You should get amazing customer service and here’s why: Retailers are terrified of you moving. It means they effectively lose your business – even if it is only for a few minutes before they re-connect you at your new home.

It is also a time when many people switch providers because they look at their current plan and realise that a rival utility could be up to $200 cheaper than the last time they picked a plan.

Electricity, NBN and mobile phone costs, for example, have all dropped in the past year.

So, when you mention the ‘M’ word, a red flag goes up at the utility’s call centre. This is when you have the most leverage to drive a hard bargain.

Don’t leave it too late

I confess I stuffed this one up. I contacted my electricity and gas providers the day before the move and they require a standard three days to disconnect and hook up a new account.

However, that does not mean that we moved into our new home without power or gas – we just paid a couple of days’ energy for the new owners of our last abode. So, it’s not the end of the world.

Do remember to disconnect your old place though, or you will pay for extra power for longer.

Insurance savings

Changing your address with your insurance company might even save you some money.

Your premium is not only based on your claims history; it is also based on the “risk rating” of your property’s address or postcode, calculated by the insurance company’s team of actuaries.

So, if you are moving to a new address that is considered less risky – for either car or home insurance – they may refund you part of any premium you might have pre-paid for a full year. It always pays to ask.

Free retail delivery

Finally, I cannot over-emphasise how useful the new breed of online retailers were in the first few days after we moved in.

With mountains of boxes to unpack, the last thing you have time for is a trip to the shopping mall.

However, thanks to the likes of Amazon Prime and eBay Plus, you can order any number of goods you may need for your new home, including that bottle of champagne you so desperately need, and it arrives the very next day.

There is also a free trial period to these retailers, so it does not even need to cost you anything unless you decide to stay with them and pay their subscription fees.

Joel Gibson is the author of KILL BILLS. Catch his money-saving segments on Nine Radio, TODAY and Twitter @joelgibson