1) Quickly Clean

• Your new home may be a new construction or just new to you, and it's likely the previous owner has cleaned the place prior to your arrival
• However, you'll have more peace of mind if you do a general, wipe down of the place from the start
• This way, you'll be sure your new home has been cleaned to your standards before you put your personal belongings in their permanent place

• You may think that you have no time to head to the grocery store while you're in the middle of moving and unpacking
• All of that is bound to make you (and any help you've got) both thirsty and hungry
• Make a quick trip to the store to stock up on drinks, snacks, and some disposable plates, napkins, and silverware
• Unless, of course, you'd like to dig through all those boxed marked "kitchen" to find your eating utensils on move-in day 

• No one is expected to completely move into and decorate their new home in a matter of 24 hours
• But, you can give yourself a great head start by making sure that your moving boxes are appropriately placed into the correct rooms
• Colour code or label boxes, so that movers can easily understand where to drop them off while you're moving in

• While you're stowing things away to be moved, think about the items you use on an everyday basis.. you know, your toothbrush, a few towels, and of course, the coffee
• Group these items together in boxes and mark them "open first'" or with some other label that will trigger your mind on move-in day
• Having easy access to the items you need most will make your new house feel like home a lot sooner

• At the end of the moving day, you may want nothing more than a comforting collapse into your bed
• Don't let yourself be searching for your sheets and putting your bed frame together just before turning the lights out
• In fact, maybe this should be your first priority in your new place
• Go room to room and put beds together while there are still a lot of daylight hours left

• It may seem like a little bit of extra work on move-in day, but there is no better time to accurately account for everything you own
• Take note of what valuables you've got as you're packing and unpacking
• This will help you make sure you aren't missing anything on move-in day and it will allow you to have an accurate record for your homeowners insurance... and for your own mind!

• If you're moving into new construction, it may be best to bump this task up to early in the day
• But, if you've purchased a previously-owned home, this task may already be completed for you!
• Hang blinds or curtains on windows where you'll want a little privacy once night falls
• Otherwise, you may be giving the entire neighbourhood a view into your new home and all of your belongings

• You may have no need to access your new home's circuit breaker box in the first 24 hours or even the first 24 days of living there
• But, you should have a working knowledge of where it is located and what switches corresponded with which breakers
• So, before you stack boxes up against it, find out where it is and take a gander inside during the move-in process

• If you haven't done so already, make it a top priority to complete all of your address changes (i.e. driver's license, credit cards, student loans, magazine subscriptions, etc.)
• Schedule the internet and cable hook-up and transferal utilities at the very beginning of your move
• Some of these tasks, particularly the cable and internet, can take a few weeks to complete, so it is ideal to get a head start on this before move-in day
• But, you can use your first day in your new home as a gentle reminder to complete anything you may have forgotten

• While you're lifting, moving, and unpacking, you may not feel like stopping to strike up long conversations with your new neighbours
• But, you've heard the old "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" saying before
• Your new neighbours are likely just as excited and anxious to meet you as you are about moving into your new home and meeting them 
• So, if you see a new neighbour on move-in day, put the box down for a moment to indroduce yourself