When you’re in your 20s, moving is simple: You throw your belongings into a few boxes (or garbage bags) and bribe friends with pizza to help you lift the few heavy pieces of furniture you own.

But as you get older, you accumulate more stuff. Before you know it, moving takes longer than an afternoon.

If you’ve reached that point, you’ll need to start planning a couple of months before the actual move date. In this article, we’ll walk you through the ultimate moving checklist.

Throughout it all, Trustworthy’s Family Operating System® can serve as your family’s digital command center. Whether you’re storing moving documents, organizing details about your new home, or sharing files securely with your agent or lender, Trustworthy keeps everything secure and easy to access.

Key Takeaways

• Understand why a moving timeline is key.

• Leverage digital tools (like Trustworthy's digital vault) to stay organized and save time throughout your move.

• Put together a customizable moving checklist.

8 Weeks Before Moving

Step One

Figure out if you’re going to a) pack and move yourself, b) hire a professional company to do it all for you, or c) choose something in between — i.e., you pack, then hire a company to transport your boxes.

Some questions to help you make up your mind:

• Is your employer paying to relocate you?

• How far are you moving?

• Is your move international?

• How much furniture or how many personal items do you have?

• Do you have items that may need to be disassembled, like a home gym, or are extremely heavy, like a three-door commercial-size refrigerator?

Once you decide which route is best for you, you can:

Get in Touch With Your Inner Marie Kondo

You may be surprised at the amount of non-essentials you own, especially if you’ve lived in your current home or apartment for a while. Before you call movers to give you an estimate, take stock of what you love and want to keep (as Kondo would ask, “Does it spark joy?”) and what you’re ready to throw away, give away, sell, or recycle.

Find a Mover

Call a few moving companies to do a walk-through of your house and estimate how much they’d charge to pack and/or move your belongings. While most companies will send a professional estimator to your house, some now do virtual walk-throughs.

Ask Questions

You want to be able to trust a mover with your most valuable property, so take note of their answers to questions like these:

• Is this a binding estimate?

• Are circumstances that could increase my final fee?

• Can you guarantee pickup and delivery dates?

• Do you charge extra for heavy items, or items that are awkward to move?

• What’s your cancellation policy?

• How much will I save if I pack some, or all, of my belongings?

• Do you provide unpacking services? If so, how much does that cost?

• What happens if something gets damaged?

• Do you have a U.S. Department of Transportation registration? (If so, they’ll have to follow certain safety requirements.)

Schedule a Truck

Going the DIY route? Make reservations now so the size of truck you need will be available on your moving day. (This is especially important if you move during the summer, which is the busiest season to relocate.)

Get Organized

You’re going to need a secure, easily accessible place to keep all your moving-related information. Trustworthy’s Family Operating System® is designed to help busy families organize and maintain all their essential documents.

Take a few minutes to upload everything move-related to Trustworthy’s streamlined digital vault with its built-in mobile scanner — and know that you can instantly access it when you need to.

Among the move-related documents you’ll need to keep track of:

• Your moving estimate.

• A bill of lading (the legal contract between you and your mover).

• Your employer’s relocation policy (if applicable).

• Your homeowners insurance policy.

6 Weeks Before Moving 

Identify Apps That May Help You

For instance, you could make a packing checklist for moving on Google Keep, or post the items you want to get rid of on OfferUp. Join Nextdoor and you can start familiarizing yourself with your new neighborhood and asking for local recommendations.

Inventory Your Belongings

Make a list of everything you’re moving, and its estimated value. While you’ll need a hard copy for your homeowner’s insurance, shooting a video is a great idea, too. (Going room by room will help this task feel more manageable.)

Request Records

Depending on how far away you’re moving, your home address may not be the only thing that’s changing. Get the ball rolling now and request necessary records from places like schools, doctors, and your veterinarian.

Upload your documents to Trustworthy and avoid the hassle of digging through file boxes when enrolling your kids in a new school or handling medical needs.

Easily access and share important information with trusted family members and professionals using Trustworthy’s collaborative features. Need to share documents outside your network? SecureLinks™ lets you create expiring, access-only links, giving you complete control over your family’s information.

Make a List for Address Changes

Jot down every institution and organization that will need to be notified of your change in address. For instance:

• Your employer

• The post office

• Electric company

• Water/sewer department

• Cable company

• Cell phone provider

• Internet provider

• Garbage collector

• Banks

• Investment firms

• Credit card companies

• IRS

• Social Security Administration

• Medicare, Medicaid, and any other government programs

• Local registrar of voters

• Department of motor vehicles

• Health and dental insurer

• Life insurance provider

• Auto insurer

• Homeowners insurance provider

• Your doctor, dentist, and other health providers

• TSA Precheck (if you’re enrolled)

• Online shopping sites (like Amazon)

• Print newspaper subscriptions

• Print magazine subscriptions

You can hold off on contacting anyone until your move is closer. (Keep reading for the perfect time to get in touch.) For now, simply gather phone numbers or websites where you can submit an address change or update your account.

Trustworthy’s platform gives you the ability to access whatever information you need, when you need it. The Family Operating System® is the perfect place to keep all your important information (including important contacts like doctors, insurers, and service providers), and it’s designed to protect you from identity theft, breaches, and other threats. (Read about Trustworthy's security measures.)

4 Weeks Before Moving 

Start Packing

You’ve still got a ways to go before your move date, so pack up only non-essentials at this point. That fondue set you dust off and use once every three years? The perfect candidate.

