MOVING PREP

At this point, you probably feel pretty confident that you have plenty of time to get everything completed. However, if you want to maximize your moving timeline you want to get started sooner rather than later. In order to have a stress-free move, starting in week 8 is one of our first tips for moving out.

• Make a list of all of your furniture and other items that need to be moved.
• Determine the dates of the move.
• Begin your research process for moving companies.
• Set up a time to meet at your house for any estimates that may be necessary.
• Take time to visit your new residence.
• Discuss your budget with your spouse and determine your range.
• Research your new school district.
• Give your landlord proper notice.

Get your moving process and schedule solidified in your moving timeline.

• Reach out to professional movers to get quotes.
• Schedule your rental truck or moving service.
• Now is the time to reach out to family and friends for help moving.
• Book a pod or storage unit.
• Discuss transferring school records from current school systems.
• Begin your checklist of things you will need in your new residence.
• Discuss changes in your insurance policies with an insurance representative.

At this time, you’ll want to finalize any of your travel arrangements for the move.

• Fix the schedule for the moving company.
• Make a reservation for an airline, car, or hotel.
• Book transport from the airport if needed.
• Make a strategy for your packing.
• Arrange to ship for the vehicles if needed.
• List out all the tax-deductible moving expenses.

Start getting your house in order by packing up everything you can and throwing out what you won’t need. This is a great activity to ask friends and family for help with, especially if they can’t help you with more physical aspects of moving.

• Go through as many of your perishable food items as possible.
• Designate which items you want to sell, donate, or simply throw out.
• Get all of your memberships updated like a gym membership or other monthly recurring charges.
• Make sure you have backups of all your physical and online documents. Send your spouse a copy to have as well.
• Make sure your computer is updated to the latest software.
• Gather and secure all of your most important documents, statements, and identification items like passports, birth certificates, and financial documents.
• Organize your warranties and appliance manuals into one box or file.
• Purchase all necessary supplies for packing.

Make this your week to finalize throwing out all the items you don’t need and pack everything that won’t be needed before moving.

• Make sure you have all of the supplies you need for packing.
• Start by going through your storage and garage areas as those two places generally have items you do not use regularly.
• The best practice for packing is to list on the box the room the items belong in and what’s packed inside.
• Create a list of approximately how many boxes you will need per room.
• Pack a separate bag(s) of things you will need for your first night in your new residence.
• Throw out all waste and potentially hazardous items.
• Reach out to your moving company to confirm any details.

Notify all of your memberships, credit cards, insurance, and government agencies about your change in address. This is an important step in your moving timeline so you dont miss out on any important mail.

• Notify all of your services and utilities about your change in address
• Change your address information for all community memberships including gym, club, magazines, books, or box subscription sets
• Visit the USPS online or in-person to set up a mail forwarding and notify them about your change in address
• Update your address with government agencies like IRS, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Medicare, and Medicaid. You may also need to update any IDs that are related.
• Get all of the necessary services set up at your new home, such as lawn care, home cleaning, or other restoration services
• Book child care, or other activity during the moving day

It’s time to get cleaning! You’ll want to get started on cleaning your old home and spend some time setting up your new residence.

• By now you should be finishing off many of the perishable items in your refrigerator. Make sure that it is only stocked for another two weeks.
• Dust and give your current furniture a good cleaning.
• Make arrangements for a cleaning service for when you move out or start scheduling your moving day so you’re prepared to do it yourself.
• Remove any shelves, paintings, pictures nails, or screws that may be on the wall. Patch up the holes.
• Sweep and deep clean any rugs. Roll them up in preparation to be relocated.
• Disassemble any furniture and prepare it so that it is ready to move.
• Purchase any new furniture for your new home to be delivered when you move in.
• Figure out the parking arrangement for your moving truck.
• Request the moving time off from work.
• Confirm all of your travel arrangements for the move.
• Secure all of your most personal documents and items for moving. This could include medications and ID’s.
• Pay off all your bills related to your current location.

The final week in your moving timeline to tie up any loose ends.

• Review your residence and create a checklist of items that are still not cleaned, disassembled, or packed. Make sure to finalize those items
• Completely empty out your refrigerator and allow it to defrost.
• Clean out your dishwasher and then allow all of the moisture to air out.
• Disassemble all of our appliances like television sets, printers or computers.
• Finish packing any remaining kitchen items, lighting, and any other appliances.
• Set up a trash removal service to take any bulk items and large scale amounts of trash.