The dos and don’ts of moving house

Most people often forget how burdensome moving houses is until they have to do it all over again. It is like poverty; while it is extremely unpleasant, we tend to forget how hellish it is the moment we come out on the other side alive. And for good reason. Something that happens every once in five years tends to be trivialised and thrown at the back of one’s mind where it is often eaten by moths. But the tendency to think this way is as naïve as thinking that bad times are behind you. Because it will happen again.

Moving houses, or shifting, is dirty business. It is as energy-consuming as it is time-consuming. Give or take, the whole process takes about two or three days off your busy schedule to settle down again.

You must first clean the house to which you are moving. Then you have to pack all your stuff, a chore that is hectic as it involves not only lifting, dusting and arranging, but a lot of decision making, cardboard box-shopping, wrapping and lifting. Then there is the tricky business of looking for a truck and porters to load and offload your belongings at the old and new house respectively. This stage tends to be the trickiest as most of the treasured items get lost at this stage.

Lanyero Evelyn is a good example of how moving houses can go awry. The day of moving comes and she finds the right lorry to ferry her belongings to the new place. She then picks random guys from the neighborhood to help her with moving.

Naively, she forgets to keep her eye on the guys as she is busy with other aspects of the moving. Long story short, a lot of her stuff is stolen including her valuable power inverter. As painful as all this loss was, nothing could have prepared Lanyero for the pain of discovering that all her underwear had been stolen as well. She was irritated, especially by a thought that she had been violated.

All this is usually found out during the final stage of unpacking, arranging and rearranging your stuff to make the new house feel like home. The horrors of moving are endless. Which gets you wondering; can one catch a break? Are there any ideas for easing the process?  

Moving companies

There is a time when mowing one’s lawn may be costly, not because the prices are high but the effects that come with letting people cut that lawn. 

The same applies to moving

The foremost advantage of hiring a professional company to do your house-moving is that you can shift all your burden onto them. Your time and energy is put to better use as the professionals do everything. Liabilities accruing from lost property are met by the moving company rather than you. And the pain of never seeing your favourite watch, vase or picture is cut down to manageable amounts because a moving company is less likely to steal from you as they are prone to be more accountable.

And even when something bad happens, it will likely be accidental and less painful. Juma Said Tusubila, the proprietor of Army of Gideon Shifting Services says most people who opt for professional movers demand the highest accountability from them.

He says, “There is a colleague in the moving business who accidentally broke a set of fine exotic plates. What happened is that their client insisted that the plates needed to be replaced immediately. The cost of these plates turned out to be more than the amount of money they had charged for the moving. They had to borrow extra money from elsewhere to buy the set of plates.”

It is such high standards that people demand of movers that keeps them on their toes and pushes them to keep their losses on the minimum.  This explains why the prices are usually high, because the risks involved have to be factored in the cost.

Juliet Nakityo of Nati Moving & Cleaning Services says the average price of moving property in a three-bedroom house is between Shs700,000 and Shs1.5m.

“The variables are numerous,” Nakityo says.

“This includes how much property there is to move, if one or both of the houses is storeyed or not, if we are supposed to arrange the new house or not, if the packaging is on us or not. The list is long. One must have to survey both sites also, to be able to get the full picture.”

In comparison, the same property will cost you between Shs100,000 - 200,000 to move when you do it yourself. The difference in cost is staggering, but so can the level of convenience and peace of mind.

Nakityo says, “During the covid-19 lockdown, I moved a client, who kept working on his laptop the entire time. Actually he was in a zoom meeting as we were doing all the dirty work for him.”

She says the client only came in when they informed him that everything had been set.

It is because of such luxuries that more people are starting to appreciate the advantages of using moving companies.  Some people even consider using a moving company classy and trendy.

Friends and family

But there is still a great number of people that would rather mobilise friends and family to help them move. And why not? It is many times cheaper, plus, it leaves little to be stressed about.

They are less likely to steal your underwear and you are less likely to spend Shs700,000.

Suzan Nakatte decided to involve her preteen children to help her with the packing. Little did she know, the process would prove to be such an important one.

She bonded with her children more especially when they were curious, asking questions about the different household items. The answers to some of the questions brought them closer as they got to know their mum better. The reverse was the case too. “It is amazing how much you can learn about your child from the question they ask. But overall, it was a lot of joy,” she says.

Alex Tumukunde’s personal experience on the matter has taught him an important lesson. He says, “Most times we underestimate how overwhelming and enormous moving work involves.  We invite friends to help but we forget how hard and challenging it is to allocate tasks and responsibilities to these friends. We forget that we do not have the right tools and equipment to do a good job.”

He adds, “Some people would rather come to celebrate at the housewarming party than help to carry things.”

But it is a cheaper option when one is planning with a tight budget, which explains why most people still go for this option.

Nakityo offers some advice on the matter. She says, “The biggest mistakes happen at packing. If you are planning to do the moving by yourself, the place to start is buying good sticky tape and cardboard boxes in advance. Take your time to pack, several weeks if you like. This lack of panic goes a long way. If everything is packed and sealed properly, the porters will not be as tempted to steal.”

At the end of the day, we need as much help in moving as we do in all of life’s undertaking. While you can easily procure a truck without much ado, dismantling furniture and reassembling it is not a walk in the park. Carrying heavy loads is not for everyone. At it is best moving can be a painless family affair but at worst, it can feel like going through surgery without anesthesia. In short it needs planning and smart investment; whether that investment is cardboard boxes or a moving company.

Important things to do after moving to A new neighbourhood

So you have lived in your neighbourhood for a year now. You have used one particular dusty and pothole-infested route to and from work. You have endured this with gritted teeth only because the neighbourhood is quite sparsely populated. Then one day you accidentally discover a short cut that also happens to be smoother. You are happy that you have discovered this new route, but don’t you hate that it took you so long?

Know your neighbourhood

A scenario like the one above happens more often than not. And most such cases can easily be connected to our laxity when it comes to knowing our neighbourhoods. Is there a natural water source in case of a breakdown in the official supply? How about the safe footpaths just in case you need to take a walk? Where is the nearest police post or the neighbourhood market?  Knowing as much about your new neighbourhood could be the trick you need to be happy to call your new place home. It could mean life and death in times of emergency. But if you do not plan to go on a quest to know, you may never do. The best time would be soon after moving because there is still an abundance of natural curiosity at this time.

Know your neighbours

Life in the city tends to be closed. The perimeter wall fences and the self-sufficiency that modern life affords us tends to numb us to the need for connecting with neighbours. While our upcountry counterparts still need to meet to clean the well or discuss issues to do with one neighbours animals eating another’s crops and stuff like that, urban dwellers barely ever find themselves in situations like that. Our next door neighbour of three years is a mystery to us. Well, you might never need them but knowing them is not so bad. Knowing a boda boda man is not so bad. Getting to know a handyman or a mechanic or plumber or the village chairman as soon as possible is prudent.