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When you’re trying to tackle three major life events at once, things can get pretty intense. Dealing with the planning, the expenses, and the execution of a big move and buying a home, and a wedding can make it hard to focus on the tasks you need to complete for each. Luckily, there are a few simple ways to help you minimize stress. Follow these helpful tips to stay on task and stay focused during all this change.
Sort Through Your Stuff
There’s no doubt that putting together a wedding will keep you pretty busy over the next few months. And when you add buying a home into the mix, you’re going to have more than enough on your plate. However, now is the perfect opportunity to get rid of things you no longer need and decide what goes with you and what you can put into storage. According to Sparefoot, the overall average price of a self-storage unit booked in Seattle over the past 180 days is $121.67, which is a small price to pay to ensure your new home doesn’t become a haven for your college dorm room decor. You can always revisit the need to possess your excess later but now isn’t the time to blindly purge meaningful belonging, but it’s also not the time to make them part of your new life.
Plan Ahead for Your Move
In addition to sorting your stuff, you can also make plans for your move well ahead of time. This will ensure that small but important tasks such as picking up moving supplies and booking a moving truck won’t slip through the cracks. You can also price out your move so that you can work the expenses into your budget over the coming months. That’s bound to be a big help when you’re already budgeting for a deposit on a home, closing costs, and wedding day expenses. You can get an estimate of rental rates, as well as advice on moving supplies and accessories, by visiting a few moving sites. For example, U-Haul and Budget both have simple websites that can get you started with your moving plans.
Review Your Finances Together
You can do some pre-planning for your move now, but you also need to know how to navigate the homebuying process. First, if you haven’t discussed your finances as a couple, you need to do that ASAP. You should both pull copies of your credit reports and review them for errors. Look for any old accounts or misinformation, and take steps to remove credit issues. Being aware of your credit also means not using too much credit to pay for wedding expenses since opening new lines of credit can impact your loan offers. You should also get a good idea of your joint income and put together a solid budget that will help you cover the costs of your new home, your wedding and any other financial goals you may have as a couple.
Pay Professional to Help
From moving to buying a home to planning your wedding, trying to keep track of all your “to-do’s” is bound to get overwhelming. This is no time to add extra stress for either of you, so it’s worth it to hire professionals to help you stay on track with all of your planning. First, look for an experienced wedding planner to help you plan your celebration. This professional can offer priceless advice when it comes to your celebration and help coordinate with caterers, florists, and other wedding professionals. For your home, make sure you are working with a licensed realtor who can make the homebuying process much easier. Finally, consider hiring professional movers, who can make packing and moving your homegoods much easier, and help you use your time for more pressing tasks.
Getting married is such a major life event, but buying a home and moving are pretty big changes, too. By planning ahead and budgeting for professional help, you can save yourself some stress and enjoy all the excitement of these big life steps as you take them together.
-It’s Your Day Events guest writer, Alice Robertson
