Moving Checklist: Week-by-Week
Moving is mostly logistics. The chaos comes from doing the logistics in the wrong order. This checklist gives you everything to do, organized by when to do it — starting eight weeks out, ending the week after you're in.
If you'd like a version personalized to your apartment size, your move date, your special items, and what's actually stressing you out, start a free Dovetail plan — it takes about 90 seconds.
How early should I start planning a move?
For a local move, eight weeks is the sweet spot. For a cross-country or international move, give yourself twelve. The single biggest predictor of a calm move is how early you start — most of the stress in moving comes from compressing two months of work into two weeks.
If you have less time than that, don't panic. Start at the week that matches your timeline and work forward.
8 weeks out
- Set a moving budget. Include truck rental or movers, supplies, deposits, and a 10% buffer.
- Decide: hiring movers, or doing it yourself? If hiring, start getting quotes now — good movers book out months ahead in busy seasons.
- Create a moving binder (physical or digital) for receipts, contracts, and confirmations.
- Take an inventory of what you own. Photograph each room. This is your insurance evidence if anything is damaged.
- If you have specialty items (art, antiques, a piano, wine, plants), research how each moves and whether you need a specialty service.
- Start the declutter conversation with anyone you live with. Decisions about what stays and what goes are easier when you're not under time pressure.
6 weeks out
- Book your movers, or reserve your truck rental.
- If you're moving long distance, research auto transport if you need it.
- Start using up what you have — pantry items, cleaning supplies, frozen food. Less to move is less to pack.
- Research schools, doctors, vets in your new city if applicable.
- Tell your landlord if you're renting (most leases require 30 to 60 days notice).
- Look into transferring or canceling memberships: gym, dry cleaner, religious community, recurring deliveries.
4 weeks out
- Order packing supplies. Banker boxes for books and dense items; medium boxes for kitchen and miscellaneous; large boxes only for light, bulky things like pillows and bedding. Buy more tape than you think you need.
- Start packing the rooms you use least — guest room, basement, storage closets.
- Label every box with the room it's going to, not the room it came from. Color-coded tape works well.
- Notify your bank, employer, and credit card companies of your address change.
- File your USPS change of address (forwarding runs 12 months for first-class mail).
- If you have kids, talk to them about the move — even very young children pick up on the chaos.
2 weeks out
- Confirm your moving date with your movers or truck rental.
- Schedule disconnection of utilities at your current home: electric, gas, water, internet, trash.
- Schedule connection of utilities at your new home — internet especially needs lead time.
- Update your address with the IRS, voter registration, insurance, subscription services.
- If you have pets, plan how they'll travel and where they'll be on moving day. A friend's house or a daycare is calmer than under everyone's feet.
- Start packing the rooms you use daily, leaving out only what you'll need the final two weeks.
1 week out
- Pack a "first night" box: bedding, towels, toiletries, phone chargers, a few changes of clothes, basic kitchen items, medications, important documents.
- Confirm parking arrangements at both ends — for the truck, for the loaders.
- Clean out the refrigerator. Defrost it if you're moving it.
- Do laundry so everything is clean before it goes in boxes.
- Withdraw cash for tips (see how much to tip movers).
- Charge every device.
- Make sure you have a written copy of the new address on paper — phones die at the worst possible moment.
Moving day
- Eat breakfast. Hydrate. You'll forget if you don't decide to in advance.
- Do a walkthrough of every room and closet before the truck leaves. Open every cabinet.
- Tip your movers (typically $20–$40 per mover for a half-day, $40–$80 for a full day, more for complex moves — see our tipping calculator).
- Take final meter readings if your lease requires.
- Take photos of the empty space — useful for security deposit disputes.
- Lock everything. Leave keys where agreed.
Week after moving
- Unpack the first-night box and the kitchen first. Almost everything else can wait.
- Find and inspect any items you flagged as fragile. Document any damage immediately with photos and a written claim if you used movers.
- Confirm mail is forwarding correctly.
- Register your car and update your driver's license if you moved states (most states require this within 30 days).
- Meet a neighbor. Even a five-minute conversation makes the new place feel less like a stranger's house.
- Put a single piece of art on a wall. The room transforms.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start packing for a move?
Start packing rooms you use least about four weeks before your move. Pack daily-use rooms during the final two weeks, leaving only essentials out for the last few days.
What's the most commonly forgotten moving task?
Updating your address with the IRS and your voter registration. Most people remember the bank and the credit cards but miss the government records, which can delay tax refunds and ballot delivery.
Do I need movers, or can I do it myself?
For a studio or one-bedroom local move, DIY is usually doable with a U-Haul and two friends. For two-bedroom or larger, or for any move over 100 miles, professional movers are usually worth it — both for your back and for the time savings.
How much does a typical move cost?
A local DIY move runs $200–$600 (truck, supplies, gas, food for friends). A local move with professional movers runs $800–$2,500. A long-distance move with movers runs $2,500–$10,000+ depending on distance and household size.
How do I make a move feel less stressful?
Start early, write everything down, and personalize your checklist to your actual situation. Generic checklists miss what's specific to your move. (That's why we built Dovetail — to make the checklist match the move.)
Want this checklist personalized to your move?
This is a great starting point. But your move isn't generic — you have a specific apartment, a specific timeline, specific things that matter to you. Dovetail builds a checklist that reflects all of that, in about 90 seconds.