What should you do when you’re moving, and you don't know how to organize the move? We offer you a “week before moving,” checklist with tips on what you should prepare beforehand to make the move as easy as possible.
Local moving checklist to prepare your move
One month before moving
- If you are going to move on your own, reserve a moving van, and buy everything you need for packing – packaging and labeling material, boxes, and start packing!
- If you’ve hired a moving company to take care of packing and unpacking, decide when is the best time for them to start packing and don’t leave everything for the day before moving house (we recommend that you start a couple of days before the move).
- Repair or clean the furniture, curtains, or carpets that need it.
- Collect essential personal documents that you’ll need in your new home, such as medical information, school or work documentation, family album, etc.
- Make the necessary travel plans, in case if you are moving to another city.
Three weeks before the move
- Notify your bank, insurance agency, of your move, as well as family and friends.
- Get everything ready so that on the day you move, your electricity, gas, internet, telephone line are discontinued at the old address, and (if the service is available) are started at the new address.
- The same goes for your health insurance company, newspaper billing, and others.
- If moving into an apartment, check with the apartment’s maintenance office whether they’ll permit you to use an elevator during the day of the move.
Two weeks before moving
- Think about the best way to move your pets.
- Consult with a moving company about how to move dangerous plants and materials, in case you have them.
A week before moving checklist
- The first step is to figure out how much space there will be in your future home and, at the same time, decide what items (household, furniture, perishable goods, etc.) will be part of your new home.
- Start packing items you’ll take with you and discarding those you won’t be taking along. You can donate or sell what you don't want to keep, but which can be useful to others.
- Decide if you are going to make the move on your own, or if you’ll hire a moving company. In the second case, check different moving companies for quotes and choose the one that best fits your needs (check here for unbeatable prices).
- Most moving companies offer insurance for the move. Find out from your moving company which part of your assets will be covered by insurance during the move.
What to do when you are moving
Moving home is always a complicated and time-consuming task. So rest assured that it’ll take more than one day. It’s a good idea to prepare in advance and organize the move. If you work and don’t have time to plan your move, hire a moving company and don’t worry about steps in the actual moving process, such as disassembling furniture, packing or transporting.
Even so, it is likely that on the day of the transfer, you’ll want to be present to supervise and assist in the process. If you’re moving on your own, make sure you take two days off from work right before moving day. However, it’s better to take have a week to yourself before the big day.
We advise you to prepare your move in advance and make a week before moving a checklist containing all the tasks you’ll have to carry out and plan out the time it’ll take to get each task done. To make the whole process more bearable, you can hire a moving company so that experts in moving can advise you, and help you out.