Whether you are using movers or doing it yourself, moving check lists could make your life drastically easier during the move. A move can be the most stressful thing you experience, and any way that may make it simpler should be taken advantage of. Below you will find a simple moving house checklist that you should consider using for your next move.

1. Eight to Five Weeks Out

Start tidying the extraneous parts of the house. The garage, the garden shed, the gutters should all be taken care of in this time. Notify the Post Office that you are moving. Change your address with them and set up mail forwarding for anything that slips through the cracks of the address change. Use up your supplies of perishable and frozen foods.

2. Four and Three Weeks Out

Set aside important things not to be lost in the jumble of boxes, but kept safe during the move. Things like important documents, medications, any necessities that might be needed in a hurry, without needing to dig them out. Figure out how the pets are going to be moved. Will they stay with your sister for a day while everything gets moved between locations? Sell anything else that is not coming along. A garage sale may be in order to lighten the packing load.

3. Two Weeks Out and Moving Week

Change your address with the DMV. This is a simple process that can be done right online. Figure out disconnection and start-up of utilities at either place. It is best to turn off utilities at the old place a day after the move, and turn them on at the new place a day ahead of the move. Defrost the fridge and clean it out the day before the move. Make sure that all of your meters are read by the time you leave, so you know the exact amounts of usage you had. And on the day of the move, after everything is taken from the house, make sure all switches and faucets are turned off, and that all windows are closed and secure and doors are locked.

Yes, a lot of this is common sense. But it is so simple that it can very easily be forgotten in the hubbub of the more stressful stuff. With a moving house checklist, you can be sure that nothing will be forgotten, no matter how small. Read more like this.