Moving house is often a complicated process. You want to be sure that you aren’t forgetting anything, from change of address forms to hiring the right movers for the big day. Whether moving nationally or to NZ, USA, moving to the UK or any other country, having a great checklist will help ensure that you’re ready for the move when the big day arrives, and these moving house tips will help you feel better prepared.
Before You Start Packing
Before you start packing, there are several critical steps to the moving process. This includes:
- Selecting a great moving company to help transport and even pack up your important possessions.
- Checking into moving insurance to see what kind of coverage you need for your household items while they’re in transit.
- Setting a moving schedule, including time off from work if you need it for the move.
- Making necessary travel arrangements, especially if you’re going to be moving a long distance. This may include travel arrangements for family members and pets.
- Writing out a moving house checklist that will help ensure that you get everything done in time for your move.
Packing Up the House
Sure, you know that you have to pack up everything in the house, but how do you do it? Developing a great system will make it easier to pack up in the first place and unpack when you reach your destination. Start sorting early!
A month before your move, go ahead and start packing. You should start by packing items that you don’t use often, including books, movies, and collectibles. Make sure that boxes are clearly labeled so that you’ll be able to unpack them easily later.
Pack rooms one by one. Keep items from the same room together when you can. This will make it easier when the time comes to unpack.
Use cling wrap to keep the contents of drawers in place where possible. This will make your moving house list shorter, since you don’t have to worry about those items.
Whether you’re moving your furniture or purchasing new furniture for your new home, it’s important to ensure you know what youyr limits are when it comes to lifting and moving the furniture.
Your Change of Address Checklist
When the time comes to change your address, you want to be sure that you’re taking care of all the important details. You need a change of address checklist to ensure that you aren’t missing anything important. Make sure that your moving house list includes all of these important items.
- Make a list of all the online places that will need a change of address: Amazon, eBay, PayPal, and any other websites that you use on a regular basis. When you send your first several packages, make sure you check to make sure the address change stuck!
- Check on any magazines and subscription services that send you mail on a regular basis.
- Let your human resources department know that your address is changing.
- Contact your bank to register a change of address.
- Tell your cell phone provider, insurance provider, and any other regular service providers about your change of address.
You should also make sure that you’ve filled out a registered change of address form with the post office so that any mail that’s misdirected to your old address will make its way to your new location. If you’re moving out of a rental property, make sure you talk with your landlord about how to have the utilities taken out of your name.
House Moving Tips
Moving house is stressful, but it doesn’t have to be! These moving house hacks will make it easier to handle the challenges that await you while you’re moving.
Pack, trash, donate: your key piles. Go ahead and clean out your home as you pack up each room. As you go through the rooms, have a box of items that you intend to keep, a box of items that you’d like to donate or sell, and a box of items that you need to throw away. This will help prevent you from packing up items you don’t really want to deal with when you reach your new home!
Attach the pieces. If you need to take your furniture apart to move it–removing the legs from your couch to get it through the door, for example–put all of the screws, legs, and other small pieces in a heavy-duty bag, then duct tape it to the larger item. The same goes for important cords: use tape to attach them firmly. That way, you won’t be scrambling to find all the pieces when you get home.
Don’t forget the other important aspects of moving. If you’re moving cities, you’ll need new doctors, dentists, and other care providers. Even if you’re simply moving across town, you may need to find new haunts: a new place to stop and grab breakfast or coffee on your way to work in the morning, for example.
Drive your new route ahead of time. This is one of those simple moving house hacks that no one thinks about until that first day back at work after the move: you now need to take a different route to work, to take the kids to school, or anywhere else you need to go. It can be very helpful to make this trip ahead of time to help predict what it will look like later.
Your moving house checklist includes plenty of things to do. By following these simple moving house tips, however, you’ll discover that your move goes much more smoothly.