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1. Organize Your Move Like a Military Campaign<\/h2>\n
Good organization always helps prevent headaches later, and particularly if you have a busy life you may appreciate any technique that lets you schedule your tasks. Patricia Johnson<\/strong> at cycling experts Pedal Lovers<\/a> knows about the importance of organization to make a move go well and to avoid underestimating the time needed for everything:<\/p>\n “One thing I wish I had known before I moved is how much easier taking the time to come up with a real plan and schedule would’ve made things. We knew we had to go through everything, pack, prepare for the movers – but we dramatically underestimated the time we had to do all that! I thought about the whole ordeal for maybe 10 minutes and decided we’d need about two weeks. I didn’t realize I’d cut the garage out of my calculations (which took forever) and the time we’d need to dedicate, realistically, to throwing stuff we no longer used or needed away. Plus, my daughter and I were constantly stepping over each other either trying to do the same things or both forgetting to do essential chores (again, like the garage!) My tip is to plan. Seriously, get crafty and come up with a little board with pinup notes and color-coded tasks and organize it military-style<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n Some of your possessions just won\u2019t look right in your new home, and you may find others are simply surplus to requirements. The advice is to sort through all your belongings a long time before you move, so you avoid wasting time and money later moving things you don\u2019t need. Items can be thrown away, sold or donated to charities<\/a> \u2014 this is a great way of helping your local community, and many organizations will be happy to collect usable furniture and so on from your home.<\/p>\n This process can help you reduce your expenses for the move itself and also your new life once you settle in. You can use a budget calculator<\/a> to determine the expenses you\u2019d have to deal with in case you plan to invest in new furniture, and decide what you can afford to purchase for the new home. Keep your budget in check well in advance, and you\u2019ll move in even more smoothly!<\/p>\n You\u2019ve sorted your items for the move and now you need boxes \u2014 these are obtainable from moving companies<\/a> or for free<\/a>. Blogger Lauren Levy<\/strong><\/a>, who has moved many times, classifies them, which makes the unpacking process easier:<\/p>\n \u201cIt finally occurred to me to clearly label certain boxes \u2018open later\u2019 and \u2018open never\u2019<\/strong>. The ‘open later’ boxes are for things like out of season clothing, home decor, books\u2014anything you could easily go at least a month without using. The ‘open never’ boxes are for memorabilia, records, sentimental antiques you don\u2019t plan on displaying, and anything else that\u2019s going right back into storage.”<\/p>\n Lauren\u2019s local San Francisco self storage<\/a> facilities have space for ‘open never’ boxes if there\u2019s no room at home.<\/p>\n Tasks which take longer than you planned result in frustration. In particular, packing can be more time-consuming than people imagine, and they often get shocked at how many possessions they have \u2014 and gazing lovingly at almost-forgotten sentimental objects instead of putting them straight in the boxes won\u2019t help! To account for possible delays, it\u2019s recommended you add extra time \u2014 perhaps as much as a week or two \u2014 on top of what you calculated for the whole moving process.<\/p>\n While you don\u2019t need a lot of equipment when moving, some items can be really useful, especially for the breakable things that will be making the journey. Lifestyle and travel writer Jennifer Sizeland<\/strong><\/a> told us her tips:<\/p>\n “I’ve just moved house and one thing I can recommend is getting sticky labels for your moving boxes<\/strong> as we wrote on them the first time we moved and they ended up in the wrong rooms as we didn’t realize when packing! I would also get a big laundry bag and save up all your bubble wrap inside it<\/strong> as it will be invaluable once you move and you can find it all in one place. Invest in brown tape and tape that says ‘fragile’ on it<\/strong> to distinguish between the boxes that need to be handled carefully and those that don’t. If you want to reduce your plastic, invest in paper tape which is actually better as it doesn’t stick together like plastic tape does!”<\/p>\n Some aspects of moving from one home to another are not always so obvious. Nicole Caba<\/strong> is the founder and CEO of Avvinue<\/a>, which has developed an all-in-one moving app that helps people prepare for a move:<\/p>\n “I\u2019ve moved more than 12 times in the past 10 years all over the US, and each time has been proven to be stressful or something on the checklist slips through the cracks. My most adventurous move was from New York to Atlanta, where I had to clear our 2-bedroom apartment, sold a car and then booked a uHaul truck down to our new apartment in Buckhead area of Atlanta. There were many moving pieces \u2013 but the drive gave an adrenaline rush! Something that would\u2019ve made things easier during those moves was setting up mail forwarding in advance and scheduling the cancellation of certain utility services<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n In the excitement of moving to a new residence<\/a>, you might forget you still have to tie up loose ends at the old one \u2014 and you\u2019d probably like to see the deposit you paid back in your wallet! \u201cWhen you’re moving out make sure to take pictures of every empty room<\/strong> with a time stamp to show that you left everywhere immaculate if any queries are made later,\u201d Jennifer Sizeland<\/strong> tells us. Send these photos to your old landlord and then hope you never need to see them again.<\/p>\n Moving house might be fun if you\u2019re young and doing it for the first time, but otherwise it can be better to get professional help you can trust<\/a>. You could try moving between small apartments in the same town with assistance from friends, but larger moves require a truck, somebody who knows how to drive it, and people to load it. Many who go for the money-saving DIY approach find it quite tiring and time-consuming and say that, in retrospect, they would have hired a professional moving service.<\/p>\n Yes, it’s not an attractive subject but it’s worth mentioning! Thoroughly checking out the state of your new house before you move your stuff in could be a good idea. Jason Tan from Empire Pest Control<\/a> stated it\u2019s important to have a pest inspection: \u201cIf termites or other pests like ants and cockroaches are found, it\u2019s better and cheaper to treat them prior to your moving day. Getting a head start on your pest control is also recommended because the longer you live in an infested home, the more expensive it will be to get rid of the infestation.<\/p>\n A variation on the regular moving service involves a \u2018pod\u2019 \u2014 a portable storage unit \u2014 that is delivered to your home. You load it up yourself, the company then collects it and delivers it to your new home, and you decide the timetable. Warren Cohn<\/strong> of HeraldPR<\/a>, a\u00a0 public relations agency based in New York City, highly recommends the service:<\/p>\n “I have spent the past 3 years learning a lot about moving from city to city (with a wife and 2 kids no less). The best advice I would give folks is to use PODS…. I grew up in NY and was based in Midtown, but had to move to New Orleans in late 2019 to scale a new business there…. So, when we moved back to the NY Metro area (and now were moving again, to Florida) we used PODS. They dropped off the POD when they said they would. Picked it up when they said they would and delivered it with our stuff when they said they would. Not to mention, our belongings were locked in the POD and only we had the key<\/strong>. Our stuff was secure and safe….”<\/p>\n2. Declutter and Donate Before You Move<\/h2>\n
3. Categorize Your Boxes for Easier Unpacking<\/h2>\n
4. Packing Can Take Longer Than You Think<\/h2>\n
5. Breakable Items Need Special Care<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n6. Stop Receiving Things at Your Old Address<\/h2>\n
7. Cover Your Back When Leaving Your Old Place<\/h2>\n
8. Hire a Moving Company for Maximum Peace of Mind<\/h2>\n
9. Call Pest Control: Make Sure You’ll Be Alone in Your New Home!<\/h2>\n
10. Load Up Your Possessions to Your Own Timetable<\/h2>\n
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