Other things you may want to start boxing up now include books, home decor, seasonal items (including clothes) that you won't need for a while, and storage items, like the drawings your teenager did in second grade.

Get to Know Your New Neighborhood

Before you move into your new home, do what you can to get your bearings. Whether you look online or are able to drive around your new neighborhood, take time to:

• Research a new doctor and pharmacy.

• Locate the nearest urgent care center and hospital.

• Find a new veterinarian.

• Check out local stores.

• Look for a neighborhood gym.

Scout out potential outdoor activities like hiking trails or golf courses.

Find resources for your kids, whether that’s a dance studio or a new math tutor.

Schedule Repairs and Services

Make appointments now for an electrician, plumber, landscaper, carpenter, cleaning service — whatever professional services you may need. Keep track of important deadlines, appointments, and payments with Trustworthy’s reminder notifications.

2 Weeks Before Moving 

Schedule Time Off Work

If you haven’t already requested time off for your move, it’s time to do so!

Get Your Car Checked Out

Moving to a different climate? Have a long drive ahead of you? Shipping out to a different country? Have a mechanic make sure your car is ready.

Make Your Travel Arrangements

For instance, if you have a cross-country drive ahead of you, make sure you know when and where you’ll stop along the way. Heading abroad? Gather all the documents that are required for international travel.

• Related: Documents You’ll Need to Move to Another Country

Clean Out Your Safe Deposit Box

If you’ll be changing banks, get everything out of your safe deposit box so you can take it with you. (And when we say “take with you,” we mean “Don’t let these valuable items out of your sight.” More on that coming up.)

• Related: What Is a Digital Vault? (And Why It Beats a Safety Deposit Box)

Make Your Address Change Official

Yes, you’re already starting to feel time-crunched, but now is the time to go through that list you made weeks ago and officially notify organizations and institutions of your new address. (If you’ve saved it in Trustworthy, this step becomes a breeze.)

Measure and Plan

Get room measurements (including door and window dimensions) from your real estate agent or home builder. That way, you can decide where your furniture will go in your new home. You can then use this info to label your boxes and direct your movers.

Set Up New Internet and Cable Service

It can sometimes take weeks to set up WiFi or cable installation. Check with your new neighborhood provider and schedule a service appointment if you need to.

The Week of Moving 

Back Up Important Documents

Upload your essential documents — passports, car titles, Social Security cards, and tax returns — to Trustworthy for peace of mind. If anything goes missing after your move, you’ll have secure backups ready.

Trustworthy organizes your documents into intuitive categories, making them easy to find. Customize your account with smart suggestions for a seamless, efficient storage experience.

Pack Your Suitcases

Include a few changes of clothes and essentials (like your toddler’s favorite stuffed animals) that can tide you over for a few days.

Refill Prescriptions

You won’t want to be caught without medications that you and your family rely on.

Cancel Memberships

Don’t forget to formally end agreements with any local businesses (from health clubs to self-storage units) that you won’t use once you move. Get written confirmations.

Set Up Your Utilities

Gas, water, electricity, garbage, oil — make sure you either transfer your accounts to your new address or close them out.

Day of Moving 

Get an Early Start

This is especially important if you’re handling any parts of the move yourself, such as the truck rental or filling a self-storage container. Give yourself a cushion of time in case anything takes longer than expected. (Because, let’s be honest, it always does.)

Clear the Decks

If possible, arrange for young children and pets to be somewhere more fun and less stressful. (If you don’t have family nearby, now’s a great time to call in favors from friends or neighbors.)

Make Way for the Movers

Ensure that there’s a clear path between your house or apartment and the moving truck. That may entail shoveling snow, asking your neighbor to move their car, or reserving a spot on the street with orange safety cones… whatever it takes to make this process go faster.

Verify Your Movers

Scams can happen. When a truck pulls up in front of your house, confirm that the USDOT number on the side matches the movers’ USDOT number you have in your files.

Do a Final Walk-Through

Conduct a last-minute check of drawers, cabinets, and closets to make sure you didn’t forget anything. You’ll also need to make sure it’s “broom-swept clean” for the new owners. (For peace of mind, consider hiring a professional housekeeping service.)

Hang On to Sensitive Documents

Valuables from your safe deposit box and hard copies of sensitive documents like tax returns, bank statements, and birth certificates should go in a file box and stay with you. If possible, you’ll be the only one handling them between your old house and new abode.

Trustworthy keeps your documents secure with bank-level protection, including AES 256-bit encryption, multi-factor and biometric authentication, physical security keys, advanced threat detection, and tokenization.

Review the Moving Documents

Once you’re at your new house and have received your belongings, you’ll be asked to sign off on the movers’ bill of lading. Before you do, look over it and verify that it’s accurate. Don’t sign until you feel confident that your items are, indeed, all there and reassembled, if that was part of the deal.

Test Your Smoke Detectors

Also test your carbon monoxide and radon detectors, and alarm systems. Before spending a night in your new home, make sure everything works properly and you and your family will be safe.

After the Move

Inspect Your Belongings

If you notice anything broken, scratched, or missing, notify the movers right away.

Submit School Records

Besides transcripts from your kids’ old schools, prepare to share vaccination records and proof of your new residence.

Reach Out to Your Neighbors

Hopefully, they’ll beat you to it, but it’s always a nice gesture to introduce yourself and start familiarizing yourself with your new community.

Relax and Enjoy

Moving can be a huge, stressful undertaking. Try not to pressure yourself to make your new home look perfect right away. Instead, give yourself — and your family — time to settle into your new neighborhood and routine.