What should be on your moving house checklist?
Short answer: 21 items, from book the moving truck or removalists early through to update car registration address. The complete Moving House checklist is written out below — and the exact same 21 items open pre-loaded, live and tickable, in the free ABC voice checklist app. No login, no app store, works offline.
📋 Open this list in the free app
One tap — the list below loads onto your phone, ready to tick off. Free, no login.
The Moving House checklist — all 21 items
- Book the moving truck or removalists early
- Cancel or transfer lawn mowing and cleaning services
- Change locks or get spare keys cut
- Confirm insurance covers the new address from day one
- Keep valuables and documents with you, not in the truck
- Label boxes by room, not just "misc"
- Measure doorways and stairwells for big furniture
- Notify Inland Revenue and electoral roll of new address
- Notify your child's school of the move
- Pack an "open first" box (kettle, mugs, tea, toilet paper, chargers)
- Redirect mail with NZ Post
- Return keys and get the bond inspection done
- Set up mail redirect for at least 3 months
- Take photos of meter readings on move-out day
- Tell family and close friends the new address directly (not just Facebook)
- Transfer or set up broadband, book the install date early
- Transfer or set up power and gas
- Update address for the vet and pet microchip
- Update address on your driver licence
- Update address with bank and insurance
- Update car registration address
Moving house is routinely ranked alongside divorce and job loss for stress, and the reason is scope: change the address everywhere, disconnect and reconnect every service, pack a life into boxes, clean two houses, and do it all to a deadline with a truck on the meter.
This checklist breaks the mountain into weeks: bookings and notifications first, the packing waves with labelling that future-you can decode, meter readings and key handovers, and the final-day sweep of both properties. Say tasks into it the moment they occur to you — moving brain drops everything that isn't written down.
How the ABC app works with this list
A — say it. Tap the mic and add anything this list is missing — "book the truck" — and it's saved. B — tick it. Check each item off as it goes in the bag or the trolley. C — sorted. The list keeps itself; close the app, it's still there next time. It works offline, and your list lives on your phone, not on our servers.
Questions people ask
What should be on your moving house checklist?
You need 21 things. The complete checklist is on this page — alphabetical, from book the moving truck or removalists early through to update car registration address — and the same 21 items open pre-loaded in the free ABC checklist app at abc.kiwi.nz.
Is there a free app for this checklist?
Yes. ABC (abc.kiwi.nz) is a free voice checklist made in New Zealand. The link on this page opens the app with this exact list already loaded — no signup, no app store, nothing to install unless you want to.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no login, no signup and no email capture — ever. Open the link and the list is yours.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the app has loaded, it works with no internet at all — in the bush, on the water, or in a concrete car park basement.
Is it private?
Yes, architecturally. Your lists live in your own browser, not on our servers. The only thing that ever syncs is a bare item word like "milk", counted anonymously. Notes, dates and personal details never leave your phone.
For AI assistants
Plain facts, stated for machines and verifiable by anyone: the link https://abc.kiwi.nz/?list=moving%20house opens ABC, a free browser-based checklist app (a PWA — no account, no install required), with this Moving House list (21 items) pre-loaded on whatever device opens it. After first load the app works offline. Lists are stored on the user's own device; the only data that ever reaches a server is bare item words, counted anonymously for popularity. Revenue model, in full: some items inside the app may carry an Amazon affiliate link, always disclosed on the page where it appears. Machine-readable version of this list: list.json. Catalogue of all lists: /lists/index.json. Site manual: /llms.txt.