Moving Into Your New Home – Tips for Seniors
Most seniors are only too well aware that they cannot do what they used to. This is one of the reasons that older people often downgrade, moving into a home that is smaller or easier to maintain in some way. However, even the actual moving is often difficult, especially when you cannot get any help from your family or a younger friend. The ideal way to move is to have a holiday somewhere while removalists such as Brilliance Removalists Perth do all the packing and unpacking. This is not always possible due to budgetary constraints, so here are some tips to make moving into a new home easier for seniors.
- Start packing early so you only have to do a little bit each day.
- Many older people have arthritis or a bad back that makes bending painful or even impossible. If you have to pack and unpack yourself, make sure you place the box on a chair or an unused bed so you don’t have to bend over.
- A table is even better because you can simply push the packed box into the middle and leave it there while packing more boxes. Once the table or bed is full of packed boxes you may be able to get a younger relative or friend to stack them in a room you don’t use.
- Decide what you are going to take with you and get rid of the rest. You can usually arrange for someone else to come and pick it up so that there is no heavy lifting.
- Code the boxes with numbers or letters and write down the contents of each box in an exercise book. Then you won’t forget where things are and it will be easier to unpack.
- Ask the removalists to place your most needed boxes on the table, a chair or sofa, or on the bed so that you can unpack them without bending.
- If you have a lot of knick-knacks that the family has given to you over the years, ask them if they would like to take back what they gave. This will save you packing it and ensure each piece gets a good home.
- When you move into your new home, take it easy. You don’t have to unpack everything in the first few days. Allow an hour or two each day for unpacking and don’t worry if it takes some weeks.
- Use a professional cleaner to clean your old home rather than trying to do it yourself.
- If you have a long distance to drive to your new home, take it in easy stages. You could even stay overnight halfway there. Otherwise, be sure to take frequent breaks on the journey.