The first-night box

One box, or one large bag, that travels in your car rather than in the truck. It holds what you need between arriving and going to bed, so the first night does not involve opening forty identical boxes at ten at night looking for a toothbrush.

Pack it last, load it first, and label it so obviously that nobody puts it in the truck by accident.

The core

• Toilet paper. The single most commonly forgotten item, and the most immediately needed
• Hand soap and a hand towel
• Toothbrushes and toothpaste for everyone
• A change of clothes each, plus pyjamas
• Phone chargers. One per person, not one shared
• Medication, kept accessible rather than packed. Anything anyone takes regularly travels with the person, not in the truck
• Basic first aid: bandaids, painkillers you normally use, antiseptic
• Torch, because you do not know which light switch does what
• Paper towel and a cloth
• Bin bags

Bedding

• One set of sheets per bed, or sleeping bags if beds will not be assembled
• One pillow each
• One towel each

Making beds first, before unpacking anything else, is the single best decision on moving day. A made bed at 9pm is worth more than four unpacked boxes.

Kitchen

Enough for one dinner and one breakfast, no more.

• Kettle
• Mugs, plates, bowls and cutlery for the household
• A sharp knife
• Tea, coffee, milk, sugar
• Snacks that need no preparation
• Water bottles
• Dishwashing liquid and a sponge
• A tea towel

Dinner on moving night is takeaway or something that needs no cooking. This is not the night to locate the saucepans.

Tools and admin

• Scissors or a box cutter
• Screwdriver set and an allen key, for reassembling beds
• Tape
• A pen and a notepad
• The lease, contract or settlement paperwork
• Keys, labelled
• Cash for anything unexpected

Children

• One familiar toy or blanket each, not packed in the truck under any circumstances
• Their own small bag with pyjamas, toothbrush and the familiar thing
• Snacks
• A tablet or a book for the gap while adults are working
• Their bed made first, before any adult bed

A child in a strange house with their own pillow and their own toy settles far better than one waiting for a box to be found.

Pets

• Food and bowls for two days
• Their own bed or blanket, which smells like the old house
• Lead, and poo bags
• Litter tray and litter set up immediately
• Medication if any
• ID tag with a current number, checked before moving day. A pet is never more likely to bolt than during a move

Set the pet up in one closed room with their things before the truck arrives, and leave them there through the loading and unloading. It is safer and considerably calmer for everyone.

Before the truck leaves the old house

• Check every cupboard, the shed, the roof space and the letterbox
• Take final meter readings and photograph them
• Leave keys as agreed
• Check the utilities are connected at the new place. Electricity and water on the day of the move, not the day after, is worth confirming rather than assuming

How to make sure it does not end up in the truck

Removalists load everything they see. Two things prevent it:

• Load the box into your car before the truck arrives, not after
• Label it on every side, and tell the removalists there is one box that is not going

The following morning

Unpack the kitchen first, then the bathroom, then bedrooms. Living areas last.

A working kettle and a functioning bathroom make the second day feel manageable. An unpacked living room makes no difference to anything.

Next: the weekend away packing list is a similar exercise with a shorter timeframe, and the moving cluster covers the rest of the process.

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