Moving demands a lot of multitasking and juggling, and this naturally makes it more likely for mishaps to take place. But regardless of how common it is to mess up a little during a move, it doesn’t mean that you should let it slide and simply sit well with accepting that making mistakes while moving is an okay thing. Think of the stress, worry, and sleepless nights you’ve undergone over small and big moving missteps.
This time, you need to do things differently. Do a mental walkthrough of how much more smoothly the moving process would have gone if certain specific moments didn’t happen. At the very end, ask yourself. Is just surrendering to the likelihood of moving mistakes really worth the distress it all causes? We think not, which is why we’re enlisting the most common mistakes one can make while moving, so you avoid them.
Leaving things for the last minute.
There aren’t words big enough to stress just how important planning is for a successful move. The biggest moving mistake made in the history of moving is delaying the process as much as you can and then going haphazardly into it just as the moving date is staring you in the face. Of course, the Pareto principle sounds appealing when you’re trying to justify procrastinating but just think of the agony you’ll experience over prioritizing bouts of laziness.
Leaving packing and other aspects of your move for the last couple of days or weeks also strips you of the ability to plan and sort things right. This automatically means that you’re unpacking and settling-in process will be a nightmare. You’ll also be at much more risk of misplacing and losing things or not being able to locate those months after moving in. Trust us, that’s one scavenger hunt you don’t want to play.
Skipping over the decluttering process.
One of the hardest things during a move is to muster the strength to part with a lot of our possessions. This one tendency is behind one of the biggest moving mistakes that should be voided at all costs. Decluttering is a very important part of an efficient packing process. If you don’t take out useless items, you’ll be hoarding and ultimately packing more than you actually need.
An essential thing to remember is that the heavier your moving load is, the more you’ll end up paying for it. This roughly translates to you paying a significant amount of money to have your trash moved from one house to the other. Also, keep in mind that when you unpack these objects, they’ll end up dumped anyway or in the storage and eat up valuable storage space for other items of value.
Compromising on supplies.
Sure, you’re trying to save money any way you can during a move because, let’s face it, moving is really expensive. But some cost-saving techniques during a move might end up backfiring, and compromising on the quantity and quality of supplies is one of those things. Opting to purchase fewer packing supplies than you actually need is only going to come around as an extra errand run closer to the day of the move.
Opting for cheaper quality packing supplies will put your belongings in danger of damage. Poor-quality boxes and tape cannot sustain the weight of items and eventually end up spilling. If you want to avoid an added bout of stress on moving day and the embarrassment that comes with watching boxes rip apart and put your things out on display, make sure to avoid the moving mistake of compromising on supplies.
Avoiding inventory and labeling.
Anyone who has ever scoffed over doing inventory during a move and going the extra mile by labeling boxes too will certainly tell you that they were wrong for doing that. Nothing makes unpacking and putting things in their place as hard as unorganized and scattered packing. Even if you made an effort to pack well, cardboard boxes essentially look the same, and telling one apart from the other can only be done by opening them.
This makes for an exhausting and dizzying process. Avoid this moving mistake, and make sure you have a detailed list of your items with you in boxes that are labeled and easy to identify. The inventory process is also important because it helps avoid misplacing or losing things, and on the off chance that that does occur, you can seek compensation by showing your movers the detailed item inventory that you created while packing.
Not looking into insurance.
Look, moving is a messy business. Packing a life’s worth of items into boxes and trusting an entity to transport them for you across a considerable distance warrants that some kind of damage, mishap or unexpected situation could always occur. Even if your moving company is top-notch, you need to make sure to look into the kind of insurance they offer and read contracts in depth. Yes, the fine print too.
Make sure to have a valuation done on all of your items so you can apply for a replacement in the face of any unpredicted damage. Slacking on this is the biggest moving mistake you should avoid because simply having a verbal agreement about compensation will mean nothing when the situation actually presents itself and the moving company refuses to follow through.
Not having a separate bag for essentials.
The most frustrating aspect of a move is when you simply can’t seem to locate a particular document or an item of need at the moment when it is most crucial for you to have it. Save yourself time and stress, and instead, make sure to pack an essentials bag that has everything from your documents to keys and even toiletries.
Don’t underestimate the intensity with which the need for a seemingly small item might pop up. This has the potential to completely taint an otherwise successful move and is hence one of the moving mistakes you need to avoid with a passion.