Moving checklist

The best way to ensure a smooth move and put your mind at rest is to make a plan and back it up with a comprehensive checklist.

Four to six weeks to moving day

1. Get your garage and garden shed into order.
2. Start using up frozen and perishable food and stop buying bulk items.
3. Dispose of unwanted items (hold a garage sale, put them on the verge or give them to family and friends).
4. Organise important documents into a single folder that can be easily accessed at any point during the move.
5. Change your address, both for traditional mail and for online accounts (Amazon, Ebay etc.).
6. Schedule any necessary repairs for your existing home and your new one.
7. Arrange time off from work.
8. Book a removalist if you intend using one. 

Two weeks to moving day 

1. Change your address for your internet, gas, electricity, water and any other utilities.
2. Arrange for family, friends or a professional service to look after pets on moving day (the upheaval can cause them distress). 

One week to moving day 

1. Arrange for packing boxes, wrapping materials such as bubble wrap or padding for delicate items and tape.
2. Back up all your computers to a hard drive or to the cloud. 

The packing process 

1. Do one room at a time so as not get yourself in a mess.
2. Try to keep similar items in the same boxes and label them (it will help at the other end).
3. Put lighter things in bigger boxes, heavier items in smaller.
4. When you dismantle furniture tape the nuts, bolts, screws and any other bits and pieces to the parts where they belong.
5. Put essential toiletries in a bag or box that can be easily accessed during the move and at the other end. 

The night before 

1. Defrost the freezer (use an esky and ice to keep essentials cool and transport them to the new place).
2. Arrange the boxes so they are easily accessible for the removalists or whoever is doing the job.
3. Farewell the neighbours. 

Moving day

1. Get up and get moving early, especially if you have to pack the kids off to school.
2. Keep special items and important documents with you.
3. Switch off gas, taps, lights and electrical switches (in other words, turn off the house).
4. Lock up (an empty house is a target for thieves and vandals).
5. Tick one thing off your checklist by moving home with Alinta Energy. We’ll sort your connection, so you have less to worry about.