11 Invaluable Tips for People Who Move Home Frequently

Moving home multiple times in a short space of time is exhausting, exciting, and takes some serious organisation.

Many years ago I had a job that involved moving every 3 or 4 months to various parts of the country, from Newcastle in the north down to Plymouth in the south, from London across to Newport in Wales, and various points between over a 3-year period.

You soon get to learn some serious packing and moving hacks when moving so frequently.

It takes a certain type of person to be a frequent mover. Whilst some people crave stability, having familiar things around them, a tight-knit social circle, or being near family, others need change, to be stimulated by new experiences and surroundings.

Some people are frequent movers by choice, others because their partners or parents’ jobs require them to move often.

Throughout history, humans have been nomadic, and many still are, it is natural to move from place to place in search of a better life, but does moving home frequently in this day and age lead to a better you, a better life?

Even for those who crave new experiences, and a new place to live, there always seems to be a financial reason not to move.

But there is a saying that goes along the lines: You always know how much money you have but you don’t know how much time you have.

In this week’s home moving blog, we will share some invaluable tips for people who move home a lot. We will discover why people move home frequently, how that affects you and your family psychologically and physically, and finally, we will share ways to make moving home frequently easier.

• Why do People Move Home Frequently?
• Can You Be Addicted to Moving Home?
• Pros and Cons of Moving Home Frequently
• Tips for Moving Frequently

Why Do People Move Home Frequently?

For most people, moving home is a huge upheaval that they only do when they absolutely have to. Constantly moving from place to place is not most people’s idea of fun, so why do people move home a lot?

• Primarily people move home a lot due to their careers, for better job prospects, or as they get new roles within a company
• People in further education may need to move out at the end of each term
• Military personnel often move frequently
• You may want to experience living in various areas of a city before committing to buy a home or sign a long lease in a specific area for example
• Then there are serial movers, those who love the thrill of moving home and discovering new places, new cultures, and having new experiences

Can You Be Addicted to Moving Home?

Yes, if you constantly feel the need to move home, it could be said that you have a moving home addiction.

But more precisely you may crave change.

Moving home frequently prevents boredom from setting in, or the feeling of stagnation, that everything is too familiar, too easy, and there is just no stimulation in that home or place for you anymore.

Change gives you a new focus, shakes up your routines, takes you out of your comfort zone, helps you discover new things about yourself, teaches you new skills, and generally is a source of self-improvement.

Moving to a new home or a new area can be very exciting, there is so much to see, do, and discover, and it is that sense of the unknown, that knife-edge feeling of whether is this a good move or a bad move.

And unless you make that move you won’t know. There is always that craving to see what adventures your next home move will present to you.

As a serial home mover, there is also that safety net in the belief that nothing is permanent, there is always somewhere else to move to, another place to discover.

Making changes can be empowering, it gives you a certain level of control over your life.

Mistakes are only temporary, the next move will be better, the new area more invigorating, or the next home will give you that feeling of calm or mental comfort that you seek.

Alternatively, you may be someone who loves to organise and plan.

A successful home move requires exceptional planning and organisational skills and the sense of satisfaction at the end of a stress-free moving day can be totally exhilarating.

Additionally, there is the satisfaction of organising and setting up the new home. It is then after a couple of years that the novelty of a new home wears off and you crave a new home moving project.

Or you could also be someone like me. It is not necessarily the process of moving home or to a new area that you find so exciting, but it is that you have the opportunity to renovate or improve a property that stimulates you. Visualizing how to make changes to the property, planning those changes, and then making them a reality. I find that whole process totally addictive.

And I used the word ‘addictive’ there on purpose. Most people would think of an addiction as something that you are unable to resist no matter what the consequences.

As soon as I have finished renovating a home I am instantly bored, I need a new challenge and am off looking for the next project.

Whether that is a sound financial decision is often questionable, but the adrenalin rush, the sense of satisfaction when making those changes is worth the risk.

