Moving qualifies as one of the life events that cause a family the most stress. A move means getting used to a new house or apartment, learning a new neighborhood, and all that happens after you unpack. With the built-in stress that a move brings, you want to minimize the trauma by planning and taking care of things ahead of time as much as possible. When you’re making your moving plans, make a specific list for moving your utilities, phones, Internet, and cable service.

Each of your household services have their own idiosyncrasies when it comes to moving, so plan ahead and be aware of those. Include everything on your list – electric, water and sewer, trash collection, gas, telephone, cell phone, cable service, and Internet service. Get your house move-in ready so you can better deal with the other stresses soon to come.

General Tips – Allow at least two weeks to have the new services turned on. Create some overlap between turning off the old services and turning on the new ones. If you are planning a weekend move, turn the new services on Thursday or Friday and leave the old services on until Sunday or Monday. Paying for the extra days will give you that cushion of time you might need. If you’re moving within the same city, you can make the disconnect and reconnect orders with one call. If you’re changing locations, take careful notes of start and stop dates and times. Also, make sure to provide your old services with your new address so that they send the final bill to the right place.

Make sure to consider the notes below for each service.

Electric, water and sewer, trash collection – in most cities, these services, or utilities, are managed by the same entity. When connecting your new service, make sure you know what you’re getting. Verify that they handle trash collection, and ask what your collection day will be, and whether you need special bags or containers, or if they will provide containers. If they don’t collect trash, ask for the vendors who do. Also ask about recycling services, and if they don’t provide them, ask about local collection sites. If the electric and water utilities are separate, make sure to coordinate the connections around the same time.

Gas – Most gas service is a stand-alone utility, and many houses operate without gas. When setting up your new connection, ask about gas line checks, and verify what appliances in your new place use gas. They’ll probably schedule an appointment to light your pilot lights. Have them schedule a time while you are there, and ask for a tutorial of how to relight a pilot that goes out.

Telephone, cell phone – As time progresses, the need for both a telephone and a cell phone is decreasing. If you are continuing your phone service, and you’re moving to a new location, make arrangements for forwarding your old phone to your new phone for a period of time.

Cable Service, Internet service– A lot of companies now provide both cable service and Internet service, and very possibly both cell and telephone service. They sometimes bundle these in a package with a lower price than single setups. Use this move to explore how you’re getting these services, and look for a company that can provide the combination you need. Make sure you aren’t paying for something you don’t use, and that you are getting everything you want.

By planning ahead, and making arrangements ahead of time, you can reduce some of the stress that always comes with moving.

 

**Thanks to our guest author, Kara, for sharing these wonderful tips with us!

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