You are paying for your move in three places, and none of them is the van: 8 free fixes

1. Decide what you are not moving before you pack a single box

1. Start three or four weeks before the move, not the week of it. Do one drawer or one cupboard a day. 2
2. Sort into three piles as you go: keep, sell or give away, bin. 3
3. Sell the bulky things locally and give yourself a deadline. 4
4. Decide in advance that anything unsold the day before the move gets donated instead. 4
5. Keep the giveaway box running the whole time you pack, not only on the first day. 3

2. Stop buying boxes: collect them free, and make what you own do the work

1. Ask grocery shops and off-licences for their empty boxes, and start collecting weeks ahead. 45
2. Keep the boxes as close to one size as you can, and put heavy things in small ones. 5
3. Pack into containers you are moving anyway: suitcases for books, laundry baskets for towels, bags and hampers for clothes. 34
4. Wrap breakables in what you already own. Socks go over glasses, and jumpers and towels go around plates. 34
5. Leave clothes on their hangers. Slide a bin bag up over them and tie it at the tops of the hangers. 23
6. Lift the drawers out of a chest and move them as they are, wrapped in film or a bag. 5

3. Pack one box that goes into the new place first

1. Fill one box with what the first night needs: toiletries, a change of clothes, chargers, any medication, toilet roll, a towel, bin bags, a cleaning cloth. 25
2. Add the two tools you will not be able to find: scissors and tape. 2
3. Keep back the kettle, tea, mugs and breakfast for the last hour. 6
4. Mark the box clearly on every side, and carry it yourself instead of loading it into the van. 2
5. Pack one small box for each room's first needs: bedding in the bedroom box, soap and a towel in the bathroom box, a pan in the kitchen box. 2

4. Photograph the two things you will not be able to identify later

1. Number each box and photograph what is inside it, before you tape it shut. 5
2. Write what is actually in the box on its side, not "misc" and not only the room. "Kettle, mugs, tea" can be found; "kitchen" cannot. 2
3. Before you unplug the television, the router or the computer, photograph the back of each one with every cable still in place. 5
4. Bag each device's cables together and label the bag with the device it belongs to. Tape a bag of screws to its furniture. 23
5. Photograph anything with an arrangement worth rebuilding, such as a shelf of ornaments or a mantelpiece. 3

5. Read every meter on the day you leave, and put the numbers in writing

1. On the day you leave, read the gas, electricity and water meters and photograph the dials. 67
2. Send the readings to each supplier on that date, and keep the confirmation rather than a note to yourself. 7
3. Take the same readings in the new place on the day you arrive, before you unpack anything. 6
4. Note the account and meter numbers before you leave, because that paperwork is about to be boxed. 6
5. Check that the gas and electricity are off, and that windows and doors are locked. 6

6. Clean each room as it empties, not in one last push

1. Take one room at a time and clean it as its last box goes, working from the top down to the floor. 5
2. Fill the nail and screw holes, smooth the filler, and touch up the paint where the lease asks for it. 78
3. Do the places a checker looks at first: the oven, the inside of the fridge, the dishwasher, the extractor, the cupboards and their liners. 78
4. Pull the appliances out and sweep behind them. 8
5. Work through the bathroom: the tiles and the tub, the grout, the drawers, the toilet, the mirror, then the floor. 8
6. Vacuum the empty rooms, then mop from the furthest corner back towards the door. 8
7. Take everything with you. An abandoned box or bottle is what deposits most often get charged for. 9

7. Do the last walk-through after the van has gone, and gather every key

1. Wait until the van has left, then walk the empty place once on your own. 6
2. Pull the bottom drawers right out and check behind them, then look into the back of every cupboard and wardrobe. 6
3. Check the places things hide: the loft, the meter cupboard, the shed, the garage, the bike store. 6
4. Take down anything still hanging on a wall, and look above the door frames. 6
5. Collect every key, including the spare at your parents' and the one with a neighbour, and count them against the sets you were given. 67
6. Decide what happens to the extras: hand them over, or destroy them. 7
7. Photograph each empty room before you lock up. 7

8. Move the paperwork as carefully as the furniture

1. Set up post redirection for the shortest period that covers the move, and treat it as a backstop rather than the answer. 6
2. Keep everything that arrives at the old address before the redirection starts. Those senders are your list. 6
3. Work down the list: bank and any loans, council tax, home and contents insurance, driving licence and vehicle log book, mobile and broadband. 6
4. Tell the doctor, dentist and optician, and cancel or move the gym and any local membership. Some want a month's notice. 6
5. Cancel local deliveries and anything set up for the old address, and delete that address from retailers that default to it. 6
6. Register on the electoral roll at the new address, and register for council tax with the new council. 6