Six Weeks Before Your Move? Here's Your Must-Do Checklist.

Only six weeks left? Take care of those chores with longer lead times and get organized for tasks that are close to the finish line. You've probably begun making lists for packing and cleaning; gathering important information; and thinking strategically about what to do and when to do it.

If you have any unfinished task from last week, put it at the top of the list below.

• If you are doing your own packing, identify a staging area-a place where you can stack packed boxes out of the way.
• If you are using a moving company, draw up a "Move It Myself" list-those items too valuable or too fragile to entrust to anyone else. Collect these items and make sure they don't find their way into any general packing boxes.
• Decide which room should be packed up first (usually the least-used room or area, or the items you use least often, such as books, out-of-season equipment or clothes, or those kitchen tools, serving and entertaining items you use infrequently).
• Get some boxes and get started-pack at least one box a day this week and next. Pack the easy, unbreakable things first, but don't seal the cartons yet.
• Let the post office know that you will be moving. It's easy if you use their online Change of Address form at the USPS website.
• Phone your insurance agent and discuss your coverage. Is your move currently covered? Will you need a new or different policy for your new home, especially if you are changing states?
• Contact other institutions, such as your bank, to see what you may need to do to transfer accounts to local branches in your new location.
• Ask your clubs (health, sports, social etc.) about cancelling or transferring your memberships.
• Start compiling your "change-of-address notification" lists. Include everyone you do business with, from service people to health care providers as well as your neighbors and friends.
• Start planning how you're going to dispose of the items you've decided you're not moving. Set a date for your garage sale, a pick-up by Salvation Army, or a visit to the recycling center.
• Start using up supplies you won't or can't move, such as frozen foods, chemical or aerosol cleaners, and jarred, canned or boxed goods from the pantry. And don't replace these items until you have moved into your new home.

Make sure to cross out each task as you complete it-and remember, you really have two weeks to do them. Some items, such as packing, will probably not be crossed out until the van is ready to leave.