How to reduce the strain of Moving

Regardless of whether it's across the country or across town, moving is a worrying, costly and time-consuming event. It requires extensive planning, organization, and a lot of physical activity. While there is no easy way to move house, there are some things you can do to simplify the process and reduce the amount of stress on yourself.

First things first: identify a objective moving date. You'll want to take a mixture of factors into consideration when determining your moving time frame, such as work schedules if you're varying employment, school schedules for your kids, housing considerations such as rent or lease terms, and even the weather. A good law of thumb is to give yourself a two-to-three week window to complete your whole move, from packing and cleaning your current residence, to moving itself, to unpacking and organizing in your new home.

Summer is always a peak moving time-particularly for families, as it provides for negligible interruption in kids' school schedules-but it's also typically the hottest and least physically comfortable time of year to be doing all that heavy lifting. While horrible, blistering heat is not likely to be a deal breaker, but it is worth taking into consideration .

Once you've worked out a time frame for your move, it's time to take list of your home. The most significant part of this process is identifying what to keep, and what to get rid of before the move-there is no sense in moving items you don't plan on charge long-term. A good way to determine what to keep and what to lose is to divide your household into three categories: 'Must Keep,' 'May Keep,' and 'Don't Need.' one time you've gotten rid of the 'Don't Need' items, go back through the 'May Keep' piles and remove everything you can.

If you're having problem knowing when to let go of something, apply the six-month test: If it hasn't been used in the past six-months, you don't need it Tip: Don't repeatedly throw things you no longer need away-there are plenty of charity organizations that are constantly accepting donations of all kinds to help others in the community, and they would be happy to have your unnecessary items. Plus, you can write off the donations for a nice tax break next April.

Now that your household is organized and you've done a thorough list of everything that will be making the move with you, it's time to start thinking about the logistics of really moving it all. The easiest way to do it (but also the most expensive) is to hire a full-service moving company 

A third option would be to rent a truck and pack, lift and move all yourself. There are abundance of truck rental services designed just for these kinds of projects, and their rates are naturally very reasonable.

 Finally, if you're determined to spend as little as possible, get a group of kind-hearted friends-and their cars-together and make moving a group movement. You can typically get away with a small payment to each helper, or the cost of dinner for the group. This is surely the most labor-intensive option, but it won't cost you much at all.

Once you've chosen the right moving method for you, get the whole lot planned out and scheduled at least 4-6 weeks in advance. Also, it's a good idea to start the organization and overall move-out process as early as possible, so as to avoid having to cram it all-packing, cleaning, moving-into a few days or a weekend. No matter how well you get ready, moving is always at least somewhat stressful, so do what you can to decrease that stress ahead of time, breathe deeply, and remember: it will be over before you know it.

You might also like: Knowing Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move