A house move is a major task: you have to gather everything around your house, pack it all into boxes, and move it to your new home. To help you move everything efficiently, here are eight tips you can use to plan your house move.
1. Plan your moving budget
A budget is one of the key essentials in planning an efficient and successful house move. You do not want to end up with a tight budget in the middle of the transition and run out of budget to complete the move. For example, you may need to hire additional help for the move but if you did not plan a budget that included hiring additional help, you might not be able to afford the extra help. Devastating!
There are a few factors to consider when estimating your budget.
- Whether you want to hire professional movers or do it on your own.
- Purchasing appropriate packing materials to avoid any damages on your items during the move.
- Travel costs – gas, food, lodging, oil change, vehicle maintenance, etc.
- Purchasing a moving insurance package for additional protection of your belongings.
- Bills due from your old home and for your new one.
- Self storage unit for temporary accommodation of items that will not fit into your new home or during the arrangement stage of your new house.
- An emergency fund for unexpected circumstances during the transition.
2. Develop a timeline or schedule for the move
Creating a timeline or schedule for your house move will help you stick to your plan and avoid procrastination. A schedule will help you coordinate your chosen dates with everyone who is involved in this transition – from the moving company that you hire, to your friends into whom you can tap if you are planning to do the move on your own.
3. Classify your things
It is imperative to sort items in your house into different categories so you can unbox and place items at your new house more easily. You can group similar items into one pile and create subcategories. For example, you can group all reading materials into one pile and sort them into subcategories such as recipe books, travel books, or business books. Once you have created subcategories, you can box them accordingly. When you move these boxes to your new home, you will have an easier time knowing where to place these boxes. For example, if a box says “recipe books”, you know that you can place the box in the kitchen. Easy peasy!
4. Keep track of inventory
Keep track of the number of categories or subcategories you have so you know the number of moving boxes you need to purchase for your move. You can also purchase additional spare moving boxes in case you miscalculate and need more moving boxes for your transition.
5. Book a moving company or truck
Once you have boxed a majority of items at your home and have a good idea of when you can move to your new place, book a moving company. Contact them and arrange a time for them to come to your house and pick up your items. If you plan to move the items yourself, you can book one of our moving trucks to help you move the items from your current home to your next place!
6. Book a storage unit
If you have items around your current house that you do not want to move to your new place right away, you can store them in a storage unit. Belongings such as bicycles, CDs, or older clothes can be stored securely in a storage unit.
There are several storage unit sizes that you can choose from for your move.
For starters, you can rent a 5×5 feet unit which is equivalent to a regular closet. If you only have a few items or documents to store, the 5×5 feet storage unit will surely suffice! If you have more items to store and need a bigger space, we have the 5×10 feet storage unit available. This storage unit size is equivalent to a walk-in closet and it is ideal for those who want store clothes and some documents or home-office supplies.
If you have even more items to store, you can rent a 5×15 feet storage unit. This storage unit size is approximately the same as a large closet and it has the capacity to store business supplies, a few pieces of furniture, sofas, chairs, chest of drawers, as well as some small items and boxes.
7. Buy moving supplies
There is a variety of supplies that you can purchase to help you ensure that your items are moved to your new home safely, and to make sure the transition process is seamless.
Here are the different types of supplies:
- Boxes of various sizes: boxes come in many sizes that will surely fit according to your needs and will ensure the protection of your fragile items from any damage as they are made of sturdy corrugated cardboard.
- Bubble wrap: this type of packaging is very reliable for your extremely fragile items such as dishware, ceramics, and electronics. Its material will protect such items against cracks or any damage during transit.
- Packing papers: this is an alternative in case a bubble wrap is not available. You may wrap those extremely fragile items in these packing papers before putting them in a box, as this can also protect against any potential damage when moving.
- Permanent or colored markers: this will help you easily label or mark each box. Labels can help you or the movers place the items in the truck according to their fragility.
- Box cutter and scissors: these tools are needed as well for easily cutting boxes and tapes.
8. Avoid return to sender scenarios
Before moving, make sure that you have updated your mailing address to avoid important mail or deliveries being returned to the sender. You need to ensure that you have contacted important people and organisations to provide your new address. For example:
- Address change with the post office
- Online shopping accounts
- Insurance companies and bank accounts
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
- Family and friends
- Any company that sends you bills
Questions? Feel free to call us at 1.866.647.8673 or contact us online at https://www.selfstorage.ca/contact-us and our staff will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have!
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