Lessons Learned

1. Buy low, sell high.
2. Depending on your geographical location and personal priorities, renting rather than owning a home can be a very good use of your resources (especially if you can't meet condition 1).
3. If you must move, hire very good movers.  And have the courtesy to be prepared for them.
4. Storage units always look bigger when they're empty.
5. The size of the job will expand to the amount of time available.
6. The amount of time available will generally involve an all-nighter. 
7. It is a lot harder to figure out what to do with the stuff you are purging than it is to determine what to purge.
8. If at all possible, try to avoid moving simultaneously with the end of the school year.
9. Since the laundry (and all other ordinary chores) won't happen during a move, buy extra underwear.
10. When one door closes, another door opens.  But that doesn't mean it might not be a bit of a walk to find the open door (that's a Stephen King Dark Tower reference).
11. This too shall pass.