Getting Ready for a Move: Where to Start

Moving is one of the top five most stressful things a person can go through (the list also includes divorce and the death of a loved one, so - yeah, it’s safe to say moving is a lot). Whether you’re moving cross country or just across town, moving is overwhelming, disorienting, and frustrating. Today we’re going to help get you set up with some general guidance on where to start and what to do to get yourself ready to head on over to your new home. 

Beforehand: Get Organized

Making a list of everything you need to get done before the move is the best way to get started. Do you have utilities that need to be transferred - wifi, electricity, or gas? Do you need to cancel any auto payments for utilities or update addresses? Get that done first. Then, make a timeline for yourself: when do you need to be out of the house? When are utilities being shut off? Write down anything you need to have done with deadlines, and make alerts on your phone or on your calendar so you don’t miss anything. This is a great time to buy your boxes, tape, markers, and moving supplies as well. 

Get Started: Reduce and Declutter

This is the fun or horrible part depending on if you’re sentimental or if you’re someone who loves to clear things out. Go through room by room, closet by closet, and evaluate everything. Do you need it? Do you love it? Do you use it? Is it sentimental? You’re better off decluttering with great intention and getting rid of more than you anticipated than having more than you need at your new house and having to declutter after you packed things into boxes and moved them.  If you have duplicates of anything - toss, donate, sell, or recycle. If you have valuables that you want to sell, sell, get them listed sooner than later. You don’t want to be stressing about trying to move and sell your unwanted items last minute. We’ve done a decluttering series on our socials the past few weeks that you can check out too if you have any questions about getting started with decluttering. 

Get Moving: Start Packing

Once you’re decluttered, organized, and cleaned out, start packing. Packing is fairly common sense, and group items by cabinet, room, or closet. Start packing in your garage first for an easy place to store boxes once they’re finished. Then you can back your truck up to your garage and load from there as opposed to dealing with out the front or side doors. 

 Break multiple books into series or by author and split between a few boxes so you’re not dealing with 100-pound boxes. You even can pack fragile items with your linens, blankets, and towels, and save money on packing supplies by using items you already have. Then - label! Label! Label! Stay organized, friends! 

Write categories, identify clearly if they’re fragile, and make sure you mark if they’re heavy as well. Organize your boxes as you pack them - heavy on the bottom, fragile on top (labeled CLEARLY!) and you’re all set. 

As a final note, take a second opportunity to declutter as you’re packing boxes to make sure you’re not simply packing things you don’t want to deal with. Keep tossing, organizing, and packing until you’re all packed, then load the truck in a way that makes sense. Don’t just put boxes in willy-nilly. Try and put items in FIFO priority (first in first out) and have boxes you’ll need right away at the front of the truck. 

Wrapping Up

Moving is hard. Moving is stressful. Staying organized can help, and making a plan is so important. Remember the stress is temporary, take breaks as you can, and know that your new house will soon feel like home, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment. You’ve got this, and if you need extra support, we can help!