How to Finish a Local Move in a Weekend

The local moving experts at All My Sons Moving & Storage offer an 8-step process for completing a local move in one weekend. 

Whether you’re facing a last-minute move or just want to get settled into your new home as quickly as possible, you might be wondering if you could complete your entire local move in a single weekend. The good news is that for most local moves, the answer is yes. With plenty of help and a little organization, you can start packing Friday evening and be settled into your new home by Sunday.

Don’t let moving procrastination get the best of you, start organizing and planning your local move right now and you could be flattening your boxes to gift to someone else come Monday morning.

As the weekend of your local move approaches, you should aim to check off as many tasks as you can complete before the clock strikes Friday. First item on the agenda, create a moving checklist. Check out All My Son’s Moving Checklist for a Last-Minute Move for some quick ideas.

Here are some items you should put on your moving checklist.

• Provide Notice: Your landlord may request about 30 to 60 days of notice before you move, check your lease for the specific timeframe and shoot off that written notice ASAP. Notify your employer of your move and request time off for your moving weekend if applicable. 

• Obtain Packing Supplies: You will need boxes, tape, packing paper, and bubble wrap. Packing supplies can be purchased from most moving retailers and some big box stores. You might be able to find free moving boxes in your community or use some household items as box-alternatives, but keep in mind that uniform moving boxes are best for keeping your move speedy and efficient. 

• Take Care of Utilities: Call your providers for your utilities. Some services like gas, electricity, or water you might be scheduling for disconnection. Others, like internet or cable, you might be able to transfer to your new address. Ensure your new utilities are connected and set up as soon as you are able. Some renters will be required to show proof that electricity or gas is in their name before they move in.

• Arrange for Child or Pet Care: When moving with children or moving with a pet then there may come a point where the chaos calls for someone else to provide attentive care. A toddler may need a full-time babysitter for the weekend or an energetic dog might need to be delivered to pet boarding before all the fun crinkling packing paper gets chewed through. Arrange for Junior or Fido’s needs before the weekend hits.

Ideally, you would book your movers at least 2 months in advance, especially if you are moving during summer because that is peak season for movers. If you are down to the wire, you might need to search for movers who perform same-day or next-day service. 

Here are some tips for selecting reputable movers.

• Do Your Research: Look for moving companies that are licensed and insured. Movers who perform interstate moves will be required to have a USDOT number from the FMCSA. You can search for your prospective mover in that database and see information like the moving company’s fleet size, physical address, and how many complaints have been filed against them in the last two to three years.

• Get Referrals: Ask for referrals from family and friends who have moved recently. If you have recently worked with a real estate agent, they may have a few recommended moving companies they trust. 

• Read Reviews: Look at reviews for your moving company and note how the company responses to negative reviews and complaints. Search for your prospective moving company on the Better Business Bureau and check their rating. 

• Watch Out For Red Flags: Mover beware, there are loads of rogue moving companies out there. Spot a moving scam by looking for common red flags like a company that does not have a physical address, offers an estimate that sounds too affordable to be true, and demands a large deposit upfront in cash. 

Always consider more than just the cost when you look to hire a professional moving company. Your time, energy, and peace are just as valuable as your money. Once you have selected a moving company, lock in your reservation for your chosen move weekend as soon as possible.

Friday evening has arrived and it is high time to start your packing.

You can simplify your move by choosing professional packing services with a full-service moving company. With packing services, everything you own is secured for the move by experts and you won’t have to lift a finger.

If you are packing yourself, you can take the following steps to make sure your move happens smoothly.

• Offload the Excess: You can save significant time, money, and energy on your move by decluttering your household inventory. Sort your possessions as you are packing. Keep a bag or box on hand to put items in good condition you intend to donate or sell. Trash or recycle items in poor condition or items that would be meaningless to another person. 

• Call for Junk Removal: Do you have bulk junk items like broken appliances and old furniture? Or worse, is there an entire attic, garage, or basement full to the bursting with items you know for certain are just junk? You can get rid of massive amounts of junk in one fell swoop with same-day junk removal. Junk.com can take bulk junk items or perform full room cleanouts in your weekend timeframe, leaving you free for your other, more important moving tasks.

• Pack the Non-Essentials First: The first items that will go into your moving boxes should be the items that you’ve not going to miss if they’re still in a box come Monday morning. These items include off-season clothes, your linen closet extras, keepsake boxes, holiday décor items, books, media collections, and your artwork. 

• Pack Essentials Last to be Unloaded First: The last items to pack will be your essentials or the items that your home requires to be comfortably functional. You will probably use these items up until the morning of your move and need them again almost immediately upon arrival at the new home. Pack these items in special, labeled boxes that you will load last and unload first. Some examples of your home essentials include toilet paper, bedroom sheets, silverware, and your coffee maker. 

• Label Boxes By Room: You should aim to label boxes with as much detail as possible, provided you are not taking the time to create a moving inventory. Always label boxes with which room they belong to. If you have extra moving budget, you can purchase different colored tape for the different rooms in your home so you can tell at a glance where a box needs to be delivered.

