The holiday season is approaching. While Christmas and New Year’s Eve can be a lot of fun, they can also be stressful for many people. There’s the pressure to make plans, buy presents, decorate the house and entertain your relatives. Moving house in December adds extra complications by throwing one of life’s most stressful events on top of your holiday plans.
However, while January is the most popular month to move house in Australia, moving house over Christmas and New Year’s Eve is common and has its share of benefits. Most working professionals have time off over the holiday season, giving you extra hours to carry out your move. With school holidays already in full swing, you don’t have to worry about your kids missing classes.
If you’re considering moving during the holiday season and are worried about the challenges and considerations involved, this article is for you. Ready Movers is happy to help you plan for moving house in December and guide you through the most likely challenges so you can come out the other side in time to say, “New year, new home.”
Challenges of Moving Over the Holiday Season
The biggest difficulties you’re likely to come across when moving house in December include:
High demand for removalists
December is a high-demand time for movers, with many people wanting to book and move house before Christmas. It’s important to book removalists well in advance so you don’t leave yourself short of options closer to the moving date.
Disruption to celebrations
Moving house over Christmas or New Year’s Eve often means taking time away from dinners and get-togethers with family and friends. Packing and moving are arduous processes that take quality time away from loved ones over the holidays.
Traffic
The Christmas period is one of the most dangerous times of year on the roads as thousands make their way to parties, family gatherings, and getaways. Fatalities and other road traffic accidents during this period are significantly worse than during the rest of the year, making moving even more fraught with danger.
Double stress
Moving house is a stressful feat at the best of times due to the amount of work involved, the major change in your life, the shift to a new area, the journey from familiar surroundings to somewhere new and unfamiliar and a range of other factors. Adding the stress of the holiday period can make for a particularly busy and stressful time, which isn’t how anybody wants to spend their Christmas break.
Things to Consider When Moving Over the Holiday Season
There’s a lot to keep in mind when you’re moving house in December. Here are some factors you need to think about in order to make your move a success.
Timing
If you want to move house during your Christmas break, you may have to apply some careful planning and scheduling to work around your social events. Consider the schedules of family and friends and try to organise your packing and moving days around celebrations and get-togethers.
Availability of removalists
Many moving companies are busy over the Xmas holidays, so you may have to hunt around to find one that isn’t booked out.
Packing with gifts
When packing up your stuff, you’ll want to ensure that the presents you bought and the decorations you plan to put up don’t get stashed away in a box where you can’t find them.
Budgeting
The holiday season can be expensive, and moving isn’t cheap either, especially if you have a lot of stuff. It’s important to make sure you have enough in your budget to deal with this double whammy.
Mental health and wellbeing
Moving during such a busy period can take its toll mentally and emotionally on the whole family. When it starts to feel too much, there are techniques for dealing with stress when moving house.
Tips on Making Things Easier When Moving
Here are some Ready Movers tips for moving house over Christmas and NYE to make the process easier physically, mentally and emotionally.
Plan your move well in advance
It may sound obvious, but the more tasks you can get done early during this busy festive season, the less you have to worry about at the last minute. For best results, start planning your move at least eight weeks in advance, giving yourself ample time to de-clutter and pack up your belongings. As soon as you know when you’re available to move, start contacting removalists and getting quotes.
Keep your cool
Christmas celebrations aside, December is one of the hottest months of the year, and heat and humidity can make moving house even more unpleasant. While moving, keep doors and entrances open as much as possible to ventilate the space, stay hydrated, and use fans to cool down.
Buy Christmas gifts early and online
It pays to do your Christmas shopping well in advance (and if possible, over the internet) in order to avoid the chaos that ensues in shopping centres when you have to buy gifts at the last minute.
Use Christmas cards to share your new address
If you commonly give out Christmas cards during the holiday season, sharing your new contact details in a card can be a fun way to update your relatives and friends.
Call in help
Christmas is all about spending time with family, so don’t feel bad about leaning on your loved ones while moving house if you need to. It can be as simple as providing drinks and snacks to a family member watching the kids while you go about your move.
Make a moving checklist
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of tasks you have to carry out during your move. With a moving house checklist, you can break down all the things you need to do for your move into easy-to-manage items.
If it still feels daunting, Ready Movers is available to make moving house in December a breeze.
Take the Stress Out Of Your Move with Ready Movers
The home removalist services at Ready Movers are at the heart of what we do. From local relocations to interstate, single rooms to entire houses, we cater to your needs. Every move is unique, and our solutions are designed to match your budget while exceeding your expectations. Our professional packers are trained in wrapping, boxing and labelling your most treasured possessions and moving your belongings with the same care we’d provide to our own.
We understand that moving house is one of the most stressful times in your life, especially if you’re moving between states. That’s why our friendly, professional and customer-focused interstate removals team will take the worry out of your move and provide you with the best experience possible. When you choose Ready Movers, we provide you with a dedicated move manager who is with you every step of the way. We offer full-cover insurance on all interstate moves, and as AFRA-accredited removalists, you can rest assured that our moving services meet the highest standards in Australia.
To find out more about our professional, reliable approach, contact the Ready Movers team to get your free moving quote.
