The Complete “Smooth Move” Printable Moving Binder System
As a military family, moving is a big part of our lifestyle. And since it’s something we do every 1-3 years, I designed a comprehensive printable moving binder to save us precious time and stress on every relocation. I poured 18+ years and 9 moves worth of knowledge and experience into this kit, and the result is a truly comprehensive moving system that is not just useful and functional, but pretty and fun a well! With over 100 color-coordinated printable pages, you will be certain to find everything you need to plan and organize your next move, whether it’s just down the street or around the globe!
Why Assemble a Moving Binder?
Let’s be real for a minute: moving is complicated. There are lots (and lots and lots) of details to track, appointments to make, boxes to pack, service providers to contact, and so much more.
Having an organized (and fun!) printable moving binder ready from the moment you know you’re moving will ensure no important detail gets overlooked and all necessary documentation is tucked away in a safe place!
In short, a moving binder will help you get organized and stay in control during one of the most stressful and hectic times of your life!
Supplies Needed
To assemble a moving binder for your upcoming move, here are the supplies you will need to gather:
- Large 3-Ring Binder
- Page Protectors
- In-Binder 3 Hole Punch – this makes it easy to punch and insert pages mid-move
- Home Printer – this is the one I have
- Smooth Move Printable Pack
Helpful Binder Assembly Tutorials
Assembling a move planner is pretty straight forward: print the pages you need, punch holes on one side, and insert them into a binder.
However, here are some other tutorials you may find helpful as you assemble a moving binder that is not just useful but pretty too!
- How to Print Binder Covers (including instructions for extra-wide binder fronts)
- How to Print Dividers with Tabs
- How to Make Binder Dividers with a Cricut
The Smooth Move Printable Pack | A Complete Moving System
What’s In the Smooth Move Printable Pack?
Over the years, I have expanded my basic printable moving binder to include several other valuable resources that can help you execute a seamless transition.
Here is everything now included:
- Complete “Smooth Move” Binder System – color-coded binder printables
- Printable Moving Box Labels & Inventories – customizable moving box labels with matching room key and inventory pages
- Smooth Move Webinar – a 1-hour class that outlines my very top moving tips
- Smooth Move Master Checklist (Excel Spreadsheet Format) – a digital, editable, shareable, color-coded spreadsheet that outlines every single moving tasks in chronological order
Do You Have to Use Everything Included?
Nope! The Smooth Move Printable Pack is designed so that you can print whatever materials you need for your particular move, making it totally flexible, customizable, and personalized!
- Just need particular printable moving checklist but not the rest? Find and print only the pages you need!
- Using a full service moving company to pack and label boxes for you? Skip the printable labels!
- Prefer to write down every single detail related to your home, moving truck rental, packers, kids, pre-move garage sale, and everything else? Print every page…in multiples!
Other Important Features
Each section of the “Smooth Move” Binder is fully detailed below, but here are some other important features:
- 200+ total printable pages, formatted to letter size (8.5×11″)
- The worksheets, binder sections, moving box labels, spreadsheet, and covers are completely color coordinated.
- Comes with everything you need to make a pretty moving binder including personalizable covers, spines, dividers, and tabs.
- All of the worksheets are designed as two-page spreads. The second page of each set can be printed as many times as needed to expand each section infinitely.
- Each section features at least 1 quote page. These pages are decorative in nature only, but can help keep you focused and motivated during what is a very stressful time!
- The worksheets are fully fillable using Adobe Acrobat Reader; and some pre-entered information such as “kitchen,” dining room,” and “family room” are changeable so you can type anything into the worksheets in order to make them perfectly suited to your home.
- The entire Smooth Move system is a digital product; no physical product will be shipped to you. Everything you see in this post was printed with my home printer.
Inside the Smooth Move Binder
The opening pages of the “Smooth Move” binder is a Master Moving Timeline that outlines the major tasks that should occur leading up to and following a move in these time intervals:
- 3-6 months before a move
- 1-2 months before a move
- 1 month before a move
- 1-2 weeks before a move
- Final week before a move
- Move-in day
- First night
- First week
- First month
- First year
This timeline covers everything including finding a new neighborhood, car shipping, holding mail, packing boxes, move out cleaning, the final inspection, and every other task in between!
I’ve pre-populated this timeline based on our own tried-and-true DIY move process, but the pages are editable so you can easily adjust to give each task sufficient time based on your own scenario.
The “Smooth Move” printable moving binder is then organized into 6 color-coded sections that match the chronological process of a typical move:
- Current Home – details, checklists, and logs for the home you’re vacating
- Inventories – inventory list(s) and matching box labels to track exactly where all your belongings are
- En Route – worksheets and logs to help you travel from one home to the next
- New Home – details, checklists, and logs for the home you’re moving into
- Schedules – calendars and schedules to plan out what needs to happen and when
- Miscellaneous – a place for any other detail you may need to keep track of
- Binder Materials – everything you need to assemble a cute and color-coded binder
Now that you have a general sense for how this binder is organized, let me highlight all the printable goodies available to help you have your most organized move yet!
Section 1 – Current Home
Before you can vacate your current home and move into a new one, there are LOTS of things to do!
From canceling utilities, hiring contractors to make repairs, ordering moving supplies, and getting back your security deposit from the landlord, these 20 blue pages will ensure everything is on track to get done in time.
The Current Home section includes:
- Room-By-Room Checklists – detail out to do items for different rooms such as packing, disassembly, repairs, etc.
- Contacts – realtor, landlord, neighbors, movers, etc.
- Utility Cancelation Tracker – cable, Internet, gas, electric, water, etc.
