Moving House? Here’s What You Need To Organize
July 13, 2021
Congratulations! After months of chasing real estate agents, visiting properties, and plenty of paperwork, you have finally got yourself a new home. Good job!
While you are excited and thrilled on the outside, we know that your deeper self is a little anxious and frightened too. But, it’s fine. Preparing for a house move can do that to the best of us.
There’s just so much work involved; deciding what to take, packing, calling van rentals, loading, unloading, and the list just goes on and on. This really is a lot of work, but it becomes easier once you break it down into organized steps.
Let’s see how you can do it.
1. List down things you’re going to move.
The number one thing to do is list everything down and decide what you will take and whatnot. This might take some time, but it will save you from trouble later.
Also, remember to get your kids involved in this, as there will be a lot of old stuff lying around in the playing rooms that they will not need later on.
Oh, and do yourself a favor and get in touch with a moving company well before time to ensure their availability. You can find local removalists with Muval online instead of calling around to get quotes.
2. Know your costs.
Do you have an estimate of what it is going to cost to move to your new house? Most people tend to ignore this step, but it’s the one that helps you in two ways.
First, it lets you make quick decisions. And second, it helps you stay within your budget.
So, take into account all costs and see where you can save money. For example, if you are moving with professionals, you’ll bear the following costs:
- Packing fees
- Moving fees
- Moving insurance
- Special/Large items packing fees
- Unpacking fees
However, if you do it all on your own, you’ll will pay for:
- Packing material (cartons, tapes, clips, etc.)
- Additional moving equipment (ramp, dolly, tool kit, etc.)
- Truck/Van rental
- Gas
- Furniture and moving insurance
Once you know the costs involved, you are better positioned to make decisions.
3. Get necessary supplies
One of the things you’ll need to do before you start packing is to gather all the supplies. So, first off, start looking for cartons or boxes.
Though you can buy or rent them from a moving company, you can save money by asking for used boxes from a superstore, a warehouse, or even your office.
Besides boxes, get yourself scissors, packing tape, and labels for packing your stuff. In addition, keep some hardware tools with you like a screwdriver, pliers, and hammers for decluttering and removing the old stuff.
4. Organize everything.
To keep things streamlined, consider organizing your current house. This might sound like a waste of time, but it will save you precious minutes. Because when you start packing things, you won’t need to go and collect stuff if it is already in place.
Instead of packing things randomly, a very useful strategy is to organize and pack room by room. This gives you sort of a target to finish, and as a result, you can quantify your work and assign specific time to each room.
Once you practically apply it, you’ll see that organizing things makes the whole packing process smooth.
5. Start packing early.
Once you have the packing supplies, get into the next phase and start packing. The earlier you start the packing process, the easier it will be when your move date approaches.
Ideally, you should start packing for your move at least 2-3 weeks before your expected moving date. So, start separating the things that won’t disturb your daily routine, pack them, and set them aside.
Keep packing small stuff regularly, so you won’t have much packing to do when the big day arrives. Also, don’t forget to label the packed boxes because there will be just too many of them lying around, and it will be a total mess when you unpack unlabeled boxes.
6. Donate or sell the extras.
Let’s admit it, a lot of your stuff is not used and only has sentimental value. This could be an old jacket, decoration item, an antique table, or anything that is just occupying space and providing no real value.
Remember that these things will cost you money in packing and freight if you decide to keep them. The wise thing to do is to get rid of such stuff by either selling or giving it to a charity institution.
Once you scrape away the extras, you are only left with packing and taking the real stuff to your new house. If you have the time and strength, do it by yourself. Otherwise, professional removalists are always there!