How To Move Into Your New Home (And Avoid The Overwhelm)

Is it almost time to move into your new home, and you want to avoid all the overwhelm that comes with it? I hear you! Moving is one of the top stressful events of life, and if you’ve ever done it once, then you know that it’s not exactly a walk in the park. But I’ve got a secret to share – one of the reasons why moving is so annoying is because we don’t plan for it properly. So, I’ve got some tips to help you plan to move into your new home. You can start by grabbing this free Moving & Packing Checklist. Now, let’s talk tips!

How To Move Into Your New Home (And Avoid The Overwhelm)

Create a moving timeline – you’ll follow this week by week master timeline to help keep yourself (and your movers) on track. This timeline will start as soon as you go under contract with your new home. In other words, you’ll start preparing for your move as soon as you know for certain that this is the house you’re going to buy. Then, you’ll follow this moving timeline so that you know exactly what you need to do each week to get you into your new house with as little stress as possible.

Create a Packing Plan – There are three steps to creating your packing plan.

Take pictures – your packing plan will help you get organized so you can unpack quickly. The first step in creating your plan is to take pictures of your furniture, appliances, dishes, pots and pans. This will help you as you figure out where things will go in your new home. Then you’ll use graph paper to draw a floorplan of your new home. You can find detailed stapes in my Unpack In A Day System.
Get rid of the unwanted – step two is to decide what you will donate and sell. Consider having a yard sale or using an online service to make money on items you no longer want or need. And for any remaining items or things that didn’t sell, donate them. There are several organizations that take household goods and clothes. And some of them even do pick ups. Look for places like Goodwill, AADD, Habitat 4 Humanity Restore, Salvation Army and Furniture Bank. I suggest seeing which of these services accept donations in your area.
Take inventory – step three of your packing plan is to inventory the remaining items. Understanding how many items you have will help you determine how many boxes you’ll need. You’ll pack boxes by room and label boxes using your packing guide.

Fill out a Calendar – you’ll take all the tasks you have on your moving timeline, upcoming holidays, special events, your household schedule, and fill out a blank calendar. This is your chance to be a bit more organize and have everything one place. No overwhelm, remember? For the next few months, this calendar is where you’ll put your family activities as well as your moving related tasks. Starting with first things first, write down your move-in date. Then, you’ll back date the number of weeks until you reach today’s date. And then using the moving timelines as a guide, fill in the remaining dates. Remember to leave room for some self-care and relaxation.

Make a Floor Plan – making a floorplan is going to help you determine where your furniture will go and if it will fit. I also used the floorplan to help me figure out where I wanted all of my kitchen items to go. You can use the floorplan for your kitchen layout to help you organize your move and label boxes appropriately. You’ll find that you’re unpacking pretty quickly when you know which box goes to which cabinet and drawer. Simply unbox and put away. No thinking or guessing because you’re simply following the plan you’ve already created.

Home Inventory Sheet – the home inventory checklist will help you keep track of all of your important items. This sheet will also help you understand what’s moving with you and can be used for insurance purposes if you ever need it. Did I mention that during one of my moves, somehow my dresser “disappeared”? Yep! We were so frantic in moving that about a month later after things had settled down, we realized that we didn’t know where our dresser was. Long story short, it totally our miss, but it did happen. With that said, you can use this list to notate model and serial number for electronics, their value, and check each item as you’ve confirmed it made it to your new home undamaged.

Moving Company Information – this is a great place to keep all of your notes about the moving companies. First of all, unless you move a lot and have a standard company that you like to use, I highly suggest you do some research. Check with neighbors, family and friends for recommendations. And then do some homework yourself. Call around to at least three moving companies and get information to help you determine which company is best for you. You’ll want to know if each company is licensed, bonded and insured, and understand their liability coverage, how complaints are handled. Also get a list of references, an estimate or binding quote, and of course confirm they’re available on the day you need them.

Purchase Moving Supplies – I have a list of moving items that I recommend to help you move on my website, but here’s a brief overview. You’ll need packing supplies to include things like bubble wrap, mattress covers, packing paper and a tool set. If you’re doing a self-move, you’ll probably want padded work gloves and a dolly or hand truck and furniture pads to protect your furniture. You’ll also want cleaning supplies to help you as you move out of your old place and when you move into your new home. Simple things like extra trash bags, cleaning solution, broom and a hand vac. Spills can happen anywhere. And of course, you’ll need to know how many small, medium, large and extra-large boxes you’ll need.

Make Box Labels following labeling guide – labeling appropriately is one of the other keys to unpacking your new home so quickly! First, you need to know where the items are going by preparing your plan. But the labels are what make sure that each box gets to where it needs to go. So, each box should be labeled with the floor, room and location you want it to arrive.

Schedule Utility Providers – this won’t exactly help you unpack any faster but keeping your utility providers informed is very important. I suggest you use one sheet of paper to keep track of both your old and new utility providers. Notate that you’ve cancelled the old service and given them your forwarding address for any last bills. Then write down the name and account number for your new service providers as well as the turn-on dates. You’ll need to do this for trash, water, sewer, gas, electric and optional utilities like home security and internet.

Complete Change of Addresses – updating utilities leads me to updating your address with all necessary places – like Amazon! But seriously, I’m trying to save you the mishap I had during my last move. The company automatically sent the clothes I ordered online to my old address. And someone stole the package because they knew my old place was empty. And then the store sold out of the outfit I wanted. I’d like to say I’m not salty, but I vividly remember this situation, and it happened over five years ago! Anywho, the point is – update your mailing address for places both online and off. Start with the post office, so they know where to forward your mail. Then all of your monthly bills including student loans and credit cards should be updated. And don’t forget your doctors, employer and DMV office.

Purchase and Pack New Home Necessities – once you move into your new home, you’ll want to have in place what makes you comfortable so you can feel like you really live there. I call these things your new home necessities. For starters, you’ll want to pack a first night bag. This way, you’ll still have important items on hand in case you decide to fully unpack the next day. This bag will include toilet paper and paper towels as well as all-purpose cleaner, medicine and Band-Aids. I have a full list of items for your new home necessities on my website that you can check out.

How To Move Into Your New Home (And Avoid The Overwhelm)

Well, I just walked you through a really good list of what you can do to properly prepare for your move. If you follow my tips, you’ll avoid a lot of overwhelm, stress and unnecessary drama. If you haven’t already, I suggest you grab the Moving & Packing Checklist to help you get started on your stress-free move.

If you have questions or want to share your moving tips, leave a reply in the comments section below.