Nobody ever said moving was a piece of cake. Okay, so your local moving company probably has at least once, but they're trying to hustle up your business. It doesn't count. The simple truth of the matter is that moving is (or can be) a giant hassle, with almost as much paperwork and twice as much headache medication as packing involved. The good news is, it doesn't have to be a month's worth of aggravation. With a few helpful hints and tricks from the pros you can take most of the pain out of your move and make relocating your home (and your home insurance) much, much easier.



First and foremost, let's talk about packing. You have two options when it comes to packing your "stuff" for relocation-you can either do it yourself or you can accept the extra expense and pay someone to do it for you. If you're going to be doing your own packing it pays to start several weeks before your move and do a box or two each day. Most boxes take less than an hour to pack (a box of books can be filled in about ten minutes) so it's a very small investment of your time that can have big rewards later on.

If you're pressed for time or just don't want to have to deal with the hassle, consider calling in a professional moving company. Most movers give you the option to have them pack your things for you, which has its pros and its cons. It's obviously easier to turn that entire job over to someone else, especially someone experienced, that can do the job quickly and efficiently while you concentrate on other things. The downside to that is that it means someone else is going to be responsible for your belongings (which means they're going to find what you've had stashed in the top drawer of your dresser) and it's usually much, much more expensive than just doing it yourself.

Once everything's packed you're going to need to move it from here to there. If you're just moving a couple miles up the road the best (and least expensive) option is probably going to be to rent a U-Haul and just take care of the moving yourself. If you're making the hop across state lines, on the other hand, you might find it's a lot less painful (and requires less finagling to get all your vehicles from point A to point B) if you call in a moving company. Not only do you know your belongings will make it to your new home in one piece, you also know that whether you have family waiting for you there or not you'll have someone ready and able to move your furniture for you.

Now, let's talk about your home insurance. Homeowners insurance is a necessary evil, and one you're going to want to take care of as soon as possible-before you move, preferably, but within a week or so if you don't. The last thing you want is for your house to burn down, taking all your belongings with it, and you to be uninsured because you hadn't made the arrangements in time!

If you're moving from one apartment to another the issue of home insurance is an easy one. Since you should already have updated coverage all you should have to do is pick up the phone and change the address with your insurer. You can take your policy directly from one house to another. If you're moving into your own home things can get a little stickier-you're going to want to sit down with your homeowners insurance agent and make sure you extend your coverage to include the house and your appliances as well as your belongings.

Moving can be a hassle, but it doesn't have to ruin your entire month. Just make sure you've got the right people standing behind you and you'll find moving your home (and your home insurance) can be as easy as cruising down the highway at sunset.