When you’re planning a move, it can feel like there are too many steps in your moving checklist to prioritize, let alone accomplish. Combine this with the fear of forgetting something, and you have a recipe for a far more unpleasant experience than moving needs to be.
Here’s a complete checklist for moving, prioritized by time
This moving checklist gives you the most important steps, prioritized with a suggested timeline. Don’t worry if you’re starting less than eight weeks before your move date. You can customize this list according to your own timeline, and add steps or leave out ones that don’t apply.
Do a complete home inventory: What stays and what goes?
Begin packing items from basements, sheds and attics
Start or complete a move out checklist of repairs, replacements and cleanup required by buyers or inspectors
Take a farewell family picture of your house before the move
6 weeks before
Donate items to charities
Plan a garage sale
Get copies of school and medical records
Label all audio, video and computer cables and take pictures for easy reassembly
Continue packing, going room by room
4 weeks before
File your change of address with the U.S. Postal Service
Make arrangements for transporting plants and pets
Contact utility providers and insurance companies
If you’re self-packing, gather supplies and pack items you won’t need right away in your new home
Collect items you’ve lent to friends and family
2 weeks before
Collect important documents that will travel with you, instead of in moving boxes:
Birth certificates
Marriage licenses
Automobile titles and registrations
Insurance papers
Bank records
Medical records
School records
Veterinary records
Sketch a layout of your new home to show movers (or yourself) where to place heavy items, so you won’t have to rearrange them later
1 week before
Settle all outstanding accounts with local businesses
Set aside items you’re taking with you, like:
Cell phones and chargers
Prescription medicine
Car keys
Travel clothing and toiletries
Collect items you’ve hidden, like spare house or car keys
Get medications refilled
Pack an “Open Me First” box with essentials like:
Paper towels
Soap
Toilet paper
Light bulbs
Exchange cell phone numbers with your movers and current neighbors
Sweep, mop, wipe-down and clean your current home as necessary according to your move out checklist
Empty and defrost the fridge
Moving day
Leave garage door openers and keys for the next owner
Make sure someone is available to direct movers and answer questions
Double-check all mover documentation like “bills of lading” and inventory lists
Some of the items on this checklist for moving may not apply to you, and you’ll want to add a few based on circumstances unique to you or your family. But based on our experience, this moving checklist should get you well on your way to a successful journey.
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