Moving sucks. The four to eight years it takes most college students to get their degrees are often the most move-intensive time of their lives.

By definition, this makes those years some of the most infuriating, especially around the lease ending/beginning period of the year, marked by today’s grand holiday of moving, Aug. 1.

For instance, I am entering my sixth year of college. Yes, that’s six years for an undergraduate journalism degree. Shut up, already. I’m moving to a new place of residence today, my sixth such move. Six times in the last six years, I’ve had to pack up everything I own into boxes and bags and take it to some other place.

That sucks. And as usual, I’ve left it all to the last second.

The moves out of the dorms were especially painful because I was sharing such a small room with another person that it was easy to look around and say, “Hey, only half of this stuff is mine, anyway. How long could it take me to box it all up?” The answer? Too freaking long.

As bad as those early moving experiences were, the moves out of the apartments and houses were even worse. Given my larger living space in these off-campus residences, my possessions seemed to decide it was appropriate to procreate, reproduce and expand. How I’ve accumulated eight couches, I’m not sure. Why I own somewhere around 75 cubic feet of clothing but wear only 5 percent of said attire, I have no idea.

But it’s not like I’ve learned nothing from all this moving. Through trial and error, though mostly error, I’ve come to understand a few things about picking up and moving out.

1) Once you get boxes, never get rid of them. There’s nothing more frustrating than the great late-July Ames box hunt. Unless you’ve driven from business to business, begging for boxes like a hobo, you don’t understand why this is crucial. The best way to avoid the yearly box expedition is to never, ever throw your boxes away. If it suits you, and it certainly does in my case, one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to never unpack. Put the boxes full of your valued treasures in your room, wait 12 months, and move them again. This saves lots of time.

2) While we’re on the subject of boxes, let me remind you that clothes do not belong in boxes. Clothing is soft and flexible. It can bend to any shape. This makes it perfect for filling garbage bags. Leave the boxes for items that can not travel easily in bags, such as plates, electronic equipment and books. It helps to separate your clothing into different sorts of bags, such as a bag for clean clothes and a bag for dirty clothes, if those categories are relevant to your particular wardrobe.

3) Always have a place to move to. This companion to the moving-out process, the moving-in, can often be forgotten by the rushed renter. I can not possibly stress how important this is. If possible, securing a new place of residence should be done even before the moving out begins. Otherwise, you might end up in a duplex sandwiched on both sides by neighbors with lots and lots of small children. I can not possibly stress how loud that is.

4) Never buy anything between July 25 and Aug. 5. Go ahead and buy food and drink, if necessary. However, all other consumer purchases should be put on hold during this period because chances are if you want it, someone else is getting rid of it. This especially applies for entertainment centers, couches, televisions, chairs, shelves, refrigerators, coffee tables, dinner tables, end tables, microwaves and even computers. Any and all of these items can be found in piles around dumpsters and other informal dumping areas for free. Why is that? Because many people are privy to tip no. 5.

5) Get rid of everything you possibly can, especially if it is not already in a box, or if it is completely un-boxable. There is no room for sentiment when moving. Gift from an ex? Trash it. Your great-grandmother’s lamp? Who needs light? Firearms used in the commission of a felony? Probably should have disposed of those earlier, but go ahead and chuck them now. They will get lost in the sea of crap that flows out of Ames’ rental units this time of year. Slimming down is vitally important for an efficient move. The less stuff you own, the easier it is to move it. Plus, it is unspeakably spiritually satisfying to let go of your material possessions. Latch on to any spiritual satisfaction you can eke out of moving. The only other sensation you’ll get is the burning one in your lower back.

6) Get a truck, people, a truck. We all know someone who owns a truck. If you’re lucky, it’s a family member or a very close friend, a person who will be obligated to lend you his or her load-carrying vehicle. If the owner of your truck is a more removed acquaintance, begin kissing ass at least two weeks ago. Truck owners are very busy this time of year. You have to get out front on this one. If your stuff isn’t trucked, you’ll be, well, you’ll be something that rhymes.

7) Utilize the general strengths of the genders. I’m not down with keeping the women down, and a man can be manly without being beefy. But when it comes time to move, I know who I’m handing the 409 and who I want on the other end of the 10-foot couch with the hideaway bed. This means a smart mover will make sure there is at least some gender balance in the moving party. If that makes me a chauvinist pig, so be it, but I’m a pig that hasn’t had to clean his refrigerator in four years and has not once had a 500-pound desk dropped on his toes.

If I manage to follow my own advice, I’ll be sleeping in my new domicile tonight, my second-to-last Ames move behind me, dreaming of the horrible nightmare that is unpacking. Except for the boxes, as I’m moving again in December (see tip no. 1).

Dave Roepke is a senior in journalism and mass communications from Aurora. He is the opinion editor of the Daily. His dad lent him his pickup truck.