For the majority of people pondering a move, the part that involves the actual moving is the most staggering. Purchasing a new house is fun—commencing upon a new chapter in life, whether you're buying your dream house in Little Rock or downsizing, there is something about a move that helps you feel like you're starting anew. Then, you look at all your dirty old stuff and that spacecraft you are riding over the stars to your new place comes back to earth and you land in a stack of old magazines and kid's artwork that you must take care of. But, if you organize your move and follow a simple checklist, you can manage to pack your life and move it to Little Rock without excess uneasiness and headaches.
It's average to have a moving timespan of approximately 90 days, so this timeline figures you've got that much time to facilitate your move. All you need to get going is a large file folder.
Three Months Out
Pick your moving company—decide if you want full-service moving or you prefer to do it yourself or something in the middle, sort of an a la carte option. A moving specialist comes to your residence and goes through to determine how many moving trucks and how many boxes you'll require, figure up time to load, drive time, and unload, and provide you an estimate for other items, like packing, disassembling certain items, and warehousing, if necessary. Once you figure out your moving company and services needed, make sure to check that you are on the calendar. Keep a copy of the quote in your folder. One huge thing is now done!
It's never too soon to start purging—which things to donate, pitch, or move with you. How you approach the process is your choice, what is good for one person doesn't work for everyone. Pay no attention to all the blogs and YouTube videos and move forward with what works for you—one weekend you may sort through and start to pack up what is moving, the next afternoon you could choose to keep purging and leave things unpacked. There really is no correct way to accomplish it, so do not sweat it if you don't follow the "rules".
Two Months Out
This is usually when it gets real—the calendar is turning quicker than it should be, and the reality is that besides hiring your moving company and trashing stuff from your junk drawer and a few items that you haven’t worn in years, you have not done a thing.
If you will be resigning from your place of employment and have not talked over your move with your manager, now is a great time--it provides them the time to train someone for your position so they're prepared when you exit.
If you've decided to manage your own packing, reevaluate. Assistance is at your fingertips; your moving company can assist with professional packers to handle the job—they'll schedule dates closer to your move because they arrive and get the packing knocked out in short order, and you will need clothes and the coffee pot until the final day.
Let any service providers know that you'll be leaving—if your move is within the same town, give your yard service the new address and you are finished. Beyond that, here are some of the crucial ones.
Medical—doctors, orthodontists, dentists
These days, most medical practices are part of bigger networks and your records are readily available when you go to a new physician. Ask your general practitioner for recommendations. They network well and could have old buddies from medical school they can recommend. While dentists and orthodontists do not have those networks, they'll be able to refer you old-school, also.
Prescriptions
As pharmacies merge you might manage to maintain your current provider, but to be prepared put hard copies of all your medications in your file folder so that you'll have them handy in the event of an oversight along the path. The last thing you need is to run out of allergy medication the day you are moving and have to deal with a new pharmacy.
School
If you have children in school, enrolling them in a new school district is unavoidable—you need every document in existence to register them—birth certificate, social security info, proof of address (a copy of your contract if you haven't closed in Little Rock yet), and immunization records at the very least. Ask specifically 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 to a different state, find out the parameters for keeping in-state tuition. Each state has different rules, and the reasons for the move and the distance can be a deciding factor—some states allow in-state tuition if you are moving under a certain number of miles.
Keep sifting through everything and packing—make a goal for a room every week, or all the closets in a week.
One Month Out
By now you should have sorted, arranged, and placed all your non-essentials in neatly packed and labeled boxes in an out-of-the-way place. Right. Now is when you get brutal with purging--especially if you have selected to have the moving company pack whatever is left. It's fascinating how really inconsequential that old lamp becomes when you don't love it anyway and now it's going to cost you to move it. So, trash it and keep sorting.
Activities--Community, Religious, Social
If, on the rare occasion, you've neglected to mention to anyone that you're moving, you need to now. Especially any volunteer activities you're active in, and if you are chairing committees or on any boards, you hopefully have already notified the groups so they can fill the gap you're leaving. Do not forget to pass off the files or records you have (Girl Scout cookie moms) to your successor. If you're part of a nationwide organization, (Rotary, Junior League) prepare your transfer documents--you can a lot of the time fill them out online.
Most mainline churches and synagogues offer the opportunity to transfer memberships; as soon as you are feeling comfortable and have found a new religious home, they will take care of that for you when you are ready to join a new church home.
If you're a member of any organization, you will need to change your membership--depending on the organization’s rules, you may be able to maintain a non-resident status when you move to Little Rock.
Activities--Youth Sports, Clubs
If you have children, you shall have the fun of finding new play groups, music teachers, basketball teams, and dance studios. The great news is that club level teams are everywhere, if your kids are into sports. And, searching online is a decent way to source out other kid's activities. Keep in mind that everyone has an opinion, but you'll at least have a good basket of contacts for karate and art lessons.
Two Weeks and Counting
Call all your utilities and set up the cancel-service request. Don't forget your internet and cable--you might be able to transfer some services if your provider is in your new area as well (gas, power, TV, internet) but unless you are local you will most likely need new accounts. Set up your new accounts as you end the old ones, and don't forget the mail. You can set up your new address and delivery stop dates online, and if you require a Post Office box you can set up that online also.
If you are moving across the country, confirm hotel reservations or airline tickets. If you are moving with your furry friends, make sure the hotels allow animals.
One Week to Go!
Imagine you're departing on vacation and pack a bag or two, so you can get everything else prepared to move. Hold a “Clean Out the Fridge” week, and use paper products if possible so that you can pack up the rest of the kitchen.
If you are moving any landscaping, hold off until the last minute to dig the plants up, and keep them in large tubs for the move.
Check with the movers when they'll arrive at your residence to start loading.
Moving Day
You're ready to get going. You've got everything ready to go on the moving van, so get your folder, unplug the coffee pot and have a great move.
