These are the items you’re most likely to lose when moving house - and one could be seriously costly

Moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do. No matter how long you’ve had to prepare, there’s always a last-minute rush as your belongings pile up. There's a moment when we all wish we'd used a more Marie Kondo-style approach as we're confronted with just how much stuff we own. But it’s also likely that in the whirlwind of boxes, tape, bubblewrap, and canceled utilities, you’ll leave one of these items behind. 

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According to Share To Buy, the things we typically lose when moving house are step ladders, stashed cash, keys, and plant pots in the garden. Some of these items make total sense. We can understand that it would be easy to overlook some old plant pots come moving day, as we often see them as a fixed part of the garden. 

Unless they’re gorgeous pot plants that you’ve lovingly tended over the years as part of a container gardening project, we can see that it would feel like a time-consuming and messy job to pack them up. Again, the ancient ladder that’s always been in your under stairs storage is often something you’re willing to leave behind.

But as for the stashed cash... This one's certainly a cause for alarm. It seems that many of us save money for a rainy day in a ‘safe place’, that ends up being so safe we forget about it. Moving is a costly business with an endless number of things to arrange, so we can’t afford to be leaving spare money back at our old place.

The average person risks losing around $280 per move according to Share To Buy, purely due to forgetting things. Away from the stresses of moving day and looking at everyday life, TV remotes, phones, keys, glasses, and shoes are some of the most commonly misplaced items in our homes.

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In fact, we're so skilled at the art of losing things that on average, we spend roughly 140 days of our lives searching for them. If ever there was a case for a thorough declutter and spring clean, this is it.

Given that it gets worse when we’re flustered or stressed, those of us preparing to move into our dream home are at even higher risk of misplacing precious items. If you're moving soon and feeling daunted, our essential house moving checklist will have everything you need to know. Start with locating any hidden cash and thank yourself later.