Leave the spare and other tips for a smoother move.

Return

Don’t move what isn’t yours, especially if you could be fined for it. It’s time to give back.

• Library books
  
  
• Items borrowed from friends and family
  
  
• Your kids’ borrowed school supplies like textbooks or science equipment
  
  
• Items that would bring more joy to others if gifted than if you kept them for yourself

Retrieve

Avoid getting to your new home and asking, perhaps months down the road, “Whatever happened to …?”

• Items left at the cleaners, tailors or shoe-repair shops
  
  
• Spare keys you may have handed out to friends and family, or buried in the yard
  
  
• Hidden valuables, either in your home or a safe deposit box
  
  
• Items left in a locker at your gym or yoga studio
  
  
• Items in a storage unit

Organize

In addition to a folder with all your moving documents – agreements with the movers, receipts, the inventory of your belongings – collect these important records. Then keep them with you rather than put them on the truck.

• Health, dental and vision records
  
  
• Prescriptions
  
  
• Vet records and pet medications (Get more tips for moving with pets.)
  
  
• School records
  
  
• Financial and legal records
  
  
• Birth certificates and passports

Leave

Some things are more valuable to the new homeowners than you. Be kind.

• Garage door opener
  
  
• User manuals for appliances you’re leaving behind
  
  
• Smart lock, but complete a Factory Default Reset first

Complete

We don’t know anyone who has forgotten to hire the truck, but these jobs aren’t so obvious … until it’s too late.

• Have your car serviced, especially if you’re moving long distances
  
  
• Take photos of electronics to reference when reconnecting everything in the new home
  
  
• Update your address with Amazon and any monthly subscription services
  
  
• Cancel or transfer your gym membership or club fees
  
  
• Create a Pinterest board with ideas to help you get excited about the new place, especially if you’re feeling bittersweet about leaving a home with sentimental value

Discover

You might not need all of these right away, but it’s good to think about them before it becomes an emergency.

• A new doctor, dentist and optometrist
  
  
• A new allergist or other specialist
  
  
• A new hairstylist
  
  
• Snow removal service
  
  
• Landscaper
  
  
• Plumber, electrician and pest control professional

Need more tips to help you during your move? Try Schlage’s checklist for before, during and after the big transition. Share your own tips with us on Facebook and Twitter.