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The key to moving into your new home with the least amount of stress is to plan accordingly. The more prepared you are when it comes to packing up all of your family’s belongings, the easier your move will go. This handy, hassle-free guide will help you make a seamless transition from your old home to your new one. Eight Weeks before the Move – Find a moving company and get an estimate for how much it will cost. You may need to have an employee from the moving company come out to survey the size of your home. Six Weeks before the Move – Contact your utility companies and let them know you plan to move. You should also go to the U.S. Postal Service website and fill out their online change of address form. Update information with your bank, insurance carrier, magazine subscriptions, credit cards, and so forth. Five Weeks before the Move – Go through each room within your current home and decide what will move to the new house with you. Have a garage sale to get rid of things that will not move with you and donate the rest to charity, making sure you get a receipt for tax purposes. Four Weeks before the Move – If you have hired a moving company, then double check the information such as what day they are picking up your stuff and the address of your new home. Three Weeks before the Move – Plan a going away party for your kids and their friends, or a block party as a way to say goodbye to your old neighbors. Have your car serviced if you plan to drive it to your new home. Set a day to have the utilities disconnected. Two Weeks before the Move – Confirm travel plans for pets that are moving with you, such as arrangements to leave them with family or temporarily board them at a kennel until you are settled in your new home. Empty your locker at the gym. One Week before the Move – Take care of any last minute details, like servicing major appliances that will make the move with you. Ask the moving company any last questions. The day before the move, set aside any items that are fragile or need special attention. Be close by on moving day but stay out of the way of the moving company until the last box is loaded. You want to be on hand for the final walkthrough so you can sign the inventory list and get your copy from the movers. And finally, be sure to mark any items that should not be packed and label the boxes you want access to first in your new home. If you do your own packing, then you might also think of color-coding the boxes. For example, green labels for the kitchen and blue for the bathrooms.