Have you been thinking of moving for many months or even years now but the moment you begin planning, you get very overwhelmed? Don’t fret. Moving is challenging. There are so many considerations that have to be made that it sometimes feels like the whole ordeal might not be worth it.
People plan to move for many reasons. There are those who want to move just for a change of scenery, maybe due to plans to start or expand family, or for new opportunities. Whatever the reason is for your move, if the only thing stopping you is being apprehensive about the actual process of moving, this article is for you.
While moving is indeed challenging, there are things you can do to make the process smoother. Here are some tips to consider:
Don’t do it alone
On paper, moving can sound simple. Just take your things from point A to point B and you’re set. However, this is far from the truth. The reality is that you need to be on top of so many things to make moving headache-free. To do it successfully, you have to accept that you can’t do it alone. Now, this doesn’t mean that you would have to rely on friends and family to be your helpers when you move. While some of them will be surely willing to lend a hand, you would want to not overstretch their generosity.
Besides, most of the things you won’t be able to do yourself are physically tiring and would probably take up a lot of time. The biggest one is packing up all your belongings, transporting them, and unpacking them at your destination. The best advice you can take for this instance is to use a moving company.
Many people want to believe that they’d be able to just do it all by themselves or with friends, and maybe just drive back and forth, a couple boxes at a time. Now, this can be doable, but would you really want to spend several days dealing with this instead of using those final days with friends and family? Not to mention that since moving is physically exhausting, you’d probably need a couple days to recharge.
Move fast but carefully
Usually, moving is a time-bound process. Your lease might be ending on a certain date or your new job is starting in a couple of weeks so you want to be settled in by then. Acknowledging that moving is not simple, you have to carefully consider how to go about it. When you hire a reputable moving company, the physical part of bringing your belongings to your new home is mostly taken care of. Now, what you really need to thoroughly plan for are all the other things apart from the actual move. Here are some things to put on your checklist:
- Providing your bank, doctor, and people that send mail to you with your new address
- Calling all your utility providers, settling balances, and transferring services to your new address if needed
- Updating your information for government services such as social security, postal service, and the IRS
Doing these things before you’ve completely moved to a new location will save you time and money.
Prepare the destination
A lot of the stresses that come with moving stem from people being ill-prepared when it comes to the challenges that arrive after you’ve arrived at your new residence. Whether you’re just moving neighborhoods or moving cities, it’s still a big change that you’d want to go as smooth as possible. While some things you can only do when you’ve already moved, you can at least prepare. Here’s a quick checklist of what you can do.
- Call utility companies to make sure water and electricity is already running, at the very least
- Buy a tool box for basic home improvements and repairs and bring that with you when you move
- Map out routes from your new home to common destinations like schools, hospitals, drugstores, and grocery shops
- Pack essentials first but put the box in last so you have access to them easily when you get to your new home
- Look up your address on web street view maps and familiarize yourself with your immediate neighborhood
- Tell your friends and family about your new address, and set up a couple of visits for the first few months
These are just three things you must do in order to reduce the stress of moving. It’s a new chapter in your life, you’d want to start fresh as hassle-free as possible.