VanLine's.com Editor's note: We regularly survey our readers for tips that made their moving day stressful, and less stressful. We present them to you here.

We asked people who recently moved what was the biggest challenge of planning their move, and how they'd do things differently next time.

A couple of themes are prominent: choose your moving company with care. A bad moving company can easily ruin all of your good efforts at planning.

Consider having the moving company pack some or all of your items – several people said they were surprised how much work the packing was, and how they'd opt to do it differently next time. It never hurts to ask the movers how much packing will cost.

"I thought I could do all of the things I left until the last day, on the last day.  I couldn't.  Just get it done before hand and everything will go smoothly." 

"Figuring out what I'm keeping and what I'm throwing out.  Allow for more time to get things done."

"Finding a place for all the little bits 'n pieces that are around my place after the books, DVDs, and other stuff is packed. This time I planned for that with a lot of little crates dedicated to those things."

"I would hire a reliable moving company. "

"My sofa wouldn't fit inside of the new apartment so the movers discarded it for me. Next time I would measure my belongings so I won't end losing valuable things I have worked hard to get. "

"The apartment was on the third floor with a very slow elevator. I would have boxed more items in order to make the move of shorter duration."

"Moving my belongings from the street to my house.Next time I will be sure the company I hire is really a professional moving company that have the proper people and equipment to handle everything."

"The most challenging aspect was the unexpected charge for moving material.  In the future I would try to get my final cost in writing up front. "

"Doing it by myself.  working full time and packing at night.  I would maybe consider having the moving company pack."

"I will no longer be a pack rat so i wont have so much to pack and throw away."

"Have a lot of small items that perhaps I could have consolidated them into larger boxes."

"Buy more packing tape.   You use a lot more then you think."

"Using boxes that we had used in the past. Make sure the previous label is crossed and maybe use a different color marker for the current move."

"I would ask for the details of what moving supplies would be needed and the charges for the supplies up front."

"The packing and unpacking process.  Next time I will take more time to prepare and pack with better organization for an easier unpacking process."

"Finding a suitable agent/movers is definitely the most stressful aspect: many will fight to get the business, but always insist on an in-house estimate so that there are no surprises on moving day in terms of cost."