By now, we all know that moving into a new home is… <insert poop emoji>. Â It’s up there among the top 10 worst experiences of adulthood. And try doing it in Florida. In the summer. Without professional help. Or beer. <insert 5 poop emojis>. It takes way too long, it leaves you with aching muscles, boxes are crazy expensive, that one chest of drawers is always heavier than it looks, and 3 out every of 5 divorces are at least brought up during a move. (Don’t quote us on that). But, hey, like anything else it’s nothing that a little pre-planning and discipline can’t help.
Here are eight ways you can ensure a smooth move when the time comes.
1) Start Planning Early
The entire moving process can seem to drag on for months. But once the relocation day starts drawing near, it can all happen quicker than you expect, leaving you scrambling to keep up.
If you have a flexible schedule, play around with potential moving dates. Moving companies are busiest on the weekends, so if you can skip the Saturday chaos and schedule your move during the week, you might get a significant discount.
As soon as you’ve got an estimated moving date, start work on your planning for the big day. Don’t put it on the backburner. The longer you leave it, the more stressful it’ll turn out to be.
2) Hire Movers
For a relatively small move, you might consider doing everything yourself, or maybe renting a truck or borrowing a friend’s. But, trust us, this really only works out well for small moves – say, a single bedroom, or studio apartment.
Movers know what they’re doing, and they do it with incredible efficiency (the reputable ones, at least.) Hiring a moving company will make the whole process much more comfortable on your nerves and body alike. Professionals will be quicker and more efficient at loading and unloading. They’ll carry insurance for any rare breakages, and they’ll know exactly how long a job will take, so there’s no last-minute panic or stress.
While researching moving companies, read reviews! Find out specifics so there are no unwelcome surprises come moving day. Make sure to read the moving company’s list of services, fine print, and refund or damage policies. Some companies, for example, won’t lift items that aren’t in boxes or packed properly, while others ask for full payment up front or prior to the move date.
Make arranging a reputable moving company an early priority. The best companies are booked up far in advance, and you don’t want to get rushed into hiring a second-rate crew because you’re running out of time. That’s a horror story just waiting to happen.
3) Inventory Your Stuff
When you book your movers, you’ll need to give them an idea of how much stuff you have to move. Just as importantly, you’ll need to tell them about any special arrangements they’ll need to make.
Do you have any particularly heavy or bulky items or ones of exceptional value which might need extra precautions or insurance? Got a piano? Got a samurai sword collection? Got an exercise bike that weighs like 400 lbs.? Make sure your movers are fully informed so that you don’t have any nasty surprises sprung on you on moving day.
4) Order Your Packing Supplies
Although your movers can handle packing your furniture and other large items, most people like to pack their personal possessions themselves. Make it easier on yourself by ordering high-quality boxes, tape, labels, and bubble wrap with plenty of time to spare. Boxes aren’t as cheap as you’d expect them to be, but it’s a small price to pay compared to the total cost of a move, and having the right packing equipment will make things go more smoothly.
Also, ordering your boxes well in advance means you can start packing early. Start packing items that are least essential to your daily life (decor, books, seasonal clothing, wall hangings, keepsakes, old school yearbooks, Star Wars Action Figures).
Doing it a little at a time is much less stressful than leaving everything to the last minute.
Moving & Packing Supplies You’ll Need:
- Boxes of Various sizes
- Small Boxes for Heavy Items (such as books)
- Medium Boxes
- Large Boxes
- Extra Large Boxes
- Divided Boxes
- Packing Paper (and LOTS of it)
- Bubble Wrap
- Packing Labels or Colored Box Tape
- Heavy Duty Packaging Tape & Multiple Tape Dispensers
- Packing Blankets
- Box Cutters
- Sharpie Permanent Marker for Labeling
- Hand Truck or Dolly
- Gloves to protect your Hands
- Basic Cleaning Supplies to clean both your old & new places
5) Clear Out Your Unwanted Possessions
Hate to get this song stuck in your head, but, as Elsa says in Frozen, “Let it go. Let it goooooooooooo.”
As part of the packing process, go through your stuff and get rid of the things that you’ll probably never use again. Those rusty weights in the garage. That fake mink coat you bought for that Gatsby-themed high school reunion. Or that box of cables you were sure you’d need some day, except it’s 2019 now and no one needs that dot-matrix printer extension. Â (Cue Frozen in 3… 2… 1…). Either donate that stuff to a thrift store, sell it online, or send it out with the trash/recycling.
There’s no point packing up dozens of boxes that you’ll transfer straight to your new attic or basement and ignore forever after.
6) Fill Out an Official Change of Address
Make a list of everyone you’ll need to tell about your change of address, from credit card companies to cable TV providers, your Amazon Prime account, to your magazine subscriptions. Start work on this right away.
You’ll probably need to inform more people than you first realize, and the list will keep growing as you think of new ones, so give yourself plenty of time to complete this task. Â The good news is, the United States Postal service has a pretty good system for catching and diverting your mail and getting it to the right address. Their system also informs several magazine and catalogs so that you don’t have to bother letting them know. Change your address, officially, here.
