According to a recent poll, almost 40% of people say moving is more stressful than going through a bad breakup. From planning a move to paying for it, there are all kinds of things that can stress you out while you’re moving from one place to another.
If you’re making a local move in Chicago, you might be under the impression that it won’t be as stress-inducing as usual. But even if you’re only making a short-distance move, there will still be some stress associated with it.
Planning to move in the proper way can eliminate at least some of this stress. By putting together moving plans in advance, you’ll be able to sidestep stress and enjoy moving more than you would otherwise.
Here is a guide on planning a local move that should make moving easier and help you avoid the usual frustrations that often come along with moving.
Start Getting Ready for a Local Move ASAP
Nearly 25% of Americans admit to being “panic packers.” They wait until the very last minute to begin preparing for a move, and then they ultimately end up paying the price for it when they’re forced to scramble to the finish line.
If you take this approach to your local move, there is a 100% chance of you being stressed out during it. The biggest mistake you can make is waiting until the 11th hour to get ready for your move.
Generally speaking, you should try to give yourself at least eight weeks or so to plan a move. You might not always have that much time, depending on the circumstances surrounding your move. But the more time you’re able to give yourself to move, the better off you’ll be in the end.
Find the Best Local Moving Company
One of the first things you should do when getting ready for a local move is hire a local moving company to help you. You shouldn’t run into any issues when it’s time to find Chicago movers who can assist you.
But you don’t want to make the mistake of simply hiring the first local moving company you can find to help you. Instead, you should search high and low for one of the best local moving companies around.
This moving company should have the following qualities:
- A lot of experience when it comes to helping those in the Chicago area make local moves
- A fantastic reputation among those who live in the Chicago area
- A list of affordable prices for their various moving services
It’s important to try to book a local moving company as soon as you can. It’ll help you avoid finding a great moving company only to discover that they’re already all booked up on your moving day.
Secure High-Quality Moving Supplies
In order to make a local move, you’ll obviously need to pack up all your things and provide them with all the protection they’ll need while moving from our current home to your new one. To do this, you’ll want to get your hands on high-quality moving supplies.
Durable moving boxes should be at the top of your must-have moving supplies list. But there are also other moving supplies you’ll need to pick up, including:
- Bubble wrap
- Packing paper
- Packing tape
- Permanent markers
- Stretch wrap
- Moving blankets
- And more
You might be tempted to purchase cheap moving supplies to save some money on your moving costs. But they might not hold up well and could even potentially put some of your personal possessions in danger.
It’ll be a much better idea to splurge on quality moving supplies that’ll hold up well under any conditions. This will be especially important if you know you’re going to have to pack a bunch of fragile items.
Get the Packing Process Underway
The sooner you can start packing up the things you’re going to move to your new home, the less stressful the packing process will be. It’s why you should start packing things up as soon as you possibly can.
There will, of course, be quite a few things that you won’t want to pack up too early since you’ll still need to use them while living in your current home. But if there are things you know you won’t need between now and the time you make your local move, you shouldn’t be shy about beginning to get them into moving boxes.
Just be sure to clearly label everything that you pack. It’ll help you find any items that you might end up needing prior to your move. It’ll also help you figure out which rooms to put things in when you arrive at your new home.
One other thing to keep in mind is that you might be able to have your moving company handle packing for you. You should inquire about a moving company’s full-service packing if you’re interested in taking this approach to pack your things up.
Having a moving company pack for you will save you time and allow you to focus on more important aspects of your move. It’ll also ensure everything stays safe during your move.
Sell, Donate, and Throw Out Things You Don’t Need
The average American home has hundreds of thousands of items inside it. Many of these items are things that people move from one home to another without ever using them.
Are there items in your home that you know for a fact you don’t need anymore? If so, you should give thought to selling, donating, or even throwing them out before you pack them up and move them again.
Conducting a full-scale purge in your home prior to your upcoming local move might be one of the keys to making your move less stressful. There will be a lot less stuff to pack and move once your purge is complete.
