While moving can be an exciting time for many, it can also be quite stressful. Before you can move to a new house or a new city, you will have a million things to take care of. If you want to ensure the moving process runs smoothly, you came to the right place.
Read on to learn about these tips for a stress-free move.
1. Set a Realistic Timeline
Moving is quite stressful for many people because there are a lot of moving parts. The further away you move, the more complicated the process gets.
Before you even start to pack your things in boxes, you should create a realistic timeline. Without a detailed timeline, you might forget the essential steps during the moving process.
Eight Weeks Before Moving: About eight weeks before your move, you should start to clean, organize, and sort out donations. At this time, you should also research relocation services and get quotes.
Use this time to put together a moving folder so you can save important documents such as contracts, leases, and receipts.
Six Weeks Before Moving: Six weeks before the move, you should also start to order all of the supplies you need, such as boxes, bubble wrap, markers, tape, and plastic containers.
This is also a great opportunity for you to start taking measurements of the new space to see how you plan to fit in your furniture.
A Month Before Moving: A month before moving, you should confirm with the moving company and finalize the logistic arrangements. This is also the time to start packing all of the items you don’t use frequently.
Ensure you also separate valuable items from the ones of less value and label them clearly. To ensure you get your mail, you should notify the post office of your move.
A month before the move, you should notify your bank, credit card companies, insurance, and utility companies.
Two Weeks Before Moving: A couple of weeks before you move, you should make arrangements to ensure you have the day off to move.
A Week Before Moving: A week before you move, you should pack a suitcase with all of the essentials you and your family will need. If you take medications, this is the best time to fill your prescriptions.
A Couple of Days Before Moving: A few days before moving, you should empty your fridge and defrost the freezer. You should also confirm the details with the moving company and make any payments.
On Moving Day: On moving day, perform any last-minute tasks and take inventory to ensure all of your items make it on the moving truck.
2. Try a Moving Checklist
Once you have a more detailed timeline of the things you need to take care of, you can create a detailed checklist. Having an itemized checklist that you can cross off will help you stay on track with your timeline.
If you don’t know where to begin, you can find plenty of templates on the internet.
3. Do One Room At a Time
For a smoother packing process, you should start room by room. When you start packing bits and pieces with no order, it might seem like the moving process might take a lot longer and be less organized.
If you have a house with multiple rooms, you can start with the least used ones, such as the guest room, den, or office. Once you’re completely done with one room, you can move on to the next.
Packing room by room will help create a sense of accomplishment and keep you on top of your timeline.
4. Pack As Soon As You Can
Although you have an estimated timeline of when you should start packing, you must do it as soon as possible. It also depends on how many rooms you have to pack.
For example, someone with a 5-bedroom house will need to pack sooner than someone living in a one-bedroom apartment.
If you pack last minute, you might not be as organized, and it will take you longer to stay organized when you unpack.
5. Labeling System
Although it’s a given that you will label your boxes, you should come up with a labeling system. If you don’t want to be as detailed when labeling the box, you can always use a separate document to track your items.
For example, if you number the boxes, you can keep a spreadsheet on the contents of said box.
If you don’t want to use a spreadsheet, you can also be detailed on the box. Rather than labeling it “kitchen,” you can label the box “kitchen: cooking pans.”
The more information on the box, the easier it will be for you to unpack.
6. Make Your Boxes Uniform
Although you’ll be tempted to put smaller items inside smaller boxes, using the same size boxes will make things easier for you.
Having boxes of the same size will make it easier to stack them up on the moving truck or storage. You will also spend less money on tape and other packing supplies.
7. Put Boxes Where They Belong
Once you arrive at your destination, you must put everything where it belongs. Rather than putting all of the boxes in the main room, instruct the movers to put them where they belong.
Having all of the “kitchen boxes” in the kitchen will help you speed the unpacking process.
8. Don’t Forget to Ask for Help
Moving is an overwhelming process, so you must ask for help if you need it.
If you’re a busy person and don’t have the manpower to help you move, you must budget hired movers. However, if you cannot afford professional movers, ask around at your moving supply store.
Are You Ready for a Stress-Free Move?
Now that you know about these tips for a stress-free move, it’s time you get the process started.
For a smooth moving process, you should nail down a realistic timeline, create a checklist, pack one room at a time, create a labeling system, and don’t forget to ask for help.
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Your labeling system tips were some of the most helpful tips I’ve read, so thank you for putting them in your article. A system like this can help us prevent all the yelling and scrambling that usually comes with moving day, especially when my kids want to look for their specific gadgets and belongings. I’ll make sure to get my family to do this so we can have an easier time hiring a moving service to assist us.