Move Out Checklist

Based on my teeny-tiny experience with moving from one location to another one may it be for job or education, I have made a checklist of things to do. Hope this will he useful to some people some day.

• Looking for an apartment

Based on where I lived earlier, here are some of the apartments you might be interested if you're moving to one of these locations

• Bloomington
  • Hunter ridge (Better)
  • Park Doral (Below average)
    
    
• Columbus
  • French Run (Excellent)
  • Eden of Reynoldsburg (OK)
• Boston
  • Peninsula Apartments
  • Troy Apartments
  • Harbor point at Bay

Finding good apartment is very essential. When I first moved to Columbus, I stayed at Motel for 3 weeks until I found satisfactory apartment. Though I spent too much money on hotel, I was happy to get an apartment the way I wanted.

I know some people like to stay alone, but take my advice and if you are alone, get a roommate. You will save a lot of money by doing so. Just make sure to get to know your potential roommate well, otherwise you will end up with agony and mental pain until the lease expires

• Booking flight tickets

  Unless you are driving to a new place, make sure to book train tickets in advance. This will save you some time. If you have too much luggage on you, go with SouthWest. They offer 2 pieces of checked in bags free plus you can carry bag pack plus one carry on bag along. SouthWest employees are nice enough to allow you 2-3 pounds over the weight. Delta, American or United will neither co-operate not they will allow you to have extra luggage with you.

• Shipping you stuff

Indeed it is not always possible to take all your stuff with you. You will either throw away most of it or just ship it to your destination. Best way is to go with UPS. Don't go with USPS cause they are unreliable, lack transparency and don't go with FedEx either. They are too expensive. UPS offers best of both worlds. recently I shipped 17 packages from Columbus OH to Boston, Massachusetts costing only $280 in all. Plus it also saved me from paying $75 extra plus luggage for overflown pounds.

• Settling your dues / Leasing agreements

This is very important in order to keep up with your credit history. Make sure to transfer your lease to someone new when you move out. Either do that or pay penalty for breaking a lease. For me in my previous apartment, I had to pay $1500 upfront for breaking a lease. Which was kind of cool since I didn't want to pay for remaining months. Make sure you talk to your landlord at least 2 months in advance. Though it differs from lease to lease how much advance notice you need to give to leasing agent.

• Finding a roommate

  I never too this issue seriously until I moved into my current apartment in Boston. Rent is too high, so having a roommate helps you save ton of money. Make sure roommate is decent, nice and free from any bad habits. I would prefer to have non-smoker. The person who drinks is fine. My only expectations from roommates are he/she should be tidy, clean, should pay rent/deposit on time and keep quiet in the apartment. This is not asking for too much.

• Arranging your new house

  If you ask me, this is the most boring task I ever had to take on myself. Emptying all bags, mixing bunch of stuff together, then trying to separate them out, sort every item by category and arranging them in kitchen, bedroom and living room is time consuming is equally tedious. Last but not least, putting all your clothes on hanger in your wardrobe, at least it looks good but it's not as easy or fun as it looks like.

• Having internet in new house

  Depending on the coverage area you can continue previous internet provider in your house or have a new one. Whatever you do, please never go with Time Warner. I have had them thrice and every time experience was worse than before.

I've had WoW, ATT and Comcast earlier. They were all good with WoW being the best one. Right now I am having internet connection from Xfinity. Despite of ridden with all bad reviews on Google and Yelp, it's working alright for me for past couple of days. Choice is yours, just try to avoid binding contracts for obvious reason. If you are satisfied with service for first 6 months, consider to become permanent member for rest of the period.

• Visiting places in a new city

  Every city has something to offer in terms of neighborhood, city culture, pubs or tourist attraction. After you take to time settle up, you can try to visit any famous places around over the weekend. Some cities offer a city pass which allow you to visit multiple places at discounted entry price. Take some photographs and post them on the Facebook/Twitter. For example, I have just moved to Boston and I am looking forward to buy a City Pass which costs just $55 which is way cheaper than regular cost of visiting these places.

• Trying out new delicacies

  Unless you are a big fan of homemade food, I will strongly advice to try out local cuisines or food brands. They are locally cultivated, loved and most of the times expensive to protect businesses. If you're in a big city, there is big variety to food. You can even visit one place per day and it takes long time to circle back to the first place you've eaten at. Especially street food has distinct taste which you'll never get at expensive restaurants. I never had any hygiene related issue with the street food. Depends if you're allergic to certain kind of food items.

  I live in Boston, so the area of Copley Square is really good for grocery, vegetables and fruits shopping and there are lot of street food vendors as well. Good time to spend time at!