This post was written as part of the Allstate Influencer Program and sponsored by Allstate. All opinions are mine. As the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, Allstate is dedicated not only to protecting what matters most–but to guiding people to live the Good Life, every day.
Our family took a big step and made a move to a new home recently. The idea of relocating a family of 7 plus our pup was something I wanted to happen magically. I knew we were in for a lot of work, but it all came together in the end. We tapped into the Allstate Moving Center online tools and tips for moving. Here are some of the ways we were able to get through this potentially stressful adventure.
Tips for Moving
1. Budget
The first step was to find the perfect home that was within our budget. We used a home loan calculator to determine how much we could afford to borrow to buy a home based on our monthly income, monthly expenses, and any other debts we already had. The calculator had us input our desired loan terms and the taxes and insurance we anticipated paying.
2. Insurance
It was important that we had homeowners insurance in place for the transfer to the new property. At the same time, we spoke with our agent about whether our belongings would be covered during the actual move under our policy. By working with our agent, we realized how important it was to not have any gaps in coverage.
3. Hiring Movers
We decided to hire professional movers to properly relocate all the furniture and other large items. We used the Allstate printable contact sheets to make notes of the different companies we reached out to so we could compare and make an informed decision about which moving company was reputable and affordable.
To save a little money we had friends and family help us with personal things and the contents of the kitchen. Here are some useful tips on pros and cons of renting a truck to move personal items.
4. Timeline
Once we closed on the perfect house, we worked on our moving timetable. We used a step-by-step timeline resource to keep everything and everyone on task. We were able to print out an 8 week checklist that included all that we need to accomplish in an organized manner.
These timeline suggestions were particularly helpful:
• At 8 weeks out we began a ritual of purging and packing. During this process, we also used a printable label tool to make sure the contents of all boxes were identified and ended up in the right rooms at the new house.
• At 4 weeks out we set up transfers of utilities, newspaper and mail deliveries, and started notifying every one of our change of address.
• At 2 weeks out we confirmed with the movers, packed a few boxes and bags of personal and essential items to bring in our car, and made minor repairs to our home.
• 2 days before moving we did all the laundry and cleaned the house completely.
5. Thinking of Our Pets
Throughout the process, we were very mindful of how this was going to impact our pets. We knew that this would be an adjustment that wouldn’t make much sense to our dog Cole who had just become accustomed to his current home. We wanted to maintain his routine as much as possible, and get him acclimated to his new environment as quickly as possible. Allstate gave us some great tips that you can read about here.