So, yes, whether it is new cultures, self-improvement, or staving off that feeling of stagnation, moving home can be a totally addictive, life-changing event.

You may also like to read: How to Move Out of a Home You Love. No matter how much you love your current home that lure of adventure, that next project, that new home is just too much to ignore. In this guide, we look at various ways to detach yourself from the home you love.

Pros and Cons of Moving Home Frequently

Moving house can be a very positive experience presenting you with new opportunities or a better quality of life, but moving house too often has its downsides as well.

Here we look at the pros and cons of moving home a lot.

What are the Pros of Moving Home Frequently?

You could, and we have, written whole posts about the benefits of moving home, both physical and mental.

But if you move frequently do those health and psychological benefits still hold true?

8 Really Good Reasons to Move Home Often

#1 Personal Development

This has to be one of the best reasons to move home frequently.

Each home move, each new place you live, each new person you meet, every new experience will have an impact on you in one way or another.

You will develop invaluable life skills like how to make friends quickly, or just how to be comfortable with, and enjoy your own company.

You may be introduced to new hobbies or volunteer groups for example or you may find an interest in something that you never considered before.

Moving home is also an ideal opportunity to set new goals, whether that be wellness, health, or financial goals. Different places will naturally lead you to an easier way to meet those goals.

For example, living in the countryside may make it easier for you to lose weight because there are fewer shops or takeaways, and local food may be fresher or even grown in your own garden.

Living by the sea or a river may open you up to getting fitter by taking up rowing or surfing.

You may choose to learn a new language and move to China Town for example so that you can immerse yourself in the language and culture.

You will learn to cope with change, adapt to, and accept different cultures and environments. To become more tolerant of others, and see the world through lots of different perspectives.

Each home move will teach you something new and will help you discover the things, places, or people that improve your quality of life and those that you know to steer clear of in the future.

Every home move is the opportunity to learn, to share your experiences and skills, and to help and be helped.

A new place, a new you.

#2 New Opportunities

If your current hometown does not offer the career opportunities that you want, then moving home is the obvious answer.

But it is not just career opportunities.

Maybe a new area will offer you volunteering opportunities or will give your art exposure to new galleries, or you will be in an area where you can fulfill your dream of doing archeology.

Each area of the country, of the world, gives you the opportunity to do something different.

And it is not just a one-way street where you receive the opportunities, another home move may give others the opportunity to learn your skill sets, to learn from your life experiences, for you to help improve other people’s lives too.

#3 Minimalist Lifestyle

If you move home often it makes sense to move as few possessions each time as possible. This naturally leads to living a minimalist lifestyle where the usefulness of each item outweighs any aesthetics or desire to have the latest, fastest, or shiniest thing on the market.

You learn to appreciate the functionality of each item you own, you question each and every purchase to see if it is really necessary and whether it will add to your quality of life.

#4 Psychological Benefits of Moving Home Frequently

Despite all the research into the psychological benefits of moving home frequently, there are so many affecting factors that it is difficult to give definitive proof that moving frequently has psychological benefits.

But from personal experience, I would say that the people I know who travel widely and move home frequently tend to be more open-minded, more accepting, and more adaptable.

They are not afraid to try new things, they have less fear of the unknown, and they are comfortable with their own company yet are not afraid to strike up a conversation with a stranger.

They value interactions more because they know it is a fleeting moment and that a single interaction can lead to learning something new or being a help in some way.

Equally, they value each moment, each experience, each place, and each person, as again they know the moment is temporary.

And almost all have the ability to manage or even avoid stress.

This I would argue is the biggest psychological benefit to moving home frequently, the ability to learn to manage stress.

Stress is a well-known trigger for many diseases and psychological disorders and learning how to manage and relieve stress can only be a good thing.

You may also like to read: How to Move Home Cheaply and Make a Profit. In this guide, we look at how to save money on your home moving expenses and how at the end of the day you could even make a profit.

#5 Physical Benefits of Moving Home Frequently

Every home move can be an opportunity to improve your physical well-being.