• Pack a Bag to Carry With You: Some of your more crucial items should be on your person at all times. Pack an essentials and emergencies bag that holds items like your medications, extra clothes, toiletries, a boxcutter, and important documents. 

If you are packing yourself, aim to have everything in boxes by the time your movers arrive. 

If you have hired professional movers, this should be the easy part. Exercise your pointer finger and relax while the pros do all the heavy lifting and loading. Stay on site to ensure you are available for any questions or comments your movers might have. Make sure the boxes with your essential items are loaded onto the truck last and unloaded at the new place first. 

How long your move takes once the professionals arrive will depend on the extent of your household inventory, the distance of your move, and whether or not there are any logistical concerns like stairs or tight doorways to watch out for. All My Sons Moving & Storage pulled the data from roughly 56,000 local moves across 89 locations in the summer of 2024, and found an average time for how long it takes to move. A one-bedroom apartment took an average of 3.7 hours to move while a four-bedroom house took an average of 6.2 hours to move. Provided you have a moderately sized house or apartment, it’s reasonable to expect loading, driving, and unloading to take up about 4 to 6 hours of your Saturday.

As the movers load your truck, check cabinets and closets for any stray items making an attempt to be forgotten. Rather than let these items become the next tenet’s problem, make sure they make it into a moving box or are properly dispose of.

Cleaning supplies should go in your essentials and emergencies stash during a local move. As rooms empty, pick up any stray debris, sweep hard floors, vacuum carpet, scrub countertops and fixtures, and toss all the dust bunnies. Take out the trash one final time. 

The next owners or tenets of your old home will be delighted to walk in and find the place looking shiny and smelling fresh. If you are a renter, your landlord might even happily hand back your deposit, provided there is no other damage to the rental, after you do a thorough cleaning.

If you are hiring a professional cleaning services to perform your move-out cleaning then notify them when the home is empty and confirm when they plan to arrive.

Upon arrival at your new home, have the movers deliver boxes and furniture to the rooms that they belong to. If you have color-coded your boxes, this part will be easy. If not, read your labels quickly and put boxes in their designated rooms as they come off the truck.

Position furniture items about where they will need to go. Essential furniture like beds, couches, and office desks should be assembled and set up as soon as possible.

If you can get this task completed by sundown on Saturday, that leaves all of Sunday for your final two moving tasks.

Once all the heavy lifting is done and the essential furniture in place, you’ll be ready to face the challenge of unpacking. 

• Start With Essentials: Stock your bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen essentials before you touch any other boxes. Preferably you will do this Saturday afternoon or evening before you fall on your bed in post-move exhaustion. You probably don’t want to get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom trip and discover your toilet paper is still packed in the essentials box on the floor.

• Go Room by Room: Once all the essentials are unloaded, pick a room and unpack all the boxes for that room. Once that room is unpacked, pick the next room and then proceed down the list. We recommend you start with the bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen. Work your way down the hierarchy of need, and unpack non-essentials like off-season clothing, back closet memorabilia, and décor items last.  

• Crush Boredom: Unpacking doesn’t have to be a major snoozefest. You can make it fun by creating an unpacking game, listening to music or audiobooks, having a favorite show on in the background, or inviting friends and family to help. With unpacking boredom left in the dust, you’ll work through your mountain of boxes before sundown on Sunday.

• Take Breaks: You might be trying to finish your whole move in a weekend, but you should still practice good moving self-care and remember to take regular breaks when you need them. Take 5 to 15 minutes away from your box maze and relax. Go on a quick walk around your new block, call a friend, or try out the new luxurious bathtub. Once recharged, you can roll your sleeve up and get back to unpacking.

Break the boxes down as you unpack them and set them to the side. Damaged boxes should be recycled. If your boxes look like they have another few moves left in them, offer them to others on local social media groups,  Freecycle, Buy Nothing pages, or Facebook Marketplace.  

Coming to the close of Sunday, the only moving tasks left will be all the dull administrative to-dos. Still important, of course. Once the used boxes are all bunched up and ready to be picked up by their next owner, check off these final tasks.

• File a Change of Address with USPS: Get all your mail forwarded by officially filing your change of address with USPS. It may take 7 days for mail forwarding to take effect. 

• Update Your Driver’s License: If you have moved locally, you might be able to update your driver’s license address online. Depending on your state, you could have up to 90 days to change your address on your driver’s license. If you are required to update in person, schedule an appointment at your local DMV as soon as possible and gather all your necessary paperwork.

• Change Your Address With All Providers: Make a list of all your doctors, subscriptions, financial accounts, and online shopping accounts and ensure your address is updated with all of them. Watch out for one-click buy or delivery accounts that still have your old address.

• Notify Friends and Family: Send out some festive moving announcements or call and text your family and friends individually to let them know you’ve moved. 

Checked all those items off your to-dos? You’ll be ready for Monday morning completely settled in at the new place. Enjoy your next adventure in the new home neighborhood!

Want your local move to get completed in one weekend? You can call the professionals at All My Sons Moving & Storage to help handle everything from the packing to the heavy lifting. Our company has roughly 90+ locations across the nation, so whatever neighborhood you’re moving into, chances are we can come assist. Call 1-866-726-1579 or use the quote button below to get started on your move.