Moving Tips & Printables (yay!)

Okay so I found the printables I used in this post at The Oxford Place Diaries in a post about how to keep your move organized. I made my own printables based off of her ideas and tweaked them to meet my needs.  Check out her site if you want some additional ideas!

Our Moving Timeline:

Ideally, you have more than one month on your timeline. :) I like to make life interesting, as you can see... We knew we would be moving due to circumstances out of our control, but we didn't know exactly when or where to. There was a chance we could be staying a couple months extra or leaving at the end of the month. We ended up figuring things out to be able to move in 4 weeks time (January 31st, 2013)!!!!

Above, you will see my timeline for that short time span. I somewhat based my timeline layout and choices off of the blog I found this idea on. I chose to first de-clutter and sell or donate anything we were choosing not to keep. The original blogger had a saying that basically explained how to decide what you keep and what you rid yourself of. If the item is worth carefully packing, moving/paying for storage, carefully unpacking, and finding a place for it in your new home - all in a reasonable amount of time - you should keep it. If you answer no to any of those, you probably should find it a new home as well. :) 

I have been trying to use this frame of mind while packing and it is because of this that I made up a donations info sheet. I have not been the best about tracking exactly what I donate locally, I just keep the signed sheet and this year, the IRS is actually asking for a (VERY) detailed list of the items I donated to get to the estimated amount I am claiming to have donated to the Goodwill. I do not have a list of the items, nor a record of the condition they were in when donated, so I am eliminating that claim from my tax return to avoid any possible trouble. I will just keep better records in the future... Yes dad. You were right. :) 

Here is the Donation Item Info Sheet:

I used the moving checklist to organize all important reminders for the move, such as who will be watching the kids during the move on what days, who we hired for moving help, rental truck info, etc. I forgot to add it when creating the printable, but I also made sure to write on our new address (more for my husband) so that there is no confusion. This also helped to serve as a checklist for switching the utilities over as well as reminding me to put in a change of address. I have a brief timeline on this printable so I can see an quick hint of the schedule for after the move and make sure I plan my unpacking so I stick to it. 

Below is the Packing Inventory Tracker. Because we are hiring movers and my parents were ripped off by movers before, I am a little extra wary of this. We are listing every single box/container and a brief description of the items inside, as well as where it is to be placed. I made columns on the right for checking them off once they have been loaded and unloaded on the moving truck, and my job will be inventory on Moving Day. :) This sheet will also help keep boxes organized so if we are in the process of unpacking and need to access a specific item, we can find it easier. So far that has seemed to be helpful during the packing process when everything is put away. 

Those are all of the printables and that is really all I have to say about moving for right now. I am SO excited to get into this new home y'all, it is just ridiculous! I can't stop planning the decorating and ideas I have for this home since we plan to stay here for a couple years until we are ready and able to buy our long-term home... I want to make this feel like OUR home... I will be back with decorating plans and ideas later this week! Have a great Monday, everyone!

Here are links to download the free printables you see above:

Moving Timeline

Moving Planner

Donation Item Info

Moving Inventory Page 1

Moving Inventory Page 2

Moving Inventory Page 3