Tuesday

SOME TIPS FOR PCS-ing, MOVING, RELOCATING

Hi everyone, hope your new year is off to a great start.   Can you believe Summer is nearly over already? 😲

Let’s talk about that often-dreaded task: MOVING...

For military personnel and military families, it is about that time of year again or maybe it's just time for a change or you find yourself relocating for a job, either way, it is often a stressful task.

We all know though the change is often exciting, but, when you have children as well as pets it can be even more stressful.  So today I am going to share somethings that have made doing so a bit smoother, at least for us.  

Please understand I’m NOT at all saying that Pcs-ing/relocating/moving isn’t stressful, because honestly even though I’ve moved at least 20+ times in my lifetime and NO I am not exaggerating sadly! It is a stressful time, but there are some things I’ve found if I do ahead of time, do make the whole process easier. 

Whether it be personal move, relocation, partial ditty, or PCS, it can be a crazy time, whether it’s a few cities over, across the country or out of the country it’s bottom line it's stressful.

If you relocate a bit for your work or you PCS, I’ve found keeping a journal with my lists of things to do, things to pack, things to get copies of before you move, what utility accounts to shut off or have moved to the new location, plus a note to remind me to put a change of address in with the postal service as well as all bank and credit accounts. 

Plus, in this journal, I log if a utility required any type of deposit, as some do, depending on area or state, even when you have good credit! So, if you make note of that right when you start the account, you’ll remember to contact them to request any deposit or money they may owe you.

Now there have been several people say to me, oh moving for you all (military families) is so easy, they do everything for you! Ha Ha Ha Ha...Well…. It’s not true and honestly, it can be even more stressful than a personal move and I’ve done both, so I do know. 

Sure, they usually move you, however, we’ve often had very short orders, like we’re talking less than a week!!  Plus, sometimes, crap goes wrong and I mean WRONG!

There have been times the moving estimator doesn’t show up, we’ve had Packers not show up or show up a day or two late! We’ve had items that were poorly packed, thrown around, dropped, heck we’ve had one small item packed in a dish pack box with a freaking ton of dish pack wrap just so they could add to the weight of the load! 

I’ve had packers that, I kid you not, went through all my stuff, took pictures of things she liked and texted them to her friends or called her friends on her cell phone to ask them what they thought about an item, to no surprise sadly several of those items never made it into the box and were never seen again! 

We’ve had Packers or unloaders who showed up so hungover, just wreaking from booze and spending the entire time in one of our bathrooms barfing, yes barfing! Some people say, well you can always file a complaint or a claim.  Sure, but that process is so bad, it’s easier to often just let it go!

If your move is all done by your job or the military, most moves will go smoothly, but you must know something may get broken, lost or even stolen.

One of the best pieces of advice I can offer is that if you are able to, be home the entire time your household goods are being packed up and if possible, have a family member, a friend or two with you so you can casually check on the progress or situation.

If you have little children, you may want to have a sitter handy or have your children stay with a trusted friend, for safety, plus let’s be honest, it’s not only going to be a long day but a boring day, especially for the little ones!

***If you have pets, you defiantly want to have them safely in a yard, a room that is off-limits to movers, for their safety as well as the safety of the movers and packers. Remember this is a stressful time for pets as well. 

What we do is have the cats in a room with all the stuff we have set aside that we are taking with us and not having the movers pack.

The dogs we set them up in our yard or if you can take your dog to a trusted friend or doggie daycare or a kennel. Believe me, we’ve had the movers let our dogs out of the yard before, so whatever you can do to keep your pets safer, you want to do it.  Plus, I've heard of horror stories of animals getting packed up by movers and the movers packing them up in the box, loading them in the moving truck and no the outcome wasn't good at all!   

If you have movers moving you, even if you don’t have pets, you still most likely have items you’d rather the movers not pack.  whether it be for personal reasons like sentimental or maybe it’s something of value or something you’ll need during your move or need right away as soon as you get to your next location.  The best thing I’ve found is to have a closet or room with a sign clearly marked DO NOT ENTER, DO NOT PACK, etc. This has worked out well for us, except one time when a packer wanted to be nosey and rifle through the stuff in that room, to include the luggage.  Plus, having a designated area like this can be a great central location to keep important papers, maybe a document safe, small gun safe, medications, luggage, toiletries, toys or DVD’s for the kids, necessities for your pets, plus snacks and beverages for your trip.

I’ll be honest, at least for me, even the few times that I've fully trusted our movers, packers, etc., It still felt like it's a bit of a violation, after all, they are rifling through all yours and your families’ belongings! So, this makes it a bit easier all around.

Though it’s not required, I do find that it helps with the productivity if you provide things like water, sodas, sandwiches or a pizza for lunch, even if it’s just on the last day, plus, it always seems to be appreciated. 

Another thing I do to make our moves easier is to try and keep things in the refrigerator so that you can make easy meals or snacks out of.  I've found it’s a great way to eat healthier, it just makes it so much easier at the end of a long day to have that quick meal. 

Plus, if you have items that are easily stored or can easily be packed up in an ice chest you can always take the rest with you as a part of your road food!


Thank you for stopping by, I hope you find a tip or two helpful.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your week,

Missy❤️