Moving out gets easier once you are aware of the things that need to be done and when. Moving without a schedule would mean you would be leaving all your important chores till the last minute, causing you to get panicked with all your packing, paperwork, utility connections, and other stuff.
The idea of having a 30-day house shifting plan would help you in having ample amount of time to sort out your belongings, selecting the right packers and movers, sorting out your paperwork, and slowly getting ready to move out of your current place.
If you want to shift out to a new apartment in the same city or even move out of the city, a 30-day house shifting plan would definitely help you out.
30 Days Before Moving: Fix the Moving Date
Your first task should be to establish the date you are moving to. With the date confirmed, everything else will fall in place.
Before setting the date, think of your working days, schooling arrangements for your kids, dates on your rental agreement, how much traveling time you need, and availability of family members. When you’re renting out a new house, ensure that the house will be available when you get there.
After you have set the date, look out for reliable packers and movers. Compare the services, experience, packing process, transportation arrangement, and quotations of several firms before settling on one.
Do not choose a mover based on the lowest quotation available. A good packer and mover will give you the necessary information regarding what their quotation covers.
27 Days Before Moving: Declutter Your Home
About four weeks before your move, it’s time to start organizing and sorting your possessions. Walk through each room, each cabinet, each drawer, each storage space and determine what should really be moved to the new place.
Determine what things are to be kept and what is to be donated, sold, recycled, or thrown away. It’s great to de-clutter your life while moving, since there is no sense in paying for transporting something that you don’t need anymore.
Avoid trying to do the whole house at once. Work on it step by step, room by room. Start with the storage spaces and possessions which are seldom used.
If you’re going to move into an apartment, pay special attention to the size of the furniture and storage places.
24 Days Before Moving: Book Your Packers and Movers
By now, you must be having your moving firm and have booked yourself with it.
Let the movers know your needs. Give them all the information regarding the pickup address, destination address, number of items, nature of property, floor number, lift facility, and any big and delicate items which would require special attention.
Check with them what all is covered under the quote, including packing, loading, transport, unloading, and unpacking of the items. If you require any other service like furniture dismantling and assembling, make sure that you know about it before hand.
Keep all your documents secure. It will help to save you from any confusion in future.
21 Days Before Moving: Start Packing Non-Essentials
It will be appropriate to start the packing three weeks before moving day. It is wise to start with items that are not frequently used.
Items such as seasonal clothes, decorations, books, additional kitchen utensils, extra beddings, guest room items, and seldom used items can be packed early.
Packing of items randomly should be avoided at all costs. Items belonging to a certain room should be kept together for easy unloading at the new residence.
Boxes and adequate cushioning material should be used. Items such as glass items, mirrors, crockery, and decorations should have added cushioning.
18 Days Before Moving: Organize Important Documents
Moving requires more documentation than most people realize. Try to gather up relevant documentation and organize it.
Depending on your situation, these can include ID documentation, rental contracts, documentation related to the property itself, insurance documentation, educational documentation, financial documentation, medical documentation, and more.
Do not place these items in regular moving boxes. Instead, keep them organized in their own special folder or bag and take them along with you through the entire moving process.
It is also a good time to see what kind of documentation you require from your apartment society, landlord, employer, college, or elsewhere.
15 Days Before Moving: Arrange Utilities
Approximately two weeks prior to moving, begin taking care of all utility matters. Notify electricity, gas, internet, water, and other utility companies regarding service transfers, disconnections, or activations.
In case you are moving into a new apartment, ensure that the utilities will be available upon your arrival. In case you need a new internet service, schedule the appointment in advance, as technicians might not be readily available.
In your current place of residence, ensure that all bills have been paid and finalize any required meter readings.
12 Days Before Moving: Pack More Rooms
It is expected that by now, quite a lot of your household will have been packed up. Continue with packing the rest of the rooms, reducing the amount of unpacked stuff.
Don’t pack the things that you’ll need for the last couple of days until you really have to. It makes no sense to pack things you’ll need regularly a bit earlier.
Label each box with the room it belongs to and a short description of what’s inside the box. Such a description as “Bedroom – winter clothes” will be more helpful than just “box 5.”
Mark boxes with fragile items clearly so that they could be handled properly.
10 Days Before Moving: Check Your New Home
It is ideal if you are able to take a look at your new house and check it out before the moving day arrives. Test the electricity, water lines, doors, windows, light fittings, plumbing, and the general state of the house.
Take measurements of the doors and open spaces to be able to accommodate bulky items of furniture. Knowing where to put the big furniture in advance will make moving day easier.
In case you are moving into a residential society, discuss with the management regarding regulations on moving.
7 Days Before Moving: Pack Most Remaining Belongings
A week prior to your moving, all of your items should already be packed. However, exclude those that will still be required during the last few days.
