Moving to a New Home Any Time Soon?

By FPL_Ryan

Moving homes is one of the most stressful life events that people will encounter in their lifetime. There’s the process of finding the right home, planning movers, transferring information, and many more things that will occur. Read on for some easy steps to help manage time and save some money.

DON'T wait until the last minute! You'll be up against time constraints and will need to do some coordination ahead of time for the move. Give yourself approximately a month to fully move properly. Make sure that everything that is being moved is packed up the day before moving. You will be spending a lot of time on the day of either directing movers or moving yourself. Some things to do ahead of time are setting up your utilities such as water, electricity, and internet for your official move-in date. You will also need to change your address for mail, driver’s license, all other accounts, and subscriptions that you have.

Set aside a box or suitcase of items you will absolutely be using in the first week or two at the new place. This would include toiletries, paper towels, cleaning supplies, work clothes, scissors, and other materials that are essential for those first few days at the new place. This will save you not having to scour every box that you have to find your toothbrush.

You can reach out to grocery stores, movie theaters, office supply stores, and retail stores for moving boxes. These locations usually have boxes in excess that get thrown away or recycled. Check out these places before going out to buy them because boxes can end up being very expensive.

You can use this opportunity to donate or throw away things such as clothes, kitchen items, or décor that you don’t need or want. This will help on moving day because there'll be less to move. Clothes can be donated to shelters, friends, family, or resale stores. If you have old or tattered towels, animal hospitals and veterinarians usually take donations.

Research a few moving companies to get a quote for the move. Companies usually can give you an estimate based on distance to travel, number of items being transported, and if they must take stairs for upper floors. If you want to do the moving yourself, you can also rent a truck through places such as U-Haul. Some self-storage companies also have trucks available for rent.

Finally, plan something relaxing and fun to do after the big move. Whether that be a movie, a nice dinner out, or just some time to sleep before you start unpacking to alleviate the stressors of moving.