Familiarity is often a trigger for bad habits. For instance, you are familiar with the best pastry shop on your current route to work and it becomes a habit to nip in for a croissant or two every morning on the way to work.

In a new place, you have the opportunity to break this cycle. To take a new route to work that bypasses this temptation.

You may move from a flat with no garden to a flat with a balcony. Even what would appear to be a small change like this can have a positive physical effect.

Now you can have some window boxes, maybe a few pot plants, and even a table or chairs on the balcony.

It is an extra opportunity to do something physical at home.

Moving closer to work may mean you can ditch the car and cycle to work, or moving out of the city may give you the opportunity to get a place with a garden which is great physical exercise.

Moving from a small town to a big city may give you access to a gym or better fitness classes.

Every home move, no matter how insignificant it may appear, can give you the opportunity to improve your physical fitness, we just need to look for the opportunities.

You may also like to read: What are the Health Benefits of Moving Home? There is growing scientific evidence that moving home has a positive impact on your health. Discover all the reasons why moving home can actually be good for your physical health.

#6 Financial Gains

Moving home is not cheap, but if you move to a cheaper area or country, or your property increases in value each time you move, it could be that you gain financially with each home move.

This is of course dependent upon so many factors, but with all the pieces of the jigsaw in the right places, it is possible to make money from each home move.

#7 Environmental Upgrades

You may be a serial mover to improve the area you live in, to have access to more fresh air, and greener spaces, or to be by the sea. Each move could offer an upgrade in your surroundings leading to a healthier and more relaxing lifestyle.

Additionally, you may frequently move into newer homes to get the benefits of all the latest technology or homes that are more eco-friendly or more energy efficient.

You may also like to read: Where to Move to Avoid Climate Change in the UK. Climate change is affecting us all and you may be wondering how it will affect us in the future and where would be the best place to move to and avoid the worst of it. This guide is invaluable if climate change in the UK concerns you.

#8 Moving Frequently Gives You Choice

One of the advantages of moving frequently is that you have the ability to choose the type of community you want to live in.

It may be that you are going through a period of your life where you enjoy lots of live music, or you want to live in an artistic community, or you would prefer to live in a community of people of a similar age and grow old gracefully, or perhaps you want to be amongst younger people and grow old disgracefully.

Whatever your preferences, whatever your stage of life, moving home frequently gives you the freedom to make choices, and to adapt your environment to complement the way you want to live today.

What are the Cons of Moving Home Frequently?

#1 Cost

Moving home is not cheap, whether that be hiring a removal company or paying fees to estate agents, or having to pay letting agent fees.

For many people, the cost of moving home often is not outweighed by the benefits.

#2 Upheaval

Every aspect of your life changes when you move home. No sooner have you unpacked your things, got your place feeling like a home, started to make friends, and began to have a routine, than it is time to pack up and leave again.

And don’t forget all the administrative changes you have to keep making, notifying all those people and businesses of your new address.

#3 Missing Family and Friends

Many people need a strong family or circle of friends around them. If you move frequently you are more likely to have acquaintances than friends, there is not that time to create lasting bonds, to watch each other’s kids grow up, or to get that connection that can only be made over years and years.

#4 Impact on Partners Who Have to Move But Don’t Want To

If frequent home moves are forced on you because of a partner’s career or even a string of bad luck, then that can only lead to stress and unhappiness.

Often a partner who has to move but has no wish to do so may even become resentful of their situation.

Compromises and open and honest communication is usually the only way to come to a solution that works for everybody. That may mean one partner working away during the week and coming home at weekends or setting a trial period for a move to see whether both parties like the new area.

This situation is never an easy one to resolve but you may like to read: My Partner Wants to Move – I don’t – now what? In which we offer some ways that this dilemma may be resolved or a compromise reached.

#5 Instability

Nothing is stable or permanent when moving home frequently. Everything is transient. You never know when that need to move again will strike.

