I’m hoping to be moving to a new place at the end of July, along with many, many others. It will only be my second time moving out on my own, and I’m very excited about having my own space, my own kitchen, my own bathroom, and a place that stays as clean as I left it—my cat’s shenanigans notwithstanding—and will be decorated according to my preferences!
Honestly, I may be most excited about listening to music and other media without headphones (which I use out of courtesy for my housemates and also to prevent them from making fun of me for blasting K-pop at all hours of the day. …Oooh, I just realized it’ll finally make sense to get a record player!)
Still, the actual move is looking to be a hectic affair—but luckily I’ve been mostly packed for a few months now and just have to physically shift everything over to my new place, unpack, organize, figure out which of my furniture makes sense to keep and what should be sold…
Ok, so that’s a lot of stuff to manage, and if you’re feeling a tad bit overwhelmed like I am (or someone else in your life is moving and stressed about it) check out these books, guaranteed to make the moving process, and everything related to it, marvelously easy! (Or at least, easier.)
Financial Literacy
The key to borrowing, managing, and paying off debt is understanding what it is, how it works and how it can affect your finances and your life. Debt 101 is the easy-to-follow guide to discovering how to pay off the debt you have plus learning how to use debt to your advantage. Debt 101 allows you to take control of your money with strategies best suited for your personal financial situation—whether you are buying a home or paying off student loans. You will learn the ins and outs of borrowing in a simple, straightforward manner, managing student loans and credit card debt, improving your credit score, understanding interest rates, good debt vs. bad debt, and so much more. Finally, you can get ahead of the incoming bills and never let your debt intimidate you again!
Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s For Dummies by Eric Tyson
Millennials often confront greater difficulties—including economic uncertainty and student debt—than those who came before them. This new financial responsibility can be intimidating, and many people are unsure where to begin.
Inside, trusted financial advisor Eric Tyson shows students and recent grads how to make smart financial decisions in order to pay off student loans, avoid any additional debt, and create a solid plan to ensure their financial success. From avoiding common money mistakes to making informed investment choices, Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s For Dummies covers it all!
Own Your Money by Michela Allocca
In Own Your Money, Allocca (of Tiktok fame as @BreakYourBudget) shares all the tools you need to manage, save, invest, and set a routine to improve your financial life. You’ll find chapters for budgeting, how to save with SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals, how to spend money (that’s right, a plan for spending is important too!), investing, jobs and careers, and how to increase your earning potential. With illustrations, helpful charts and graphics, and templates to help you plan, this is a book that’s meant to partner with you to achieve your financial goals.
Financial First Aid by Alyssa Davies
A practical guide for handling life’s financial emergencies for the cash-strapped, the meticulous budgeter, and everyone in between. Money can be an intense source of stress, especially when you suddenly don’t have enough of it. This handy and accessible reference from Alyssa Davies, founder of the popular finance blog Mixed Up Money, is here to help you navigate these financial ups and downs with a judgment-free approach.
It offers actionable advice for different types of emergencies, short- and long-term solutions, resources, and tips from well-known financial experts who have been there before. You’ll find scripts for negotiating payments for large bills, and learn how to revise a budget if you need to care for a loved one who is sick, recognize financial abuse, and much more.
The Moving Process
The Art of Happy Moving by Ali Wenzke
A comprehensive, upbeat guide to help you survive the moving process from start to finish, filled with fresh strategies and checklists for timing and supplies, choosing which items to toss and which to keep, determining the best place to live, saying farewell and looking forward to hello.
Ali shares invaluable personal anecdotes from her many moves, and packs each chapter with a wealth of information and ingenious tips (Did you know that if you have an extra-large welcome mat at the entrance of your home, it’s more likely to sell?). Ali also includes checklists for packing and staging, and agendas for the big moving day. Whether you’re a relocating professional, newly married, a family with kids and pets, or a retiree looking to downsize, The Art of Happy Moving will help you discover ways to help make your transition an easier one—and be even happier than you were before.
Sorting through a lifetime’s worth of accumulated possessions can be a daunting and stressful process that millions of Americans confront every year. The need to downsize often arises at a momentous life change. Decluttering guru Peter Walsh knows the difficulty of downsizing firsthand.
Now, in Let It Go, you’ll access Peter’s many tips and practical takeaways, such as how to understand the emotional challenges that accompany downsizing, create strategies for working with your spouse, adult kids, or siblings without drama, calculate the amount of stuff you can bring into your new life, identify the objects that will bring you real happiness, and the rest that you should let go. Peter will walk you through every step of the process and show you how to use downsizing as a positive experience that sets you up to better enjoy the opportunities that the next phase in your life will offer.
