Checklist for moving, from the first quote to the week after
Published 2026-10-16 · Updated 2026-10-16
A moving checklist is a dated list of tasks, plus three records: each written quote, each utility stop and start, and who still has the old address. Work in three stages. Getting started is the quote and the move date. Before moving day is mail, tax, utilities, and the license. Moving day and the week after is the handoff and the follow-up. The dates on that list are yours. The U.S. Postal Service says to allow at least 7-10 business days after a change-of-address request is approved before it goes into effect, so file that request before you need the new address to be active.
Tasks from the first quote through the week after
Getting started
- Write the move date, the old address, and the new address in one place.
- Ask movers for written quotes. The residential checklist PDF from JK Moving says to obtain written estimates from three qualified movers, and to keep a move file for quotes and receipts. Write the company, phone, quote date, quoted total, and what the quote includes and excludes.
- If you rent, read the lease for the notice it names and write that date. A general list cannot supply it.
- Start the list of who has the old address: utilities, banks, insurers, government offices, memberships, and people who send you mail.
Before moving day
- File the change of address with USPS, online or at a post office. USAGov says a separate company is unnecessary for that change, and points you to USPS.com/move.
- Tell the IRS if your address has changed. IRS Topic 157 says you need to notify the IRS so you receive refunds and IRS correspondence, and it names Form 8822 for an individual address change.
- Call each utility and service. Write the stop date at the old address and the start date at the new one, then mark whether each side confirmed.
- Update a driver's license and vehicle registration through your state office. USAGov's motor vehicle page is the directory for that office.
- Update voter registration if you have moved. USAGov's voter registration page explains how to change the address on your registration.
- Pack a small set of things you will want on the first night, and keep papers you must sign in a folder that does not go on the truck.
Moving day and the week after
- Walk every room of the old place before you leave, including closets, and write what you still see.
- At the new place, confirm that the utilities you scheduled are on, and write the start dates you were given.
- Note damage or a missing item before you sign a mover's inventory, and keep that paper with the quote.
- During the week after, go back through the address list. Write who confirmed the new address and who still has the old one.
The Move.org printable checklist groups tasks from eight weeks before the move through two weeks after, including a notes area. That order is a planning calendar, not a rule for your move. The JK Moving page we opened says to get started at least two months ahead. Use those as examples of how other lists spread the work, then put your own dates on the stages above.
A first move out of a family home has extra admin. The moving out checklist puts lease, deposit, and utilities in your name in order. Packing itself is on the packing checklist for moving.
Mail, tax, license, and voter updates
Mail forwarding and an address update are different jobs. USPS says standard mail forwarding lasts 12 months, and that First-Class Mail is forwarded for free. Forwarding does not tell your bank, your insurer, or the IRS the new address. You still notify each one.
When you submit a change of address online, the USPS page says to pay the $1.25 identity verification fee. The billing address on the card must match the old address or the new one. If online verification does not work, the same page says to finish the request at a post office with photo identification.
IRS Topic 157 also says to notify the IRS directly because a postal change can leave a government check unforwarded. You can enter a new address on a return you are about to file, send Form 8822, or write to the IRS with your taxpayer identification number, your old address, and your new address. If you filed a joint return and you now live apart, each person notifies the IRS.
License and voter updates sit with the state, not with USPS. Use the motor vehicle directory and the voter registration page linked above, and write the date you submitted each one.
The longer address list, including banks and subscriptions, is the job of the change of address checklist.
What to write down
A task line that says "change address" or "contact utilities" is not a record. These are the fields that make the list usable after the truck leaves.
Quote record, one per company:
- Company and phone
- Where the written quote is kept
- Quote date and reference
- Quoted total
- What the quote includes and what it excludes
- Your questions and the answers
- Agreed date, and whether you chose that company
Utility record, one per service:
- Provider
- Stop date at the old address, and whether stop was confirmed
- Start date at the new address, and whether start was confirmed
Address record, one per office or person:
- Who
- Date notified
- Whether they still have the old address
- Whether the update is confirmed
- A short follow-up note
The Move.org printable checklist has no field for a quoted total and no stop date. It lists "change address" and "contact internet, TV, utility, and home security providers" as tasks, with a blank notes area. The JK Moving checklist PDF asks for a move file and for written estimates, and it has a notes column. It has no quoted-total line and no separate stop date and start date.
A planner for quotes and stop dates
Once the stages and the three records are clear, a single file is easier to keep than loose notes. The Moving Checklist & Planner is one fillable PDF, US Letter, an instant download after checkout. The Moving Checklist & Planner lets you plan a household move in one file: work through a timeline, compare mover quotes, log when utilities stop and start, and track who still has your old address from the first quote. The Moving Checklist & Planner includes a utilities and services log with four records, each with separate old-address stop and new-address start dates and stop and start confirmed boxes. The Moving Checklist & Planner has typing tested only with pdf.js (Firefox's PDF engine); other apps not tested. Get the Moving Checklist & Planner for $3.00 and keep the quotes with the dates. Not legal advice. Not a will.
The file does not print postal forwarding steps or fees. Those stay on the USPS page. It also prints no deadlines. You choose the dates and check each mover and provider directly.
One limit of a general list
A checklist like this one cannot read your lease, your mover's paperwork, or your state's consumer rules. Those three still have to be read at the source. The list is useful without buying anything: the stages and the three records above are enough to run the move on paper.
If you want the same records in a file you can type, the planner linked above is the offer. Keep the quote you chose, the utility dates, and the address list where the next person in the household can find them.
Questions
What is the most forgotten thing when moving?
The update you assumed someone else would make. Write who still has the old address, the date you told them, and whether they confirmed the new one. Mail forwarding does not replace that list.
What to do 3 weeks before moving?
Use the date you chose, not a printed deadline. The checklist PDF from JK Moving puts notifying service providers, and filling prescriptions you will need during the move, in the two-to-three-weeks window. Confirm the mover's date in writing the same week.
What is a good moving checklist?
A useful list is a timeline you can date, plus a place to write quotes, utility stop and start dates, and who still has the old address. A task list with no place to write those facts is harder to use after moving day.
What to do 4 weeks before moving?
The Move.org printable groups contact with internet, TV, utility, and home security providers in its four-weeks column. Call each provider, then write the stop date at the old address and the start date at the new one.
What should I include on my moving checklist?
Include the move date, written quotes, utility stop and start dates, the postal change of address, the IRS address notice, license and voter updates, and a pass through the old place on moving day.
What questions to ask a moving company?
Ask for a written quote, what that quote includes and excludes, the quote date and reference, the agreed date, and where the written quote is kept. Write the answers beside the company name and phone.
What should I include on my checklist when moving?
Include the same records as any other move: quotes, utility dates, and the people and offices that still have the old address. Add the tasks your lease or mover names, in your own words.
How to make a moving checklist?
Write three stages, pick your own dates, and add one blank row per stage for a task the printed prompts miss. Then open a quotes page, a utilities log, and an address tracker.
