Moving home isn’t cheap and neither is supporting a family: both are costly ventures that, when fused together, can lead to a very stressful period (not only for you but for your wallet).
This short guide is aimed at getting your family from A to B safely and securely while trying to save money in every area you can – and it’s easier than you might think.
Preparation
Firstly, you have to ensure that you’ve paid off all remaining bills from the current address – it isn’t an unheard of occurrence for a gas/electricity company to turn up months down the line to confront you with an unprecedented debt, which could financially cripple you.
Make sure to prepare your children for the move. Moving may seem like a big change to you – but to your children, it’s gigantic. For starters, moving house puts them back at square one in their social life, for example:
- They’ll have to find a new circle of friends
- They may possibly have to join a new school
- They will have to learn the surroundings of a new neighborhood
A child is never likely to fully understand the impact and upheaval ahead, no matter how well you explain what moving to a new home is like. Although you still should give them support and reassurance when they don’t feel uneasy about what is going on – while pointing out the possible silver linings that moving to this new area could bring, to give them something to look forward to.
Tell your child early on before the relocation, so that they’re not faced with an abrupt move – which could cause some anxiety if they don’t feel prepared to leave their current home behind.
Give them an appropriate amount of time to say goodbye to their friends, this is very important but also reassure them that goodbye is not forever and they will possibly be seeing their old friends in the future.
Organize a garage/yard sale or rent a place at a car boot sale to get rid of those unwanted items which could potentially make someone’s day and make you a little extra cash in the process.
Packing Up Your Old Life
You’ll be pleased to hear that you won’t need to turn out your pockets to find some boxes for the move – many companies will offer you second-hand boxes on request, and many supermarkets will even give you them for free if you have the get-up-n-go to ask!
Labels come in handy; let that sink in and then apply it to the move – don’t waste your time sorting through all of your valuables, searching for the necessities, when you could simply label the boxes and make finding the kettle that much faster.
By using the label system, you can also label how important/fragile the boxes are, so that whoever may be handling them ensures they’re not at the bottom of a pile of goods during transport, this way also makes important boxes a lot less likely to be lost amongst everything else.
Label your boxes room by room to make the removals process and the move in general massively easier – it’s all about saving hassle.
Whilst boxing up your valuables, it’s worth bearing in mind that some charity shops offer pick-ups for old furniture if you’re planning on throwing them out. This can save costs by avoiding the charges which come with booking a company to dump them for you – and is also good for the environment. But if you aren’t feeling charitable, there are plenty of community websites which deal in connecting people who are selling/looking to buy secondhand furniture – so no worries there.
Extras
If the home you’re moving into is classed as rented accommodation, be sure to complete an inventory check with the landlord to record damages whilst taking photographs for proof – this can assist you in receiving the full deposit on departure.
Leave all extra keys for sheds/outhouses/appliance keys in an envelope and let the next owner know where they are. And remember to change the locks on your new home ASAP, as there’s no telling who still owns a set of keys to your new home.
And that’s you sorted – we hope your move is as stress-free as possible so that you can start the next chapter of family life with total peace of mind.
Check out the Ultimate Family Moving guide for more tips on moving your family.
