Moving out marks one of the most significant chapters in a person’s life. It is time to relocate, putting yourself in a new and unfamiliar environment and a refreshing scenery for a meaningful purpose that could turn your life around. Whether relocating for a job, moving out of your parents’ house, living with your romantic partner, or going to a bigger property to start a family, the move will change your lifestyle and your decision-making approaches. As a result, mastering moving 101 principles will be necessary.
According to a study by Steinway Moving and Storage, American homeowners move around 11 times in their lives. The statistics show that you have plenty of attempts to practice making moving easier the next time around. Of course, you might struggle with your efforts if you do not know the fundamentals, including packing your things and settling in your new home. Of course, you must never forget about the financial implications that come with moving. Besides the expense of having to buy or rent a new home, a simple move could cost around $2,000, and that is only if you move within your country. If you want to ensure your move is cost-efficient and well-planned, you must follow these Moving 101 tips:
Create a Moving Timeline
Moving can easily be overwhelming to the average homeowner. You’ve collected all your belongings in one property for so long and have to pick them all up and move them to another. It might sound simple, but the thought of starting can already make you realize just how many items you have to go through to accomplish it completely. It will take weeks or even months to perform the move, but only if you plan well for it. As a result, Moving 101 starts with creating a detailed timeline.
Three Months Before the Move
- Create a moving budget by identifying the supplies and professional services needed to perform the move.
- Create a checklist of items you have to sort them out into specific categories.
- Identify which items belong to your new home and those you might no longer need.
Two Months Before the Move
- Collect information on the moving companies you can partner with for the move, specifically those that fit within your location.
- Decide how many trips it would take to move your belongings.
- Start preparing your stuff for the move, particularly those you can live without using for a while.
One Month Before the Move
- Start notifying your bank, utilities, insurance providers, companies you have subscription with, and other entities that you will start changing your address.
- Strategize on how you should pack your household items efficiently.
- Identify which items you might have to buy for your new home.
Two Weeks Before the Move
- Prepare your new home to accommodate the incoming household items.
- Pack the majority of your household items, but leave behind the daily essentials like hygiene products, select clothing, medications, and silverware.
- Plan for items in need of specialized packaging, like fragile items, oddly-shaped furniture, and confidential documents.
One Week Before the Move
- Collaborate with your chosen moving company on how to perform the move.
- Clean both the old and new homes.
- Perform electrical repairs when necessary to prevent new homeowners of your previous home from having an unpleasant or inconvenient experience.
- Seek assistance from family members and friends if needed.
All those steps in the moving timeline will be necessary to ensure an efficient and comfortable experience. It is the backbone of the Moving 101 lesson. You and everyone moving with you should sit down and discuss how things should go to create that timeline. They will have respective assignments to ensure everything goes smoothly during the move.
Declutter and Organize
The Moving 101 guide will contain a lot of steps involving packing, but before that happens, you must lay out the plan on how to do it. Every person has an assortment of belongings, varying in every feature you can think of. It is not impossible for someone to have over a thousand items to pack, especially when they live in a big home. Stuffing them in corrugated boxes will not do it, and that’s why listing everything down happens three months before the move. If you have a list of your home inventory, you can declutter and organize more efficiently.
While you take a look at each of your belongings and list them down, you will start to have an idea if they should make it to your next home or not. Sometimes, your items are not worth it anymore and it makes more sense to declutter them. It can lower transportation costs, reduce packing time, and even make more space in your new home. However, it can be challenging to decide which ones to declutter and discard. Fortunately, the Moving 101 tips include a questionnaire to help you:
- Will I ever use this again?
- Is it better to buy a new one?
- Is it expensive to bring to the new home?
- Will this match or fit in my new home?
- Does this item have sentimental value, or is it replaceable?
- Didn’t I just list this down? Do I need another one of these?
It can be easy to avoid all these questions and pack them, but it can be challenging to find a place for them in your new home if you bring them along. Moreover, you can make money from them. If you have a duplicate or used appliance you want to discard, you can find an appliance dealer to sell it instead. If you have hundreds of items you want to throw away, you can make a few bucks to dedicate to renting a moving truck, making your trip more cost-efficient.
Once you declutter your items, you can start organizing them. Identify the items that belong together, like clothes and accessories, kitchen items, bathroom items, and furniture pieces. Organizing your belongings into specific categories allows you to estimate how much you should invest in packing supplies, ensuring you do not overspend or underspend for items you might not use in the future. It is a Moving 101 principle to stay within budget, so the organization will play a critical role in maintaining it.