It would be best to make an essentials pack for your clothing, toiletries, chargers, medications, important documents, keys, and other necessary items.
Do not place your valuable items such as jewelry, money, computers, and other significant electronics inside the moving van but keep them instead within your possession.
Check the progress of your packing and get in touch with your movers should there be any change on the original plan.
5 Days Before Moving: Finish the Main Packing
Four days prior to moving out, pack most of the rest of your belongings. You will find your kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, and living rooms all nearly sorted out at this point.
Only leave behind things that you need in the coming days. Do not unpack any cartons unless it’s absolutely essential, as this will make extra effort.
Make sure that all cartons are sealed and labeled. If you have an inventory list, it must be updated while you are packing.
This is also the time to see if there are certain belongings that require special handling. These could include paintings, heavy furniture, pianos, or anything else.
3 Days Before Moving: Confirm Everything
Three days prior to the move, reach out to your movers and packers, and confirm your booking once again.
Confirm the date of your move, the time of arrival, the pick-up location, the destination location, the contact number, and the mode of transport that will be used for your move.
In case of an apartment, confirm the service elevator and parking arrangements too.
In case there are any moving permits or security deposits required by your building, make sure that the formalities are completed.
2 Days Before Moving: Prepare Your Essentials
Get ready the baggage and things you will carry with you two days before shifting.
Your personal baggage should contain all your clothes, toilet products, medicine, chargers, important documents, your keys, wallets, etc. If you are shifting along with your kids or elderly people, then get ready essential baggage for them.
Have basic food and drinking water at hand as your kitchen might have been partially packed up till now.
You also need to keep cleaning materials, tissues, tools, and other such things within reach as you may require them at your new house.
1 Day Before Moving: Final Checks
The day prior to the move should be a day of doing last minute checks rather than engaging in new activity.
Go around all rooms and make sure that nothing has been left unpacked. Check out your cabinets, drawers, shelves, balconies, storage rooms, and even bathrooms.
Keep your phones fully charged and keep your chargers handy. Keep all of your important documents and valuable items close by.
Make sure you have made all of your travel plans and that you know how you will get to your new place.
Get plenty of rest as the next day may be both physically and emotionally exhausting.
Moving Day: Supervise the Process
Moving Day: Pack the important stuff yourself and let the professional movers take care of the hard work.
Give all specific instructions before the loading begins and inform them about the delicate items.
As they start loading the cartons, maintain an account of what is being loaded. Before starting the drive, do one last walk through each and every room.
Check cabinets, drawers, bookshelves, bathrooms, balconies, and store rooms. It is surprising how easy it can be to forget little things in a chaotic move like this.
Once you are assured that everything is packed, lock the place and set off to the new destination.
Arrival Day: Check the Shipment
When the moving truck arrives at your new location, monitor the entire unloading process. It is advisable to ensure that all the boxes are directed to the right rooms and not to a general location.
By using the tags that you marked on your cartons, you will be able to know their destination. This makes the unpacking process faster.
Ensure you check the number of cartons against your record as well as some major furniture items, appliances, and fragile things to see whether there is any form of damage.
In case of any problem, ensure you take pictures of the problem and notify the moving company. You should retain your moving papers up until the move is complete.
First Week After Moving: Unpack Gradually
It is not necessary for you to get everything out of your boxes on day one. You can begin with your necessities.
You should start with your bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. When you are done organizing the rooms that are essential, you can then proceed to the living room, study, and other places.
Due to the labels on your cartons, finding your items will become less of a hassle.
The first week should be dedicated to organizing your home and not just moving items from one place to another. You should think about how you want to arrange things in your rooms.
Don’t Forget to Update Your Address
Having settled in the new house, make sure to update your address whenever required. These places could be your banks, insurance agencies, schools, colleges/universities, employers, subscription agencies, delivery companies, and other important institutions.
In case of a shift of city, update your address in those institutions that need your current residential address.
Updating your address ensures timely delivery of documents and other communications.
Final Thoughts
A house move does not have to be a hasty one; instead, in a 30-day time frame, all processes can be easily divided into smaller and simpler activities that will help you to prepare your house gradually and without any extra stress.
In the beginning, find out the exact moving date and choose good packers and movers. Next, you will need to get rid of clutter, pack your things and documents, organize your utilities, and arrange your apartment or building rules.
In the last week, it will be necessary to complete your packing and to prepare your essentials. During the moving day, professional movers will do the heavy lifting, while you will monitor their work.
As experts at Sunrise Packers & Movers know, every move needs some special organization. Packing, loading, transport, and unloading require professional assistance, which can simplify the whole moving process for you.
It is vital to begin early and do everything step by step. There is no need to do everything at once; instead, you just need to follow the time schedule and do several things a day.