This post brought to you by CORT. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Living a Sunshine Life.
Moving is never easy. Throw in the hassle of a military oriented move and things are only going to get more complicated. My husband is in the National Guard so moving for us is a bit different than the Active Duty soldiers, however a lot of the same moving advice applies.
There can be a lot of shuffle in the Guard, everything from units changing location to my husband changing units. In some cases the move is nothing more than an hour difference in travel times, but for others it can be up to a 10 hour drive from our current location meaning we need to move to a new home.
To help make things easy when we do move, or as we prepare for a potential move, I have a few moving tips for a smoother move.
Moving Tips for Members of our Military
Purging: This is something you can do year round, every year. Get rid of things you don’t need or don’t use. The less you have the more organized your home will be, it will have less clutter, and this means fewer boxes to pack and unpack when you move. You can get rid of everything from expired medication to clothing you no longer wear. Hobby supplies for that project you haven’t touched in years to old VHS movies when you don’t even own a VCR anymore. We make up a couple of boxes, one for donations and one for things to keep, and of course we have the trash can to pitch things we no longer need that can’t be donated or gifted. Just go through each room as you have time.
Furniture Rental: In our situation if my husband’s unit changes to the other side of the state, it’s no longer within easy commute distance. In this case we’ll need to sell our house and decide if we’re going to buy or rent in the new location. While I would hope our house would sell fast, that’s not a guarantee so it’s possible my husband would need to move first then wait for us to make it out there. Instead of buying him new furniture for his new place, he can look into furniture rental. CORT Furniture Rental makes this easy. It makes for less hassle and it’s furniture on demand, so he can get it when he needs it and then they’ll pick it up when he no longer needs it. Not to mention, CORT has military pricing starting at $119 a month to rent furniture! He just has to show his military ID. That’s not a bad price when we’re already tight on money dealing with a move!
Take Inventory: This is not only a good thing to have for homeowners or renters insurance, but it’s perfect to have when you move. Especially if you’ve hired movers to get you from one place to the next. Keep a notebook or inventory form and take inventory of everything you own. You never know when something is going to get lost or damaged. To help with the proof, make sure you take photos of your belongings, especially the higher dollar items. I’ve even had people suggest video so you can get a verbal description going on with it.
Pack Essentials: Finally when you are actually in the process of moving make sure you hold back your essentials. These are the items you absolutely need for the first week. Clothing, toiletries, medications, kitchen must haves (coffee pots and coffee are important). There can be any number of things you might need, but if something happens and the rest of your belongings don’t make it to the new place when they are supposed to, what is it you’ll need to make it through the next few days? Box up these things and make sure the movers don’t pack them or that they don’t go in the moving van. Keep these boxes and/or suitcases in your personal vehicle with you.
That’s about it. I shared some of my moving tips with you. What other moving tips do you have for a military move? Share your ideas in the comments below.
Thanks for sharing this. The first few times I’ve had to move, I didn’t pack an essentials bag to keep separate, but once I finally did, it made a big difference in the convenience of the move. Having the things you need set aside from all of the other boxes really makes it easier to get into your new place and relax a bit before unpacking everything.
Unpacking is the worst! I usually have boxes that I don’t touch for months. My rule is, in those cases I probably won’t need what’s in it, lol. I do look through it, but if it’s not essential or sentimental I’ll probably toss it before the next move. Thanks for stopping by!
It’s great that you were able to get the discount. You make a great point about taking inventory. You never know what can happen.