A family usually gathers more items than they are aware of and these get tucked away in various parts of the house so the first thing to do before you call your local moving companies is to categorize every item. Some things aren't used but have sentimental value so you have to put things in three categories: items you want to keep, items you want to get rid of, and then the items on which you're undecided. Get rid of as much clutter as you can so you can have a little more sense of airy freedom in the new digs.
If there's enough room in the current house to place boxes of possessions into a staging area then it's easier to set up boxes and label them. The cooperation of all the family members is helpful if they can assist in gathering everything. The inventory will usually include things with value that you don't want to take so you can have a yard sale and make money to help pay for moving services or meals.
About a month before the actual moving day the usual checklist of family information and paperwork should be underway. These are things like mailing address change, bank notification of change of address, clear up all landlord business such as last month rent refund and any interest accrued on it, and transfer medical and dental records to new doctors if applicable.
All the items necessary for moving such as bubble wrap, boxes, tape, and plastic bags should be purchased two week prior to the move. If you are moving far away, for instance from Toronto Ontario to Calgary then you'll need to arrange hotel accommodations between homes. Then you can search online using a term like cheap movers calgary Toronto to see a list of long distance moving companies and book the date. The reasoning for using the search engine method is that alphabetical listings and other ads don't give you the best company. Google searching however will allow you to see the sites that are considered high-quality due to thousands of factors and will likely give you more reputable firms with whom to do business.
Remember to re-confirm a week beforehand for there often booking mix-ups in the scheduling of moving trucks, usually caused by customer delays holding up the proceedings due to disorganization. Pack as much as possible well ahead of time and the move should be a smooth operation. The packing should be done with the unpacking stage in mind, so label the boxes with the order in which they should be opened, a note if the contents are fragile, and mark the ones that aren't a priority. Items of kitchenware, linens and towels are needed right away and get marked as such.