This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CORT. All opinions are 100% mine.
We moved 11 times by the time I was 12… when my brother’s boy scout leader asked what one of our family traditions were he answered moving. There was a time in my life when moving was literally all I knew! By the time high school rolled around my Dad had retired from the army… which meant I was able to spend four years in the same place.
That was literally the longest time I have ever lived in one house… in my life. So if you really want someone to give you expert moving tips… ask my mom 😉 but since she’s not here I’ll give you just a couple that I’ve picked up over the years!
Tip 1: Label Everything!
Literally everything… I don’t mean put “Kitchen” on the Kitchen boxes and “Living Room” on the Living Room boxes. Generic labels mean you’ll get to your new house at 11:27 at night and spend 4 hours busting open “Bedroom” boxes looking for pillows.
If your box contains silverware, plates and one large coffee pot then label it “Kitchen: Silverware, Plates, Large Coffee Pot”. Trust me it works!
The last time we moved Mom (being the master packer that she is) was in charge of labeling… we got to the new house and the hubby goes “What’s in this big box labeled ‘large globe?'”. I’m not sure if he thought it was a trick question or Mom had been sniffing the markers but it was my large guestbook… globe. Imagine that!
Of course Mom’s always been a master labeler… when I was a little girl we moved to North Carolina. I must have been around 8… honestly I have no idea so just pretend I’m eight. I walked into my little brother’s room (it was labeled Will’s room on the door so I knew it was his room) to find one of the movers putting together Will’s bed with a baggie labeled “Betsy’s Bed Screws”.
I told him… dude you have the wrong screws. You’re in the room labeled “Will’s Room” with a bed labeled “Will’s Bed” you obviously need “Will’s Bed Screws”…. he didn’t believe me. So I stole that little baggie and hid until Mom came to sort the whole thing out… you should have seen that dude’s face when he realized the 8-year-old was right.
It’s not rocket science… just good labeling! For an extra tip… we’ll call it Tip 1.5… find movers who can read ;).
Tip 2: Furniture Rentals are your Friend!
Unfortunately I learned this lesson the hard-way… sometimes in life you’re not in a house long enough to unpack. Like the summer we lived in an apartment in Alabama between assignments… or maybe you’re only going to be somewhere for a month or two. Like the two months we lived in an apartment while waiting to be assigned to a house. Or maybe you’ve been stationed in Hawaii and while planes take about 8 hours all of your belongings are coming on a boat… that takes a couple weeks!
The army always provided short term furniture for us… in Hawaii it was called Aloha furniture and while that may sound fun and tropical it really isn’t. It really means wicker tables, and wicker chairs and wicker couches… the beds had plastic on them we were not supposed to remove. Can you imagine sleeping on plastic for two months? It rustles like you wouldn’t believe! Now maybe you like sleeping on plastic, maybe you like wicker but it was not for us.
We decided to rent furniture for those in-between months from then on. Places like CORT Furniture Rental have comfy furniture that you can rent for whatever time period you need. I mean honestly y’all… no body wants to sleep on plastic. Plus doesn’t that bed look scrumptious?
The best part is that they deliver it, put it together and pick it up when you’re done… I bet their delivery guys even know how to read! 😉 I just like the no-mess, no-fuss, hassle free service… moving is stressful by itself without having to sleep on wicker for two months while you’re waiting for the boat with your bed to arrive.
Tip 3: Have a SUPER IMPORTANT Box.
Literally take a sharpie and label one box “SUPER IMPORTANT STUFF.” Make the letters stand out… let your kids draw on it, label it in pink sharpie. Do what you gotta do. Now put all IMPORTANT things in that box.
I don’t mean your PS4 (hunny that means you!) or your favorite pair of jeans (put those in your suitcase… so you know exactly where they are!). I mean things like passports, shot records, lock boxes, the dogs flea medicine they-need-next-tuesday-right-in-the-middle-of-driving-across-the-whole-darn-country, furniture rental papers for when you arrive at your new place, insurance documents, moving company information… you get the idea. Anything you reeeeally don’t want to get lost.
