Moving Checklist

Relocation always seems to be every mover’s nightmare. It’s not simply moving a single box of pillows from one place to another; it’s like moving ten boxes that contain pillows and each pillow weighs a ton. Just before you put the boxes in the truck, you realized you need a duct tape to keep the contents of your boxes from falling but you forgot so secure one. It’s an exaggerated situation but the bottom line here is that moving is always stressful. But, there is actually a way of having your moving day a blissful one: moving checklists.

You might have heard about checklists being used in every event or activity that could happen in our lives: wedding celebrations, team meetings, grocery shopping, and even for last minute job applications. Checklists for every activity always work if you would prepare it properly and that you would obediently follow it. A moving checklist can help you move from one place to another with less stress and hassle.

Moving Checklist Example

For fields like navigation and medicine, checklists help them remember things, and aide them in their operations. It’s the same thing that goes for moving checklists. Even if it’s just an ordinary activity or phase in our lives, it is still possible that there are some things you can forget. Remember that failing to plan is equivalent to planning to fail.

There are a lot of things you need to organize during the moving day and that includes the organizers, or the boxes, that will keep all your things organized before it arrives in its new home. There is a possibility of forgetting more than one major detail point, and everything seems bound to go wrong that can negatively affect your entire moving day. You can always make your moving process better and less hassle with the help of checklists that works well for you.

In this article, we give you thirteen examples of moving checklists that will help you get moving.

Moving Guide Checklist

The Ultimate Moving Checklist

Moving Checklist and Planner

International Moving Checklist

Mover’s Checklist

Sample Moving Checklist

Points to Include in Your Moving Checklist

There are ten points that you should always include in your moving checklist:

Preparation for the Preparation

Preparation for the preparation is when you would just sit down with a pen and paper or maybe just with your phone with a checklist application ready. All you need to do to prepare for the preparation is to make the moving checklist. You might think it absurd to prepare for the actual preparation, but you’ll realize then that while listing down all you need to do during the actual moving process would cause unnecessary stress and you might forget a lot of things along the process. To prepare effectively, you need a calm mind, and your calm mind will help you in remembering a lot of things then. You can start with brainstorming on the things you need to do or you could write the checklist with someone who has been moving places a lot in their lives so that you would know the possible pitfalls when relocating unprepared.

Information “Relocation”

Your belongings are not the only ones that are relocating but your information, particularly your address is relocating as well. Before your moving day, call all the utilities you’re affiliated with and inform them of your relocation so that they will be able to update your information in their records and that they can also make the transfers. It is encouraged that you should give them a call at least a month early since informing them only the day before your relocation will be a hassle for them and they won’t be able to make the switch quickly. Another information relocation is the changing the address of your billings, like your credit card or any postpaid applications, so that the postal service will not deliver your bills to your old place.

Packing Supplies

You can go for the traditional way of packing with the use of boxes and tape,  but that can be quite pricey and once a box gets destroyed, it’s hardly usable. The destroyed box ends up in the trash and that is a waste of money and so much trash can be bad for the environment. There are other cheaper and mother earth-friendly options that you can always opt for. You can go to a department store and buy their used but sturdy packing boxes for a cheap price. You can also call up your friends or family you know that has moved a lot and ask if they could lend you their packing boxes. Or you could buy plastic boxes but those are quite expensive. However, even if it is expensive, it can still be useful and usable even right after your moving in. You can use it for your future storage.

Move-in Transportation

Contact and book at your local truck rental services in advance. Chances are, you are not the only one who is relocating. The perks of having a rental service for your move is that you don’t need to worry about needing a driver and someone who could help you with lifting your stuff into the truck because it comes with the rental service. However, if you are on a tight budget and find truck rental services pricey, you can always ask your family and friends to help you in moving in and maybe, if you’re lucky, you can also borrow a moving vehicle from them.

Seek Help

You can always seek help from your family and friends when you would be relocating. You should not put so much pressure on yourself by moving in on your own. At least a month before your moving day, make sure you have already informed your family and friends about your moving day so that they will be able to make time for you and leave the day of your moving day free of work or any kinds of appointment. However, do not put so much pressure on them, though. Prepare snacks for them on your moving day and if they want to rest or leave early, allow them so.

