Imagine this.
About 5 years ago I was forced to leave my dear apartment where I had been renting since I was in my early 20’s. It had been my first home and I was devastated to go but also baffled as to how to actually proceed. Whilst the size of my bond wasn’t huge, I still needed it to cover some of the costs I would incur due to the move so I couldn’t afford to take any chances. Sadly the whole process was a bit of a debacle as I hadn’t the faintest clue what I was doing.
Thinking I was doing the right thing by organising everything early, I painstakingly organised to have all my services disconnected prior to moving day and forgot to have them connected at my new home. This meant that at my old apartment, I couldn’t vacuum the floors, I had no hot water for cleaning, I couldn’t use the phone to call up and get them reconnected and I spent the first few nights in my new place using candles and having cold showers. With those lessons firmly entrenched in my mind, allow me to show you how it should be done to minimise the stress and make moving day run as smoothly as possible.
Cutting the Cleaning Chaos
Believe it or not there is a Whizz end of lease home cleaning app which you can load onto your Smartphone, and which will take all the hassle and worry about cleaning out of your moving equation. To demonstrate how important cleaning is in retrieving your bond, I once tried to clean a unit myself in an effort to cut costs. Once I handed the keys back, I faced a constant stream of call backs from the agent “the light switches need wiping over”, “the skirting boards are dusty”, I couldn’t believe how nit picking they can be so, it pays to get a professional to handle the situation.
Begin Early – Logistical Plan
Making yourself a simple plan including timing, procedures and processes is an insurance against disaster. Make a checklist of what needs to be undertaken – things such as:
Disconnect and Reconnect:
- Gas
- Phone
- Electricity
- Internet
- Note: there are companies that will do this for free however you will then be bound to their providers. It also pays to have a crossover period where both residences are connected – see above.
Redirect:
Change:
- Addresses at the bank, subscriptions, schools, work (think group certificates) it pays to have a P.O. Box if you plan to move a lot.
Book
- Removalist / van
- Cleaner
- Source enough boxes / tape / marking pens / newspapers (for packing)
Remove the Excess
Lightening yourself of excess baggage can make moving a much smaller project than it may have first appeared. Garage sales, eBay, Gumtree and when all else fails, hard rubbish are perfect platforms for slicing into the mountain of possessions one naturally accumulates over time.
Protecting the Precious
Pack your valuables up yourself, box them and move them first in your car. That way you are protecting them for becoming lost amongst the avalanche of stuff that will arrive on your new doorstep or worse still, from being damaged during transit.
Have a Plan at the Other End
Sometimes we can worry so much about moving our possessions out that we have no set plan for moving them in. Mark boxes clearly with contents and colour code boxes to rooms so that friends/movers automatically know which box belongs where and what it contains.
Coloured paper purchased from your local newsagent makes an ideal medium for this process. Place a different colour sheet on each door and matching colours to the relevant boxes. Trust me! This is the best way to avoid hunting through boxes trying to work out where everyone’s stuff went.
The only surefire way to avoid ANY stress when moving is to employ a full service mover who will literally pack up, pick up and unpack at the other end. If your budget stretches that far then I seriously envy you. However, for we mere mortals who can only dream of such service, I hope the above tips will lighten some of the burden of moving. Onward and upward!