As adults, most of us have moved our home location at least once in our lives. If you were one to have to move your whole family, you know the stresses that come with the territory. Once the decision is made to move, there are more decisions to follow such as what to take and what to discard, or to rent a truck or hire a moving company. The Census Bureau stated that in 2021, 27.1 million people (8.4%) moved their home locations (move.org). Another article stated that the average American is expected to move at least 10 times throughout their entire life (fivethirtyeight.com). Imagine hiring companies to pack and move you that many times.
First thing to do is to determine how much time you have before the move. If you are lucky, you have about six weeks or more. You can divide up how much time you have by how many rooms you have plus one. You want the extra one to give you time to allow time and focus for making lists and doing changes like change of addresses. Also, as soon as you confirm your move, start gathering boxes of all sizes from your local stores. They are usually willing to donate them to you free of charge. Don't underestimate how many you will need as you can always get rid of extras.
Choose one room at a time or area of your house. Take time to go through and declutter, as well as take down pictures and wall décor. Make easy piles like trash, pack, and donate. You’d be surprised how much stuff you accumulate over time that you forgot all about. Go through clothes, belts, and shoes and be reasonable. As you are making piles, pack the items that are being kept directly into the box and label it. This stops you from having to touch the same things twice. Hopefully, you can do this task over a few days per room to really organize. Leave out only items you absolutely need until the move. When you are finished, move on to the next room or area.
When you have finished the sorting of the rooms and packing things you don’t immediately need, make your rounds to donation bins or local organizations. Yard sales are great too depending on the season. Next, depending on your current living situation, you will want to do a deep clean. If you are renting and want your security deposit back or if you are selling your home to someone new, you will want to make sure everything is the way it should be. Grab your self a cheap mop stick from the dollar store and a reusable floor pad. Use a very small amount of dawn and warm water and give the walls a quick wipe. Its fast and easy and gets rid of those scuff marks and finger prints. Wipe down molding and give floor a good cleaning.
About two weeks before the big move, you will want to notify the post office for change of address. It’s also good to make a list (as mentioned earlier) of the people you will have to notify individually. You can also make a list of things you will need for the new house and things you will need to do once you get there. Having all of this in place is a great stress saver when you are trying to make the new house an actual home. Things get chaotic and you will thank your self for having put in the simple steps ahead of the moving day.
Move.org
Forbes.com
Fivethirtyeight.com
What do you think? Have you tried these methods or do you have other tips to help people make their moving experience a little easier. Let me know in the comments. You can also e-mail me directly at communitythoughts@yahoo.com. If you have a topic you would like to see here, let me know. Like and follow for more articles.
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