REVEALED: Hacks for When You’re Moving House
March 15th, 2023
Recent polls have found that 47% of people experience increased stress when moving house. In fact, most people ranked it as a more stressful life event than having their first child or divorce!
One of the biggest impactors is on the actual day of moving into the new property and having to transport your items from one location to another. If you’re lucky, your moving destination will be in the same town or city. At worst, you’re going on a road trip.
But there are some hacks you can use to break the stress of the day into manageable chunks. In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the best hacks you can implement to your move to make it less stressful.
No car? – hire one!
Not everyone is going to have the luxury of access to a car. Especially with the price of used cars increasing in recent years, as well as a delays in shipments of new cars, saving money to move home will likely take priority over car ownership. For some, hiring movers is an option, but it could be costly, and relying on public transport could result in unforeseen difficulties.
But this is where our first hack comes in, because car hire could be the solution. In the UK, you only need to be 21 to rent a car and some companies require a credit card, but it’s a great alternative to car ownership.
It can be especially helpful for moving as you can book a car with enough boot space for your belongings and possessions. If you only need it for a single trip, you’ll only have to pay to book the car for the day you need. If you book it out for the full moving day, you might be able to fit in a quick trip to the shops to fill up your new fridge, or to the chippy if you’re feeling celebratory!
Packing as a priority – labelling, lists, and more…
It might not come as a surprise that packing is an important part of moving, but adjusting your approach could save you stress during a relocation. The main objective should be to start packing as early in advance of the big day as possible, to avoid as much stress as possible.
While you might feel emboldened to load as many things as you can into boxes or bags, creating an inventory of the most essential moving items could be useful. This could range from work clothes to utility items like toasters and kettles for quick breakfasts. These will need to be the most easily accessible once you’re moved in, so packing them in separate boxes or bags that are clearly labelled saves you from rummaging and scrambling to find them.
Another great hack is to pack yourself a ‘survival kit’ for when you’re moving. This can be a smaller package to hold toiletries, toothbrushes, and chargers or cables that you may need on a whim. If you think rummaging for bigger items is frustrating, imagine how annoying looking for the smaller ones will be!
Photos, photos, photos – take them!
This hack is probably familiar to those who moved into accommodation during their university years – it’s a helpful tip that could easily be forgotten in the stress of moving day. But taking pictures of the rooms in the property as you’re moving in keeps photographic evidence of their state on arrival.
This can help mainly when it comes to negotiating deposit releases with landlords or estate agents if there are pre-existing damages or anything that wasn’t disclosed to you before you agreed to live there. Similarly, if the day comes when you decide to move to a different new home, you’ll be able to show what was fixed during the time of your tenancy and what wasn’t.
Photo evidence of your furniture as you assemble and disassemble the pieces can also come in handy down the line. This is useful for future moves as it could help reduce the time spent on DIY headaches as you break them down to be ready for transport.
Moving into a new house should be an exciting occasion that isn’t marred by stress. Following some of these simple hacks and reconfiguring how you approach the day could take it down a few notches, so something that feels like a mountain will be revealed as a molehill.
Relevant reading
Why Moving House at Uni is Easier Than You Think
University can get stressful at times. With coursework, assignments, and exams, you can feel overwhelmed. One element of student life that becomes particularly stressful is the moving. The experience of finding your own place can be stressful, let alone moving your belongings on your own.