Moving is the easy part after the exhausting and expensive task of buying a home, right? Not so fast. If you don’t plan for your move properly, you could end up short on time and it could very well end up being one of the most stressful parts of your homebuying experience.
Here are some ways that you can make moving a bearable – dare we say easy – part of the process.
- Pack a necessities bag for each member of your family.
It’s frustrating when you get to the new house and want to crack open a bottle of wine, brush your teeth, or take a shower and put on some new clothes but can’t find your corkscrew, toothbrush, or underwear. Do your future self a favour and pack a small bag with everything you think you’ll need for a couple of days. It will keep you from stumbling over boxes while looking for the third box that says ‘bathroom.’
- Label smartly
Of course you have a list of the contents of each box. But what good is it knowing that you have towels in the ‘linens’ box when it ends up in the kitchen? Take the extra few minutes to write the final destination of the box on the box itself. Unpacking will be much easier and you can actually leave the box hauling to your movers, as opposed to moving everything around later.
- Pre-clean
Have you ever tried to clean while simultaneously unpacking and organizing? Spoiler alert: it’s futile. If possible, schedule some time before moving day to get everything spic and span so you know everything is clean and you feel comfortable putting away your belongings right away. Even better, hire cleaners to do it for you. It shouldn’t take them long to clean an empty home, and you know that a thorough job has been done, from the refrigerator to the toilets to the windows.
- Investigate your movers
This may seem obvious, but make sure your movers have plenty of references and that you’ve spoken to them all. Also make sure that you have a firm quote both for moving as well as unloading your goods. There are plenty of people who have found themselves in quite the predicament when movers load up the moving truck, only to demand more payment before they unload. Check to see if the company has any specific policies or additional premiums for moving heavier/more labor-intensive terms such as pianos and pool tables. Also clarify any assumptions as to who is providing the materials and/or doing the packing and whether or not that’s included in the quote.
- Avoid food waste
If you’re a weekly – or more frequent – grocery shopper, force yourself to stop buying food a couple of weeks before you move. This will force you to truly clean out your fridge (and maybe even your freezer) before moving, which results in a lot less food that you’re have to choose between throwing out or putting in coolers and keeping cold while you move to your new home. Even better, you’ll probably end up digging into your pantry reserves, which means you’ll have fewer dry goods to pack up.
- Defrost your fridge
If you’re taking your refrigerator with you, it’s standard practice to defrost it so that any ice that’s accumulated over time will melt and you can clean it up before it goes onto the truck. Defrosting can take anywhere from a couple of hours for a frost-free fridge to 24 hours for a more standard version, so make sure you leave enough time before the movers arrive.
