Congratulations, you’ve scored the home of your dreams, and now you’re planning your moving day. While a cross-country move can reinvigorate a stale day-to-day routine and lend new perspectives, moving-day jitters can sour the thrill of your fresh start. Given that you’ll be making monumental changes to your everyday life in such a short span, this nerve-grating stress is to be expected.
For those homeowners hoping to calm their pre-move nerves, consciously preventing common moving mishaps can work wonders. Given the domino effect of these moving-day disasters, even the slightest wrinkle in your plan can trigger back-to-back setbacks. Fortunately, by preparing for the worst, you can ensure your move is smooth sailing.
Are you wondering how to build an effective moving disaster preparedness plan? If so, it’s time to put the catastrophes below on your radar.
Underestimating moving costs
Trying to figure out moving costs can be difficult. Many people may start their moving journey with an overly optimistic outlook. In these cases, movers may underestimate how much stuff they have or how long it will take to move the items. In other cases, your warped view of reality may lead you to believe that stuffing your belongings in an impossibly small space is possible.
Additionally, this blind optimism can lead to miscalculating many of your moving costs, like the number of boxes, how long you’ll need to rent the truck, and the size of the moving unit. Each of these moving mishaps may involve a relatively small fee initially, but they can start to add up quickly, and soon you’ll find that you’re over budget.
How to avoid
First of all, pinpoint how much you can practically spend on the move. Budgets are crucial to understanding how much a move can cost you. Then, when you are making plans, always assume the worst-case scenario.
Taking inventory of your belongings moving will allow you to make thoughtful decisions about how much material you will need. From there, you’ll be able to calculate your cost accordingly. Remember, you may save money by buying materials required in bulk rather than piecemeal later.
Having your vehicle arrive late or damaged post-shipping
When you first get to your new home, the list of tasks you have to complete and the fires you need to extinguish can feel infinite. To avoid moving-day disaster, you’ll want to fix problems as they pop up.
For example, if you’ve planned for your vehicle to arrive in time for move-in day, the whole ordeal can devolve into chaos if your car isn’t ready when you are.
Unfortunately, accidents happen, and moving companies can make mistakes when delivering your vehicle. A late or damaged car or truck can throw a wrench in your entire moving schedule and cause a domino effect of disasters.
How to avoid
You want to ensure that your vehicle gets to you on time and in the same pristine condition. To swerve car shipping dilemmas, you’ll have to partner with an auto shipping provider like this. When you find the right provider, you will know that your vehicle will arrive in a timely manner (and dent-free)
In the unlikely event of a crisis, the auto shipping company will provide a way to solve it that won’t leave you in a bind, taking some of the uncertainty out of moving. With a solutions-focused auto shipping provider at your side, you’ll be able to focus on the other moving pieces of your move.
Packing your house too late
Procrastination is easy, especially when the task seems large and unwieldy. If you’ve put off packing for too long, you will find yourself the night before moving day, scrambling to assemble boxes. After stuffing your belongings into structurally questionable containers, the panic of a poorly-planned move will settle in.
Packing late will lead to loads of unnecessary stress. Additionally, procrastination behaviors can cause you to keep stuff that you don’t need, get rid of stuff that you do need, and make moving into your new home a nightmare realized.
If you pack too quickly, it is also likely that you won’t load fragile things correctly, resulting in a collection of broken items. If a stress-free move isn’t enough of an incentive, remember that your poor planning can result in cracked, chipped, or otherwise destroyed belongings.
How to avoid
Create a packing schedule immediately. That includes getting moving quotes very early in the process so that you can plan accordingly. With enough time, you will be able to go through your home, declutter, and label each box as you pack.
You can also hire movers to help you pack. It can help save time, and good companies will be very efficient and organized. If you hire movers, remember to learn and understand your rights to achieve a disaster-free experience.
Packing essentials that you’ll need during the move
Moves aren’t always quick and easy affairs. Sometimes moves can take days and even weeks to finish, and that might be a little too long to go without your toothbrush and underwear. A lot of times, forgetting to pull out essentials goes hand in hand with packing too late.
The goal is to unpack as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned, leaving movers to scale a mountain of cardboard boxes.
How to avoid
When you first start to plan your move, consider how long the relocation will take and what you can’t live without once you’re in the new house. Then, pack a suitcase or travel bag with all of the essentials you will need to live for the duration of our moving and unpacking journey.
When you are packing, avert crises by clearing labeling your moving essentials box. That way, you’ll be able to find and unpack them first come bedtime.
Your furniture won’t fit through the door
Moving all of your furniture and appliances can be involve equal parts backache and heartache. Nothing makes the experience worse than going through the hassle of loading the item, moving it, unloading it, and realizing that it is far too big to fit through the door. If you are moving into an older house, this can be a huge issue with modern appliances.
How to avoid
You will want to measure your new doors and all your oversized items. If you run into back-to-back sizing issues, you may want to consider taking off the door jams and reassessing. In many cases, this will be the cure-all for cramped spaces.
Unfortunately, there are situations where no amount of pivoting can help you get a piece into a home. You may have to sell old items and purchase new ones that will fit in your home.
Wrap Up
While many homeowners assume finding the right home is the highlight of a moving experience, nothing beats the rush of a move well done. Though you may not be able to take all of the hassle out of moving, your relocation can go off without a hitch if you avoid these mistakes.
