A Moving Checklist: What to Do and When, Plus a First Night Box
A move feels huge because everything happens at once. It feels smaller when you spread the jobs across eight weeks. This timeline is a simple way to do that, and you can shorten it if you have less time.
Eight weeks before
Set the date and make a moving budget. Start sorting each room into keep, donate and discard. Get quotes from movers or reserve a truck, and start a folder for receipts and paperwork.
Six weeks before
Order boxes, tape and markers. Tell your landlord, or list your home. Research schools, doctors and services near the new home, and start using up the food in the freezer and pantry.
Four weeks before
Confirm the movers or the truck. Send a change of address to the post office, and update your address with banks, insurers and your employer. Start packing the things you rarely use, such as seasonal items and books.
Two weeks before
Schedule the utilities to stop at the old home and start at the new one. Label every box with the room it goes to, and return what you have borrowed. Arrange parking for the moving truck and child or pet care for moving day.
The last week
Confirm the time with the movers, defrost the freezer, and pack a suitcase for the first days. Put important papers, medicines and valuables in a bag you will carry yourself.
Moving day
Do a final walk through every room, including closets and the garage. Take photos and meter readings, hand over the keys and keep your first night box with you.
The first night box
Pack a box last, and open it first. A useful first night box has toilet paper and hand soap, towels, toothbrushes, medicines, phone chargers, bedding, paper plates and cups, snacks, coffee or tea, trash bags, a few basic tools and a flashlight. If you have a pet, add food, a bowl and a leash.
The first week
- Unpack the kitchen and bedrooms first.
- Check that the water, power and internet work.
- Find the breaker box and the water shutoff.
- Change the locks if you are unsure who has keys.
- Learn the trash and recycling days.
Keep it all in one place
A box inventory with a number and a list of what is inside each box makes unpacking much faster. Write the number on the side of the box and on the top.
Printable moving planner
Our Home Maintenance and Moving Checklists include the timeline, a change of address list, a utilities transfer list, room packing lists, a box inventory and a first night box list. Try a few pages with the free sample.
You can also browse every free sample on the Free Printables page, or see all digital downloads.
See also: How to Plan a Trip on Paper: Itinerary, Budget and Packing Lists.
