Making a Re-location Checklist, Part 1
Moving is a process few people enjoy, but Making a re-location checklist may be just the thing to help make it a little easier. Indeed, there is a certain excitement about the opportunity to start over again in a new place. But the actual process of moving yourself, your family, your things, and all of your important records from point A to point B is a stressful, time-consuming, and physically demanding challenge that most people do their best to just endure.
Four to Six Weeks Out: Starting Early
Your moving process should begin several weeks before you are actually scheduled to depart for your new location. It is important to take care of as many errands early as you possibly can, so you won't have to worry about annoying details at the end and also because you might forget one of those potentially annoying details and starting early will give you plenty of time to rectify that kind of mistake.
Some of the important steps you should take four to six weeks before you leave include the following:
- If you are moving because of a job transfer, check with your company to find out what expenses they will cover and which ones you will have to pay for yourself.
- Get written estimates from moving companies, or check out rental prices for trucks and trailers if you are planning to handle the move yourself.
- File cancellation notices, change of address forms, papers for transferring bank accounts, and any other change of service paperwork that must be filled out.
- Gather all of your important personal records together and store them in one fire-proof box.
- Arrange to have records kept by schools, insurance companies, doctors, and lawyers transferred to any new providers you plan on using in your new location.
Just Two Weeks to Go: Breaking the Connection to Your Past
At this point, it is time to start phasing out your life as you have known it in previous years. What this means is you must:
- Go through your house and decide what you need and what you don't. Anything that will not be going with you should be donated to charity, sold at a garage sale, or thrown into the trash or recycling bins.
- If you have borrowed anything from anyone, give it back; if they have borrowed anything from you, get it back.
- Go to your clubs, your children's schools, your gym, your former workplace, and any place else where you may still have stuff stored and pick it up.
- Pack anything that you can live without in these last two weeks, clean what can be cleaned, and set up disconnection dates with your utility or other service providers.
- Confirm all the arrangements you have made with movers, rental car companies, airlines, pet transport services, hotels, and those on the other end with whom you are contracting for housing.
Thank you for checking out Making a Re-location Checklist, Part 1. I hope it is helpful in your preparations for your move.
Stay tuned for Making a Re-location Checklist, Part 2!
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