportunity to declutter your closets and your mind. It is better to have a wall of well-labeled boxes in your new basement or attic than a cluttered home. Besides, think of how smooth your next move will be.

Boxes protect your belongings best when they are almost too full without being too heavy. It is good, then, to pack heavier items and fill the tops with towels or linens or crumpled newsprint. Exception: Books should be boxed in book boxes with no other items. Fill any empty spaces with crumpled paper.

Be sure to tape the tops and bottoms of the boxes. Folded cartons are not as secure. Three overlapping pieces of tape over the center seams is more than sufficient.

Invest in a few good markers. Stickers fall off and ballpoint pen ink does not catch easily the eyes of movers. Label all boxes on the top and at least one of the sides. For your own sanity, identify as many of the contents of boxes that do not have to be opened the first night. You will be surprised how well you will manage in your new home without them. And when you finally go looking for something, you will be so proud of yourself for writing "golf glove" with your trusty Sharpie®.

It is worth it to save the original packaging for all electronic equipment (e.g., computers, DVD players, TiVo). Less worth it for the small kitchen appliances. Not worth it at all for your alarm clock. If you do not have the original boxes, use a lot of crumpled newsprint or bubble wrap or both. Refer to Using boxes properly.

For professional moves, try not to use produce or liquor cartons that have any openings on the tops or sides. Good moving boxes get their strength to support the weight of your belongings from the uninterrupted surface area of corrugated cardboard.

The good news: you can usually leave chests of drawers full of clothes, but remove any jewelry or coins that could fall out. After that, put all folded clothes and linens in the larger linen boxes. Your hanging clothes will go straight from your old closets to your new closets via hanging wardrobe boxes. Rent or buy, it is your choice. Our wardrobe boxes are cheaper and sturdier than what you will find in retail stores. And they are a good way to keep seasonal clothes wrinkle-free when they are in the basement or attic and not in your closet.

Pack your files in small book boxes. Fill extra space with crumpled newspaper.

Know now that the kitchen and dining room will probably take the longest to pack. The trick is to start packing the kitchen as early and as often as possible. You can live without eighty percent of your kitchen for at least two weeks before your move. Maybe longer.

A good idea is to set up a few boxes at a time and place them in the middle of the kitchen while you are packing. Every box with fragile items should have two inches of crumpled paper as bottom padding. That is five or six pieces of newsprint for small boxes and eight for mediums. This is the time to get your kids involved in the packing; kids are great at stuffing boxes with paper they’ve crumpled. Plus they are closer to the ground and you will not have to bend over as much.

Individually wrap everything larger than a salad plate. Separate with one or two pieces of newsprint items wrapped together. Place larger, heavier items at the bottoms of boxes. Pack plates and shallow bowls vertically so that no one plate or bowl absorbs the weight of the others. Glasses should be stacked standing.

In general, pack smarter, not harder. If you use newsprint instead of newspaper, you will not get ink all over your dishes. Use newspaper for padding but not wrapping. Of course, you could be bubble wrapping everything, but bubble wrap is very expensive compared to a bundle of newsprint or three weeks of the daily newspaper.

Do not overpack boxes with fragile items. Fill boxes until the flaps can easily close. Stuff as much crumpled paper into the tops of boxes until it is actually difficult to close the box without help. Only then do you have enough paper. If you can make the flaps cave inward, you have not used enough newsprint. If you can hear your dishes hitting each other when you gently shake your box, you have not used enough newsprint.

Oh, one last thing. When in doubt, use more paper. You cannot use too much paper; unless, of course, you can only fit four champagne flutes in one box. In that case, you are using a little too much paper.