Estate Downsizing for Caregivers by Susan Bewsey
This guide to downsizing addresses the growing need of individuals and caregivers in planning and carrying out downsizing tasks while transitioning their premises to smaller places and spaces. For caregivers of all stripes, be they spouses, adult children, siblings, friends, neighbours, downsize companies or caregiving individuals, it offers essential planning steps for downsizing one’s life and for providing assistance in downsizing another’s life in an organized and meaningful way.
With the use of questionnaires, to-do lists, goal setting exercises, and sample scenarios, readers are guided in selecting advisors to team up with who will provide legal and practical advice and assistance in establishing priorities through to completion. The guide includes helpful hints on how to get and give help and deal with the stresses of juggling simple tasks as they become monumental challenges.
Design & Organization
Shared Living by Emily Hutchinson
In the current housing market, with more people moving to cities than ever before, those who live with roommates are no longer exclusively recent college graduates with clashing decorating senses and mismatched furniture. For many, it is perfectly normal to share a house or an apartment with other adults in order to save money, without sacrificing personal style in the home.
Shared Living offers design examples for people who seek a sophisticated look in their shared space. Featuring roommates who are getting it right, this book delves into homes around the world where cohabitants have found savvy ways of decorating together. Through each stage of shared living—from finding a place to merging styles—this book offers practical advice and tips for DIY styling, such as how to upcycle furniture or scour flea markets for unique finds. It is the essential resource for roommates seeking inspiration for their home.
Safe and Sound by Mercury Stardust
Renting a home can be a complex process—from finding a safe and affordable space, to hiring help for moving in and out, and of course, managing any repairs that come up during your stay. You deserve to feel empowered to take matters into your own hands—and it’s not as hard as you might think. In this book, Mercury will show you how to tackle the projects that need improvement in your home—from how to properly fix a clog in your bathroom sink and safely hang things on your walls to patching small and medium drywall holes.
Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces by Maxwell Ryan
Whether you inhabit a studio or a sprawling house with one challenging space, Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, co-founder of the most popular interior design website, Apartment Therapy, will help you transform tiny into totally fabulous. According to Maxwell, size constraints can actually unlock your design creativity and allow you to focus on what’s essential. In this vibrant book, he shares forty small, cool spaces that will change your thinking forever.
These apartments and houses demonstrate hundreds of inventive solutions for creating more space in your home, and for making it more comfortable. Leading us through entrances, living rooms, kitchens and dining rooms, bedrooms, home offices, and kids’ rooms, Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces is brimming with ingenious tips and ideas.
This is the ultimate guide to moving out on your own—whether that’s in a campus dorm, an apartment with seven other friends, a two-bedroom with your best friend, or your very own studio. My Small Space reflects how urbanites really live today—in all kinds of small spaces that have limitations.
Every page is packed with cool photography and tips, such as how to decorate around immovable furniture in a dorm and what to pack (leave behind) from home, or how to get creative in cramped spaces that you share with others. A section on studio living shares what it’s like to finally be on your own—and in control of all of the decision making.
House Rules by Myquillyn Smith
Finally, a decorating book that transcends trends and applies to every style! You want to create a beautiful, livable home, but you feel stuck. House Rules is your guide to understanding why some rooms look great and other rooms don’t look quite right.
By guiding you to do what you know, use what you have, and finish what you started, Myquillyn Smith will help you find understanding of why you love (or don’t love) your spaces confidence to make rewarding decisions that feel risky satisfaction with small wins that combine to create big changes inspiration and motivation resulting in finished, personalized rooms. Learn how to make better decorating decisions with ease.
Legal References
Condo Questions and Answers by Sally Thompson
Most people living in condos want answers to their questions from someone they can trust. Sally Thompson is the perfect person for condo residents to rely on. What do we do when the neighbour’s dog pees in the elevator every morning? Why are we being charged for a new parking garage? Why did our maintenance fees double?
Sally Thompson has answers to these and 50 more questions she’s heard from Ontario condo residents. Consulting for condo boards, advising condo owners, serving as president of the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Condominium Institute, and advising the government on the Ontario Condo Act have made Sally Thompson an expert on Ontario condos and the issues their residents face. Distilling her long career into an easy-to-read reference book, Sally Thompson’s Condo Questions and Answers puts the power back into the residents’ hands.
Ontario Landlord and Tenant Legislation
Provides all the relevant legislation regulating Ontario landlords and tenants, including regulations. You could also check out The Annotated Ontario Landlord and Tenant Statutes.
I hope you found this helpful! Good luck on your move, and wish me luck on mine!