Moving Timeline Calculator

This calculator builds a task-count model of your move rather than a generic checklist, so the schedule it produces scales with how complex your specific move actually is. It starts from a baseline of 15 universal tasks (things every mover deals with regardless of home size), then adds 3 tasks per bedroom for packing, 8 additional tasks if you flag the move as long-distance (covering research on movers, address changes, and setting up utilities in a new state), and 6 more if you own your current home (covering repairs, staging, listing, and closing paperwork). That total task count is then spread across your reported weeks-until-move to produce a weekly task load, rounded up so you're never told to do a fractional task. Packing lead time scales with bedroom count too — roughly 1.2 weeks of packing per bedroom, floored at 2 weeks minimum, and capped so it can't exceed your actual timeline if your move window is short.

The critical deadline week (for utilities transfers, address changes, and a final walkthrough) is set to one week before moving day by default. Buffer days are calculated from whatever schedule slack remains after accounting for total tasks against total days available, capped at a week; a short timeline with a heavy task load can produce zero buffer days, which is the calculator's way of flagging that your schedule is tight. This is a planning heuristic, not a project management tool — it doesn't sequence individual tasks or know your personal circumstances, so treat the weekly task load and packing start week as guardrails to build your own list around, not a substitute for one.