The kids may not have a continuous education, they may miss whole sections of the curriculum.

You may not have a continuous work record moving from place to place, job to job. To some employers, this could be a red flag and may even prevent you from getting a good job.

Potential landlords could be put off by the fact that you will only be renting for a short period, many like the stability of long-term renters.

#6 Psychological Impact on Kids Who Move Home Frequently

In a study published by BMC Public Health they concluded that a child under 2 years old is impacted psychologically by a home move, but in later years, and no matter how frequently they moved home, it had less of a psychological effect on a child.

It was concluded this was because a very young child is unable to process what is going on, or to be able to articulate their fears, yet at the same time is very aware of the stress and upheaval going on around them, that it has a greater psychological effect than on an older child.

You can read the full study at www.bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com  

#7 Problems Will Follow You

Many people move home to escape from a bad relationship or just bad life choices. Others feel that if they move home it will solve all their problems.

The reality is that yes, some problems can be resolved by moving away, such as escaping an abusive partner or moving away from bad memory triggers.

If you are inherently unhappy though, it is likely to be something inside of you causing the unhappiness rather than your surroundings.

If you don’t address the cause of your problems then they are likely to follow you wherever you live.

There are pros and cons to nearly every decision you have to make in life. Those lists will be different for each person dependent upon your point of view, your personality, your personal circumstances, and what you expect to gain or lose from moving home frequently.

11 Invaluable Tips for Moving Home Frequently

Whether you are moving a couple of times a year, or once every couple of years, these tips should make your home moves quick, easy, and cheap.

#1 Stick With a Good Removal Firm

If you are moving home using a removal company and you find a really good one, stick with them.

A really good removal company makes any home move super easy, so if at all possible, use that company for each and every one of your home moves.

Must read: Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing a Good Removal Company. In this guide, we take you through the whole process, step-by-step, to finding the best removal company for your particular home moving needs.

#2 Move Only Essentials

Move only the things that you are certain that you will need. Get rid of anything else. The fewer things you move the cheaper and easier your home moves will be.

Plan to travel as light as possible.

If you are moving somewhere for just a few months then only pack the clothes for the weather during the season you are there. Your other seasonal clothes can be put into storage or kept at a friend’s or family’s home.

A good quality air mattress may be a better sleeping option than paying to move a bed and mattress each time.

Equally, you may value a good night’s sleep very highly so may consider the cost of moving your bed and mattress as an investment.

It will come down to your priorities, how often you will move, and your budget.

You may also like to read: How to Move Home With No Furniture. In this guide, we look at the cheapest and best ways to move with no furniture to your new home.

#3 Rent Furnished Homes

There are a couple of good reasons to rent furnished rather than unfurnished.

Firstly, each home you move to will have a different layout, different-sized doorways, or stairwells. So whilst your furniture may fit home number 1 the chances of it fitting into each subsequent home are very slim.

Secondly, moving furniture is expensive and time-consuming. Renting a place that is already furnished alleviates all the cost and stress of moving your own furniture.

#4 Use Checklists

Moving home is a complicated event so make use of checklists to ensure that you do not forget to do those important home-moving tasks.

The more organised you are, the easier your moves will be.

Use a week-by-week moving checklist calendar for ensuring you do all your home moving tasks in a logical sequence.

Use a change of address checklist to advise people of your new address.

Use a home moving binder to keep all your essential home moving paperwork in one place.

#5 Decide How You Will Home

If you are just moving a few suitcases or boxes then you will likely not need a removal company.

When just moving across town without furniture you have more moving options such as using a taxi or your car.

If you are taking some key pieces of furniture then you will likely need a good removal company.

Each person’s home moving scenario will be different so consider all your options carefully and decide which moving option makes the most sense for you.

You may like to read: Ways to Move Home: The Pros and Cons of Every Home Moving Option. There are many ways to move home, each having its pros and cons. Here we help you narrow down the choices to find the best way to move your belongings.

