It can be rather daunting and intimidating to have to deal with a house move when you’ve never moved out before. You’re likely to feel doubtful about your chances of success simply because you’ve never had to move house until that very moment.
Of course, the lack of house-moving experience should be the one to blame. You just don’t know exactly what you’re supposed to do. When should you even start preparing for the upcoming move? What should you do first of all?
Even when you’re aware of the most important things you have to do prior to moving out (you do know that you’re supposed to pack up your things), you won’t really know how to prioritize the moving tasks so that you can be safe even if you run out of time before Moving day.
Moving out for the first time is no fun… but it happens to all of us at one time or another in life. And it’s just this one time – once you survive your very first house move without any serious injuries or costly property damage, it should be much easier to organize a smoother move the next time around.
And this is exactly why we’ve created this guide to moving out for the first time – to help you pull off a problem-free move now so that you can gain the experience and know-how needed for your next one.
Fear not! Just follow these 5 steps to moving out for the first time and you should be alright.
Step 1. Make a list of all the things you should do before moving out
The major issue when you’re moving out for the first time is that you simply don’t know what you should do to prepare adequately for the upcoming move. You do know what you’re expected to do in general – pack up your things in boxes and hire someone to transport those boxes to the new place – but you’re likely to be confused about where to start. And when. And how.
A personal moving checklist will help you manage your time in the best possible way.
To make things even more complicated, getting ready to move out is much more than just packing – there are also countless other important tasks to take care of such as changing your address, transferring your home utilities, and arguably the toughest job of them all – deciding which items you’ll take with you and which ones you’ll leave behind.
The sheer number of things to do when moving out for the first time can be overwhelming and that’s exactly why you should do all in your power to introduce order and structure to the house moving process. It’s simple – all you have to do is make a to-do list for moving so that you don’t forget to do something really, really important.
Write on a piece of paper or use a word processor on your computer or smartphone all the things you know for sure that you have to do during the preparation period. Don’t worry about arranging those tasks in any particular order, just write them down so that you don’t forget about them later.
Once you’re ready, check this detailed MOVING CHECKLIST and “steal” from it any extra jobs that happen to apply in your case as well. What you’ve just done is called personalization – that is, you’ve made sure all the moving tasks in your to-do list are relevant for you and your move.
The next step is to prioritize your newly-created personal moving checklist. Prioritization means assigning degrees of priority for each task with the purpose of completing the super-important ones first if it turns out that you won’t have enough time to do all of them before you have to move out.
What’s the next step? To start working on your own personalized and prioritized moving checklist.
Step 2. Say goodbye to the possessions you don’t need anymore
Since you don’t have much relocation experience, one rookie mistake you can make while preparing to move out is to decide to take with you all the household items found in the current home, including all the furniture pieces that you own.
Now, you may be wondering why moving all your possessions is considered a mistake – after all, aren’t those things yours? And you can do whatever you want with your belongings, can’t you?
Yes, and yes. But because you lack any house-moving experience, you won’t be able to see right away all the benefits of sorting out and decluttering your things before you begin to pack them into cardboard boxes of various sizes.
Here’s WHY you should pare down the number of your things prior to packing:
Are you seriously taking all the pairs of sneakers you own?
Fewer things to move means less total shipment weight, which also means lower transportation costs.
Fewer items to pack means less time spent packing, which also means lower packing expenses for boxes, packing paper, and bubble wrap.
Fewer possessions to move to the new place means less time spend unpacking, which also means more storage space available in the new home.
Opting out to move only the things you do like and do intend to use in the foreseeable future is one of the best decisions you’ll make when moving out for the first time. Just keep asking yourself over and over again, Do I really need this?, until you’re only left with useful items that you will continue to use and enjoy long after the move.
Go through your items carefully and decide what you’re going to do with each one depending on their current condition, usefulness, and value. Be ready for some tough decisions because the sentimental value will also play a big role in choosing what to take and what not to take to the new home. As a first-time mover, you may find it really challenging to let go of some of your possessions.
Moving experts are unanimous that if you haven’t used an item in more than a year, then you don’t really need that said item and therefore you should seriously consider not moving it to the new home.
How to Get Rid of Stuff When Moving
Step 3. Pack whatever things you can by yourself
Even without any experience in moving from one home to another, you must realize that the most important task before you is to pack up your things for a move.
