Eventually, most people will move out into their own place when they are in their late teens or early twenties. Plenty of people will end up getting an apartment. The entire process of moving yourself from one place to another can get pretty hectic and stressing, but you can make things easier by following a few guidelines. Therefore, use some of the following tips when you need to move into a new apartment for the first time or anytime.
Call utility and cable companies a week in advance.
Typically, it will take your gas and electric company a few days to get your power and gas turned on. The same goes for cable with television, Internet, and phone lines. Don’t wait until the last second because you could end up without electricity, gas, or anything else in your apartment for a few days at the very least. So then, a smart rule is to call all of these companies at least a week in advance, but ten days works even better. Waiting till the last couple days before move in can cause some issues because companies do get busy enough to the point where they can’t turn services on right away. Obviously, you don’t want to be in the dark for a week while you wait for your power to be turned on. Therefore, just make sure that you take care of things sooner rather than later.
Make measurements for doorways, hallways, and furniture beforehand.
Packing up furniture, moving it to the new apartment, and finding out that something won’t fit through a doorway or hallway is the last thing a person wants or needs. Obviously, a little bit of pre-planning is your best bet here. You need to measure all of the large furniture you plan on moving and then you must measure the doorways and hallways of the new apartment. Doing so will save you a great amount of time because you will know – for a fact – that something will or will not fit into the apartment. On that note, don’t forget that you can sometimes rotate furniture at different angles to get it into a doorway. You shouldn’t count on that to save you each time something won’t fit though.
Don’t try to move everything in on the first day.
A lot of people try to move everything they own into their new apartment in a single day, which is nearly impossible. In fact, it usually takes 3 or 4 days to get everything in the apartment and put away. Therefore, you should plan to take at least 3 days to move in. Don’t expect to have everything moved in one morning and in place that night – it just doesn’t happen. On the first day, you should focus on bringing and setting all of the furniture in the apartment. You’ll probably be pretty tired afterward, so you should leave moving in everything else like groceries, clothing, and other things for the second day. That leaves the second and third days for putting everything away where it belongs. Without a doubt, spreading all of the work across three days will make it much easier than attempting to do it all at once.
Introduce yourself to the neighbors before you move.
Since you’re moving to a new place, you probably won’t know many or any of the people that live there. It’s a great idea to introduce yourself to the neighbors so that everyone can get to know each other. Of course, you don’t have to go meet every neighbor in the entire apartment complex, but you should at least meet the people that live immediately around your own apartment. It’s much better to have some acquaintances when moving to a new apartment than it is to be all alone. On the bright side, some neighbors will often be friendly or assist you with moving in. They can help you out with the little things while you’re getting situated in your new place. Also, meeting them before you move in is just a good idea.
Don’t use a moving company.
Some people make the mistake of paying hundreds of dollars for a moving company to take their things from point A to point B. However, moving everything yourself with a few friends can cost almost nothing and can be easier. It only takes three or four people to move furniture quickly and efficiently. All you need are some boxes and a large vehicle, preferably a truck. To start the process, you just need to start loading up the truck with the biggest pieces of furniture first. Obviously, you just make a few trips to move everything into the new apartment. This will save you hundreds of dollars and is a good idea because you probably don’t have tons of heavy furniture items. On top of this, you’ll be able to move on your own schedule.
Be prepared for anything.
This rule could apply to just about anything, but you really should be prepared for anything when it comes to moving. In reality, tons of different issues can come up during the moving process, from missing keys to furniture stuck in a room to plenty of other things. Obviously, you’ll need to have a backup plan if something comes up. You may not run into a single issue while you’re moving, but most people will have minor issues at the very least Just don’t walk into the process with the belief that nothing can or will go wrong because that usually isn’t the case.
Move furniture into the farthest rooms first.
When you start moving things into your new apartment, you’ll want to put furniture in the rooms that are farthest away from the front door first. Why? Well, you might not have enough space to pull things through the entrance, kitchen, or living room if you furnish those rooms first. The last thing you need is to have your path to the bedrooms and other rooms blocked because you filled rooms closest to the entrance first. So then, make sure you start in the least accessible rooms, which usually means the rooms that are farthest away from the front door.
Moving, Moving, and More Moving
As you can guess, moving into a new apartment isn’t the easiest thing ever, so you’ll need to be prepared for it. Use some of these tips to make the trip as smooth as possible but know that something could always come up to cause problems. Moving usually isn’t as simple as moving stuff from one place to another. Beforehand, you’ll need to set up utilities and cable to make sure they’re on when you walk in the door. You need to know that everything will fit in the apartment without a hassle. So then, be as prepared as you can for the move to minimize the hassle.
