For the majority of people pondering a move, the piece that involves the actual moving is the most overwhelming. Purchasing a new house is exhilarating—starting a new chapter in life, whether you're moving into your dream home in Colorado Springs or downsizing, there is something about a move that makes you feel like you're starting over. Then, you look at all your dusty old stuff and that rocketship you're riding over the clouds to your new abode dies and you find yourself in a pile of old papers and kid's artwork that you have to take care of. However, if you schedule your move and follow an easy checklist, you can most likely pack your life and move it to Colorado Springs without excess stress and misery.
It's average to have a moving time frame of roughly 3 months, so this timeline figures you've got that much time to work on your move. All that’s required to get going is a large file folder.
Three Months Out
Select your moving company—decide if you would like full-service moving or you prefer to do it yourself or somewhere in between, sort of an a la carte option. A moving specialist comes to your residence and goes through to approximate how many moving trucks and how many boxes you'll require, figure up time to load, transport, and unload, and give you an estimate for other services, like packing, disassembling furniture, and managing storage, if needed. After you figure out your moving company and services needed, be sure to check that you are on their schedule. Put a copy of the quote in your folder. Check one big thing off of your list!
It's never too early to start purging—which items to donate, trash, or pack. How you go about the task is up to you, what is good for one person doesn't work for all people. Don’t pay attention to all the blog posts and YouTube videos and do what works for you—one weekend you might sort through and start to pack up what is moving, the next weekend you may decide to continue purging and leave things in place. There truly is no perfect way to do it, so don't sweat it if you don't abide by the "rules".
Two Months Out
This is commonly when when the reality of moving hits you—the docket is somehow moving faster than it should be, and the reality is that aside from choosing your moving company and trashing stuff from your junk drawer and mismatched socks, you haven't done anything.
If you are going to be resigning from your place of employment and haven't discussed your move with your supervisor, now is a good time--it allows them the time to prime someone as your replacement so they're prepared when you go.
If you've decided to handle your own packing, reevaluate. Help is a phone call away; your moving company can assist with professional packers to do the job—they'll schedule for closer to your move because they come in and get the packing accomplished quick as a wink, and you'll need shoes and the coffee pot until the final day.
Tell all service providers that you'll be leaving—if your move is local, give your yard service the new address and you are done. Beyond that, here are several of the vital ones.
Medical—doctors, orthodontists, dentists
Any more, most doctors are part of bigger networks and your records are available when you go to a new physician. Ask your general practitioner for referrals. They network well and could have old friends from medical school they can recommend. While dentists and orthodontists don't have those networks, they will be able to direct you old-school, also.
Prescriptions
As pharmacies merge you could be able to maintain your current pharmacy chain, but just in case keep hard copies of all your medications in your file folder so that you will have them handy in case of a delay along the way. The last thing you need is to run out of thyroid medication the day you move and have to work with a new pharmacy.
School
If you have children in school, enrolling them in a new school district is a necessary evil—you need every document you can think of to register them—birth certificate, social security info, proof of address (a copy of your contract if you have not closed in Colorado Springs yet), and immunization records at least. Ask precisely what you'll need, and get ahead of the game and keep all the documents in a secure place—the file folder.
If you have older children in college and you're moving out of the state, find out the process for keeping in-state tuition. Each state has different rules, and the purpose for the move and the distance can have an impact—some states provide in-state tuition if you're moving to a contiguous state.
Keep sifting through everything and packing—make a goal for a room each week, or all the closets in a week.
One Month Out
By now you should have gotten rid of, arranged, and put all your non-essentials in methodically packed and labeled boxes in the garage. Right. This is when you get ruthless with purging--especially if you have selected to have the moving company pack all of the stuff that is left. It is fascinating how really inconsequential that old lamp becomes when you do not like it anyway and now it's going to cost you to move it. So, trash it and keep sorting.
Activities--Community, Religious, Social
If, by chance, you've neglected to bring up to anyone that you are moving, you need to now. Especially any volunteer activities you are a part of, and if you are overseeing committees or on any boards, you hopefully have already told the groups so they can fill the place you are making. Remember to turn over the files or records you have (Girl Scout cookie moms) to your successor. If you're part of a nationwide organization, (Rotary, Junior League) submit your transfer documents--you can usually turn them in online.
Quite a few mainline churches and synagogues provide the chance to transfer memberships; once you're unpacked and have established a new religious home, they will take care of that for you when you're ready to join a new congregation.
If you are a member of any club, you will need to update your membership--depending on the organization, you might be able to keep a non-resident status when you move to Colorado Springs.
Activities--Youth Sports, Clubs
If you have kids, you'll have the fun of looking for new play groups, piano teachers, basketball teams, and dance studios. The good news is that club level teams are everywhere, if your kids are into sports. And, social media mom's groups are a decent way to seek other kid's activities. Don’t forget that everybody has an opinion, but you'll at least get a good basket of contacts for karate and art lessons.
Two Weeks and Counting
Get ahold of all your utilities and set up the end-service request. Remember your internet and cable--you might be able to just switch some services if your provider is in your new hometown as well (gas, power, TV, internet) but unless you are local you'll require new accounts. Set up your new accounts as you terminate the old ones, and don't forget the mail. You can submit your new address and delivery stop dates online, and if you need a PO box you can accomplish that online as well.
If you are moving across the country, confirm hotel reservations or airline tickets. If you are moving with your pets, be sure the hotels allow animals.
One Week to Go!
Imagine you're going on vacation and pack a bag or two, so you can get everything else ready to move. Hold a “Clean Out the Fridge” week, and use paper plates whenever possible so that you can pack up the rest of the kitchen.
If you are moving any landscaping, wait until the last possible moment to dig the plants up, and put them in large tubs for the move.
Confirm with the movers what time they will arrive at your residence to begin loading.
Moving Day
You're ready to move. You've got everything ready to be loaded on the trucks, so grab your folder, unplug the coffee pot and hit the road.
