Summer is fast approaching, which means it will soon be peak moving season. Summer moves tend to work well for a number of reasons, including good weather and easier transitions for kids. Summer also has the advantage of providing a little extra time to prepare your home and all your belongings.
As you gear up for your move this June, July, or August, we suggest you start organizing your belongings and getting ready now.
1. Take Your Spring Cleaning Seriously: We all tend to use the spring months as a season of renewal, tossing out old clothes, throwing open the windows, and otherwise clearing the way for the year ahead. When you spring clean this year, do it with your future move in mind. Throw away anything you don’t anticipate needing in your new location, and earmark bigger items for donation. Any way you can streamline your belongings now will help later on.
2. Pare Down Your Needs: Unless you’ll be holding a party any time soon, you probably don’t need ten wine glasses. You can also get away with fewer pairs of shoes and just a few favorite books for the next few months. Pack up and ship (or store) items you can do without. You might end up having to clean dishes or laundry more often, but you’ll be glad to have those non-essentials already packed up and ready to go in advance.
3. Plan a Garage Sale: The garage sale season starts in earnest around June, but you can have one in April or May with great results. Hold a garage sale to get rid of those items you hate to throw away, but don’t plan on taking with you once you finally move. Donate them to Habitat For Humanity ReStore a organization that Cord Moving and Storage the only mover in St. Louis and North American Van Lines has partnered with Globally – take advantage of this unique relationship as your Cord Moving sales rep or go to http://habitatstcharles.org/restore/
4. Go Digital: It’s becoming more common to skip owning DVDs, CDs, books, and photo albums in favor of digital content. Now is a good time to scan or transfer files into easily portable digital content—allowing you to box up or discard the originals.
5. Comparison Shop for Movers: We’d like to think you’ve already chosen us as your moving company, but we know how important it is for you to get the best quote for your family. Use the advance months to compare moving companies, being sure to take into account things like cost, available insurance, timelines, and customer service.
6. Stalk Your Mailbox: Now is a good time to start paying attention to who sends you regular mail. Magazines, charities, junk mail, bills…all the companies doing the sending will need to be notified of your upcoming move. Keep a running list of all the mail you get (and contact information for each company) so you can notify them once you’re out the door.
7. Plan an Epic Menu: It’s rarely a good idea to move food from one home to another. Not only is the potential for spilling and breakage high, but it’s rarely cost-effective. It’s ideal to start using up your canned goods and frozen foods in the months leading up to the big day. Take an inventory of your pantry and plan out a menu that will use up every last item. Remaining items can be donated through your move to Move for Hunger.