The PCS Binder- Stay Organized During Your Move!
Sorry I am so behind on posting these days! Things have been a little on the chaotic side this week! Between getting everything setup for our new place at Fort Sill & dates scheduled for utilies to be turned off & on at both places, having pre-move walk thrus from movers & the leasing office at our current apartment, arranging storage, & attending a Hail & Farewell last night, I have been a little stretched for time.
My PCS Binder is what has been keeping me sane & is never out of arms reach these days. I cannot take credit for this idea, as I have seen it in a variety of versions on military discussion forums, blogs, and of course, on Pinterest. Being a planner, I instantly knew I had to make one of my own.
For our first PCS, I had a small notebook that was slightly similar to this. It had information & contacts for our new home at Fort Bragg, important dates, a list of boxes & their contents, copies of B's orders, my POA {Power of Attorney}, etc. This version worked for me at the time because we had just gotten married & B was on his first tour in Afghanistan. I had no furniture to deal with, just my own personal items, our wedding gifts, Scout, & B's footlockers {so you can see why this worked}. Everything fit into the truck & in two trips from Tennessee to North Carolina, & a WHOLE LOT of help from my BFF, I got it all there!
This PCS... well let's just say I wish we could go back to having two truck beds full of stuff! With all of the moving parts- the Army moving half of our HHG {household goods} & us doing a partial PPM {formerly DITY}- I figured "organizing on a larger scale" was a MUST DO.
Keeping everything organized & in one place is a lifesaver when moving...
The leasing agent needs your POA, the hubby's orders, & proof of your pooch's Rabies vaccine? Bam,... right there in your binder! The new school needs your kiddo's shot records & birth certificate? Bam,... you have it!
Mine is still in the early stages, but here it is... Yep, that's right, I went with a neon green binder! Can't miss this baby!
On the front, I have the legend for color coding our boxes {this shows where each one goes in the new apartment} & the "series" number for where each box came from in our current apartment.
I am color coding our boxes in hopes of keeping them as organized as possible. This color duct tape means the box goes to the storage building.
Since some of our things will be going to a mini storage, I am assigning "series" numbers to each room, numbering the boxes, & listing their contents. This will be a big help if I need to find something in there {i.e. Christmas decorations}. Once full, these sheets will be hole punched & be placed behind the "Inventory" tab referred to later in this post.
Inside the front, I have a pocket divider to hold receipts {for moving supplies, gas, food, other travel expenses, etc.}, permenant markers, pens, whiteout, etc.
Behind that, I have my Ultimate PCS Checklist printed from Sarge's List Ultimate PCS Guide 2013. This is a GREAT resource for most everything PCS related!
Next up, are the "Moving/Packer Info" & "Inventory" tabs. First up under the "Mover/Packer Info" is contact information for our move coordinator, dates for pack/pickup/delivery. This is also where our GBL {Government Bill of Landing & other important papers concerning the move will go.
Under "Inventory" I have {printed from Sarge's Ultimate PCS Guide} a sheet to keep track of our high value items & their info, such as serial numbers, brand name, value, etc. This tab will also include the inventory sheet from the movers {& the inventory sheet I, myself, have made}, pictures & proof of condition photos for our high value items {tvs, washer/dryer, freezer, etc.} to show working parts, brands, model #s, etc.
I also have a separate tab for our "Current Home" & "New Home" which includes information on utilities, leasing, addresses, storage rental, check-in/check-out lists, etc. The "New Home" tab also includes base/town information for Fort Sill.
Lastly, I have two pocket folders. One for {10} copies of B's orders & clearing papers & then another folder for legal documents which includes copies of Marriage & Birth certificates, POAs, SS cards, Scout's information, & Rabies vaccine certificate.
In addition to this binder, we also have a file box & accordion folder that we keep with us during a PCS. The file box has all of our accounts, car & truck titles/registrations, medical info, education, etc. Basically if it's not in the binder, it's in the box! The accordion folder contains ALL of B's Army stuff: certificates from schools, positions he's held, medical, OERs, & all that jazz.
Other tabs that would be useful if you have kiddos or are PCSing OCONUS:
- Storage
-POV Shipping
- School documents
{shot records, transcripts, old/new school info, etc}
- Travel Documents
{passports, flight info, tickets, lodging reservations, etc}
I borrowed the following list of items to include in your PCS Binder from
HouseHold 6 Diva:
-Copies of Orders
-Moving documents/forms
-Notes from meetings/briefs
-Clearing documents
-Inventory of the household
-Car titles & insurance info
-Powers of Attorney {General Specials} -Bill termination notices and contact information
-Birth, Marriage, Adoption certificates
-Wills, Medical POA documents
-Master list of moving office #s from leaving & receiving base -Single page of identification numbers {Social Security numbers, Birth dates, Passport #s}
-Single page of banking, insurance account numbers & emergency #s
How do you keep your important documents organized during a move??
Under "Inventory" I have {printed from Sarge's Ultimate PCS Guide} a sheet to keep track of our high value items & their info, such as serial numbers, brand name, value, etc. This tab will also include the inventory sheet from the movers {& the inventory sheet I, myself, have made}, pictures & proof of condition photos for our high value items {tvs, washer/dryer, freezer, etc.} to show working parts, brands, model #s, etc.
I also have a separate tab for our "Current Home" & "New Home" which includes information on utilities, leasing, addresses, storage rental, check-in/check-out lists, etc. The "New Home" tab also includes base/town information for Fort Sill.
Lastly, I have two pocket folders. One for {10} copies of B's orders & clearing papers & then another folder for legal documents which includes copies of Marriage & Birth certificates, POAs, SS cards, Scout's information, & Rabies vaccine certificate.
In addition to this binder, we also have a file box & accordion folder that we keep with us during a PCS. The file box has all of our accounts, car & truck titles/registrations, medical info, education, etc. Basically if it's not in the binder, it's in the box! The accordion folder contains ALL of B's Army stuff: certificates from schools, positions he's held, medical, OERs, & all that jazz.
Other tabs that would be useful if you have kiddos or are PCSing OCONUS:
- Storage
-POV Shipping
- School documents
{shot records, transcripts, old/new school info, etc}
- Travel Documents
{passports, flight info, tickets, lodging reservations, etc}
I borrowed the following list of items to include in your PCS Binder from
HouseHold 6 Diva:
-Copies of Orders
-Moving documents/forms
-Notes from meetings/briefs
-Clearing documents
-Inventory of the household
-Car titles & insurance info
-Powers of Attorney {General Specials} -Bill termination notices and contact information
-Birth, Marriage, Adoption certificates
-Wills, Medical POA documents
-Master list of moving office #s from leaving & receiving base -Single page of identification numbers {Social Security numbers, Birth dates, Passport #s}
-Single page of banking, insurance account numbers & emergency #s
How do you keep your important documents organized during a move??
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