If you are a member of the military, you have to be ready to move with a few months of notice. If you have recently gotten your official moving orders, it is time to start planning for your next move. Effective planning can really reduce the stress of your move and make settling into your new home easier.
Tip #1: Give Yourself a Few Months to plan
In the military, you are usually given some heads-up before you need to move. They are moving around entire companies, which takes some planning on their part as well, and requires providing you with some advanced notice as well. That means that you should have at least a few months to plan your move, which is all the time you really need.
Tip #2: Declutter Over Time
Decluttering your house is easier if you do it over time. If you know you are moving in a month, every day, find five items that you can get rid of. Maybe they are items that are broken and just need to be trashed. Or perhaps they are items that you just don't use, but someone else could. Or maybe they are just clutter.
Create some boxes for you to put the items into that you can donate or sell. At the end of the month, take all the items in the donate and sell box, and either donate them or sell them. At the end of month one, you should have reduced the clutter in your house.
If you have three months of advance notice, by the end of the second month, you should have already gotten rid of all the clutter, so you can spend your last month just focusing on cleaning and packing.
Tip #3: Don't Remove Boxes
As a military family, it is normal to move every couple of years. If you still have boxes that you have not unpacked from your last move, don't just leave them packed up and haul them around the country with you again. Instead, open those boxes, make sure that they don't contain anything important, and get rid of the rest of the items in the box. Don't keep hauling around the same unnecessary items with you.
Tip #4: Create a Moving Paperwork Binder
Moving results in the creation and gathering of a lot of paperwork. Creating a binder allows you to keep all the paperwork together in one place. You are going to want to use sleeve protectors so you can slip important documents into the sleeves.
To start with, you need to get together everyone's birth certificates and social security cards for everyone. You will need to gather up medical records for your family members and pets. You will need to gather rental and mortgage documents in one place. If you will be buying a home, you need to gather income documentation and you will need to apply for a mortgage.
Tip #5: Hire a Moving Company
In the months leading up to your move, take the time to hire a full-service moving company. A full-service moving company will come into your home and pack everything up for you and transport it to your new home. When you use a full-service moving company, you can reduce the stress of your move. You just need to make sure all your household items are in the right rooms and allow them to pack everything up. Then, you can clean up the space and get on the road to your new home knowing your belongings are being safely transported to your new home at the same time.
With a military move, you usually have a few months of advance notice. Use that time to slowly declutter your home, get rid of boxes from your last move, and create a paperwork binder with all the important information you need it in. Doing this prep will make the actual packing and unpacking process easier. Companies like Kaster Moving Co Inc can help.
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