• Rental/lease agreement: Read your rental/lease agreement carefully. You may be required to give 2 months notice instead of 30 days to vacate the property. Make note of any sub-letting restrictions that may apply to you.

• Give notice to your agent to advertise your home or apartment for sale or if you wish to break your lease early and need to find someone to take over the length of your remaining lease.

• Schools: What will the new school require to enroll the children? Speak to your current school and request that they forward the children’s records to the new school. Have a spare copy made to take with you to deter any unforeseen problems that may crop up.
• Insurance company: Re-read your existing home insurance. Are you covered for transit insurance and is it adequate?    Find out the time limit for providing notice of change of address for your home  and do a ‘home contents insurance’ comparison to determine if you have the best available premium. Will your insurance premium payments change?
• Unwanted furniture: arrange to sell, donate or auction on eBay any unwanted furniture and other items that you will not be moving to your new home.
• Check whether the new apartment will include water or electricity in the rental fee. Will you have to pay extra for a parking space or trash removal?
• Packing materials: Use a room calculator to estimate how many boxes you will need to pack. If you are getting them delivered, make sure they will arrive at least 3 weeks before moving day. Order boxes early so that you save on shipping, because standard shipping is often times free, while premium shipping is an added charge.

• Contact your service providers, internet, electricity, water, credit card providers, building association, TV license and cell phone company to determine

• Cancel or redirect your magazine and newspaper subscriptions to the new apartment.
• Transfer bank accounts to a local branch for added convenience.
• Notify credit card providers and your insurance companies of your move.
• Arrange with USPS to redirect your mail to the new address
• Reserve a parking space at the new apartment.
• Book a moving company. Price compare and shop around for quotes from several reputable removal companies or U-Haul rental companies and make a reservation. Often it’s cheaper to book your move for the middle of the month rather than for the more popular end or beginning of the month.
• Health care: Scout for a reliable dentist, doctor and pharmacy that are local nearly. Keep the addresses and phone numbers in your planner. When a medical emergency strikes, it will save precious time and come in handy.
• Start to clean out your fridge and freezer by consuming the food you already have in your current home. Frozen goods will likely not survive the move, while canned goods are not worth their weight in moving charges. 
• Memberships: Netflix and other movie clubs: arrange to have the accounts transferred to the new address. Sporting clubs and gyms: arrange to transfer your membership to a local chapter.
• Gym Refunds: If there is no local chapter in your new location, your gym might give you a partial refund since you are moving out of the local area.
• Car: If you will be traveling out of state or making a long journey, have your car checked and possibly  tune'up to the appropriate standard so that it may withstand the journey.

• Pet tags- have new tags made for your pets with the new address.
• Cancel newspaper and magazine deliveries or redirect to the new address
• Notify the police and neighbors/close friends whom you trust that your home will be vacant for an extended period if you are moving to a summer home or going on vacation for a few months.
• Return library books, DVDs and anything else that you have borrowed from your local area that needs to be returned at a set time.
• Reconfirm bookings, and make last minute changes if needed to your removal quote. Perhaps you have an extra ten boxes instead of the two you originally made provisions for.
• Invite friends to help you with the move.

• Buy last minute boxes if you have found that you have run short.
•  Cleaner – Arrange to have your apartment and carpets cleaned on the day you move out as a courtesy to the new tenant. This will also assist you with any applicable deposits that you may be eligible for.

• Buy sandwich ingredients or gather a few take out menus so that you can feed any volunteers that are helping you move.
• Empty, defrost and clean fridge.
• Confirm delivery address with the moving company today

• Leave a forwarding address with your landlord and the new tenant just in case your mail has not yet been forwarded.
• Take pictures of the old apartment to confirm that you left it in a good state in case there is ever a dispute with your landlord over your security deposit. Take pictures of the new apartment, too.
• Return keys to the landlord. Mark them with labels as a courtesy to the new tenant.
• Supervise the loading and unloading of your belongings-personally, if possible.
• Check to see whether your new apartment’s hot water, electricity and phone service are all working.
• Security – Check to see that the alarm is working correctly. Check all locks and windows. Arrange to have anything that is broken fixed as soon as possible, and inform your new landlord in writing of the broken items.

• Update your change of address with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)

You are finally done! Congratulations. Now all that's left is for you to plan your housewarming party to get to know your neighbors and familiarize your friends with your new home.

by Leanne Naidoo