Moving out of your current home can be emotional and extremely stressful at the same time. Shifting your complete household containing years’ worth of accumulated items is a task next to impossible. It’s better to start planning well in advance, pack, load, transport, ensure the safety of goods, unload, unpack, and finally, set up your new home to your liking. Leaving behind years of memories and adjusting to the unfamiliar surroundings at your new place is difficult.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the entire process, we have made a Master To-Do List of 25 things to help simplify the process. If you break up the whole process into steps to follow one after the other, you will be able to plan more effectively, be organized and leave no room for error. First and foremost, it’s best to start planning the relocation at least 20 – 30 days before the move, so that you can comfortably prepare everything before for the pros arrive. Next, go through the below steps to prepare for your move according to the timeline – before moving, on moving day, and after you move to the new place.

Before Moving Day:

1. Categorize items: One of the first things you should do is to sort your belongings into different groups like clothes, toiletries, books, electronics, appliances, valuables, kitchen stuff, etc. Make a list of all the things that you will be moving with you and keep the unwanted items aside.
2. Distribute tasks: Assign different packing tasks for every day on the calendar until the day of the move so that you can keep track of the work being completed and remain stress-free for the days leading up to moving day.
3. Look for Packers and Movers: Research and get info on the best Packers and Movers Company in your locality and compare quotes to match your budget requirements. Do a thorough research of the moving company details before hiring them.
4. De-clutter unwanted things: MANY things may have accumulated over time in your current household and found their way into hidden places in the house like dusty shelves, above the cupboards, etc. It’s necessary to get rid of these things to ensure a light and budget-friendly move.
5. Compare and choose: After you receive responses and quotes from at least 2-3 Packers and Movers, compare them and finalize the most cost-effective one, which matches your budget and requirements.
6. Discuss requirements: Call your moving company to inform them about the date and timings. Also, request them to conduct a pre-move survey so that you can discuss your moving requirements in more detail and get accurate shifting charges.
7. Pack an Overnight Bag: Before you start packing everything, first make sure you set aside some of the basic necessities that you would need after moving like toothbrush, extra pair of clothes, toiletries, etc. Since you wouldn’t start unpacking right away, you can keep your essentials bag ready to use so that you can survive your first 2 – 3 days at home comfortably. Also, it’s a great reason to keep all your valuables close to you, like jewelry, ornaments, and documents, etc.
8. Pre-clean the new home: Spend a day or two to clean up your new house and check if everything is working fine like lights, fans, and plug sockets, plumbing, etc. Since it becomes difficult to clean the house after the boxes get delivered, you should deep-clean the home to make sure you have a truly fresh start.
9. Important Documents: Gather all your necessary documents, sort through them, discard unwanted papers, and organize them neatly into files. Moreover, while you’re at it, you could even label the file folders accordingly so that it becomes more accessible for your reference in the future.
10. Manage Utility Services: It’s vital to inform your utility service departments about your move so that you get your connections disconnected or transferred. Give them the exact date when you want the services to end so that you do not keep paying for services you aren’t using. Contact the following departments to manage utilities at both houses:
    1. Gas
    2. Electricity
    3. Telephone
    4. Internet
    5. TV-Cable
    6. Water connection
    7. Newspaper
    8. Garbage/ recycling company

Note – Sometimes, transferring utilities is not possible for those specific to your new neighborhood, like water connection, garbage collection, etc. In that case, call and inform the respective departments there, about when you need them to begin those services for you.

11. Address Change: Before moving out, make a list of all the businesses where you should notify and update your new address. Here is a checklist of places to update your address:
    1. Post Office
    2. Current Employer
    3. Bank & Credit Card Company
    4. Loan Providers
    5. Insurance Providers – health, dental, automobile
    6. Doctor & Pharmacy
    7. Magazine Subscriptions
    8. Clubs & Organizations
    1. Online Shopping Sites
    10. Friends and Family
12. Stop buying groceries: Stop buying groceries at least a week before moving day so that you don’t waste perfectly good food. Instead, try to cook with all the remaining veggies or have a get-together with friends as a little goodbye dinner. You can even utilize this opportunity to order in and kick back with a pizza and Netflix & Chill to de-stress from all the packing.
13. Prepare the Electronics: Pack the electronics in their own boxes, so take out the original cases of your devices. Before unplugging them, take a picture of the wire connections from behind so that it becomes easy to re-connect them once you move in.
14. Clean the Appliances: One of the last things you need to do one day before the moving date is to clean and defrost your fridge. Unplug the refrigerator and let it defrost overnight before wiping it down from inside out. If you still have any food items remaining that haven’t gone bad, you can give them out to the needy instead of throwing them away.
15. Take complete inventory: You wouldn’t be able to remember how many boxes you had packed, and if all of them were delivered correctly. That’s why you should take a complete inventory of all the things you’re moving before letting them go on the truck. Having a personal checklist will help you keep track of all the items, and you will be able to claim for missing or damaged items easily.
16. Explore the neighborhood: When you visit the new house for cleaning and checking for repairs, take some time out to explore the area and become familiar with the place. Meet your neighbors and ask them about the safety of the locality, nearby educational institutions, hospitals, and other required amenities.

On Moving Day:

17. Take Pictures: Before the movers arrive, take photos of all the goods so that you have physical proof of the initial condition of all the items. This will help make it easier to claim compensation in case of damages or if things go missing.
18. Clear the pathway: To ensure safe loading of goods, keep the path from doorstep to vehicle clear of anything that may hinder smooth movement. Oversee the loading process and guide the crew when handling fragile or large items that may be easily damaged.
19. Disassembling large goods: Large appliances and furniture will need to be dismantled before packing and loading. Make sure you guide the crew to dismantle carefully and without any damage.
20. Final walkthrough: Before you leave home, walk through every single room and check every cupboard to make sure you didn’t leave anything essential or small behind. Also, bring out your inventory list and count down all the boxes that are loaded into the vehicle.

After Moving:

21. Unloading goods: When the team begins unloading of goods into your house, guide them through every turning and corner of the new home to ensure walls and objects aren’t damaged.
22. Check inventory list: As items are unloaded, keep your inventory checklist handy so that you can keep ticking off the boxes that are delivered correctly. This way, in case of any missing box or damages, you can notify the company immediately and get a quick resolution for the problem.
23. Assembling goods: The furniture and large appliances that were dismantled need to be put back together to be in perfect working condition. So, make sure you guide the movers during the re-assembly as the items can get damaged easily.
24. Set up the large items: While the packing crew is already there, take their help to set up the significant items like fridge, sofa, bed, etc. in their respective places. The task of having to do this all alone is much more complicated, and getting it done in the beginning ensures you have more time to unpack the smaller stuff.
25. Feel at home: Once the packers and movers leave, after helping you have a smooth transition into your new place, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Take in the new environment, kick up your heels, and look forward to creating new and exciting memories.

Wrapping it all up

Moving can be a strenuous process, especially if you haven’t planned how to go about it. There are about 600 different things you need to remember and so less time to complete it all in. That’s why you should start planning way ahead of time and put your tasks down on paper to make them easy to remember. Keeping a moving checklist handy will help you stay on the right track and be stress-free on the days before moving day.