You wish to take some of your belongings with you to the new place but that destination place is usually far away, often hundreds or thousands of miles from where you are now. What that means, in reality, is that the great distance between the two homes necessitates proper protection for your things – otherwise, there’s a very high risk that your items will get damaged along the way.
You shouldn’t have any problems packing up your clothes for moving.
So, packing your stuff safely is a must-do task but the real question is whether you should be able to do it by yourself or whether you should hire professional packers to do it for you. The great news is that you can use the in-between option that will help you lower your moving expenses without having to make any compromises over safety.
Luckily, you can still pack some of your belongings securely even when you’ve never had to pack any of your stuff for a move before. Household items such as clothes, bedding, blankets, and other soft goods are not breakable, so you can easily pack them up in large cardboard boxes without fear of damaging them in any way.
Shoes and books are two other types of items that you should be able to pack by yourself without any difficulties. Place wads of clean packing paper inside closed shoes to keep their shape. Also, remember to pack books in small boxes (they become too heavy too quickly) and to NEVER pack them with their spines facing you.
Thus said, you should recognize your limitations when it comes to packing skills and let professionals protect your breakable items – kitchen plates, glasses, electronics, artwork pieces, lamps, and anything else that requires plenty of padding to survive the move. Also, let furniture movers disassemble and protect any large and heavy furniture items that you may have decided to move to the new home.
Follow a packing timeline to give yourself the best possible chance of managing the packing task without any serious issues. However, if you happen to be in a hurry to move out or you doubt your packing skills, it’s always best to request the add-on service of packing from a full-service moving company.
Step 4. See if your friends will be willing to help you move
One of the things you should know when moving out for the first time is that you won’t be able to manage it all without any assistance. Even if you had plenty of experience in moving from one place to another, you would still realize that a house move is a big project that cannot be completed without any help, be it from family members, friends, or professional movers.
This beginner’s guide to moving out strongly recommends that you ask your good friends to give you a hand, especially on the day of the move when there are plenty of heavy items to be taken out of the home and loaded into a moving vehicle. You’re going to need a collective type of manpower to ensure Moving day safety, and the cheapest way to get that muscle power is from your circle of close friends.
Friends in need are friends indeed.
You should still keep in mind that there are certain disadvantages of asking your friends to help you move: you might feel awkward asking them for such a big favor, the risk of damage to your items or the property will be higher compared to using professional moving services, there’s always some danger of personal injuries, and of course – you will be indebted to your pals and will have to return the favor someday.
And yet, there are also a number of indisputable advantages of asking your buddies to give you a hand with the move, so here are 3 important things to keep in mind before you do so:
Ask your friends for moving help as soon as you can to minimize the level of disruption to their own agendas. The earlier you reach out to them, the greater the chance is of them saying YES.
Ask your friends to help you pack and move heavy items in person – this is still the best way to ask somebody for a favor. If that’s not an option, then make sure you get to talk with your pals over the phone for a more personal touch.
Be honest with your friends about exactly what kind of help you will need from them – if it’s about moving heavy furniture, they should know about it beforehand. Also, be ready for their arrival to prevent loss of valuable time.
How to Get Friends to Help You Move
Step 5. Hire professional movers for peace of mind
Without a doubt, the easiest way to move out when you don’t have any house-moving experience is to hire a top-rated moving company to handle the toughest aspects of your house move.
When you’re moving across the country, then this beginner’s guide to moving out of state strongly recommends that you bet on professionals with many years of experience and a high degree of professionalism. Bear in mind that long-distance moves can be very challenging even for people with substantial moving experience, meaning that they will be close to impossible to organize and execute by first-time movers.
Trust professional movers with many years of relocation experience.
To secure the best interstate movers in your area, you only need to follow these 5 steps:
Request free moving quotes from legitimate moving companies that are duly registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation;
Ask the pros to visit your home in person so that they can provide you with accurate cost estimates;
Compare the received estimates in terms of bottom price and number of add-on services;
Check the online reputation of the short-listed moving companies to see how trustworthy those movers are in the eyes of their customers;
Pick the mover that you think will best fit your budget and meet your relocation needs.
How to Find Top-Rated Movers Near You
The post A Beginner’s Guide to Moving Out: 5 Steps to Pull It Off appeared first on The Moving Blog.
