In the past I have kept it to pizza and sodas.

Lars, we've always provided lunch, drinks, & snacks for our movers (7-8 different moves including cross-country).

I've made Italian subs, ham/cheese, turkey clubs, etc. plus I always have individual bags of an assortment of chips. For drinks, always just water. Since I love to bake I've also provided homemade cookies that disappear faster than you can blink!

Also, don't forget to tip! Assuming you're moving from a 3-bedroom home into the same...four guys should have you moved locally (loaded & unloaded) within 6 hours. That's also assuming they don't have to spend a couple hours packing? For a 7-mile move, I'd tip the supervisor $30 & the other three...$25. Possibly, tips are more here in the east? On our last move (125 miles), DH tipped, also four men, $100 each & $125 for the supervisor/driver. We have a lot of antiques & our movers were amazingly careful, courteous, & it was 90 degrees with a 75 degree dew point in the middle of July. I thought they'd pass out it was so stinkin' hot!

They best thing for you & Kevin to do to save yourselves some serious cash is stay out of their way! They're used to working as a team & have a game plan...you aren't 'helping' by trying to assist them. I would never allow DH to be home when the movers loaded us 'cause he just couldn't stand to not 'help'! (smile)

Enjoy the move & post pixs soon!

/tricia

If you want to save money and time, and time IS money, do as much packing as possible by yourselves. Pack the kitchen yourself. Make it an opportunity to weed thru old stuff and make a pile to toss/give away. Seriously, if you let someone else pack for you, it will be majorly more expensive and also very tough to find things when you unpack.

Sandwiches and chips and water in the cooler will be fine. You should not be paying for their lunch time, anyway. Ask the company about paying for lunch breaks.

I had never heard of tipping movers - I didn't know that was part of it - it must be an East Coast thing. It's something to consider, I suppose. The weather here will be in the upper 60s to low 70s, and so I don't think that will be an issue. I will plan to stay out of their way and pack my kitchen things tomorrow.

I'm making hummus as a snack. Maybe I will make cookies as well.

Lars

I've always tipped movers...maybe $20 a guy. We've never moved far or often, but the two times we did I tipped and also when we did our renovation and put things in/out of storage. I also provided drinks (water, lemonade, soda) and lunch, although I can't remember what that was. Moving is hot, heavy work and I think the guys appreciate a little extra cash and a few extra calories & fluid. I can't imagine they make much.

I was already planning to make lemonade, limeade, and orange juice from the fruit in my yard, which I will be leaving. I can make a huge amount of limeade with the limes I have. I am also planning to tip, providing I'm happy with the job they do, but it won't be hot work here, as we will be having June gloom, which is coastal fog that keeps us cool in June. At least that's the forecast for Tuesday, although it is quite warm (76°) and sunny here today. I believe they guys only make $10/hour, which is not a living wage in L.A.

Lars

Tipping...yes...definitely, it's expected here..but I'm east coast. Maybe it is regional???

I wouldn't let them pack your kitchen unless you feel like you can keep control of what is going in which box...or that the boxes are extremely well labeled. Are they UNpacking you, too? If not, it could be days before you open the right box looking for that whatever you have to have right now! That's a REAL pain. It's certainly easier (more expensive, though) if they pack it! That IS the one room I'd hover in and I'd have BIG stick-on mailing labels to record items as they pack. Then slap that label on the box. If YOU mark it, you're more likely to know what's in the box vs leaving it up to them to describe the insides! You could just use a sharpie and write it on a box, but trust me, you may not be able to get to the box that easily while they're packing it. It's easier to have a clipboard with big labels and jot as you observe. Stick the label on when they seal the box.

Your food sounds good. They'll be happy! Have plenty of napkins or picnic wipes. You want their hands clean!

Keep everything you'd normally keep from your fridge. Just toss it in a box right before leaving and unload it right when you get into the new house. Doing a cooler with ice is too much work for that short a distance. You could always get that the next day...or the day before!

