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Your Week By Week Moving Checklist

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If you’re preparing to relocate, let’s face it – you definitely want to stay organized. There’s no better recipe for chaos than going into a complicated household move without a plan. Sure, staying on top of all those chores and tasks is definitely not easy. After all, there are so many things to do simultaneously. But if you start planning well enough in advance, moving to a new home will be easier than you’d think! That’s why we’ve prepared some tips on the stuff we believe should find a place on your moving checklist.

Four To Eight Weeks Before Your Move

Once you start working on your moving checklist, the first logical question is – what’s your first priority? Largely, this depends on your timeline. Or, in other words – how far in advance are you planning your relocation? If you ask us, the optimal time is no less than one or two months before the move. Anything longer than that is probably not needed; and anything less would be cutting it a bit too close. So, with that in mind; what are the things you need to do in the period of four to eight weeks leading up to your relocation?

Bear in mind – these are your first planning stages we’re talking about. So, while you don’t have to take care of many details right away; you’ll basically have to outline the rough strokes of your relocation during this time. What that means in practice is taking care of things like your current housing; depending on your circumstances, you might want to think about selling your current home. Or if you’re renting right now, maybe subletting it, if that’s an option? Also, this is the time when you should choose your moving company; if you book them far enough in advance, you may get cheaper options.

A blank checklist marked with a black marker, on a wooden surface.
Your moving checklist is a valuable tool in planning long-term relocation!

Your Moving Checklist For Three Weeks Before Moving

If you’ve dealt with the biggest decisions on your moving checklist on time; now you’re left with things that are mostly the matter of logistics. Be careful, though – while these are all things that may not seem particularly monumental, they do tend to stack up. So if you underestimate your chores, you might find yourself biting off more than you can chew. For example – in the third week before your relocation, we recommend that you take care of all the important documentation.

So, what does that entail? Well, obviously – if you’ve got a home office with some important documents, make all the arrangements for their safe transportation. And then you should take care of all the personal documents for you and your family members. Trust us, doing this early on is important; especially if you want to avoid stress and strain later on. So, make sure you’ve got everyone’s birth certificates. And if you’re married, having copies of your wedding papers might not be a bad idea. Obviously, don’t forget taking care of passports and other ID such as driving licences. Also, at the end of the day – something that a lot of people forget are medical records.

A US passport on top of a map.
Your passport and other important documents are something you want to take care of well in advance!

Things To Do Two Weeks Before The Relocation

Now that most of your long-term chores from the moving checklist are complete, you’re entering the final phases of your relocation. While we know how tired you are already, you definitely need to soldier on. Because now that you’ve got a little more than a dozen days until your relocation; it’s time to take care of some chores that people most easily forget. What are we talking about here?

Well, for one – you’ll obviously need to change your address; so don’t forget to notify the post office of your new location. Especially if you’ve got important correspondence to maintain via ordinary mail; not doing this on time means risking delays and mail mixups. Also, you may want to do a household inventory check at this point. Take a look at all of your appliances and all of the bigger furniture pieces you intend to take with you.

Get Rid Of Unneeded Things

Once you take a closer look at your household, one thing is most certain; you’ll find that you don’t really need all of your stuff. So, a few weeks before your relocation – you might want to get rid of these things on time. There are more than a few ways to dispose of these excess items, of course. For one, you might be able to sell some of them, if they’re in good condition. And otherwise, you can donate them to a charity and put a good deed on your moving checklist.

Of course, at the end of the day – some of these things may simply be unusable to anyone. And this is the kind of stuff you shouldn’t hesitate to throw away or recycle. Remember – the more things you refuse to cling onto needlessly, the easier your relocation will be.

The Final Week Before Moving Day

Okay, now you’re truly in the final stretches of your relocation. And now comes one of the last, but biggest setpieces of any moving checklist – your packing. This is something that many people underestimate, wrongly thinking it’s pretty simple. And while packing up your household may not be the most difficult thing in the world – it’s definitely time-consuming. Which is why you shouldn’t leave it for the very last day, and give yourself as much time as possible. And if you can’t take everything you have right away, think about looking for some temporary warehouse storage.

A brown leather suitcase opened on a wooden table.
Whatever happens – make sure you leave enough time for packing!

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