A month before moving tips

So, you’ve decided to move house…

Hopefully, you still have a month or two before the actual move happens as you are reading this text.

In this blog post we will attempt to help you to make the utterly stressful losing and finding things, along with packing, labeling and forgetting necessities less disorganized and more comfortable.

A month before moving tip 1: Starting early

If you have decided to move house, you probably have two locations ready: your current home and your future home. If not, you’re reading this post a bit too early, but keep reading. If you are in the ‘packing my boxes two days before the move’ stage, you are reading this text a bit too late, but, we will still attempt to help you find your socks. Though, you really should be looking at the text in our link below ‘a week before moving tips’.

So, firstly, we’ll give you these words of a month before moving tips wisdom:

The early bird gets the worm.

There is no such thing as being too early or too organized (except if you haven’t picked out a house yet). After deciding to move, making sure that your future home is available and planning your budget for the move, you should consider starting your sorting.

Moving, in essence, is an expensive luxury, so, you should try and save as much money as possible during the process. So, here is another one of our a month before moving tips. Firstly: weight is money. You don’t really need that Halloween costume from college, do you? Also, that old sofa chair in front of your TV, no matter how comfortable, isn’t really going to survive the move, is it?

Start sorting a month or so before moving. Go through your things, room to room, deciding, what is worth moving to a new place and what is just unnecessary stuff. It is good to take aside valuables at this stage. Remember, things do get lost or damaged during a move, so you should keep your most prized possessions with you during the process itself. It would be good, at this a month before moving ‘Planning stage’ to place your valuables in a single room or box, where you can pack them last, easily.

It would be great to take inventory of your furniture at this point, as well. Decide which items you like and want to keep, and which are simply too old or should be replaced for any other reason. Get a floor plan of your new home and pretend to be an interior designer for a month or two before actually moving. Try different combinations of your old and new furniture and how you should place them together. You’ve always wanted to move that living room sofa from the middle of the room and place it next to the wall? This is your chance! You really don’t want to find yourself standing in the hall of your new home and directing your movers on a whim.

Moving tip 2: Packing

As the time passes, your move is getting closer and closer. So, here’s another piece of our a month before moving tips:

So many items, so little space.

Popular or not in your neighborhood, a garage sale is a thing. You may have done it before, and if you have, then you completely understand why we’re suggesting it. There are simply too many things that are just so precious, but you don’t have the space in your new home for them. Then, why not give them a new home, a new owner, as well?

If you want to be extra productive in your community, there is also donation. Remember, there are always those less fortunate who will be more than happy to receive your kindness. A good deed a day…

Not to mention, if you’re moving in Europe (and some places in the USA), every city has a day in the month when ‘the big stuff’ is thrown out. So, get well informed and find out when this day is. Not only so that you can clear out the unnecessary furniture of your home, but so that you can provide those pieces to another. After all, there are many people who look for items to repair and refurnish their houses with for free. Oh yes, we are talking about curb side picking.

A month before moving tip 3: Utilities and subscriptions

Now, your move is getting closer and closer. We would suggest notifying your post office, credit card companies, magazine subscriptions and, of course, your friends and family of your change of address. You want your mail and bills to arrive to the proper home, right?

Also, you want to contact your utilities early on, around a month or so before moving, to arrange the disconnection of services the day after your move. You will need your internet in case of panic, after all? No?

While we are on the subject of utilities, you should also contact the companies which will be providing those services in your new home and arrange for them to be turned on a day or so before your arrival. Also, you might consider organizing a cleaning crew to make sure that your new home is impeccable for your move-in. This should be scheduled about a day before the move-in, as well. And, as we’re talking about a ready house, you want to leave a clean and functioning home for the new owners of your house as well. So, you should do any repairs that have been waiting until ‘spring or summer’ now and also arrange for a cleaning of your home a day after you’ve left.

Moving tip4: First things first

Now, there is probably around two or three weeks to your move, no? If so, we are right on schedule! If not, read quicker! Here, the actual packing begins. It’s a tedious process, full of stressful decisions, so remember this evergreen moving tip:

Seldom used first

Start packing from the things you don’t need. All of those books in the library? Yeah, you probably haven’t read over a half of them in a few years. That’s a good place to start. The out of season clothes? Here is another beginning with which you should tackle this monstrosity of a move. All those fancy plates that your mother insists on keeping, just in case an army comes to dinner, which haven’t really been used in a few years can also be a good starting point. While we’re on the topic of plates, be careful when you pack them. If you don’t have the original packaging, you should make sure to wrap each piece with bubble wrap and stack them on the side, rather than in a pile. Here’s one extra a month before moving tip: You should write Fragile/Load on top on these boxes (also, up and down, if necessary).

Don’t be stingy

Buy new boxes and pack in those. Your old ones have been used already and some of them won’t survive the move. So, if you want to make sure that none of your precious items break, you should definitely not try to save money on packing supplies. After all, moving companies offer them in all sizes at a very affordable price. Also, if you are in the ‘Green Team’, there is a possibility of renting out plastic boxes for your move, as well. While we are on the topic of movers’ services, this is probably a great time to contact them as well. The best thing, of course, is to have someone you know recommend a moving company. If not, a very useful website called Yelp is there to help. Be sure to look up moving companies near your city, whether in Europe, or anywhere else in the world. Also, no one said you only had to contact one. Go with a few, and decide based on their estimate prices and services. You should schedule the move and the movers and driver will help you with any questions and details. Be sure not to schedule your move on a day of a marathon, parade, festival or any other traffic blocking event in your old and your new neighborhood.

So, we’re leaving you here, around a week or so before your move, and we advise that you click on the link below and take a look at our ‘a week before moving tips’…