The Packed Rabbit
Moving checklist by date
Type your moving date. You get what to do this week, every week until the move, on the day and after, with real dates on each step.
Your move
- Who is doing the heavy lifting?
- Crossing a state line?
- Renting the place you are leaving?
- Moving with pets?
The calendar button saves a file your phone or computer opens in its own calendar. The app goes further: it moves a task to another day without calling it missed, numbers every box, and works with no signal.
How this works
The dates. Each step sits a set number of days before or after your moving date. The spacing is our own suggestion, not a rule: start earlier if you can, and move steps around to fit your life.
Starting late. If a step's date has already passed, it goes to the top under "Start with these" with the rest of this week's steps. Nothing is marked missed. A short run-up just means doing the most useful things first.
The post office. The U.S. Postal Service takes a change of address up to 90 days before the move and up to 30 days after. Mail starts arriving within 7 to 10 postal business days of the start date, so this page puts it two weeks out.
Movers. The federal moving regulator suggests estimates from at least three movers or brokers, and for a move across state lines, a mover registered with it that has a USDOT number. On moving day, read every paper before you sign. A written claim on an interstate move must reach the mover within 9 months of delivery.
Pets. When you move a pet to another state, the state you are moving to sets the rules. Ask that state's animal health official and your veterinarian early.
Moving furniture? Try will my couch fit through the door, how many boxes or what size truck.
- USPS, Change of Address: The Basics (90 days before, 30 days after, 7 to 10 postal business days, $1.25 online fee)
- FMCSA, Protect Your Move moving checklist and Ready to Move brochure (estimates, registration, paperwork, moving and delivery day, 9-month claim)
- IRS, Topic 157: Change your address (tell the IRS directly, Form 8822, about 45 days)
- USDA APHIS, Take a pet from one U.S. state or territory to another (the receiving state sets the rules)
Made by someone moving, for people moving. Not a moving company, broker or lead site: we never sell your details and never take a commission from movers, and nothing you type here is sent to us.