Gather Packing Supplies
Now, the fun begins. Packing is the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to Moving 101 because it will be the most time-consuming and laborious step. As said before, you have over a thousand items to pack. However, you won’t get anywhere until you invest in suitable packing supplies, and they might vary.
Here are some of the essential packing materials to invest in if you want to ensure a successful move:
- Boxes (plastic, cardboard, corrugated, metal, etc.)
- A lot of packing tape
- Plastic wraps
- Cushioning materials (bubble wraps, packing paper, styrofoam peanuts, etc.)
- Cutting materials (scissors and box cutters)
- Markers and label makers
Those are the simple packing materials you absolutely have to get when organizing your belongings. However, you might have to invest in more specific items unique to your situation. For example, you might have installed window blinds you want to take to your new home. Removing them involves securing blinds installation services to uninstall them and bring them to the next destination. Another example is plants, which might require you to hire another moving truck if you want to put them in your new home’s sunroom. Your fixed bedframe, meanwhile, might require lifting straps and a crane to move to a moving truck. Those materials will be necessary to figure out, ensuring you will not have to deal with unexpected challenges come moving day.
Plan What Goes Into Your New Home
There will be a lot of work involved in moving out of your old home with your belongings, but Moving 101 principles also require you to consider how you should settle in your new house. It can be an exciting task to design and prepare how your items will fit into your new residence, but you must ensure you accomplish it right to avoid getting overwhelmed. While it is easy for you to do that, it can result in a few messy days or weeks before you can finally settle into your new home. If you want to avoid that, consider planning with an interior designer.
An interior designer can help you create the design and layout that optimizes your new home, ensuring you feel comfortable straight away. They can look at your stuff and assess where each item belongs, preventing you from micromanaging how you should unbox everything and spread them out. They can also make suggestions on what changes you can make to further improve the new home. If natural sunlight is not creeping into the property enough, the designer can recommend a window installer. If needed, interior designers can find spaces where hidden storage solutions can be installed. The kitchen might also benefit from a granite countertop to help you place your many kitchen appliances and silverware. With the help of a creative expert, you can settle into your new property better.
Check Each Room In Your New House and Plan Accordingly
Once you’ve unpacked everything into your new home, you might feel relaxed enough to call yourself settled. However, it does not mean that the Moving 101 journey is already complete. There will be a few things missing, and they can be challenging to identify until you absolutely need them. As a result, checking every room will be vital for your efforts to settle into your new home.
Temperature often plays a huge role in a homeowner’s comfort and protection. Unfortunately, your new home might not have the same insulation capabilities as your old one, making you feel colder in the winter. If you feel that a specific room is not up to par with your comfortable room temperature, you should consider hiring local insulation companies to make the necessary adjustments. If you want to make the room feel colder, installing a smart thermostat might be your next solution. The water might also feel too cold for you, making a water heater a great investment.
Another thing to check for is electrical outlets. Your rooms might not have enough for your appliances and devices, requiring you to make adjustments to the home’s electrical system. Hiring an electrician will be essential to ensure you have enough outlets to accommodate every item you need to be plugged in at the same time. Of course, they will ensure the power lines can handle the new load. Checking every room matters when you settle into your new home, allowing you to plan accordingly and live happily.
Clean and Prepare Your Home
Once everything settles, there will be dust. Unfortunately, it is literal dust that can cause allergies and illnesses. Cleaning will be necessary to prevent those health issues from happening, ensuring you can enjoy your first few days in your new home. Post-move cleaning involves a lot of sweeping, dusting, mopping, and washing tasks, depending on the items you plan to clean. You can do them yourself or consider hiring cleaning services, which will take a lot of time and effort away from you.
However, preparing your home will require you to check if you might have missed out on a few inspection flaws. While you might not be able to undo the move, you can still ensure you are living in a safe and functional home. One of the areas most missed out is the roof, which might require roof repair in a few spots. Consider hiring a roofer to fulfill the maintenance needs, because doing it yourself can be dangerous. You can also hire plumbers for the plumbing system inspection, ensuring that there are no imminent pipe bursts and issues to be concerned about.
Moving is a big event, so it should be given priority when it happens. Only you and the people you are moving with will be doing the majority of the tasks involved in it, so learning Moving 101 principles will significantly help you out. There will be a few unique situations here and there, but the tips mentioned above cover over 95% of the experience. If you follow them all, you can make your moving day pleasant.
