Checklist
8-week moving checklist
Enter your move date and each task below shows the day to do it. Say whether you rent or own and whether you are hiring movers or a truck, and the plan changes to match.
Weeks 8 and 7: decide and book
Weeks 6 and 5: sort and confirm
Week 4: services and first boxes
Weeks 3 and 2: pack room by room
The last week
Tips for this list
- If you start later than eight weeks out, do the overdue tasks in the order shown: dates and bookings first, sorting second, packing third. A booking you cannot get later matters more than a tidy box.
- Pack by how soon you need a thing, not by room order. The rooms you use every day are packed in the last ten days whatever the plan says.
- Write the room of the new home on each box, not the room it came from. The person carrying it in has never seen your old layout.
- The dates here are suggestions counted back from your move date. Where your lease, your mover or a utility gives a deadline, use theirs.
Questions
Is eight weeks enough to plan a move?
For most household moves it gives room to compare quotes, sort belongings and pack without working every evening. If you have less time, the last-minute checklist on this site reorders the same job for two weeks.
What should be done first when planning a move?
Fix the date and the things that depend on other people: notice to a landlord or a confirmed handover, and the mover or truck booking. Everything else can shift by a few days; those cannot.
Why do some tasks disappear when I change an option?
The checklist only shows what applies. Choosing a hired truck removes the tasks about a moving company and adds collecting the truck and organising helpers; switching off children or pets removes their tasks.
Related lists
Last-minute moving checklist
Fourteen days or fewer: the bookings that cannot wait first, fast packing second, and a short list of what to leave until after.
Moving day checklist
One day, in order: before the truck, loading, locking up, unloading and the first evening.
Packing supplies list
Boxes, tape and paper estimated from your bedrooms and how full the home is, with the rule shown.