While the moving process probably won’t be all sunshine and rainbows, it doesn’t have to be all storms and hurricanes either. The more prepared, organized and informed you are starting out, the easier it will be to get through it all efficiently and properly. Read on for five helpful tips to get you started on your journey to a new life with as little stress as possible.

1)   Research Moving Options

Before you do any packing, think about which moving method fits your needs and style best. There is a diverse range of long distance movers you can hire to get the job done quickly with minimal stress on your part. Sometimes it pays to send off the automobile and heavier things first shipping, to enable you have everything you need present about the same time that you arrive the new location. Car and motorcycle shipment usually follows another channel because of their size, worth and fragility. Send them through Shiply, a safe, secure, and cheap option. Research your local moving companies and weigh them according to customer service quality, cost, policies on lost or damaged items and their overall process from beginning to end. For example, https://www.cbdmovers.com.au/cheap-movers-melbourne/ only move one client at a time to ensure that your belongings don’t mix with someone else’s.

If you don’t live in a house, or don’t have huge amounts of stuff and furniture, you may get doing it all yourself. Ask your friends and family for help with the manual labor, and reward them with a special home-cooked meal and drinks. If you’re lucky, you might even have a generous friend who owns a pickup truck and is willing to let you borrow it. While this isn’t ideal for longdistance moves, it is at least the cheapest option.
If hiring a moving company is too expensive, consider hiring help for certain parts of the process. Many moving companies offer the option to hire extra hands to provide physical labor but waive the truck and driving services. Likewise, you could rent the moving van alone and forego hiring people. Most residential movers will likely ask you to sign a waiver of liability for any lost, stolen or damaged items.

2)   Reduce Your Load

The less stuff you have to move, the less work you have to do. Not only this, many moving companies charge the pound. If you can bring the total weight down at all, you’ll save a significant amount of cash. Sell as many clothes, furniture, kitchenware, toys, books, or miscellaneous unused items as you comfortably can. Start selling things at least a month before your scheduled move so that there is time for your online listings to make the rounds on platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and E-Bay. You might even make a fair enough profit to put toward your moving expenses.

Anything that doesn’t sell can be donated to charities or non-profits like Goodwill, Salvation Army, the SPCA and other animal shelters, or family and friends. Do not bother packing and moving food when you can eat up the perishable items and donate the non-perishables to local food kitchens. Try not to get too attached to things that you know you really ought to give away.

After all, your new home may require a completely different kind of furnishing and décor. Instead, look forward to redecorating to create your dream home or buying those new jeans to round out your wardrobe.

3)   Stay Organized

Implementing and maintaining organization during your move is perhaps the number one most practical way to save yourself some headaches. First and foremost, start packing at least a week prior to your moving date. Write a checklist of things to do and assign yourself tasks for each day. If you pack one room or category at a time, it’ll keep you focused and your boxes organized. For example, take a few hours to pack just the kitchen, and then label those boxes accordingly. When you label your boxes, make sure to include your contact information in case it gets lost somehow in transit. Labels will also save time on the other side of the move as you figure out which boxes belong in which room.

4)   Separate Valuables and Essentials

Valuables such as jewelry, money, items of sentimental value and personal identification documents should not get packed in with the rest of your things. Assume that anything your moving company drives away with could potentially be lost or damaged. Your driver’s license, passport, social security card, birth certificate and other such documents should have a special, safe place where they won’t get mixed up.

Pack a suitcase as though you are leaving for a two-week-long vacation. Essentials should include several changes of clothes, toiletries, medications, mobile devices, chargers and maybe even a sleeping bag and pillow. Driving across the country may take up to a few days, and your moving company may take up to 20 days to deliver your belongings. You don’t want to arrive at an empty house with nothing but the same dirty clothes on your back.

5)   Moving Insurance & Documentation

Most moving companies will likely ask you to sign a waiver of liability for any lost, stolen or damaged items. In the event that this happens to your possessions, you’ll want to have moving insurance ready to jump into action. Research a variety of insurance providers to find out what they will and won’t cover in detail. If you have a considerable number of valuables, the cost may be worth it to you.

Once you have insurance coverage, you’ll need to photographically document all of your belongings both before and after the move. It’s a good idea to take inventory anyway to make sure you don’t forget something. Photos and videos will provide concrete proof of an item’s existence and condition before moving, compared to its condition directly after the move. You can then bring this evidence to your insurance company for reparations.

Making a move to another part of the country is sure to be a whirlwind of emotion from excitement to fear. Don’t be surprised if you start to feel overwhelmed. After all, uprooting your life to begin anew in an unfamiliar place takes a tremendous amount of courage. Good on you for facing the challenge in pursuit of a better life!