4 Common Moving Mistakes You’ll Want to Avoid

Moving is a long process. You’re essentially consolidating everything you own, placing it in boxes, and loading it onto a moving truck. Depending on how much stuff you actually have, this could take you several weeks if not months to complete. As you can imagine, there’s a lot to remember, and while something simple like forgetting to leave your pj’s in your overnight bag might be easy to manage, more serious mistakes like scheduling the move at the last minute or packing junk can be costly.

While no one is perfect and every moving circumstance is different, there are lots of ideas out there to help you when it comes to packing. While here are some things you can do to minimize the chances of making these most common moving mistakes:

1. Scheduling for Movers at the Last Minute

The absolute worst thing you can do is wait until the last possible minute to schedule your move with a professional mover. There are very popular moving times of the month and year. For instance, the 1^st and 15^th of the month are most popular times to move while the summer is the most popular time of year to move. Waiting until the last minute could result in you paying more money for services or not having your moving date available. 

2. Forgetting to Pack an Overnight Bag

Unless you plan on unpacking all of your personal belongings the same day you arrive at your new place, you’re going to want to have an overnight bag available. This bag should not only have a few pairs of clothes, underwear and shoes for you put on over the next few days, but it should also include important paperwork you might need (paperwork on the property, birth certificates, marriage licenses, etc.) as well as medications, to help the transition into your new home.

3. Not Getting Rid of Junk

It might seem a lot easier to just grab everything, throw it into a box, and sort it later. The issue with that is, you end up moving to your new home with a bunch of junk you really don’t need. It helps to point out that since most moving companies will charge by the amount of items you have to move and/or the amount of time it takes to load and unload the moving truck, packing more than you need means more money out of your pocket.

Go through each room and sort your belongings into categories such as things you need, things you can sell, and things you can throw away. Things that you can sell will come in handy as you can look to sell them and make a few extra pounds on things you no longer use. The rest can either be thrown away or packed to go to the new place.

4. Forgetting to Shut Off/Turn on Services

When you have subscription services that are based on your location, you want to make sure that you don’t forget to notify the service providers. This includes everything from your utilities and cable services to magazine subscriptions and other direct order memberships you may have. You want to make sure the service providers know exactly when to discontinue services or switch to a new location. You may want to talk with each service provider to find out what their cancellation policies are to make sure you’re not charged any additional fees for cutting off services in the middle of a month or prior to your contract ending.

Don’t make moving any more stressful or expensive than it has to be. This is why the very moment you find out you’re going to be moving, you need to create a checklist that includes everything on it from scheduling a date with the movers to decorating your new home. This will prevent you from missing important steps that can slow down the process. Other than that, enlist as much help as you can and try to make moving a fun memory for everyone.

What is your top tip for a less stressful move?