If you are moving to a new house, the whole process will probably take you a few months to complete. Although everybody has different situations, there is a general timeline that everyone should follow in order to move on time and with as little stress as possible.

One of the most important steps in the moving process is the preparation. Although many people don’t think of preparation as a separate step, if you give it precedence and begin preparing before you even think of moving your things out of your home, you will be significantly less stressed. In terms of preparation, some things to keep in mind include setting up mail forwarding; transferring utilities; getting packing supplies, such as boxes, tape, padding, and tools; taking measurements of your old furniture to make sure it will fit into your new house; hiring a moving service if you can’t complete the process yourself; and finding out if some of your friends will help you out, whether that’s during the packing or moving process.

As mentioned above, before you move your things, you’ll need to pack them up. Packing is frustrating and can become very messy very quickly, but here are a few quick tips to cut down on the mess:

Pack a bag to set aside as if you are going traveling that has clothes, toiletries, and anything else you’ll need to have ready at hand.

Label your boxes in any way that makes sense to you. Coloured permanent markers and masking tape are a magical friend while moving. If you can, create a way to inventory when each box leaves your old house and shows up at your new one.

Overall, just keep in mind that you certainly shouldn’t wait until the day before to begin packing up your whole kitchen. Begin a few weeks ahead of time by collecting boxes and clearing out unwanted items.

Hopefully, after reading these tips, you will have a better idea of when to begin packing for your move. It’s a tough process but these steps will keep you from pulling out your hair!