Moving Day! It’s absolutely one of the most exciting days you’ll have in your new place, as you make your first apartment home and get to spend your first night there. However, moving day often brings a sense of dread, as most of us have a huge pile of stuff that has to be moved from one place to another within a tight time window.
It doesn’t have to be that way! Follow these steps to ensure a smooth move-in experience that eliminates stress and keeps you excited about being in your new place!
-
Plan transportation ahead of time
Transportation is one of the trickiest parts of moving, as most of us don’t own moving vans, and many of us don’t own trucks, either! Find a friend with a good transportation option and research moving van rental companies in advance as well, in case your friend backs out at the last minute. If you can afford it, it’s generally easier to simply rent a big moving truck so you can minimize the amount of trips you have to take from your old place to your new, especially if you move long distance. In any case, be sure to have this settled at least 1 week prior to the move.
-
Start packing in advance (& purge what you don’t need)
This one feels very obvious, but the sooner you start packing, the better. Start a few weeks in advance by organizing your boxes and packing supplies. Keep adding to your boxes as time goes on, and you’ll hardly realize you’ve been packing! Plus, that’ll leave you ready to go on moving day. Packing also gives you a great chance to get rid of things you don’t like, use, or need! As you pack, remember that you’ll have to carry every single belonging into your new place. If it doesn’t feel worth it, give it away.
-
Box-up as much as you can
Nothing’s worse than having your belongings broken, scraped up, or dirty in your trunk or the back of a rental truck. Make the investment in moving boxes (or look for them in local garage sale sites) and box up as much as you can to protect your belongings during the move.
-
Communicate with your new landlord
Before moving day, give your new landlord a call to establish the best routes to take when moving in (i.e. elevator locations, parking situation, time restrictions for unloading) and find out when you can move in. This is particularly important if you are moving on a popular moving date, such as the first of the month. Some large apartment buildings actually assign you a time window when you’ll have the use of the service elevator and must complete your move. In some cases, landlords will let you move your belongings into your apartment before you start actually paying rent, which means you can spread the moving process out over a week or so instead of in just one day. Can’t hurt to ask!
-
Start early in the day
Moving day is sure to be a long one, so wake up early and get moving before it gets too hot outside (summer) and/or to leave you plenty of time to move before it gets dark outside. Plus, by preparing the night before and getting started right away on moving day, you won’t have to stress about your timing. (Read this moving tale of woe about what can happen when you arrive after dark.)
-
Keep an eye on your budget
Moving into your first place will be expensive, but moving from one apartment to the next can lead to other extra expenses, like overlapping rent payments. Breaking a lease early will bring fines to pay, and even if you don’t technically break your lease, it’s likely that your old and new leases will overlap, even for a short time. An example: Apartment 1’s lease runs until August 30th. Apartment 2’s lease must start on August 20th. That means for 10 days, you’ll be paying for both places. Make sure to watch for that as you make your plans to move.
For a visual checklist and timeline, check out this post as well.
