A natural part of buying or selling your home is moving. Real estate love and moving go hand in hand… unfortunately.

No matter how much you love your new property, moving day is a challenge. It’s something we don’t do often, and always seems more difficult than it should be. (How hard should it be to put things in boxes, move the boxes from one house to another, and take stuff out of the boxes?) Thankfully, with a few tips and tricks, you can make your next moving day a breeze.

Whether you enlisted the help of friends and family or hired a professional moving company, emergencies seem to creep up on the day of the big event. Take the sting out with a little preparation. When you move, there is one very important box to take with you (make it the last box, right on top so it’s easy to get to): your moving day survival kit.

• Toilet paper – Chances are high the sellers of your new house took their toilet paper with them for their moving day kit. Make sure yours is easy to find at the top of the box! Be prepared.
• Hand soap – Not just for washing up after the bathroom. Boxes are dirty. Newspaper and bubble wrap get dirty. Having soap on hand helps keep smudges off your walls, door frames, and cabinets, while promoting hygiene.
• Paper towels – For drying hands and for cleaning before your belongings go in their place.
• Multi-purpose cleaner – As you move in, you may be amazed at how much needs to be cleaned. The house may have shown well when you bought it. Don’t be surprised by the dirt in the place where the sellers’ couch was. Eliminate the concern and start fresh as you make this house your home.
• Water – Staying hydrated while you move things around is common sense. But what if the water company hasn’t switched the water on like they said they did? In case of emergency, you need your emergency moving day survival kit to keep you moving without skipping a beat.
• Snacks – I get grumpy if I don’t eat. Throw in some granola bars, nuts, or apples to keep your moving crew energized!
• Pain medication and other medications – Take care of sore muscles from lifting all the heavy boxes with pain medication. Make sure any other routine medications are available and at hand if you can’t get to your other stash for a day or two.
• Cash – If you hire professional movers, it’s customary to tip them. But a little cash can come in handy if you need to send someone out to the store for more food or supplies or in other emergency situations.
• Utility knife – Need to open those boxes or break them down for the recycling afterwards? How about that rope with the impossible knot to untie? A utility knife is your best friend and will come in handy when you move in.
• Phone chargers – Make sure you keep your charger at hand, so you can stay in communication as the sun dips low.
• Toothbrush and toothpaste – If it’s in your box of magical moving fixes, you know exactly where it is. Takes the stress off meal rituals – or bedtime.
• First aid kit – Because you really never know. Knuckles can get scraped. Ankles could get twisted. Do your part to keep a bad situation from getting worse by keeping your emergency kit around moving day.
• Notepad and pen – Perfect to write down new neighbors’ information, make impromptu labels, or scratching down directions and measurements.
• Large trash bags – You need to pack at least two (but more wouldn’t hurt): one for trash and the other for recycling. I like the big yard bags for this job. You can keep them on opposite sides of a central hub in your new house for easy disposal and separation.
• Playing cards, crayons, toys – If you have kids (or grown kids) joining you for moving day, make sure to have some distractions to hold their attention, in case the snack wasn’t enough to change their grumpy mood.
• Dish washing detergent – I start unpacking my dishes first to make it feel like home. Keep your dish washing soap in your moving kit to make your new house feel like a home sooner.
• Don’t forget to pack one of your dresser drawers with fresh sheets, bath towels, and a shower curtain – Be prepared to have your belongings still in boxes through the first night. One last tip is to make sure everything you need for the first night easy to access in a dresser drawer. Setting up your bedroom and bathroom for the first night is stress free, even in the worst situations, when you follow these suggestions.

Have some tips or tricks of your own? Share them in the comments section.