Moving can be one of the most stressful experiences. Especially if it’s your first time. You can easily do many things wrong here, making moving tedious and sometimes even expensive. Thankfully, people before you have made some very common mistakes, so you don’t have to. Here are five such moving mistakes you should probably be mindful of.

Not Protecting The Valuables

When it comes to valuables, some goods are just irreplaceable. Especially generational items, jewellery, and other valuable documents. When you have planned to move, the first best thing to do is pack your valuables and keep them in a safe place.

You can give your valuables to a trustworthy friend or relative or put them in a safe until you have moved into the new place. However, putting this off at the last moment can get these items in the wrong hands.

Some other valuables to be mindful of includes passports, social security cards, small, luxury items like watches, artwork, valuable coins, stamps and prescription medications.

Packing Everything

Moving is an excellent excuse to finally declutter and do some spring cleaning. Remember that moving doesn’t mean you have to pack everything. When you’re organising and packing goods, take a good look at the purpose of the items.

Check if you have unused items for more than two years or if any goods will no longer be used, and dispose of these items. That way you can have only a few goods to unpack and organise easily when you relocate, and the new house can be more neat and tidy with only the things you use.

Especially if you’re moving to a small house, decluttering before you move can save you more storage space in your new home.

Procrastinating

Moving is not an easy task. It’s a systematic process where many things can go wrong if not planned properly. This is why many specialised moving companies take the responsibility of doing it on your behalf using trained movers and packers.

However, if you’re doing the moving, waiting till the last minute to get started can cause you to miss many things, pack items incorrectly, and even damage or break valuable items in the process. You can avoid this by setting up a daily packaging routine instead of doing a bunch of packing at once. It’s a good practice to start packaging from your storage unit or room, as it helps to declutter and pack systematically.

Improper Packaging

When moving, many overlook taking the time to pack goods according to their nature. They also should be appropriately labelled, so the movers know how to handle them. Putting packaging at the last minute can make you do a lot of quick and improper packaging, resulting in many damages throughout the moving process.

One best way to get around this is to list the packaging materials you need to pack the goods. This can be done when you’re planning your packaging schedule. Then, once you’re done with the packaging, label the boxes, especially for fragile items.

Not Forwarding The Mail

Sometimes you might think you have done it all right by cancelling the cable, dismissing the electric company, and closing the agreement with the landlord. But what many forget is that they don’t forward their mailing address.

By not doing this, you can miss out on essential documents and also put personal information at risk. Especially if you don’t have a reliable person to pick up your mail, the mail may end up in the wrong hands.