Your move may be a happy one, like taking a job promotion or starting a family. Yet regardless of the motivation behind it, the process of uprooting your life can be extremely challenging. Frankly, moving is consistently rated as one of the most stressful events anyone can experience in his/her lifetime. It ranks up with the death of a loved one, divorce, serious illness or injury, job loss, and more.
Why It’s Never Easy
Moving is never easy because you have to accept the radical changes into your routine as you dive into the unknown. Organizing the laborious aspects and complicated paperwork for your relocation is a whole other struggle in itself. Finding reliable and professional moving and car shipping companies to transport your belongings safely and in a timely fashion can be worrisome, too.
So, what can you do to make your moving simple? Here are some tips to help you transition to your new life smoothly:
- Create a timetable. Start by dividing up the entire relocation process into small, bite-sized tasks. This move could be tedious, but it works. Don’t allow yourself to put things off and then scramble at the last minute. It’s impossible to make the relocation process perfect from start to finish. By planning, though, you can avoid problematic situations and make your move less stressful, especially when the moving day arrives.
Determine how much time you have and how long you think it will take you to declutter, sort, pack, dispose of unwanted items, and many more. Create a schedule with deadlines to hit. It’s best to complete some moving tasks every day as you prepare for your actual move-out date. Cross off each moving task you finish to stay on track.
- Set a realistic budget. Two things about moving houses are true: it requires a lot of work and is expensive. One of the main reasons relocating is costly is that the process takes a great deal of work. It might not be as much if you’re moving alone, but think about what goes into moving your entire family, including pets.
Should you elect to work with movers or an auto transport company, then you’d have to pay for their labor and services. The same goes for when you hire a crew to get your home packed. In this case, you’d need to spend on labor and supplies. You may even have to consider storage costs as well, which involves another set of payments for unloading and reloading a truck. You’ll also have to pay someone to drive your belongings from your old place to your new home. On a cross-country move, you need to budget for fuel and a licensed driver to operate commercial trucks.
Moving can indeed be expensive. Yet setting a budget will be crucial in saving time and money on your move. The budget you prepare will determine if you can afford to hire professional movers and car shipping companies or resort to a do-it-yourself move. By setting a realistic budget, you help ensure that your relocation process will not strap you for cash, especially when you’re starting a new life and braving the unfamiliar.
- Establish a system. Packing day will surely be chaotic. Thus, prioritizing having a bag for your essentials is highly recommended. Put together all items you’ll need access to during your move and when you arrive at your new home. These items include important documents, medications, basic toiletries, chargers, and anything else that may be necessary for the first few days upon your arrival.
Because packing is the most time-consuming part of the relocation process, try to delegate the tasks among your family members. Depending on their capabilities, assign each of them an area in your house to pack up. Instruct each packer to take photos of the assigned areas first before packing.
Another stressful point about moving is getting your new home to look exactly how it was before. Without photos as a reference, it may be impossible to envision what your old place looked like. Photos are especially crucial when removing and re-assembling wirings and other intricately designed and organized corners of your old home.
Once done, guide your family members in labeling the boxes properly. It’s best to indicate which room each box goes to, such as the kitchen, bedroom, etc. With a proper system, you can keep everyone and everything organized.
Don’t Complicate Things
Do you already have furniture like a dresser filled with clothes? Then, leave them there instead of taking them out and packing them separately. If you decide to hire professional movers, they can easily wrap up your dressers and ensure that none of the drawers will move. Once you arrive at your new home, you’d know exactly where everything is.
If the clothes in your closet are already on hangers, don’t give them to your movers. You can leave your clothes as they are. If your kitchen tools, flatware, and other household goods are already kept secure in drawer cases, pack them up in their organizers. As soon as you reach your destination, you can take these items out of the box quickly and pop them right into the drawers easily.
What Now?
The toll moving houses can take on someone can’t be stressed enough. Hence, look for any opportunity to make your life easier during this time. With a timetable, set budget, and system that works, you can rest assured that your move will be as seamless and efficient as you hoped it would be.
