We must be reverting to a nation of Nomads. Moving from place-to-place like the cultures of ancient Asians, Africans and Far Easterners to obtain food and make a living. The only difference in the 21^st century, we don’t relocate to find pasture for livestock.

As a pure matter of fact, nearly 20% of the population pulls-up stakes every year for greener grazing land. That’s in the 50-million range of people who box and unbox their stuff from January to December.

Week-By-Week

For professional moooves, you may have the routine down packed. For the rest of us, planning our relocation is not something they teach in schools. There’s always that thought in the back of our minds, haunting us over-and-over, “What did I forget?”

A Month Before

You’re going to be busy, but we have a plan to deflate the bubble of uncertainty on a week-to-week, day-to-day basis. The biggest thing you need to handle is making an appointment with the Austin moving companies for the exact day you plan to have everything crated and stuck in the truck. Best advice: Talk to the actual mover and not a broker. The guys doing the heavy lifting are more likely to give you a fairly accurate estimate. But wait, there’s more:

• Take a one-gallon zip lock bag and begin putting all of your receipts in it.
• Purchase a fire-safe box for all of your important documents.
• Contact your insurance agent to give them your new address. Purchase a moving policy.
• Head over to the bank to begin the process of transferring your accounts. Don’t forget any valuables you may have in your safety deposit box.
• Get a copy of your medical records.
• Fill-out change-of-address forms at the U.S. Postal Service.
• Have your kid’s old school transfer the records to the new school.
• Stop delivery of the paper and give any magazines you subscribe to your new addy.

The Two Week Mark

Too often we pay a lot more to move our things from one place to the next because we think we need everything we’ve collected over the years. You don’t. Remember, movers charge by the pound. Any weight you can shave-off the haul is money in your pocket – in two ways: You’re not moving dead weight and with a garage sale, your junk might be another person’s future junk.

• Contact the utility company’s where you now live and where you will move to. Overlap services by two days to be on the safe side.
• If the move is across town, pay a visit with a measuring tape, a pad of graph paper and a pencil to get the dimensions of the new place. Long distance moves? Ask the realtor in that town to do you the favor.
• Go on Google maps to print out directions from the highway the movers will be taking to your new home.
• When measuring, don’t forget the large appliances if they’re built-ins. No need to move a ton of ovens, fridges and the like if they don’t fit in the new spaces.
• Start packing the house with the items you don’t use regularly.

One Week to Go

Since most of the big stuff has been considered, you’re now at the point of things that cause you to go through the “What did I forget?” mode. Stifle it, Edith.

• Separate the stuff that you’ll be personally transporting.
• Confirm arrangements and dates with the mover.
• Tell all interested parties of your new address.

The Day Before

We’re getting to the bottom of the barrel with the simple stuff at this juncture:

• Gather your cleaning supplies.
• Spruce-up the refrigerator.
• Make sure boxes are clearly marked.
• Pack everything else.

The Big Day

As the moving truck pulls up, have a conversation with the lead guy. You want to make sure they have the exact address where you’re possessions are going. Also, double-check the delivery date. Give them that print-out of the Google maps.

• Supervise the move.
• Thoroughly clean your house or apartment before leaving.
• Check thermostat.
• Make sure doors are locked and appliances are turned off.
• Leave garage door openers and keys with your realtor.

The New Place

Let everyone off-the-hook by calling your family, friends and whoever needs to know that you’ve arrived safely. We’ve got another blog article that tells you how to handle things once you’ve arrived. Scroll around on our site. Once you get to it, some great tips there, too.

And as we said in a previous article, if you’ve got enough room, don’t pitch the boxes. You may be doing this again someday. We just hope it’s not too soon.