7) Don’t Forget Your Kids and Pets
No, we don’t mean it like that. As if you’d just leave them behind to be someone else’s responsibility… We just mean have a plan to have them safely away from all the moving chaos… er… activity. As the day approaches, make sure you’ve made careful arrangements to keep young children and pets out of the way. Moving is stressful enough; you don’t want to be looking out for children or animals right through the whole process.
If possible, arrange for kids to stay with family for a few days, and pets with any helpful fellow animal lovers you know. That will give you time to let the dust settle a little before introducing them to their new home.
8) Pack Daily Essentials Separately
“Honey, where’d we pack toilet paper?”
At the end of the moving day, you won’t relish searching through boxes to find the essentials you need straight away. Pack a separate box or two containing fresh clothing, toiletries, some basic foodstuffs, (wine), and so on. You’ll be glad your essentials are close to hand after a long and hard day moving.
There’s no avoiding the fact that relocating is going to suck. It’s just a fact of life. But, if you plan things out far enough in advance, you can minimize the hassle and make moving to your new home as pain-free as possible.
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Thanks for these useful tips. I have a plan to move to a new place and these tips will surely help me to relocate smoothly.
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You’re very welcome! Glad you found this tips helpful!
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I like your suggestion to make sure we have a plan in place to keep any kids or pets we have entertained and safe during moving day. My husband and I are currently looking for a good property conveyancing service to help us avoid issues when we sell our home and move to a larger one next month. Thanks for teaching me how to avoid potential issues and help our move go as smoothly as it can!
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You’re welcome! Moving is stressful enough! Keeping the kiddos and furry friends entertained will allow you to concentrate on the task at hand!. Best of luck on your upcoming move and congratulations on the purchase of your new home!
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It’s interesting that you point out that hiring professional movers can make the task of moving to a new home much more efficient. I need to move all of my stuff to a new house next week, so I’m considering hiring a moving company to help me. I’m going to search for a good residential moving company in my area to hire.
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Best of Luck on your move, Fred! Movers shave HOURS of time off a moving day and allow you to focus on other important aspects of the move.
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I was needed the best moving services for which I was needed such kind of article for pas few days. Today I have read this article and found that there are all the essential points that we must consider for a moving service. Thank for sharing this article with us.
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I have to say that you did a nice job by sharing your thoughts and ideas with us. We all need the moving and relocating help and this post can help others choose the right movers easily. Thank You, Michelotti!
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I like the idea of hiring a moving company so that I can be comfortable. I don’t want to deal with breaking my own belongings when moving. I’d rather trust a professional to move it with care and if it did break then I wouldn’t be held accountable.
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My fiance and II like that you recommend making an inventory of all your stuff and have it well organized. My fiance and I are going to move to our first house, and we are looking for advice to hire a moving company. We will soon start looking for a moving company, and we’ll follow your advice to ensure that we have everything well organized.
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I loved your blog and thanks for publishing this about 8 ways to make moving not suck!! I am really happy to come across this exceptionally well written content. Thanks for sharing and look for more in future!! Keep doing this inspirational work and share with us.
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Thanks for the tip to have your kids and pets somewhere else when you start moving everything. I want to hire some workers to move all of the heavy things and I don’t need my kids getting in the way. I’ll have their grandparents take care of them for that day while I make sure the movers get the job done right.
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I would like to say that this article helped me a lot to find the right moving company. In this article, the writer has perfectly described the essential things that we must consider which we choose a moving service.
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You shared a very amazing ways to move without stuck.
Thank you so much for sharing this tips
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It really helped when you mentioned it’s a good idea to plan your move-out ahead of time. A few weeks ago, my wife and I found our perfect house, so we’re so close to finally moving into it. We have a lot of stuff, so we think it’d be a good idea to follow your advice and look for a moving company. We appreciate your advice on how to move out without any major complications.
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Congratulations on your new home! We’re glad you found our blog helpful. Best of luck on your move!
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I loved how you mentioned that they can make sure that your belongings are insured! My sister was telling me last night about how she and her husband are planning on moving to a new house in a couple of weeks, and they were wondering if they should look into hiring a moving company to help them. I’ll make sure to pass this information along to them so that they can know the benefits of hiring a moving company!
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We’re so glad you found it helpful!
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You made some great points about how professional movers can load and unload a truck easily and more efficiently. I want to hire some to help me out next month. I am moving by myself so any extra hands would be awesome!
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Thank you for your suggestion to hire movers. My daughter is moving into her new home, but isn’t sure how she’s going to get all her things over there. I’ll be sure to pass this advice on so that she can see if it’s a good option for her.
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Hiring a moving company starts with knowing what to look for and which questions to ask. You’re trusting people you don’t know with your most precious items during one of the most stressful experiences of your life!
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I never took into account the fact that the top firms are booked months in advance, and you don’t want to be forced into hiring a subpar team due to a lack of time. I remember when I was a college student I was proudly answering the question but now I realize it was different. Thank you for helping me understand the right information about the moving company.
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i Like your blog. It is great written, it clears the concepts easily. People always like this type of article to read and share with friends.I love this post. This is really amazing.
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Thanks for the moving tips. I plan on moving soon. I’ll look for a moving company to hire.