Moving to a new place can be a daunting task. For one, it involves a great deal of packing and unpacking, pulling, pushing and moving around of all sorts (and sizes!) of items. It's also a stressful experience deciding what to take and what to leave behind. Top that with arranging suitable transportation, and dealing with a little "army" of people, be those friendly helpers, busy drivers, or, as it might sometimes happen, angry neighbors, both old and new. Still, by simply avoiding a few common mistakes, you can make the relocation to your new place a smooth and hustle-free experience.
Find out what the 3 common moving mistakes are and how to avoid them
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Like with any other activity, planning the move is crucial, and missing on that will eventually cause you a lot of trouble. Some key steps you should not disregard but plan way ahead instead, to avoid such situations, would be to:
Make a checklistIn the commotion of relocation, it is simple to overlook many details and forget about many important things. Apart from the 'obvious' (a.k.a. packing and arranging transportation), your checklist should alert you to also not forget to notify your utilities suppliers, your comms and postal services providers, your bank, your kids' school, etc. See? A lot to think about way before the "M"-day!
Set a budgetResearching moving expenses and setting up a reasonable relocation budget is another essential thing you should not forget to take care of in the early stages of moving preparations. Be sure that whether living with more or with less, you'll need to secure some funds to cover relocation costs of all kinds. Free beer for helpers included!
Make accommodation arrangementsWith all your belongings, clothes, and all common everyday stuff packed aways in boxes, how do you picture yourself spending the couple (sometimes even more!) of days while relocation takes place? Besides, you'll have to also deal with deadlines for both, leaving the old place and moving in at the new one. So, making accommodation arrangements for you and your family to stay safe and comfortable during that period should not be an issue to disregard lightly. And don't forget about the house pets! Moving to a new home is perhaps even more stressful for animals than it is for humans.
Allow plenty of timeDespite of what many would think or say, moving to a new place is not a one-day job. To underestimate the actual time needed to pack, move, and unpack would be a serious mistake. So, it'd be best to allow at least 2 to 3 days to do the move without stressful haste.
Moving to a new place is not just about moving pots and pans. It's about moving your life! Not organizing this properly may lead to seriously unpleasant consequences. So, here's what to pay attention to when packing:
Moving is an excellent opportunity to organize your stuff. This would be the right time to get rid of all things long ago tucked away out of sight, out of use, out of need. In short, it would be a mistake to take your mess with you to the new place, wouldn't it now! What you need to do instead is to decide how to deal with it. You could dispose of, organize a garage sale for, or just give away (or send back!) all things you won't need in your new home.
SortYour belongings are items of various sizes, are made of various materials and require different ways of preserving. So, when moving, what you should consider is packing similar / matching items of common features into according containers. You wouldn't seriously expect to throw in and fit just anything 'n everything into one box, would you?! Besides, packing sorted items will make the unpacking process way easier!
Choose the right packingThere are mainly 2 types of packings - cardboard and plastic. And while these come in various sizes and shapes, there's one key feature to take into consideration when choosing which to use - water resistance. So, your decision here is quite simple. Items you need to keep safe from water, moist, mud, spills, rain, snow, etc. go into plastic waterproof containers. The rest can be safely packed in cardboard boxes.
Make an inventory listAn inventory list is a must if you want to spare yourself the frustration of not finding something urgently needed in the first couple of days after the move. Nor will you wish to deal with the chaos of unpacking not knowing what's in the next box. To avoid this, have all your belongings carefully listed, and each accompanied by a clear indication about the box it has gone to.
To avoid confusion and frustration at unpacking, make sure to label each box, indicating what it contains, the room it goes to, whether it contains fragile or handle-with-care items, etc. labeling is that important. It's fun, too!
Tips:- try to match box labels with the inventory list, to avoid loss of belongings.
- take snapshots and add them to the labels to better remember what items you've packed in the particular box.
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#3 Not Hiring the Right Professional Movers
Even a small residence move yields a surprisingly large quantity of items, big and small, that need to be packed, transported, and unpacked in the new place. To have it all done properly, quickly, safely, and hustle-free, the wisest decision would be to hire professional movers. Failing to or deciding not to do so would be a grievous mistake. ( Unless, of course, you're moving with a single suitcase in hand and a backpack on the shoulder. But that's quite another story!)
The main reason why many feel somewhat intimidated with the prospect of using professional moving services like those provided by Alberta Strong Movers is fearing that the costs will be too heavy on the family budget. It's quite the opposite!
- For one, hiring professional movers means that you'll have it all organized with and performed by one single provider, instead of dealing with various entities.
- Two, professionals are skilled enough and have at their disposal all means required to move your stuff efficiently, taking care of not losing and/or damaging your belongings.
- Three, with a professional moving services provider you shall have a legally binding contract, with your belongings properly insured.
Eventually, all this saves money.
Another mistake people tend to often make in this respect is going "cheaper". Usually, hiring movers offering attractive "cheap" services turns out to be quite an expensive mistake. The prices for these types of services are well regulated by and established on the market, and any differences in the price offers come from additional services providers might offer to win their clients over. So, ' cheaper' would in most cases mean either that a number of important services are missing in the offer and will be later presented as " extra "-s for you to pay extra. Or, worse, these are either unexperienced, ill-equipped providers, or right down illegally operating entities /people who you won't ever be able to hold responsible if things go wrong.
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Now, with the knowledge of what common mistakes to avoid when moving, you can organize your relocation more efficiently and start an exciting new life.