10 Tips for Moving Locally in One Weekend

As the local moving experts, All My Sons Moving & Storage has 10 special tips to help you get settled into your new home quickly. With plenty of professional help and a little extra planning, you could complete a local move in a single weekend.

Whether you’re moving last-minute, making an emergency relocation, or just would like to get back up and running at your new home as soon as possible, these tips can help you knock out your local moving tasks in record time.

Stomp that moving procrastination, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to load those boxes up and drive off to your new home.

The best way to knock out a local move in a weekend is to start planning well before your moving weekend arrives. When you know that you are moving, take a few minutes to sit down and make a checklist of the most important tasks to accomplish for your move. 

The following tasks should be included on your moving checklist to perform before your moving weekend begins.

• Provide Notice of Your Move: Alert landlords and property managers of your intention to move. Some leases require written notice roughly 30 to 90 days in advance. Make a list of other parties you need to notify of your move and update your address with. 

• Cancel or Transfer Utilities: When moving local you may be able to keep the same service providers for electricity, internet, and cable, but you will have to call and schedule your transfer of services. If you are moving outside your provider’s service area, you will have to schedule disconnection and find a new provider for your next home.

• Secure Your Movers: If you are performing a DIY move, call up your people and secure plenty of help for move day. Reserve your moving truck and equipment ahead of time. If you are hiring professional movers, look for licensed and insured moving companies. Watch out for moving scam red flags like a company that does not have a physical address or wants you to pay a large deposit in cash. If it is in your budget, find a full-service moving company that will also provide professional packing for your local move. This will save you significant time and headache on moving weekend.

Ideally, you would start decluttering the week leading up to your weekend move. As you take inventory of all the things you’re set to move, think about what’s not going to serve you in your next home. If you are doing a downsized move, you should take measurements of all your furniture as well as the spaces and doorways in your new home. Some of your larger items may not fit in your new space, and they will need to be replaced with smaller items or offloaded altogether.

Host a moving sale on Facebook Marketplace, place items on your local Buy Nothing Group, or donate the items you’re not keeping to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army thrift store. Items that are not in functional condition should be responsibly discarded.

Friday evening has arrived, and it’s time to start loading your moving boxes. Rather than throwing items in boxes and hoping for the best, create a plan for packing that keeps unpacking in mind. 

• Pack Non-Essentials First: The first items you should pack will be the items that you won’t miss immediately if they live in boxes for a few days (to a few weeks, depending on how long it takes you to unpack). These items include back-closet stuff like holiday decorations, off-season clothing, and your memorabilia. Next, pack décor items, any books you’re not currently reading, photo albums, and physical media collections.  

• Label Clearly: If you have the time and the energy, try creating a simple moving inventory for each box you pack. In lieu of creating a full moving inventory, always label your boxes with as much detail as possible. 

• Set Aside Essentials to Pack Later: Any items you think you might need up until the moment of your move, set aside for now. You will pack these into special boxes to unload and unpack at your new place first.

Clearly label each box with the room that it belongs to, that way your movers can deliver your boxes directly to their destination rooms come Saturday afternoon. Once the boxes are all in their destination rooms, you can systematically unpack them according to your needs.

You can use different colored tape to categorize your boxes by room if you have extra space in your moving budget for moving supplies. Color-coordinated boxes let you tell at a glance which box a room belongs to, which can help you save time during a weekend move.

You can save significant time packing if you leave clothes in dresser drawers during your move, as long as it’s okay with your movers. Just take the drawers out of the dresser and move them individually as if they were moving boxes. When you reach the new home, set the dresser back up, put its drawers back in, and you’re ready for Monday morning already.

Wardrobe boxes can also help you save time packing your clothes. With a wardrobe box, you can leave your hanging clothes on their hangers and transfer them directly from the closet to the box. You transport the box upright, and then transfer them directly into your new closet when you reach your destination.

Your essentials are the items that you will use up until the moment of your move and need again almost as soon as you reach your destination. When you separate these items from the rest to pack last, you ensure you can keep using them the night before your move and you can put them on the moving truck after everything else has been loaded.

These items are some examples of essentials you might want to wait until Saturday morning to pack.

• Bed Sheets: Sleep soundly on Friday and get the sheets packed Saturday morning.

• Toilet Paper: Keep the bathroom stocked with supplies until your moving truck is pulling up.

• Soap: Wash hands before the moving chaos sets in and then pack the soap with your essentials.

• Bathroom Towels: Keep these on hand until it’s time to decommission the bathroom.

• Coffee Maker: If you need your caffeine fix every morning, your Saturday and Sunday will be bleak indeed unless you remember to pack your coffee maker with the essentials.

Some of your items are too crucial for you to put them in a box. Pack a backpack or a duffle bag that you will carry on your person during the local move. This bag should include items you need to have on hand in case of emergencies as well as items you need to complete your move.

Here are some examples of things you should carry on your person during a move.

• Medications: If you need it to function, thrive, or survive, do not pack it into a box. Put daily medications and medications you need in case of emergency in a bag on your person.

• Important Documents: Rental contracts, government IDs, and any other important paperwork.

• Extra Clothes: Pack one extra change of clothes in case of a moving disaster or in case it takes some time to unpack the rest of your clothes.

• Toiletries: Shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrush. What you might pack on an overnight trip.

• Boxcutter: When you arrive at your destination, you will need something to start opening boxes with.

Got bulk items that won’t be making the move and you can’t sell? You can have those items taken off your hands by Friday afternoon or Saturday morning when you call for same-day junk removal.

Companies like Junk.com make sustainable disposal solutions like donation and recycling a priority, so even when you’re short on time you can feel confident in your decision to let your items go. What cannot be donated or recycled is responsibly disposed of.

Junk removal is the perfect solution when you need items gone by a certain date or time, and it can help expedite your decluttering process so you’re free to make the move on Saturday afternoon.

Once rooms in your old home begin to empty, check all the regular hiding spots for stowaway items. Rather than leave something to become the next tenant’s unwelcome housewarming gift, open all your cabinets and drawers.

Pull any items you find out into the open and pack them into one last box, or dispose of them accordingly. Leave nothing behind in your old home, not even trash. This will make a great impression on your home’s next owners, or it will leave your landlord with no excuse but to return your deposit. 

The flipside of packing essentials last, you should take your essentials boxes off the truck first thing to be unpacked as soon as possible.

Once all your furniture items are reassembled and in place, take that boxcutter you packed on your person and start opening your essentials boxes. We recommend you start in the bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen. Once your essential items are unloaded, you can turn to your next boxes. Unload non-essentials like décor items and physical media last, preferably on Sunday afternoon, and you’ll be ready to break in your new home come Monday morning.

Once all the boxes are unpacked, you’ll be free to explore your new neighborhood, meet your neighbors, and get back into a routine. 

Call the local moving professionals at All My Sons Moving & Storage and you can get whatever level of support your move needs. Make a totally hands-off move with our full-service packing, or just get some help with the loading and transport. With almost 100 locations nationwide, All My Sons can help you pull off a local move in your hometown practically anywhere in the nation.