Take Apart Larger Pieces of Furniture
As long as you hire the right moving company to help with your local move, they will be able to move any furniture you have and get it into your new home with ease. But if you have extra large pieces of furniture that come apart, you might want to consider disassembling them.
Sectional couches, bed frames, and even bookcases are just a few of the furniture items that you may want to take apart prior to your move. Although a moving company might be able to move them intact, they’ll have a much easier time moving them when they’re taken apart. It’ll also reduce the chances of the furniture getting scratched and/or the walls in your current or new home getting banged up.
Move Everything to an Easy-to-Access Location
Do you happen to have a garage or even just a large room in the front of your home where you can store most of your stuff as you await your moving day? You might want to begin moving things into your garage or large room so that they’re all easily accessible on the day when you make your local move.
A moving company isn’t going to have any issues working their way throughout your home to gather your things if you’d like them to do it. But it could possibly make your local move take longer than it should if they have to do this.
If you have everything all ready to go when your local movers arrive, they can get everything into their moving truck quickly and move it to your new home fast. It’ll leave you with more time to unpack and get your new home situated the way you want.
Pack Suitcases With Items You’ll Need
For the most part, you’ll be able to toss almost all your things into the back of a moving truck on your moving day. But there will be some things you’ll want to keep close to you so that they’re easy to access.
For instance, you’ll need at least a few sets of clothes. You’ll also need things like toiletries and even important documents that you want to make sure stay safe during your local move.
You should grab a few suitcases and fill them with the things that you want to remain close to you throughout your move. You can take care of moving these things yourself so that they don’t get lost in the shuffle and elude you later on.
Change Over Utilities, Cable, Internet, Etc.
As you’re putting all the finishing touches on your moving plans, you’ll want to reach out to your utility company, your cable company, your internet company, and other companies to let them know about your move. They’ll be able to arrange to discontinue the services in your current home on your moving day.
At the same time, they should also be able to arrange to get these same services hooked up in your new home. It’ll guarantee that they’re all ready to go the second that you walk into your new house and start unpacking.
While you’re at it, you might even want to use this opportunity to haggle with a company like your cable company about the price you’re paying for service. If they suspect you might be thinking about canceling your service, they may be willing to lower your price for at least a little while.
Earning a small victory like this might give you a boost when you’re in the middle of the moving process and make it seem so much less stressful. It’ll also help you account for the moving costs that you’ll be taking on.
Prepare to Clean Your Old and New Home
You’re likely going to need to do your fair share of cleaning while you’re making a local move. you’ll need to clean your old house while you’re moving out of it while also cleaning your new home at around the same time.
In some cases, it might make sense for you to hire a residential cleaning company to take on at least one of these tasks. Your moving company might be able to recommend a great cleaning company in the area.
But some people also like to handle cleaning while they move on their own. They’ll want to know that both their old house and their new one were cleaned in the right way.
If you plan on doing this, you should start cleaning your old house as you’re packing your things up and getting ready to move out. You can make cleaning it a more manageable job by cleaning one room at a time in the weeks leading up to your move.
You might also want to wait a day or two to move into a new house after buying it to give yourself time to clean. You should be able to stagger things so that you don’t have to move out of your old home right away.
Whatever the case, you’ll feel so much better about making a local move and moving into a new home when you know it’s completely clean. It’ll provide you with a fresh slate and allow you to put your own touches on your new house.
Our Moving Company Can Make Your Local Move a Success
Making a local move might seem like it would be simple enough. How hard could it be to move a few miles away?
But as you’ll quickly find out, it isn’t going to be as easy as you might think to make a local move. A short-distance move can be every bit as stressful as a long-distance one if you aren’t strategic about it.
Use all the tips found here to make your local move a success. Moovers Chicago is a trusted local moving company you can rely on for all your moving services.
Contact us now to schedule a move with our talented local movers.