Pack your loose items into boxes. Different homes have very different amounts of clutter, so it's important that you get a handle on how many boxes you will need to move. Emptying the house also makes measurement of the furniture that much easier.
Measure the height, width, and length of each box and multiply them together. This gives you the volume of each box.
Weigh your boxes on a bathroom scale. This will give you only a rough guess at how much they weigh; bathroom scales are not always very accurate. To see the scale reading, you may need to hold the box while weighing it. To calculate the weight this way, first weigh yourself holding the box, then weigh yourself without it. Subtract the second weight from the first to find the box's weight.
Add together the weights of all the boxes to get a figure for their total weight, then add together the volumes of all the boxes to find their total volume.
Measure the length, width, and height of any furniture being moved. It is impractical to weigh furniture, but you can instead use an online calculator to give you a rough estimate. (See Resources.) Be wary, though--these calculators err toward overestimating the weight of your move, so as to give you an inflated quote. Not all double beds, for example, weigh 385 pounds; nor do most microwave ovens weigh 70 pounds.
Add the rough estimate of furniture weight to the weight of all the boxes, and add the furniture's volume measurement to the total box volume. Together, these are the total weight and volume you must move.
Multiply the volume number by .20 and add the product to your estimated volume. This is a 20 percent margin that allows for the fact that you will not be able to pack the truck tightly enough to use 100 percent of its interior space.
Plan your move. If you are moving a long distance, you are unlikely to want to make more than one trip, so you will need a truck whose interior volume and weight capacity is bigger than the figures you have estimated. If you are renting a truck, the agency will be able to tell you both the volume and weight capacity of its trucks. If you are borrowing or buying one, check the truck's manual for these figures. If you are moving somewhere close, though, it may be more affordable to use a smaller truck and make several trips. For each extra trip you can make, divide the weight and volume requirements by 2.
