After spending the past couple of years living in apartments where utilities, cable, and internet were already setup before I moved in, I seem to have forgotten how much of hassle it can be if you don’t plan ahead for setting these things up. To help you avoid making the same mistakes I’ve made in the past, here are 5 things you should do before moving into a new apartment.

1. Contact the utility company at least a week in advance.

You should do this for two reasons. If the utilities are in your name at your current place, you need to give them a date to stop the utilities at your current residence unless you really like paying for utilities that you’re not using. If the same company handles the utilities at your new place, then you can set that up at the same time. If not, it will be a little more of a hassle as you’ll have to contact multiple companies.

2. Call to get your cable/internet/phone/etc. set up at least a week in advance.

I made the mistake of not doing this for my new place, and I just spent over a week without an internet connection. I didn’t realize that the cable company here required an appointment, and of course, the next available appointment time wasn’t until a week later. Make sure you’re not disconnected by calling at least a week in advance to schedule these appointments.

3. Change your address and get your mail forwarded.

There are two options for getting your mail forwarded. If you’re old school, you can take a trip to your local post office and fill out a Change of Address Form in person. If you enjoy the convenience of technology and don’t mind paying a $1, then you can fill out a Change of Address Form online. Even though this will get most of your important mail forwarded, you still need to remember to change your address on your bank accounts, credit cards, subscriptions, etc.

4. Sell stuff that you don’t need anymore.

Moving is a great time to get rid of stuff. By stuff I mean things you don’t need anymore. If the stuff you have is still in good condition, you can try selling it on craigslist or eBay. If there are already new tenants lined up for your old apartment, you can see if they’re interested in buying some stuff from you. If so, then you don’t even have to pack/move/disassemble/reassemble your stuff, and you get some extra cash.

5. Start packing early.

If there’s any advice that I’m going to give out but never actually follow myself, this is it. I suck at packing early, and I’ve suffered the consequences — staying up all night to finish packing, forgetting where I put things because none of the boxes are labeled, and ending up with backbreaking boxes filled with textbooks. All of these issues could have been easily avoided if I had started packing sooner rather than later. The sooner you start, the more time you have to realize that you’re doing something stupid, like putting 100 pounds of textbooks into a single box that you’ll have to carry up and down stairs.

I recently got back from a short vacation. Technically, it was a trip to a conference, but I stayed the weekend to the turn it into a mini vacation. Now I’m working on getting back into the swing of things, and it has been a little rough. Vacations always surprise me. According to the dictionary, a vacation is:

a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel

While all of that sounds great, I always seem to come back from vacation more tired than I left. I think it’s because travel and recreation take more time and effort than expected. Making plans for a trip can be a strenuous process. Then once you get there, you want to make the most of your vacation time by doing as much as you can in a short amount of time.

Going with a group of friends also makes things more complicated. You have to coordinate schedules, flights, transportation, lodging, etc. Then you have to figure out activities that will please everyone in the group.

After throwing a few ideas around, my friends and I ended up at the beach one day. While bumming out in the sand probably would have been the most relaxing thing to do, I couldn’t resist jumping into the ocean and taking on a few of the waves.

The sun, sand, and water were a blast, but it was draining. That seems to be a recurring theme on every vacation I go on. Everything I end up doing is really fun, but by the end of the trip, I’m exhausted.

Does this ever happen to you on vacation?