Moving is hard work and stressful. There’s nothing we can do about that, but we can make things just a little easier by being organised and thinking ahead. Below are 20 awesome tips that will help you with a smooth move.
1. If you’re able to, arrive at your new house before the move and pre-clean the bathroom and kitchen
You’ll probably be dying for a nice hot shower at the end of the day so make sure you have towels stocked. Don’t forget to also stock toilet paper.
2. Pack an overnight bag containing your essentials
You’ll probably be too tired at the end of the day to unpack your things so you’ll want easy access to your essential items. These include a change of clothes and your toiletries. You’ll probably also want to include any devices you use on a daily basis such as a laptop or tablet.
3. Pack the things you will require first in a clear plastic bin
Some of the items might include a Stanley knife, rubbish bags, toilet paper, essential tools, a charger for your phone and essential eating utensils.
4. Use your socks for padding glassware
Clean socks are perfect for protecting glasses and breakables. Everybody has lots of socks so why not put them to good use.
5. In combination with marking what’s inside your boxes, mark what room they will be going in as well
If every room has the correct boxes in it, your unpacking job will be allot quicker and easier.
6. Use a colour-coding system
Label each box with a colour tag that corresponds to a room in the new house. Mark the door in the new place with this colour tag so that the removalists know which room to put the boxes in.
7. Unpack by room
The unpacking task will feel far more manageable.
8. Label the sides of the boxes, not the tops
This way, you’ll be able to see what’s in the boxes when they’re stacked.
9. Pack plates vertically, like records
They’ll be less likely to break.
10. When packing, use sandwich bags for small parts such as screws
Tape the sandwich bags to the back of the item they are for. It’s also a good idea to do this for power cords and adaptors.
11. Vacuum seal your out-of-season clothing
This will take up less space, be easier to pack and fit beautifully into storage in your new place.
12. If you’ve got items that you plan to sell on eBay or Gumtree, then do it at least 4-8 weeks before moving
There’s no point moving items and then having to put them up for sale once you’ve moved to your new place, you might as well get rid of them before you move. You might
even be able to make enough money back to pay for the entire move itself.
13. Give unwanted stuff to charity
If you’ve got items that you want to get rid of but can’t be bothered trying to sell, then give them to charity. Arrange for the charity to come pick them up at least a week before moving.
14. If you’re getting friends or family to help you move, make sure you packed everything before moving day
Seriously, there’s nothing worse than lending a day to a friend to help them move, only to find they haven’t packed yet, aren’t organised and expert you to hang around half the day just packing their stuff. Have your stuff ready to be moved!
15. Number your boxes
Create a list of what’s in each box by number. This will make it much easier to tell if all you’re boxes made it to the new property.
16. If you have a lot of fragile items, hiring a removalist as opposed to asking friends can end up paying for itself
Professional removalists have experience moving fragile goods and many movers come with insurance, which means if something breaks, they have to compensate you.
17. If you’re renting, take photos of your cleaned-out old home and your new home before moving in
This is essential if you ever hope to get your deposit back. It will save you major headaches with difficult landlords who charge you cleaning and repair fees unnecessarily when moving out.
18. Make a list of every company you need to update your details with
There’s more companies to change your address and phone number with than you may think. Credit cards, PayPal, Online stores, magazine subscriptions and the list goes on… So get started making a list of these a couple of week before you move and start changing them
19. Don’t buy too much groceries in the weeks before your move
The more food you end up using before moving, the less you’ll have to throw out.
20. For local removals, get a friend or relative to sit the kids and pets
The very last thing you need is to be worrying about losing track of your kids or pets during this stressful day.
We hope you find this list useful. If you have any other great tips please share them below.