Moving to a new place has a lot of hectic tasks like packing your life and starting it over at another place entirely new for you and your family. But more than that is the process that precedes the moving process, the endless hours of planning, packing, loading, and finally unpacking everything in the new house. There can be various reasons for your impending move: Kids are going to school in another city, downsizing for financial reasons, change of workplace, or buying a new house, the list can go on and on, but the hassle remains the same. Therefore, stress is an inevitable element of the whole moving process.
But how is the moving process very smooth for some people? How do they manage to keep a tab on everything and forget nothing? Well, they must be doing something that others miss; calling outside help or a moving checklist? A moving checklist is what you make before moving to a new place. It lists each and every activity along with time to make your moving process smoother and remove all the glitches. Generally, you make this checklist a few weeks before your move and ensure that you are not missing anything in the hassle of packing and arranging services. If you plan to move in some time, here you go with your must-have moving checklist.
- Look For The Moving Service
At least eight weeks before you move, it is time to analyze your moving options and plan how to move your stuff; will you pack and load everything yourself or call a professional service? Get to know all the options and their pros and cons. Most people choose the safer option, which is going for a moving company. These professional services help you pack, load, and unload your stuff, and you have a lot less to do compared to when you decide to do it yourself. Make sure your chosen moving company has a good reputation, has proper license and insurance
2. Get A Quote From A Few Moving Companies
Once you shortlist a few moving companies, get their quotes and compare them against their services. Going for a cheaper one is not always recommended. Instead, go for one that has a good reputation and more positive reviews from their previous customers. Often businesses have social media pages; visit them and see what others are saying about their service. After some effort, you will successfully find the right moving company to help you relocate.
3. Visit The Locality Of Your New House
Before you move, always make sure to visit the new locality a couple of times to know about the neighborhood and the availability of amenities. As you are going to live there, you must know that you and your kids will have good exposure and can easily find everything they need. By this visit, you can find nearby supermarkets, schools for your kids, a recreational center or parks, a gym for you, nearby eateries, and other places.
4. Select The School For Your Kids
If you are moving quite away from your kids’ school, you might need to look for another school near your new house. The first option is to see if your kid’s current school has a branch near to your new house. If so, things can really become easy for you. Otherwise, you might need to visit a couple of schools, look at their syllabus, school building, meet teachers and management before you can select the new school. Finding the right school for kids is one of the crucial steps of your relocation as a change of school and the separation from old friends is quite disturbing for some kids.
5. Apply For A School-Leaving Certificate From The Previous School
It is possible that in the chaos of planning and relocating to a new place, you might forget to apply for a school leaving certificate from your kids’ old school. But remember, you might not be able to get it at the last minute, or worst, the new school may not induct your kids without it. So, apply at least a month before the date of your move, because schools take some time to prepare it. At the same, time notify the chosen in the new locality about your kid’s enrollment; they will inform you about all the documents you might need.
6. Order Moving Supplies
Moving is not only hectic, but it is also quite costly too. You must be ready to pay for a lot of things, not to mention tons of moving supplies. Moving supplies include cardboard boxes, bubble wraps, tape, rope, packing paper, etc. Undoubtedly, they will cost you some dollars, but they make sure that your goods arrive safely without damage due to breakage or stress. Count the number of boxes you might need for each room, and order a few extra.
7. Purge Your House
At least five weeks before you move, purge your house and separate everything that has no point going to your new house. It could be old clothes, baskets full of your kid’s toys, furniture pieces, décor items, used pair of shoes, and much more. Make a separate pile of things you want to donate to a charity, another one for holding a garage sale in the house, and the last one for items that cannot be salvaged; hence, they will be discarded. You can attract customers through your social media accounts, let people know what you have and their prices. This way, you will get rid of extra stuff and make some bucks too.
8. Sell Gently Used Stuff
If you intend to get a good price for your gently used stuff, sell them to the consignment stores because your garage sale may not attract good value for them. You can sell gently used furniture, old paintings, and home appliances. Most often, you can find these consignment stores online through Facebook.
The actual moving checklist can be quite long, but those mentioned above are some of the things you must do before moving to your new house. You will have less stuff to pack once you have sorted these things out. Moreover, you will also know that if the new locality is safe for your family and have all the necessary facilities available for them.
