Checklists for Preparing to Move, Packing, Moving and Getting Unpacked Checklists

Okay, so the time is now.  Or soon.  Hopefully you will have a few days between your renovation being completed and when you are actually moving.  I am actually one of the lucky ones.  My guesstimate Timeline:

January 2011 - Hired General Contractor to Renovate My New Alcove Studio aka One Bedroom Apartment


Before General Contractor Begins Work:

• Get electric set up.  Yes Virginia, your General Contractor will not be using hand tools.  They do need electricity.  

January 2 to January 31 ~ G.C. is working feverishly to do this job.  He promised he would be finished before Thursday, February 24th.  So, I booked a Move Out date of Thursday, 2/24 in my "old building" and a Thursday, 2/24 Move In Date with my New Building.

February 1st - Begin with Clothing.  Set up 3 piles

1. Thrift Store
2. Garbage
3. Keep (put the keep clothes in pre-labeled boxes: SWEATERS, JEANS, UNDIES, SOCKS, T-SHIRTS, JAMMIES, etc. 

****  Begin with the clothes out of season.  It is easier to give away or throw away clothes you aren't wearing now.  And if you label the box: "SUMMER DRESSES" you know this is a box you don't have to rush to unpack.    (I hear the laughter you know.  Okay, maybe I don't actually own Summer Dresses, but it was a good example.)
*****Don't touch the clothing twice.  Pick it up, put it in either the Thrift Box, the Garbage bag or the appropriately labeled box.

February 2nd - Begin changing your address to the new one.  Send out a note to each business that sends you a bill.   This can be done in conjunction with getting your taxes prepared.  (Yes, of course, I am going to have my taxes done waaaaaaayy before April 15th - Do you think I am a procrastinator or something?


February 2nd - Scheduling the Move:

• Schedule the date to move out in your old building and set up the move in date in the new one.  
• Call and get a moving company to come drop off boxes and give you an estimate.  (For the record, I can not find "Amazon Movers", the womyn owned company that moved me a decade ago.  Does anyone know if they are still in business?

February 14th - Call the Cable Company and get Cable ready and set up.  (Most cable techs require you to have a television in the apartment to make sure they have everything set up.  So, if you are buying a new TV, now is the time.

February 14th - Call and get phone service set up, if this is your thing.  Deaf folks, and cell phone only folks need not to worry about this step

February 15th - Pack a suitcase for 4 days with enough clothes, shampoo, conditioner, soaps, lotions, make up, etc.  Just in case you don't feel like unpacking all the boxes at once.

February 16th - Buy the stuff that some wise old woman told you too.  In my case:

• Buy new broom.  I will not bring an old broom to a new home (bad luck)
• Sprinkle sea salts in the corners of each room (brings flavor to my new life)
• Burn a sage stick (gets rid of any weird mojo that might be festering in my new home)
• Wrap a spring of rosemary and put it by my front door (this is really supposed to be by your garden gate, but I don't have a garden or a terrace, so the front door has to suffice)
• Burn Lavender candles in each room for a peaceful transition
• Sprinkle Cucumber oil in each room, very lightly - brings the chance for a sexy romantic situation
• Light the rest of the apartment on fire so there is no bad energy - no.  I am kidding.  There will be no burning of my apartment.  Just the sage sticks safely in the sink.   Geeeshhhh, do you think I am that weird?

February 17th - Get the cable set up.  This involves getting a TV to the new apartment since good ole Time Warner won't install cable without a TV to test it out on.  Go figure.

February 18th - Drop off Dog Food and a bunch of "babies" so the move won't be as devastating.

Thursday, February 24th ~ Leaving good ole 24-C, Moving on Up, to the East Side, to a Deluxe Apartment in the skyyyy. Moving on up.