Moving house can be a stressful experience for many people, it is said to be the third most stressful life event. The stress may be due to the fact that the future is uncertain, as you slowly pack away your belongings and you move your possessions from one home to another uncertainty can creep in. The stress maybe due to the fact that there is so much to organise.
The whole moving process can be made less stressful, with a little planning and preparation the whole moving experience can become pretty painless you just need to follow a few simple rules.
Steps to follow for moving house
Packing
Firstly pack away the items that you do not need or use, these items can be safely packed away and moved into temporary storage or a spare room and forgotten about. Once the non-essentials are out of the way it will be easier to do the final packing, leave anything you need out until the days before you move home. Make sure that you have enough boxes and storage to keep everything you need to pack, label or colour code boxes as you pack them.
Use old newspapers to wrap up delicate items. when packing to keep one box readily available that contains essential items such as toilet paper, kettle and tea bags, coffee, mugs, powdered milk, matches and a torch. At least then when you arrive at your new home you will be able to have a well-deserved drink. Labelling the boxes will enable you clearly and what needs to go where in your your new home, i.e. kitchen boxes can go straight to the kitchen, bedroom boxes straight to the bedroom, etc. this will mean that you won’t need to run around the new house trying to find stuff. A good removals firm can offer advice when it comes to packing, some removal firms offer packing services too.
De-clutter
Moving House is the ideal opportunity to have a good sort out of your possessions, find items that you no longer need and give them to friends or the charity shop.
Use Professionals
One way to remove the stress of moving home is to use a removal company, it’s always a good idea to ask friends and relatives for any recommendations. The British Association of Removers (BAR) or the National Guild of Removers and Storers (NGRS) are also good sources of information for reputable companies and services.
Remember to contact the post office in order to redirect your post, cancel any milk or newspaper deliveries. If moving to a town or city you will also need to remember to register with a new doctor and dentist.
Think About the New Occupier
If you have some thought for the people moving into your current home it will probably make you feel a bit better and you might even get some good karma. Cleaning your current home is the courteous thing to do before you move, the owners of the house you are moving to may not be so courteous though. It will probably be a good idea to hire a professional cleaner to clean the new home before you arrive with all your possessions or try to arrange the exchange of contracts so that you have a day or two to visit the new house and sort everything out yourself. Making sure the new property is ready will reduce any stress because you will be able to unpack straight away without the need to clean.
It is always a nice gesture is to leave a list of local services and useful phone numbers for the new house owner. The new occupier will probably find instructions of how to use the heating appliances, cooker and dates of refuse collection will also be very beneficial.
With preparation and planning moving house need not be too stressful and you will be able to enjoy your new home.
This post was supplied by Mark Stubbles, Mark has moved home countless times and knows how stressful a badly planned move can be.
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