Moving Tips

Moving is an exciting and stressful process. There’s more to the process than merely throwing your stuff in boxes and heading into the sunset.

Organizing is your friend during the planning process. So, a checklist is an essential element.

Here’s a relocating checklist to make moving a breeze.

Eight Weeks Before the Move

• Create a “Move” file folder on Google Drive. This will be the home of all of your moving details like quotes, receipts, and records.
• Clean out! Go through every room, drawer, nook, and cranny in your house and decide what you’re keeping and what you’re donating. Moving will be more efficient with your belongings consolidated.
• Reach out to moving companies to get your quotes compiled. Determine which moving company is the best fit for your needs.

Four Weeks Before the Move

• Notify your children’s schools of the move and contact new schools for enrollment information. Collect copies of school records, or arrange to have them sent to their new schools.
• Contact your insurance agents to make the necessary adjustments to your policies.
• Get in touch with your doctor’s office and obtain copies of medical records for every family member. Check with your current physician to see if they can make any recommendation for doctors in your new area.
• Gather all appropriate vital documents and put them in a moving box labeled “important documents” that will stay with you during the move. This includes all legal and financial records, as well as passports, birth certificates, and Social Security cards.
• Begin packing. Start with items you use rarely or seasonally, like pool toys or holiday decorations. Save the everyday objects for the week leading up to the move. Make sure that every single box is labeled appropriately with what’s inside plus the destination room at your new home.
• Make arrangements for your housepets on moving day. They’re going to be stressed out and underfoot during the move, so it’s best to arrange a pet sitter or a kennel stay beforehand, so they’re safe and relaxed.

Two Weeks Before

• Contact your moving company to make any final arrangements and confirm plans for moving day.
• Check-in with your insurance company to make sure your valuables are covered.
• Make arrangements with your utility company to start service in your new place.
• Complete post office change-of-address forms online, and notify creditors, credit card companies, banks, magazine subscriptions, friends, relatives, professional associations and organizations, and any other necessary companies.
• Notify government offices of your move, including the IRS, the city or county tax assessor, state vehicle registration, and Veterans Administration, if applicable.
• Confirm any travel arrangements (if it takes more than one day to get to your new home) and arrange to take time off for moving.

Finished Your Relocating CheckList?

Have you completed your relocating checklist? Or, are you still getting started?

Either way, a great moving company is key to a calm, straightforward move. That’s where we come in.

Moving? Need assistance? Get in touch today to see how we can help.

Whether you’re moving one neighborhood over or across the country, moves can be very difficult for families.

Sometimes, the circumstances surrounding the move aren’t ideal: a death in the family, the loss of a job, etc.

Other times, the move is for a positive reason, but it also means uprooting your children from their hometown and lives.

Moving with children is just another layer of difficulty on top of the whole transition. Today, we’re going to show you how to prepare your kids for a move!

Involve Children in the Decision to Move

As a parent, the move may be out of your control. It might be the case that this move is happening regardless of whether or not you or your children want to. However, it’s still crucial that you involve your kids in the decision-making process.

Ask for their input, weigh the pros and cons with them, and talk about the decision process as a whole family. Don’t try to take it all on yourself.

This process is essential for children over the age of six, especially teenagers. Older children likely already have an established life where they are.

Therefore, they may rebel, whine, pout, or have tantrums, but you need to allow them to express their emotions. Changing a young person’s life so suddenly can be difficult, and it’s essential to enable them to work through these changes.

Even if the move is going to happen with their consent or not, your kids will appreciate being “in the know” and involved.

Make it easier on them and yourself!

Helping Younger Children Understand

For children under the age of six, they may not be involved with the decision-making process as much. It can be difficult moving with toddlers, for example, merely because they may not understand what’s going on.

With younger children, be sure to make it a smooth transition for them by explaining the move in simple, short sentences. Before the move, use toys and storybooks to prep them for the concept of moving.

Children’s books on moving can help adjust them to what’s coming. Be sure to read books like these before bedtime for a while leading up to the move.

Packing and Moving With Children

We’ve covered involving your children in the decision-making process and helping them understand the move itself, but about the logistics?

Most of the common sense measures for packing your house applies to children as well.

Go through the packing process with your children. Don’t just tell them what to pack or what to do, but show them how to do it and do it with them.

Again, you’re keeping them involved in the process.

After moving kids, once you’re in your new location, be sure to help your children unpack right away. It’s essential that they keep a sense of normalcy in the beginning. Having their room set up the way they remember before is a great first step.

Getting Help Moving the Whole Family

Moves can be fun, sad, challenging, or easy. There are lots of variables involved in a move, but moving with children is another piece of the puzzle to consider.

All in all, it’s crucial to involve them in the process from the decision to move right down to packing boxes.

If you’d like to hear more advice about moving with your family or want to see how Community Moving & Storage can help out, then contact us right away!

Congratulations on your new home! You probably can’t wait to be settled into your new place and enjoying all the good things that come with a new home., However, moving into a new home is so much easier said than done.

The key to getting unpacked and settled into your new home quickly and efficiently is in the upfront packing process.

Not sure where to start? Read on for some helpful tips.

Pack by Room

When you’re moving your entire household, it’s important that you pack everything room by room.

That way, when your movers bring in the boxes, you will know exactly where they should go. This will make your moving process much quicker and therefore less costly.

Label and List Extensively

If you’ve ever done any significant packing before, then you probably know the importance of labeling everything as you pack it. That means putting what room it goes in on the side of the box as well as labeling which side should go up. Label each side of the box as well as the top.

To be sure you don’t lose any items, take your labeling to the next level and create an inventory list for each box. When you get to your final destination, it will make it much easier to find things, and you will be able to confidently know that all of your belongings have made it to their final location as you unpack and check off the items.

While you might be tempted to throw items in a box labeled miscellaneous and be done with it, avoid the temptation. It will make unpacking much harder later.

Stay Organized

Before you disconnect your electronics, take photos of how they are configured so that putting them back together in your new home will be straightforward.

When packing electronics, group parts, and pairs together. Place hardware in Ziploc bags and tape them to the items with which they belong. Also, wind and secure electrical cords so they are not dangling.

Group like items together. Pack kitchen items together in one box and mark it accordingly. Don’t mix fragile keepsakes with heavy things like books, and don’t throw contents together randomly.

Packing the Essentials

First, make sure you only pack the items that you need in your new home. Take the time to purge out things you no longer use or want. Donate or sell those items. There is no sense in paying to pack and transport stuff you no longer need. Plus you don’t need the clutter in your new home.

Secondly, pack an essentials box. This box should stay with you in your car during the move. It should contain items you will need the first night in your new home. Include things such as toiletries, medicines, pajamas, a change of clothes, snack, cleaning supplies, and phone chargers.

It’s a good idea to prepare in case something unexpected happens, and your items aren’t delivered on time.

Where to Find Moving Help

Now that you have read these tips on unpacking, you’re ready to get started by finding the best moving company out there.

At Community Moving & Storage, we help Tampa-area customers make the transition to the home of their dreams. For help with your move, contact us today.