Speaking of clean hands...OT to this thread...but a note on your other thread...It sounds like you have great movers who will be respectful of your fine things. However...if you have fabric on furniture, get a roll of that shrink wrap from an office supply store and shrink wrap your furniture (or tarp them). They'll have blankets to cover things, but they may be dirty. I had some nasty dirty fingerprints on a fabulous fabric chair once. The only chair I didn't wrap! I would personally wrap the furniture I care most about and not leave that to their discretion. If you've got the time, to do it, of course. Just don't take too many chances with the things that you care most about.

Good luck! Very exciting!

So exciting Lars! Congratulations.

When we last moved, it was an all day affair, eventhough we only moved a few miles. I was completely packed up and had labled the boxes by color with colors on each door of the new house. THat way the movers didn't have to figure out which bedroom was which, or which was the living room or family room. It was as simple as box labled with green (I wrote "GREEN" in green sharpie, but a sticker would work too) goes in the room with the taped paper on it with the matching color.

We had moved anything of value ourselves the day before. Our movers were amazing; their good attitudes made the move far more pleasant than it might have been otherwise.

We had 4 big guys and a foreman. I think I tipped them $60 - $70 each, and we ordered pizza and soda for lunch.

AM

Lars, I don't know if you remember or not when I had the movers from he$$ here to SA, but here's what I remember:

1. I don't know your moving arrangements re cost but hopefully they made a walk-thru before they gave you the estimate and you have a contract. This is absoltely necessary.

2. You or Kevin need to watch the initial loading inside the truck as this will tell you alot about the care. (Our load out was great, but when it went to storage and then on load out to move it here, it was horrendous).

3. I agree with everyone, you should pack your kitchen yourself. I would personally wait until they showed and were about to load the refrigerator, before I took everything out. However, check your refrigerator manual if you have one and see if there are any guidelines about moving it.

4. Insurance: you can pick up some very inexpensive insurance from your home insurance company for transporting your items in case something happened such as a wreck or whatever on the way to your new home. A $45.00 insurance policy netted me $5,000.00, which was not nearly enough to cover all of my damage, but it helped some. At least check with the movers and see what kind of insurance they have in case of any accidents during transport.

I love your food you are serving, I'd come help if I were closer.

Now, when are you coming to TX???

Brenda

In the midwest as well, it is expected that the movers will get a tip.
I have not moved myself in years....but have moved my mother and my MIL and my kids,,,,about 10 moves in all in the past 26 years.
My advice is to pay attention to the walk through....the check list that lists the condition of each item....and the chips and dings and soiled spots....and be sure you agree. And again upon delivery....be sure you agree with the inspection of your items.
Linda C

Another east coast tipper here. I tip most workers that come in my home - except for scheduled maintenance - if I'm pleased with the job. For instance I don't tip for annual oil burner maintenance but I recently tipped the guys who delivered my new mattress and I tipped the termite guy. So yes, I would definitely tip if I was happy with the job, and would definitely not tip if I wasn't.

I guess I have to be in the minority on both of these topics. These guys are being paid handsomely to perform a task. They may take a lunch break but it shouldn't be out of your pocket. And I would also save the food for a housewarming party. They can buy their own lunch or brownbag it. They are hired to move you...not to have a garden party.

Bottled water would be nice, but even that is not necessary. Maybe it is a regional thing but tipping isn't standard in this area unless they did an exceptional job. The last few times we have hired movers they were slow and dragged the job out and it was about $1000.00 I'll be darned if I am going to feed them and tip them after shelling out that kind of money.

My 2 cents.

Duane

I have to agree with Duane, Lars.

When you dine out, I figure you are paying for both the food and service. Wait staff doesn't even make minimum wage and their performance is key to a dining experience - so I always tip at least 20%, unless service was bad (and even then I usually leave 10-15%, chalking it up to a bad day or something).

I can certainly see having cold bottled water or cans of iced tea, that's a nice curtesy. But I don't feel that lunch and tipping is necessary, unless the movers have gone above and beyond the scope of their duties - moving your belongings expediously and without damage.