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The Ultimate Moving Guide for Families
Essential Tips for a Low-Stress Move
8 Weeks to a Smooth Move: Let’s Get Started
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 guide, 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.
Uploading this guide to Trustworthy will help your family stay organized, even when you’re on the go.
8 Weeks Before Moving
Determine logistics:
Figure out who’s doing the packing and moving — you or a professional moving company.
You could also consider a hybrid approach: Pack your belongings yourself and hire a company to transport your boxes.
Start downsizing:
Sort through your belongings and sell, donate, or discard anything you no longer need.
Get in touch with your inner Marie Kondo. You may be surprised at the amount of nonessentials you own, especially if you’ve lived in your current home for a while.
Before you call movers to give you an estimate, take stock of what you love (as Kondo would ask, “Does it spark joy?”) and what you’re ready to give away, sell, or toss.
Find a mover (if needed):
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.
Get everything in writing, including confirmation of your moving date. By storing this information with Trustworthy, you won’t lose anything important.
If you’re using a mover, ask lots of questions:
You want to be able to trust a mover with your most valuable property, so take note of their answers to questions
Is this a binding estimate?
Are there extra fees or extenuating 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 (USDOT) registration? (If so, they’ll have to follow certain safety requirements.)
Schedule a truck (if moving yourself):
Reserve your moving truck early to ensure availability.
Peak moving times (like the beginning of the month and summer) book up fast.
Organize your moving documents:
Keep all moving-related paperwork easily accessible.
Your moving estimate
A bill of lading (the legal contract between you and your mover)
Your employer’s relocation policy (if applicable)
Receipts
New home documents, including your home insurance policy
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 of 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.
Budget for your move:
Factor in moving costs, supplies, deposits, and travel expenses to avoid financial surprises.
Set aside an emergency fund for unexpected moving expenses.
6 Weeks Before Moving
Inventory your items and photograph valuables:
Create a detailed list of everything you're moving to document its condition for potential insurance claims.
Upload your inventory to Trustworthy to ensure it's safely stored.
Request important records:
Depending on how far you’re moving, your home address may not be the only thing that’s changing. Get started now and request necessary records from places like:
Schools
Doctors
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.
Plan for address changes:
Make a list of every institution and service provider that will need your new address.
Your employer
The post office
Electric company
Water/sewer department
Cable company
Cell phone provider
Internet provider
Department of motor vehicles
Health and dental insurer
Life insurance provider
Auto insurer
Homeowners insurance provider
Banks
Investment firms
Credit card companies
Social Security Administration
Medicare, Medicaid, and any other government programs
Garbage collector
Local registrar of voters
Your doctor, dentist, and other health providers
TSA Precheck (if you’re enrolled)
Online shopping sites (like Amazon)
Print newspaper subscriptions
Print magazine subscriptions
The Family Operating System® is the perfect place to keep all of this important information (including important contacts like doctors, insurers, and service providers) secure and accessible.
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.
4 Weeks Before Moving
Start packing:
You’ve still got a way to go before your move date, so pack up only nonessentials 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:
Books
Home decor
Holiday decor
Seasonal items (including clothes) that you won’t need for a while
Archived or storage items (like the drawings your teenager did in second grade)
Get acquainted with 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 professional repairs, services, and installations:
Make appointments now for an electrician, plumber, landscaper, carpenter, cleaning service — whatever professional services you may need when you move in. Your real estate agent may have recommendations for reliable service providers.
Keep track of important deadlines, appointments, and payments with Trustworthy’s reminder notifications.
2 Weeks Before Moving
Confirm moving day details:
Call the moving company or truck rental agency to doublecheck your reservation.
Save moving contracts, truck rental agreements, and receipts with Trustworthy
Start using up food in your pantry and freezer:
Avoid waste by using perishable items and not overbuying groceries.
Donate unopened, nonperishable food to a food bank.
Label boxes clearly:
Use color-coded labels for each room to make unpacking easier
Empty your safe deposit box:
If you’re moving long distance, retrieve important papers and valuables from your financial institution. Don’t let these valuable items out of your sight.
For more security, digitize important documents and store them with Trustworthy.
Set up new utilities and internet access:
Arrange installations before move-in day so you have power and internet immediately.
Cancel old utility services to avoid being billed after you leave.
Make your address change official:
You may be starting to feel time-crunched, but now is the time to go through the list you made weeks ago and notify organizations and institutions of your new address.
If you’ve already everything in Trustworthy, this step becomes a breeze.
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.
Measure and plan:
Get room measurements (including door and window dimensions) from your real estate agent or homebuilder.
That way, you can decide where your furniture will go in your new home. You can then use this information to label your boxes and direct your movers.
The Week of Moving
Back up important documents:
Keep sensitive papers (e.g., passports, Social Security cards, car titles, marriage certificates) out of moving boxes.
Store digital copies in Trustworthy and carry hard copies in a backpack or folder you keep with you.
Pack an “essentials” box:
Include daily essentials: toiletries, clothes, chargers, snacks, and pet supplies. Mark boxes with “open first” for essentials like toiletries and chargers.
Take photos of electronics before unplugging:
Pictures of cable connections will make reassembly easier.
Label cords with masking tape to avoid confusion.
Refill any prescriptions:
You don’t want to be caught without medications that you and your family rely on.
Cancel any 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 confirmation of the cancellations and store those documents in Trustworthy.
The Day of Moving
Get an early start:
This is especially important if you’re handling any parts of the move yourself.
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 your kids 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.
Label boxes clearly:
Use color-coded labels for each room to make unpacking easier
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.
Give your movers a walk-through of your home to confirm what’s being moved.
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.
Take utility meter readings:
Snap photos of your meters before leaving.
Keep a record in Trustworthy in case of billing disputes.
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. You can keep them even safer by storing digitized versions with Trustworthy. The Family Operating System® keeps your documents secure with bank-level encryption, tokenization, multi-factor and biometric authentication, physical security keys, and advanced threat detection.
Review the moving paperwork:
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.
After Moving In
Inspect your belongings:
Open boxes within 24 hours. Take photos and file any claims immediately.
Test your smoke detectors:
Before spending a night in your new home, you want to make sure everything works properly and you and your family will be safe. Check carbon monoxide and radon detectors and alarm systems, too.
Submit school records:
Place your document in the scanner, select the Trustworthy profile, and press scan. Your document will be securely uploaded and organized.
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 is a huge undertaking. Your new home doesn’t have to look perfect immediately. Give yourself — and your family — time to settle into your new neighborhood and routine.
