So, we heard there is a rumour that we’ll be posted in annual posting season (APS) 2013. We don’t know where yet but we’ve booked a house hunting trip (HHT).
I know many of you are asking, how can you book an HHT if you don’t know where you’re going yet? It’s easy. Just like you know when spring break is, but you don’t know where you’re going to spend it yet.
Even though it is only a rumour I’m starting to prepare for moving. I figure we’ve got just over 6 months so here’s what’s happening:
Stop shopping for large amounts of stuff – If I don’t think we’ll finish a bottle of shampoo, Scotch or ketchup in the next 6 months I’m not going to buy any more. Also, if we run out of something, I’ll be buying the smallest size I can even if it is slightly more expensive. If we buy the large bottle and can’t move it, it is just money down the drain.
Start getting rid of stuff – If there is anything we haven’t used this posting, we’re not going to take it on to the next posting. There are a few exceptions. We’re keeping the cross-country skis that still fit us. Just because we didn’t have snow here doesn’t mean we won’t have snow somewhere else. The same goes with some of the heavy-duty winter boots and snow suits.
Organizing stuff – We’ll be starting to group stuff into categories, putting them into proper storage bins where appropriate and labelling bins. Christmas decorations will be packed well when they’re taken down in January so I’m not doing that in June.
Paperwork – I’ll be going through all of our warranty and instruction books for all of the electronics and appliances we own. Model and serial numbers will be written inside the front cover of the warranty/instruction books. I’ll include all the information in a database.
More Paperwork – I’ll be shredding everything we don’t need to move. Anything we do need to move will be filed, labelled, organized and included in the database.
Address Changes – I’ll be noting who is sending us mail and recording that into a database as well. It will be really easy to switch addresses when we’re ready. As we’re subscribed to electronic billing I’ll be doing the same thing with email.
What else do you do when preparing for a posting?
Canadian Army Wife 
Wow 6 months before a move! Thanks for all the helpful info in the last few posts. We’ve finally gone on our HHT and the moving company will be meeting us at storage this week. Apparently, packing a house in their opinion is alot easier than repacking a storage unit into new boxes! Which may cost us a little. But we took your advice and separated all liquids and banned items from our haul.
But clearly there is much we can learn from you! Our pack date is next week and we haven’t done a thing 😀
Many of those steps would be good practices for everyone, whether a move is anticipated or not. Most of us don’t think to discard manuals when we get rid of broken appliances or other devices, so taking a few minutes to do that from time to time is well worth it!
Thanks for your contribution Janet!
Adding the models and serial numbers to the manual is a great idea. More importantly I suggest that you also keep a digital log of the model and serial numbers and keep this document online. Skydrive (Windows), icloud (Apple), Drive (Google) all free to use and an easy place to retrieve this information should it be needed from any location or PC.
In addition to electronics, I strongly recommend that you photograph your entire home with date stamped photos. Take the photos as close to the relocation as possible so that the photos can be used should you have a claim for damaged or missing items. Again keep a copy of these pictures online.