Sorting and Packing

With your packing supplies ready, you can already pack your belongings as much as possible. But before you actually start packing, you might realize that there are things that you need to discard or things that you need to sort. You should ask yourself whether there are items that you need to bring to your new place, things you need to throw away, things you can sell, and things you can donate. Initially, you thought you are going to pack a lot of stuff but when you would sort first before packing, you might get surprised you are packing less than what you have been expecting. Right after sorting, you can immediately start packing. Pack your essential things first. Make sure you also pack at least three sets of clothes and separately pack your toiletries because on your moving day, you might not possibly put all things in their places and if you don’t pack separate sets of clothes, you might have a hard time rummaging through the boxes looking for clothes to wear and toiletries to use.

Labels and Inventory

Always, always label your boxes. If you don’t want to open a heavy box filled with kitchen utensils in your bedroom, then make sure you have labeled your boxes carefully. You can always print labels for your boxes so that you would not make an extra effort in bending down to put on labels using the usual black marker. Right after sticking labels on your boxes, make sure you list down on your inventory what items have already been packed so that you won’t have to go over everything again.

Moving In

List down all the things you need to do as when all of your belongings from your previous place has already arrived in your new place. Make sure you categorize by every room of your new place. If you are not relocating alone, you probably might have assigned people in every room and that makes the moving in and easier. If you are trying to locate some things, you can always ask the assigned person of the room for the inventory and check if the item was not forgotten at your old place.

If you are able to put on on the aforementioned points, you can be assured that your move-in day will run smoothly.

Sample Moving Checklist

Home Moving Checklist

Moving Timeline Checklist

Sample Home Moving Checklist

Simple Moving Checklist Example

Moving House Checklist Example

Organized Moving Guide Checklist

The Benefits of a Moving Checklist

Aside from the obvious benefit that moving checklists will diminish the amount of stress that you will be experiencing during your moving day, there are other benefits your moving checklist can bring.

1. If you are not relocating alone, like you are with your family and friends, having a moving checklist will synchronize your every move. For example, a family composed of four decided to have two whole consecutive days of relocation. On the first day, the parents decided that it will be a moving day solely for all the electronics and pieces of furniture and the second day will be the moving day for all other things like clothes, kitchen utensils, etc. Unfortunately, half of the family, particularly the siblings, were not informed by their parents’ decision that is why on the night before the first day, the siblings prepared their personal belongings in their bedroom and already started packing the kitchen utensils. And so on the first day of relocation, the siblings already brought out what they have prepared the night before. Their parents wondered why the siblings prepared the wrong stuff and on the siblings’ defense, they were simply not informed of the simple details. Having a checklist and have every single member of the family a copy of the checklist would have saved them from all the confusion since in a moving checklist, every single detail, even the minor ones, are included.

2. In moving checklists, you can have divided the tasks into categories and since it is already divided into categories, it will be easier to divide the tasks to other people. For example, everyone is assigned to their own bedroom, but for the other rooms of the house, namely the living room, kitchen, dining room, and the bathroom, have every member of the family assigned to it. Giving everyone assignments would simplify the daunting matters of the moving process. And just in case there are some things that are missing, you would know who you should be asking for the inventory. Another plus with having an assigned task is that you already have a point person to ask when you cannot find a particular thing for a particular room in the house.

3. Having moving checklists can help you save time, money and energy. For instance, you only set your moving for only one day but on your actual moving day, there were a lot of things that went wrong and forgotten. That prompted you to set up another moving day. You might think that money is just the problem since you are fully aware that you are going to pay the movers or the truck driver again for another day. But no; you are also wasting time and energy. You are wasting time because instead of putting the things in its proper rooms as soon as you arrive in your new home or office space, you will spend it again for another moving day. You are wasting your energy because instead of spending it all on the setting up of your new home or office space, you will be sending precious energy stressing out why things went so wrong on your moving day.

4. You will no longer worry about having the small details forgotten. Human as we are, not every one of us possesses an extreme memory power that we would remember even the minute details. You can prevent a casualty from a case of forgetfulness by putting every single thing on your moving checklist even if it would seem minor to you.