Take a look at
this guide, Mitzi. Look at the "Other methods" listed~ There are methods you can use that are slightly slower, but help you keep dreamies~
I can also suggest when you do the final jump (The 5 day jump for boxes) you can start as a new villager and scout your boxed guy. If you want him to move, load your mayor and let him go. But if you don't want him boxed, you can TT back 1 day, talk to your animals to get on speaking terms, then save and quit in order to get that villager to ping (That's a theory, but it may work as well~ Since my town's finished, I can't test it ;w; )
Do what you feel comfy with. We all have that stubborn villager but make sure you cycle in a way which you're confident.
If you want my method~
-Choose a starting date (i.e January 5th). That is the date you always TT back to. It'll help you keep your head straight.
-From your start date, TT 1 day at a time until you get a mover. There are 2 reliable ways to find this mover:
a. Talk to your animals for rumors. If at least 2 animals give you a "generic villager rumor" you can safely assume a mover doesn't exist. A great guide to rumors exists
here. You want at least 2 rumors because your mover will sometimes give you a rumor, and you'll be unaware he/she is moving~
b. Just go for the ping. You can run in front of all animals first and if you lack the ping, get the rumors next~
-If you want this animal to move, let him. If you want him to stay, make him.
-If you want the animal to move, TT to their move-out date, load up, say goodbye if you wish, then Save and Quit out. TT back to your starting date, load, Save and quit.
-If you want the animal to stay, simply TT back to your start date, load the game, then Save and Quit out.
The reason you return to the start date is to that the game processes the move/move denial. This allows you to get a new mover, actually, as soon as the day you TT back, which I originally didn't realize could happen~ So this is why:
-After you Save and Quit out of your starting date, TT FOUR DAYS into the future. Check for rumors and Pings.
-More often than not, you'll have a mover on this day. If you don't, TT one day at a time. You often won't need to go further than a few days unless you're unlucky, which I have been, but usually by Day 4 it's the first day someone is able consider the move~
It's a very THOROUGH method, and it takes some time to perfect, but I've never had a TT accident and while it's a little slower, it's definitely safe and quicker than going one day at a time and such. It's great for letting your grass grow and flowers spawn as well. But the MAIN REASON I like it is because your animals don't "forget" you, which skips the dialogue and lets them ping~
So you have some options here. Some quicker, some safer, some a little in-between. Choose whichever is better for you and you'll find yourself entering a nice flow, and you'll see the moving process suddenly become a lot more tolerable~
Best of luck Mitzi~
- - - Post Merge - - -
Also if you ever have a moment where you're paranoid or have a bad feeling, simply begin the game with a New Villager and scout the houses. If nobody's in boxes, you're safe to bail out and load your mayor~ This is useful for if you don't feel comfortable after TTing forward 4 days, since a villager can technically move out on the 5th if you got unlucky on the date you TT'd back to. So you can add an optional step to use a "Scout" (New Villager) on the 5th day to ensure nobody's boxed~
