Moving Checklist

CHECKLIST FOR PLANNING A MOVE

In today’s jet age, when life is always on the move, moving to a new place and to a new address can be a necessary but a rather hectic phase in your life. To make sure you enjoy this phase you can follow certain dos and don’ts.

Make sure that in the entire process of packing and moving you involve all your family members, especially the children. They may be a bit upset as they will miss their old home, old school and their friends - so talk to them. Communication will help you share their and your anxieties and worries of moving to a new place as a family. Give them small tasks. Let them arrange the garage sale. Make it all fun by suggesting that they make colorful posters about the garage sale and distribute it in the neighborhood. Tell them all what they can expect in their new neighborhood. Definitely find out all the details for their new school before you move, and have a positive attitude yourself as kids easily learn from parents.

It is also very important that you have your own home before you move from your old home. So, before you move, make sure you contact a real estate agent and select the home you want to live in. Make sure that your children also help in looking for their next home. Take them with you to see at least a few homes you have shortlisted. If this is not possible, then at least make sure that you get snaps of the homes, inside and outside, the neighborhood and all the interesting places around to show your children.

Then hire a good mover way before the actual moving date, and ask them to send over personnel to correctly estimate the cost of moving. Your office may also pay for your move. In that case, read their moving policy carefully to ascertain the services the mover will be permitted to carry out.

You can do your own packing, or you can hire professional packers as well. You have both the options depending how much you are willing to spend and what you would like. You can always rent a truck and simply move everything yourself.

Your moving company should know what you want to move. When they send their visual estimator show them everything that you want to take. If possible, make a list beforehand and give one list to your moving company and keep one with you. This way there will not be any confusion. On the day of moving, the company personnel should check with your list, item by item, if all things have been moved. This is important because if you add things later on, then the cost of moving and the shipment charges will also increase and you will end up paying more even if the estimate was a binding one.

Go through the "Your Rights and Responsibilities Manual" to make sure that you completely understand the degree and scope of the carrier's or movers legal responsibility and accountability.

Sign the Estimate/Order for Service only after you are certain that you have got a clear and satisfactory understanding of each section of your agreement with the movers. If you have any doubts, ask the representative of the movers you have hired to clarify your doubts.

Store the phone number and name of your moving company and their personnel who is in charge of relocating your things. Before you move, update the post office with your new address. You can find a ‘Change of Address’ form, which is available on the United States Postal Service Web site you can use to update your address.

Make a list of friends, relatives, colleagues and others who should be notified of your move. The list should include updating services like bank accounts, electricity, gas, telephone services, lawn services, insurance companies, trash collection service, and cable and satellite service providers, newspapers and magazines, etc. with your new address.

Arrange for a "garage sale" or use an online auction service to do away with things you don’t want. You can also give away your old and unnecessary clothes and other items of your home. Collect the receipts showing the rough value of all the things you donated for potential reductions in tax. However, before you discard things, ask your family members, as they might like to keep something that they will find a need for.

Finish the supplies of canned frozen foods and other household items. Invest only in those things that will be needed and used before moving. Finally, have a great time at your old home, take lots of pictures as memories and include close friends and neighbors. If you plan a checklist for moving from ahead you will definitely have one smooth move!