Checklist for Moving to a New City: 20 Easy-to-Follow Steps

Moving to a new city will always be a challenge.

The good news is that the readier you are to face that new city moving challenge, the greater your chance will be to overcome all move-related difficulties.

One thing is clear – you will need a good checklist for moving to a new city to steer your house move to a successful end.

Pay attention to the following 20 steps, for they will not only help you move to the new city trouble-free, but will also guide you through the tough post-move adaptation period.

How to move to a new city? Read on to find out.

1. READ the signs: are you ready?

Before moving to a new city, you have to be absolutely sure that you’ve made the right decision. While there may be many reasons to move to a different city, you should know perfectly well why you yourself are making that big and important step.

Are you moving for a job? Love? Education? Are you running away from something… or someone? Being fed up with the weather is another valid reason to start packing your boxes.

Read the signs, and once you’ve made up your mind, get down to work.

2. ORGANIZE your move like a master organizer

One of the things to consider when moving to a new city is that time management is extremely important for the overall success of your house move. And no matter whether you’re moving locally or across the country, the secret is to know what to do and when to do it before Moving day comes along.

Create a detailed to-do list that will contain all the essential tasks that you have to complete before you move out. And remember that all tasks in that MOVING CHECKLIST must be relevant to your case of new city moving.

3. SECURE a good moving company

Moving to a new city is not a joke and you must be pretty serious when deciding how you’re going to approach the upcoming relocation. If you’re only moving a short distance away and you’re not transporting any specialty items, then you may consider renting a moving truck and completing the move by yourself.

However, in most house-moving cases, you’ll just have to hire the services of a professional moving company simply because you’ll be moving to a new city that’s located far away – many, many miles across the country from where you are now.

How to Find a Reputable Moving Company

4. KNOW how the new city moving cost is formed

Once you understand how the cost of moving to a new city is calculated, you will be able to manipulate the price forming factors to a certain extent with the purpose of lowering the overall moving costs and expenses. Why pay more money than you absolutely have to?

When moving to a local town or city, local movers will charge you by the hour and the final cost will depend primarily on the duration of the house move.

When moving to a new city or town that’s in another state, then interstate movers will charge you a flat fee that will depend on the distance, shipment weight, and extra services requested.

How much does it cost to hire movers?

5. GET packing boxes for free

Moving house is an expensive affair, so you should use each and every opportunity to bring down the moving cost. And one effective way to do just that is to NOT pay for moving boxes.

Cardboard boxes are the major packing expense, so getting your hands on free moving boxes will help you keep more money into your own pocket. Ask friends, colleagues, and neighbors who have moved recently if they have cardboard containers they don’t need anymore.

Also, take a tour around the large grocery stores, shopping centers, home improvement stores, home electronics stores, and bookstores and ask their managers about free cardboard boxes.

Where to get free moving boxes

6. DECLUTTER your home before packing

Your checklist when moving to a new city should tell you that the next important task is to declutter your home before you start packing so that you don’t waste time and energy in boxing up unwanted items.

Go to each room and inventory all items found there. Then, group those things into 4 different categories: MOVE, SELL, GIVE AWAY, and THROW AWAY.

Remember: your aim is to take with you as few items as possible. Why? Moving only the things you really need and will use in the future will help you save transportation money, valuable packing time, and storage space in the new home.

How to get rid of stuff before moving

7. SELL unwanted stuff for cash

The cost of moving to a new city may be more than you can afford, especially when you’re moving on a budget. And that’s exactly why selling your unwanted items for additional money is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss.

If you have enough time until Moving day, you can try to sell some of your things online. Otherwise, you’ll be better off organizing a moving sale in order to get rid of whatever items you don’t need anymore but are still in good condition.

Organizing a profitable moving sale is key when moving on a tight budget.

How to organize a profitable moving sale

8. START packing up your things

If you happen to be wondering what to do before moving to a new city, then you should wonder no more – start packing.

Packing for a move is the most important task in your moving checklist. It’s also the most exhausting and time-consuming job you’ll have to do before Moving day too.

Initiate the packing project early, really early, and begin from the rooms that are the hardest ones to sort and pack (storage areas such as basement, attic, garage, spare rooms) due to the large number of items found in them.

Top 20 packing tips for moving

9. CHANGE your address

Changing your home means that your postal address is changing too. So, in order to continue to receive your important mail, you’re going to have to change your address with the USPS, preferably before you move out.

Luckily, before moving to a new city for a job, for education, for love, or for another good reason, you’ve got 4 options to change your address with the United States Postal Service: in person, online, by phone, or by mail.

How to do a change of address when moving

10. TRANSFER the house utilities

To transfer or change home utilities is a task that is often forgotten or neglected during the home moving process… until the move-in day when there’s no electricity and running water in the new place.