#6 Consider Storage

If you are moving frequently now but plan on moving somewhere more permanent in the future then you could consider making use of a self-service storage facility.

You could store furniture there to make the numerous moves cheaper, but paying to store furniture is only really worth it if it is quality furniture, solid wood or antique for example.

Out-of-season clothing and bedding, artwork, and items of sentimental value that you do not want to risk moving around the country could also be put into storage.

Storage is also really useful if you have to move out of halls of residence or a shared house during the term holiday if you are at university or college.

You may also like to read: How to Choose a Storage Unit. Not all storage units are equal so you need to know the best one for your particular needs, the size you are likely to need, and the average cost for a storage unit across the UK.

#7 Use Plastic Totes

Plastic tote boxes are a great alternative to traditional cardboard moving boxes, especially if you are keeping things in storage.

They can be hired via one of the national companies and then they collect them when you have finished unpacking. There is no need then to find somewhere to stack the flattened cardboard boxes until the next move.

You also do not need to purchase packing tape, they are faster to fill as you do not need to construct them each time, they are strong, and they stack very easily as they are of a uniform size.

You may also like to read: Alternative Packing Materials for Moving Home in which we look at plastic moving crates in more detail and find out all the benefits of using them when moving home.

#8 Label Your Moving Boxes

Having a good labeling system for all your moving boxes is essential.

This easy moving box labeling method enables you to pack, load, unload, and unpack in a logical sequence, packing your least used items first, up to the items that you will need immediately upon moving into your new home. It also allows for an easy way to identify which box goes into which room.

#9 Think Multifunctional Items

The key to moving home frequently is to be extremely well organised and to make your moves as easy and simple as possible.

Living minimally helps you achieve this goal.

By minimally we mean to have as few possessions as possible. Multifunctional furniture is ideal for frequent home movers who live minimally.

So they may have a sofa that incorporates storage, or a coffee table that converts to an office desk.

You can apply the multifunctional mentality to almost anything.

For instance, you may consider multi-functional or convertible clothing, clothes that can be worn in multiple ways.

There is even cookware where just one pan replaces multiple others, in this case, 1 pan replaces 8 other types of pots and pans.

#10 Upcycle and Reuse

Rather than pay to have furniture packed and moved, use some of the free-ad websites to find things for your home for free or at a minimal cost.

Then when it is time to move again you pass the furniture on to someone else whether that is a free-to-collector type website or you decide to sell, t is far cheaper and easier than moving furniture from home to home every time you move.

You may also like to read: Where to Get Things for Free When Moving Home. Here we discover all the best places to get all your household goods for free or at minimal cost as well as where you might snag some discounts and offers as a recent home mover.

#11 Hire Furniture

Some people are even choosing to hire furniture for short periods of time rather than shift theirs around the country.

Moving your own furniture frequently exposes it to the risk of damage each time it is moved.

By hiring furniture you pay no removal costs, the hire company delivers and places your furniture and then collects it when the hire period finishes.

www.furniturehire.com, www.roomservicebycort.com, and www.instanthome.co.uk are examples of companies that you can hire furniture from.

Moving home frequently is either a massive inconvenience and extremely stressful, or is something that you embrace and you cannot wait for the next adventure to begin.

Being a serial home mover has lots of benefits as we have seen.

It is good to keep things fresh, to see the world from a different perspective, to grow and develop as people, and to add something to the lives of the people we meet along the way.

The lack of attachment to material possessions helps us not only to travel light but to actually think about our purchases, to ensure that we get the maximum out of the things we do buy.

Equally, there is something very comforting in coming home to a place that we are familiar with, where we know the people around us, where we can just pop in to see friends and family, where the local shopkeeper knows our name, and where neighbours keep an eye out for us.

Each to their own.

We hope you found this guide useful. Be sure to visit our home moving blog where you will find a whole library of guides dedicated to making your home move easier and cheaper.

And if you are still looking for a really good removal company to help you move just contact us using the online quote form.