If you’ve decided to move to another city or state, know you’re in for a ride. Moving can be tedious and exhausting, but exploring new opportunities is often inevitable. Even though residents of West Palm Beach, the oldest municipality in South Florida, enjoy friendly neighborhoods, thriving social scenes, and other attractive perks, moving away to another city or state may be necessary for one reason or another. If you are one of those shifting from the tropical city, the following tips can help make the transition smoother:
Research Your Destination Before Moving
Setting foot in your new destination without prior research or knowledge of the location can be a recipe for disaster. Each state within the U.S. or country outside has different customs, social norms, laws, and regulations you must know before moving. Not only will prior research help you know whether your selected destination is suitable for you, but it shall also assist you in choosing the right neighborhood, accommodation, workplace, or school for your kids. Therefore, research your chosen destination using resources like the internet and your social circle.
Hire Professional Movers at the Earliest
You may be compelled to hire movers later, but this can deter you from having a peaceful move. Having reliable and professional movers hired at the earliest gives you peace of mind and allows you to focus on other pressing concerns.
With 1.3 million people living in West Palm Beach, expert movers are available for relocation across states or abroad. Contacting one of the West Palm Beach moving companies and acquiring their rates and quotes can help you select the most suitable and budget-friendly movers for your relocation. When choosing movers, look for Better Business Bureau (BBB) accreditations that symbolize they are legit, and carefully read reviews from previous customers that have moved with the companies to get an idea of the quality of service you can expect.
Curate a Moving Checklist and Budget
With so much to cater to, moving can turn into weeks of chaos without proper planning. Perhaps the best way to plan for a move is by creating a ‘moving checklist.’ You should make this checklist on your phone to prevent it from getting lost during packing. Your moving checklist should contain all important tasks in top to the low-priority order.
As you go about completing these tasks, check them off the list for an immediate sense of gratification. Remember that relocating can be just as expensive as it is nerve-wracking. The average local move in America costs around $1,250, which may lead to unwanted debt in the future if finances are not managed accordingly.
Get Rid of Unnecessary Belongings
Shifting is a great time to eliminate unnecessary possessions of little or no value but are mere clutter. As you review the items within each room of your home, assess whether they are useful. A good rule of thumb is to discard any objects or personal belongings you haven’t used for a year or more. Chances are high that you won’t use them anytime soon. Collect all such needless items and scan through them once more to decide whether they can be distributed amongst family and friends, donated, or disposed of for recycling. Soon you’ll have a decluttered home that translates to less packing!
Pack Properly and Label Everything
While your hired movers pack and transport your bulky furniture and appliances, packing everyday items falls on you. High-quality packing materials are crucial to efficient and secure packing. Purchasing superior quality boxes, masking tapes, and stuffing paper shall aid you in swift and reliable packing. You can even utilize clothes as stuffing materials and add fragile items between them to protect them from impact. Start packing room-wise instead of mixing objects from different rooms together.
Add heavy items to boxes first to build a solid base, place lighter things on top, and label each box with a marker to keep track. When labeling, you can use a color-coding system whereby you assign a different color to each room and list the contents of each box on the label for future reference.
Get Important Documents in Order
Starting a new life in a different state or country requires tons of documentation and paperwork for legal and administrative purposes. From property documents to health records to mover contracts and much in between, your move shall require many documents that must be compiled and kept on hand. Reach out to authorities and institutions like banks, schools, hospitals, and veterinarians to collect your, your family’s, and your pet’s records. Issuing these records may take time, so initiate the process early on. Once issued, use binders and folders to place all deeds, wills, transcripts securely, and other important documents inside for quick and easy access.
Empty Your Fridge
When moving, it’s easy to forget to empty the fridge until the last minute. On a moving day, keeping your movers waiting to pack and load your fridge as you desperately empty its contents is unpleasant. Not knowing what to do with the food items once they’re out of the refrigerator is an additional dilemma. To prevent this problem on moving day, begin emptying your fridge at least a week before moving. Plan and prepare meals that utilize the produce in your refrigerator until it’s all gone and opt for take-out for the last few days before your relocation.
Arrange For Services and Utilities
Once you enter your new residence post-moving, you’ll have to arrange for utilities and services to be set up in your home. To do so, contact your area’s local service and utility providers and book an installation date. Suppose you wish to walk into a home that is up and running with utilities. In that case, you can pre-book installation dates, preferably choosing your moving date, and have professional installers ring your doorbell soon after you reach.
Change Your Address
A new home means a new address that important contacts must know of to maintain clear lines of communication with you. Many homeowners forget to change their address post-moving, which results in the loss of important mail, posts, and packages. A good way of preventing the loss of imperative information and items is by updating your address on the websites and portals of banks, the post office, insurance companies, and other similar organizations who should always have access to your accurate details. Changing your address on different platforms of daily use, like e-commerce websites and entertainment subscriptions, can also help with smooth billing and receiving of purchases.
Conclusion
Moving can be a bitter-sweet goodbye, whether leaving the coastal city of West Palm Beach for another town or state or parting ways with the good American life to start fresh abroad. However, having a positive mindset and adhering to the abovementioned tips can make the process easier for you. Hopefully, the hassle and hardships of relocating will prove fruitful for your new beginnings and loved ones!