Don’t make the same mistake when moving to a different city – contact your current utility companies and arrange the disconnection of your home utilities roughly 1 day after you move out.

Also, arrange their disconnection at the new place about 1 day before you move in.

How to change utilities when moving

11. GET your children ready for the move

Your upcoming move to a new city may prove to be more complicated than you want when you’re moving with school-age children. The problem, of course, is that your kids will have to change schools – a fact that they might not be too thrilled about.

Sit down and speak with your children about their fears and expectations, and what life in the new city will be like. Concentrate on all the positive aspects of the upcoming move and be ready to make certain compromises.

10 Tips for moving with children

12. PREPARE your pet for the new city moving

You’ll also have to figure out how to move to a new city when you have a pet – a dog, a cat, a bird, fish, or another type of pet animal. Pets can easily get stressed out when they sense that a big change is about to occur, so you’ll have to find a way to keep your animal friend calm and safe during the house move.

The best way to move your pet to a new city is to take them with you in your own car. But before you do it, take your pet friend to see a vet for a full medical checkup.

Moving with pets across country

13. DECIDE what you’ll do with your plants

Remember that interstate moving companies are not allowed to transport plants due to their delicate and fragile nature. As a result, the responsibility of moving to a new city with plants will rest with you.

As a rule of thumb, you should consider moving only the house plants that you really, really love – leave behind or gift the rest of your beauties to friends or local organizations in order to spare them likely ill fate on the road.

How to move plants when moving house

14. KEEP moving expenses to a minimum

Our moving to a new city checklist continues with advice on how to pay less for your local or interstate move. Oftentimes, saving money comes down to following 5 major cost-saving rules:

• FIND an affordable mover by comparing 3-4 moving cost estimates;
• DECLUTTER your home and move only the things you must take with you no matter what;
• SELL some of the items you’re not moving for extra cash;
• GET free moving boxes to reduce your packing expenses;
• PACK your things by yourself, or at least the ones you can.

20 Simples ways to reduce moving costs

15. SAY good-bye to your good friends

Even if you’re not moving to a new state, moving to a new city will mean that you’re leaving your good friends behind – often one of the hardest things to do when moving house.

No matter how busy you are with your moving preparations, do find time to meet your best pals one more time in order to say goodbye to them in a proper way.

It’s always a good idea to organize a farewell party, if possible, and invite your buddies over for an informal get-together before you move away.

How to say goodbye to your friends when moving

16. STAY safe and injury-free on Moving day

It’s extremely important to stay safe on the day of your move as moving days tend to be very unpredictable and rather dangerous at times.

Personal injuries of all sorts are never out of the question, especially when heavy furniture and big boxes are lifted and carried out of the house. Property damage is also possible, especially when no proper moving equipment is used.

The only true way to guarantee moving day safety for everyone is to hire professional movers to tackle all the heavy lifting for you.

What to do on moving day: Moving Day Checklist

17. CONTROL your post-move expenses

Moving to a new city will mean a number of post-move expenses that you may not have included in your budget. And while you should have planned for some immediate costs such as security deposits and rents when you’re a renter or down payments when you’re a homeowner, you may have not planned for extra expenses such as furniture, appliances, and other items for the new place.

Don’t be impulsive when purchasing new things for the new house or apartment – rather, wait a few months to see if you’ll really need to purchase those specific items or not.

18. MAKE new friends in the new city

Moving to a new city alone, without a family or any friends in that destination city, can be particularly tough from a mental point of view. The solution is never easy but it’s something you must make an effort to achieve: make new friends in the new city.

And here’s the question of all questions: how do you make new friends in a place where you know no one? Look around your workplace for co-workers with similar interests, say Hi to the folks next door, sign up for classes, and join clubs to meet new people.

10 Tips for moving to a new city alone

19. EXPLORE the new city to chase away the blues

There’s always a dose of anxiety when moving to a new city simply because that new place will be strange and unfamiliar, and even intimidating to a certain extent. Add in the fear of the unknown and you may not get the expected welcome after the move.

The best way to start your post-move adaptation period is to explore the new city and find out what it has to offer you. Start with your neighborhood and, little by little, expand the exploratory trip to the rest of the city.

20. FIGHT any signs of relocation depression

Our checklist for moving to a new city ends with advice on how to handle a post-move phenomenon known as relocation depression.

Relocation depression (separation anxiety) is caused by a strong sense of nostalgia for the life you had to leave behind – a life where you had good friends and a set routine that provided you with comfort and security.

The important thing to understand in order to overcome relocation depression is that you still have those friends – just hold on to them until you make new friends and manage to establish a new routine for yourself.

How to overcome relocation depression

The post Checklist for Moving to a New City: 20 Easy-to-Follow Steps appeared first on The Moving Blog.

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