1.   Give yourself plenty of time. As soon as you know you want to sell your property start saving your news papers and collecting boxes from supermarkets, who will usually be more than happy to give them to you if you ask.

2.   When packing ask yourself for every item you wrap "Will I need this in my new home?" Perhaps you have children who have outgrown their clothes and toys, if so why not have a yard sale, give them to friends or donate them to charity?

3.   Make sure all delicate items are carefully wrapped perhaps take certain items in your car rather than trusting your irreplaceable things to the removal company.

4.   Moving house is not only physically demanding but can also be a very emotional time. Make sure you take some time out if it starts getting to much. A short stroll in the park will do you wonders or why not go to the cinema? Drinking more than a small drop of alcohol is not recommend, if that is how you choose to unwind, remember you'll have a busy day tomorrow!

5.   Label boxes precisely try to refrain from just writing "Kitchen" on a box for example. List key items that you will surely need when you reach your new home, try to group things, there is nothing worse than having to unpack 3 boxes to find the kettle, tea and sugar!

6.   Pack an over night bag with your toiletries, toothbrushes, perhaps bedding and a couple of changes of clothes. You may be tired and want to have a wash and go straight to bed or go out for a meal rather than starting to unpack.

De-cluttering is one of the most important things to do even if you are moving to a larger house. Here are a few top tips to get you started;

1. Try on all your clothes, make a day of it! If it doesn't fit it's clutter!

2. Sentimental items can be hard to identify as clutter but when you are holding on to a lot of items from a particular period of your life it can be helpful to whittle them down to a few key items and make a memory box to keep them in. Remember if you don't plan to have any more children the clothes and toys could be loved and used on a daily basis by others.

3. When it comes to selling or giving the items away it pays to do a little research, as they say one mans trash is another mans treasure! There are many ways to sell your items such as ebay but there are a lot of other "swap shop" style web sites out there, perhaps you could swap a few old items for one or two more usable things.