The problem with finding free moving boxes is that by the time you think to do it, it’s two days before The Big Move and you’re so desperate for packing materials that you end up spending 60 bucks on a Multi-Room Super Storage Pak from the local Save’n'Store.

Refine your stalking skills and scope out the apartment complexes in your area. As new tenants arrive, offer to take all their empty boxes off their hands as a “welcome to the neighborhood” gesture - heck, go ahead and help them get the couch up the stairs while you’re at it. Your good karma will pay out in cardboard.

Don’t envision U-Hauls on the horizon? Leave your name and phone number with the landlord or apartment manager and let them know you’re on the lookout.

Strip malls will provide a bounty of boxes. They are constantly receiving shipments of new goods, and new goods come in boxes - it’s as simple as that. You can even shop around for the boxes of your dreams: stop by Best Buy for all your electronics, Barnes and Noble for your books, etc.

Pilfering boxes from the workplace is effective; it just takes a long time to get enough to pack up your entire life. If you start early, though, collect computer boxes, paper boxes, supply boxes (you get the picture) and soon you’ll have enough.

Dumpster diving is definitely a touchy subject, especially because no one quite knows if it is legal or not. Either way, in most cases you could get into some hot water for trespassing onto a business owner’s private property. Ask the property owner before you start rifling through his or her trash.

Ever thought about recycling centers? They should have cardboard boxes somewhere on the premises - might require some dumpster diving, though

Casey Timmons is a writer and frequent apartment hunter who likes to explore new grounds and the easier the better like at PadMapper.