How to move out of your parents' house 

Moving out of parents’ house is an important step in life, and there may be a few tears – possibly even tears of joy! They might have been dropping hints, offering tips for moving out, or even circling the date on the calendar. But the folks are just excited to see you set off on your own adventures. They love you, and they’ve even loved the trail of mess you left in your wake over the years.  

Whether you’re moving in with a partner or new housemates, they’ll be so excited that you’re taking the next steps in your journey of life. So, with that in mind, here’s how to move out of your parents’ house in the least stressful way. 

How to move out of your parents’ house – the checklist 

It’s happening. You’re taking the leap. Time to leave the sanctuary of the home. The cooked meals. Getting your washing done. Thinking that a household bill is just the name of someone who comes in to fix things. Yep. You’re ready to take responsibility, become independent and deal with all that comes with it. And it’s going to be uh-may-zing. 

You’ve sorted out your new place, signed what needs signing, and now the time for moving out of your parents’ house has arrived. So you’ll need a moving checklist. The better your list for moving out is, the more likely it is that the process will be easy. We hope. 

Here are some of the key things you’ll need: 

• Pad and pen. Write your checklist down. The old ‘it’s all up here’ *taps finger on temple* is a sure-fire route to forgetting things. 
• Boxes. Don’t rely on your parents having a stash in the loft, it’s time for you to start being resourceful. 
• Packaging tape. You’ll want something stronger than the regular stuff sitting in your parents’ kitchen drawer that’s only good for wrapping presents designed to be ripped open by excited fingers. It ain’t gonna cut it. 
• Materials to wrap fragile items. We’ve moved a long way since old newspaper… think soft but strong kitchen towel and bubble wrap. And don’t spend hours sitting there popping when you should be packing. Oh, go on then. We would. Five minutes of bubble bursting won’t hurt. Okay, six.

• Labels. You can stick them on, or write them on with a marker pen. Just make sure that you label each box, bag and carrier so you know what everything contains. 
• Important documents. Keep anything important in a file or folder, and separate them from the main packing. 
• Keep essentials separate from the main pack. You don’t want to be digging around for things like medication, keys, wallet, cards etc.  

Top tips for moving out 

That’s your list for moving out sorted, so now onto some handy tips that’ll make things go smoothly on the day. It’s all about resource management here, and the more organised you are, the better. You’ve got your packing ready to roll, and now it’s onto the techniques that’ll help you run moving day with efficiency: 

• Get friends to help. Tea and biscuits during, and a beer plus pizza at the end make for perfect bribes. Or you could just rely on the fact that they love you and want to help. After all, you’d do it for them. 
• Pack light boxes on top of heavy boxes. Don’t make the rookie mistake of just chucking everything in. No one wants to learn the hard way. 
• Label a box ‘first night’. In this box pack essentials like we mentioned in the checklist section. This could include personal touches (it’s ok to pack your childhood teddy, it really is), your comfy pyjamas… anything that you couldn’t do without in the event of getting to your new home late, or just being too tired to face rooting around for. 

How to move out without forgetting the essentials 

We’ve mentioned the essentials throughout this guide, and if you’ve planned it right you should have everything you need. However, there are a few items that commonly get missed, including: 

• Dustpan and brush 
• Torch 
• Phone, tablet and laptop charger 
• Bottle opener – for obvious reasons 
• Keys, keys and keys! 

And there you have it, your essential ‘how to move out’ guide. It’s time to take the plunge and enjoy the adventures you and your partner or housemates are going to have in your new home. Enjoy!