You did it! You landed a better job in another location! The prospects are very exciting and you know this is just the opportunity for you. You feel proud, anxious, happy and sad all at the same time because relocation is a huge life event. Much planning and research is required for a successful relocation, so where do you start preparing? Having planned and lived through a many recent relocations has helped me get it down to a science, here are my suggestions for you:
Draft your moving budget-
The very first thing you need to do in preparation for your relocation is map out your moving expenses. Your finances will greatly influence how, when and where you'll relocate to. It is essential that you tackle this first!
Determine how much money you will have on hand for the move. Will your new employer cover some of your moving expenses? How much available credit do you have? Will you be getting deposits back from a landlord or utility company? What do you have in savings? How much can you save from now until the move?
Once you have a clear picture of your financial situation you can begin making moving plans that coincide with your budget. Now think of all the moving expenses you'll incur and list them, this will show you your moving budget. Compare and mesh the two budget sheets, do you need more money than you have for the move? What can you cut back on? How much can you spend?
One of my sample budget sheets looked like this, we had $10,000 available for moving expenses:
$2000 - Buy motor-home to get us and pets to our new destination
$2000 - Hire moving company to transport our things
$1300 - Money for gas to drive motor-home
$2000 - Deposit for new rental place
$200 - Deposits/ costs to turn on new utilities
$1000 - Money for food and possible lodging along the way
$600 - Plane tickets for helpers to fly home
One you have listed all the necessary moving expenses you'll see if you are over or under your available moving budget. At this time you can make necessary additions or changes based upon your budget. Don't forget that for certain costs you'll need cash or certified funds, things like gas and food you could charge to a credit card but rental home/ utility deposits often require certified funds or cash. Once you have figured the budget you can begin moving forward in your preparations to relocate.
Make lists to help you prioritize your thoughts-
The most important thing you can do when you prepare to relocate is make lists! Lists will help you ensure you haven't forgotten about anything and they will also help you to manage the inevitable anxiety that relocation induces. I personally start my list making by thinking of the very last thing we'll need to do and then I work my way forward. As I continue making my to-do list I'll think of things that must be done before others can happen and I'll add those to the list in the order I think of them.
Example:
- Move in to new home
- Find a place to live, must wait till 30 days out
- Apply for home and pay a holding deposit
- Book moving company, must wait till home is set
Don't be hard on yourself about the order of the list when you first start out, the most important thing is to get everything out on paper first, you can get it all in order later. If you try to force yourself to think of tasks in the order they should be done you will stifle your thinking power and will most likely forget important things. Whenever you think of something you'll need to do for the move immediately write it on your list, then go on about your day.
Organize and order your lists-
After you have put all your thoughts and "to-do's" on paper you can begin to organize them into categories to make them more manageable. The most important thing is to order your list items in the order you want to complete them. I personally categorized my lists count down style with the most general things first:
* 19 days till our yard sale weekend madness begins
* 27 day until we can pick a rental home and pay the holding deposit
* 50 days until the last day at work
* 55 days until we leave here and begin our week long drive
* 63 days until we get the keys and move in to the new home
Then I took each specific event and broke it in to smaller chunks of "to-do's" :
* 19 days till our yard sale weekend madness begins
-sort through all items, decide what to sell
-price, clean and package items to be sold
-box priced items and move to garage for sale
You may find a better organizational system for your lists depending on the specifics of your move. As long as you are organizing your lists it doesn't matter what method you choose to use, just make sure it is something you feel comfortable with. Here are some basic list items to help you get your list going:
Utilities-
-turn off or transfer current services, which ones?
-turn on new utilities, research new utility companies, deposit amounts etc
Housing-
-Leave current home, have carpets cleaned? Need to schedule inspection with landlord? Get security deposit back, etc.
-Line up new home, find place, pay holding deposit, how will you get keys? Change of address etc
Transport-
-Get family to new town, Fly or drive? How long will it take, what will you need while you are traveling etc
-Get belongings to new location, hire full service mover or do it yourself? How will you pay for it? Insure the move, how long will it take etc.
Documents/ mail-
-Change address/ forward: voter registration, Mail forwarding? Need PO Box? magazines, bills, change address for W2's, banking?
-Important documents that need to stay with you during move, birth certificate, social security card, check books, insurance documents, bills, cash etc.
Preparing for an upcoming is no doubt a stressful, life changing time but you don't have to let the stress get the best of you. After all this is also an exiting and positive event for you as you have moved forward in your career!
Just remember that the more you do in advance the easier your move will be. That is why thinking ahead is so important! Continually brain storm the various tasks you'll need to complete, make yourself lists of all your moving thoughts and make a little progress each day. Draw up a moving time line and plug all your "to-dos", this will help you to work through a few tasks each day. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day! Just take it one step at a time and before you know it you will be in your new home having survived your job relocation and you'll look back in amazement!