Quick and Easy Ways to Welcome Your New Neighbors

If you have ever moved to a new town or neighborhood, you know how stressful it can be settling in. If you have new neighbors and want to give them a warm welcome, here are a few ideas to get you started.

You may decide to do these individually or you can put together a nice welcoming basket with some of the following included.

Don't be afraid to network; ask some neighbors if they would like to chip in to help welcome the newcomers.

Helpful Phone Numbers

If you know the best deals for garbage pick-up or similar services, share the information with your new neighbors. To be helpful without getting in their hair, you could make a list of helpful phone numbers and tuck it into their door.

Here's a few ideas for numbers to include on your list:

Garbage service

Phone companies

Cable companies

Water department

Electric company

Local schools

Fire department

Police station

Local library

Neighborhood handy man

Pet services (walking, grooming, etc.)

Babysitter you trust

Trusted mechanic

To make the list look nice, you could type it up on your computer and print it out or use pretty stationary to write the numbers on. To be even more helpful, you could buy sticky magnetic strips and attach them to the back of the list. Your new neighbors will then be able to hang the list on their refrigerator for convenience.

You could also take this opportunity to invite the new neighbors to your church if desired. If your church doesn't have flyers, make one with your church's schedule on it. You could even use some of those magnetic strips to create a nice refrigerator magnet with your church's address and phone number on it.

Fast Food

All of that packing and unpacking can make movers hungry! Consider clipping out coupons for local fast-food restaurants from your newspaper to pass on to the new neighbors.

If you have a favorite restaurant, consider asking the management if they have any coupon books available as gifts for new residents.

A Housewarming Gift

Finally, you may want to include a small housewarming gift. A simple and inexpensive way to do this would be to pick some fresh flowers. You could arrange these in a jar or soup can with the label soaked off and tie a pretty ribbon around it.

If you have any homemade or homegrown food items that you can spare, your new neighbors would probably appreciate receiving them. Freshly baked bread, garden vegetables, or fresh fruit would be a nice addition to any welcome basket.