Some people in my life *cough cough hunny* have argued that the TV clicker and cables go in the important papers box… they’re small so I let it slide but typically I tape those bad boys right to the back of the TV.
The super important box might be different for everyone… when I was a little girl my doll (pink baby, yes that was her real name) was in the box. I would leave her everywhere and then proceed to scream bloody murder at bedtime when no one could find my doll. Once she got a coveted spot in the SUPER IMPORTANT box that stopped being an issue…. no honey your PS4 still doesn’t qualify. Just make sure that all important documents and items make their way into the box.
Once the SUPER IMPORTANT box is packed it goes in the car with the people… not in the back of the moving van with the boxes never to be seen from again. Depending on the status of the SUPER IMPORTANT box it may even get a seat belt to hold it in place. Or you know put it in the back with the suitcases… whatever feels right.
Tip 4: Don’t Stress Storage!
When my Mom made the move to Alabama from Colorado she had to put most of her belongings in storage for a while. It took a bit to actually move across country and then it took a while to find a house. So she stayed in a little apartment while she was waiting to find her dream home (that’s a picture of her house above, isn’t it pretty?!).
Since she was able to spend a couple months looking for just the right house she didn’t have to settle for what was available on the market at that exact moment. Her furniture sat in a nice comfy climate controlled container in Colorado just waiting for the call to be delivered. If she had tried to rush she may not have found a home she loved… a moving truck full of furniture definitely puts on the pressure to make a decision and buy a house already!
Of course with her furniture in storage we go back to tip number 2… furniture rentals are our friend! She was able to rent enough furniture to last a couple months and when her dream house came up it was bye bye furniture hello house! I love that it’s so easy to rent furniture… it makes life sooooo much easier!
Tip 5: Don’t Forget to Change Your Address!
We all know to give Grandma the new address so she knows where to send that Christmas Fudge (yes that was a shameless plug for Christmas Fudge… hey it’s November! A girl can dream right?) but remembering to change your address with every single little place can be a bit… daunting.
Keep it simple… do a couple a day, a week, whatever works best for y’all! Work your way down the list and call each person in turn with your new address. Many of these companies allow you to do address changes online now-a-days so you may not even need to call.
Essentials
__ Post Office: Set Up Forwarding Address
__ Employer: Paychecks, Tax Forms, Etc
Finances
__ Bank/Credit Union
__ Loan Issuers
__ Credit Cards
__ Student Loans
__ Financial Aid
__ Investments
Insurance
__ Health Insurance
__ Dental Insurance__ Life Insurance
__ Car Insurance
__ Homeowner/Renter’s Insurance
Utilities and Home Services
__ Gas
__ Water
__ Power
__Internet/Cable
__ Garbage
__ Cell Phone Service
__ Lawn Care
__ Cleaning Service
People
__ Doctor
__ Dentist
__ Children’s Physician
__ Veterinarian
__ Lawyer
Memberships and Subscriptions
__ Retail Clubs (Costco, Sam’s Etc)
__ Churches__ Scouts/Youth Organizations
__ Parent Teacher Associations
__ Magazines
__ Subscription Boxes
Government Agencies
__ Department/Registry of Motor Vehicles
__ Internal Revenue Service
__ Voter Registration
__ Social Security
__ Citizenship and Immigration Services
__ Department of Veteran Affairs
Online Services
__ Paypal
__ Shopping (Amazon, Etc.)__ Streaming Services
__ Mapping Services
Moving soon? Don’t forget these 5 tips… Pin the image below!
Hey,
First off, congratulation on this post. This is really awesome but that’s what you always crank out my friend. Great posts that we can sink our teeth into and really go to work. 🙂
Thank you for sharing these wonderful moving tips to us! moving can be a hassle but when your organized and put everything in to place it makes life a little bit easier. am i right?