Tips and tricks to help make your move as stress-free as possible.
Moving day will always bring on some anxiety and stress. But it doesn’t have to get to a point where you feel like throwing in the towel.
To make moving as seamless as possible, it’s best to get all your ducks in a row, weeks and sometimes even a month or two in advance. To help you plan, we’ve laid out all the possible things to think about as well as a tool that will make your planning really easy.
Two months out
This is more the admin phase. It’s where you make your list of what you need to do and start ticking off the things you can:
Finalise the moving out-and-in date
Your lease tells you what day you need to legally be out by. Some landlords aren’t as lenient as others, so make sure that you know what date you need to be out by and that your future landlord knows what day you plan to move in. You don’t want to be left with a truck full of stuff with nowhere to go!
Ask your boss for time off work to pack and move
Do this well in advance to make sure that you and your boss can plan and agree on your work deliverables to accommodate your move. It’s quite a stressful time and having to meet deadlines amongst boxes doesn’t really make for a job well done.
Create a budget
Every little thing adds up. And if you aren’t prepared for the expenses that come with moving it could see you swiping your credit card one time too many. Having a budget of what you can expect to pay will help you put money aside in preparation for moving day.
Here are the main things you should consider budgeting for: the cost of the moving company or renting a trailer, boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, black marker, polyfilla and paint to close and cover holes, or repairs for any existing damages in the flat, installing fibre and your own travel costs if you are moving provinces.
Get cost quotes from a couple of moving companies
This can be a bit of a mission as you will need to fill in multiple inventories, but worth it if you want to save some cash. If you’re looking for a mover that allows you to book everything online without filling in lists and reams of paperwork, have a look at loadit.
Keep in mind that moving companies take the amount of stuff you have into consideration when determining your quote. They will also charge you for things like: how many movers will be needed, how many flights of stairs, how many kilometres your new flat is from your old, or if you need a shuttle from your flat to the complex gate. Boxes and materials needed for packing also depend on how much stuff you own.
Six weeks out
Book your movers
By now you have an idea of what you can afford and what the best option would be for you, so before it’s too late, book them.
Spring clean
It’s amazing what stuff you can accumulate that you don’t use – especially in the kitchen. Do a thorough spring clean. It’s an opportunity to earn a few extra buckaroos by selling your stuff on Facebook or you can donate some of it to charity. Onthemove Laundry will even come and collect your stuff from your home.
One month out
Start gathering packing materials
If your moving company is not going to supply the boxes, you can get boxes relatively cheap at places like West Pack – they even offer secondhand boxes, but just be careful when packing heavy things into secondhand boxes, as they’re not as strong. Or you could go the green route and rent reusable plastic boxes from places like ecobox.co.za
If you have a furry friend, ask a mate to look after them on moving day
You don’t want your four-legged friend to be trampled on. It could also get very stressful for them, so might be easier to send them on a playdate for a night and then introduce them to the new place once you’ve semi-settled in.
Let all the necessary people know about your change of address
People like your insurer, any subscription services you have, your banks, etc.
Start packing things you don’t use
If you have some boxes already, and you can’t wait to get started, start packing the things you don’t use. This could be books, unseasonal clothes that you don’t need, etc.
Two weeks out
Start packing!
Following on from the last point, carry on with the things that you aren’t likely to need in the next two weeks.
Take everything off the walls and start filling the holes
There’s ready-made putty that you can buy from the hardware store to fill holes from pictures you’ve hung. It’s a lot less messy than making it yourself. Make sure you also have the right paint to cover up the holes you’ve filled. Without the right paint, this can quickly turn into a stressful nightmare, so make sure you ask your current landlord for the correct paint colour.
Ease up on the grocery shopping
Try and eat everything in your fridge, then stock up on easy, ready-made meals you can pop into the microwave. Or if you’re feeling like being even more organised, you could meal prep a few meals on the weekend to make sure you’re eating good, nutritious food.
One week out
Pack, pack, pack!
Start room by room – leave your wardrobe for last. You might begin to feel like the boxes are closing in on you, but it’s okay. Just breathe. Remember to wrap all your fragile things in bubble wrap or newspaper. A box filled with smashed glass is no fun to unpack.
Pack a box or bag with essential things in it
Consider this your ‘overnight’ bag. Moving day will be exhausting and the last thing you will feel like doing is rummaging through boxes late at night to find your toothbrush. So keep a bag with your meds, toiletries, clothes, phone charger and two-prong adaptor, etc. Also pop a toilet paper roll in there. The new place is not likely to have spare loo paper lying around.
Contact your movers and confirm the time and address
Just to make sure that everything is in order!
Defrost your fridge and freezer
Empty out your freezer and fridge a day before the move – you want it to defrost before travelling.
If you have plants, stop watering them in the days leading up to the move
Moving with wet muddy plants might not end well. Also, put them in a box with newspaper on the bottom to catch any of the remaining water and sand.
Schedule a clean
You generally have to clean your apartment for the next tenant. So make sure you’ve organised this. It might also be nice to have your new apartment cleaned before you move in, to have a clean, fresh start. See if this is possible with the time frame.
Moving day!
Dress for success
It's here! Your new adventure begins today. Get into some comfy clothes – clothes that you exercise in are always a safe bet.
Make sure everything is ready for the movers when they arrive
Or if you’re doing it yourself, make sure you have all the right people there to help you and that they’re there on time.
Take photos of your old flat
Once everything is out of your old flat, take photos of it to prove that it’s in the same condition as when you moved in.
Take photos of the new flat
Before you start moving anything in, take a walk around the new flat and take photos of anything that’s not 100% right. This will also help you with your snag list (a list of all the things that need to be fixed or redone by the landlord – like a broken cupboard door or lightbulbs that need replacing).
Assign each box a room
Once the movers start bringing in the boxes, make sure they put the boxes in the room they are labelled with.
Look out for damage
Once everything is in, double-check that nothing is damaged.
And now the fun begins. You get to choose where everything goes and start unpacking.
To help you be even more organised, we’ve laid out all the possible things that need to be done before moving day on a virtual white board that you can copy in an app called Trello. Or you could even draw it up in a notebook if you like. Its purpose is to list everything that needs to be done and tick it off as you go. Trello boards have helped some of our teams accomplish tasks that seemed impossible! You can read more about that here.
One last thing:
WELCOME HOME! If you’re looking for cover for the stuff you love, – it only takes three minutes.