- Packing Supplies Shopping List – tally up your own moving essentials such as boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, tape, dish packs, wardrobe boxes, etc
- Furniture Inventory & Measurement Log – plan out what will/won’t fit in the truck, in the new home, through doorways, etc.
- Blank To Do List & Notes Page
This section is also where you should place your current lease, move-out inspection checklists, utility contracts, cancellation confirmations, moving quote, and other important documents you may need during the move out process. Don’t forget to include empty page protectors to hold bulky items or small receipts that can’t be easily punched.
Section 2 – Inventories
The turquoise section includes a comprehensive set of inventories and labels so you can track all your items and what moving boxes they are in as you relocate from point A to point B (or even items going into temporary storage or a long-term storage unit).
The Inventories section includes:
- High-Value Inventory – track all expensive and fragile items separately.
- Important Documents Inventory – ensure your birth certificates, social security cards, passports, school records, pet records, and more don’t get lost in transit.
- Vehicle Inventory – helpful if you are loading up cars in addition to (or instead of) a truck.
- No-Pack Inventory – things you don’t want your movers packing up so you have access to them during a move.
- Blank To Do List & Notes Page
NOTE: Not using professional movers? The Smooth Move Printable Pack now features a full set of 12 different color-coded Moving Box Labels and Inventories that can be easily customized to your own home layout, including bedrooms, attic, basement, specific closets, etc. See more details here!
Section 3 – En Route
Depending on whether you are doing a local move, interstate move, or a long distance move, you may or may not need this section at all!
The 18 red pages can help you plan exactly how you will get from your current home to your new house, as well as track all lodging, fuel, food, and entertainment along the way. This is another section where an empty page protector is helpful to hold receipts or financial statements if you will need to file a travel claim as part of your move compensation.
The En Route section includes:
- Travel Itinerary
- Travel Planner
- Travel Lodging
- Gas Log
- Blank To Do List & Notes Page
Section 4 – New Home
The pink section of this kit is quite robust, sitting at 36 pretty worksheets! These are the pages that will help you unpack and get settled in your new space once you arrive.
From house hunting worksheets and change-of-address checklists to shopping pages and “Will It Fit” diagrams, these pages will help you keep all the details for your new place easy to find when you’re drowning in packing paper!
The New Home section includes:
- House Hunting Worksheets – keep listings, offers, and applications organized.
- Change of Address Form – log what’s been updated and what hasn’t yet.
- Room-by-Room Shopping List
- Contacts – realtor, landlord, neighbors, movers, etc.
- Utility Setup Worksheet – cable, Internet, gas, electric, water, etc.
- Furniture Inventory & Measurement Log – identify what specific items will/won’t fit in the new home, through doorways, etc.
- Room-By-Room “Will It Fit?” Worksheets – play with different layouts for the rooms in your new home.
- Lost/Damaged Inventory
- Blank To Do List & Notes Page
Section 5 – Schedules
Moves rarely happen in a single day! So you can plan in a way that works with your timeline, this kit includes a variety of calendars and planners from a one-week schedule up to a one-month spread in a variety of layouts. Print these worksheets in multiples and populate your own dates to cover any length of time you need!
The Schedules section includes:
- Monthly Calendar (2 layout options)
- 1-Week Planner (2 layout options)
- 2-Week Planner
- Moving Timeline
- Moving Day Planner
- To Do List & Notes Page
Section 6 – Miscellaneous
The green section is short and sweet, including only moving budget worksheets, as well as the coordinating To-Do and Notes pages. This is a great place to track moving expenses and collect any other random papers or information you don’t want to lose track of!
The Miscellaneous section includes:
- Moving Budget
- To Do List & Notes Page
Binder Assembly Materials
Finally, the “Smooth Move” kit comes with everything you need to make a pretty moving binder, including 2 cover options (with fillable names for personalization), matching spines, section dividers, quote pages, and printable tabs.
A pretty binder is always more fun to use. So spend some time at the start making yours lovely, and you’ll enjoy opening it up every time!
Get the Smooth Move Printable Pack
The “Smooth Move” Printable Moving Binder (and all the coordinating materials) are now available for download from The Organization Toolbox! Click HERE to shop or learn more.
Do You Have a Move Coming Up?
Check out my comprehensive collection of moving resources!
- The Complete “Smooth Move” Printable Moving Binder System
- Countdown to a Military PCS | Our Moving Timeline
- How to Declutter Your Entire Home Before a Move
- Easy Ways to Generate Extra Cash for a Move
- The BEST Moving Advice From Experienced Military Spouses
- Moving Essentials | What You REALLY Need Moving From One Home to Another
- How (& Why) to Plan Your Furniture Layout Before Moving Into a New Home
- How (& Why) To Color Code Your Moving Boxes
- The Easiest Way to Pack Jewelry for a Move
- How to Fill Nail Holes In Your (Rental) Walls
As soon as we find out we’re moving, I start assembling this moving binder (yep, every single time!) Not only are the color-coordinated sections easy and intuitive to use (and mighty pretty to look at!), but the various worksheets really do provide everything I need to streamline my thoughts, track our (millions of) To Dos, and ultimately plan the way to our new address.
With this comprehensive set of moving printables, get ready to have your most “smooth move” yet!
Megan
7 Comments on “The Complete “Smooth Move” Printable Moving Binder System”
What is a no-pack inventory list used for?
Hi Christine,
In the situation where you are using professional movers (or have people helping you), it’s a way to set aside items you don’t want accidentally packed or loaded onto the moving truck. We are a military family and use professional movers all the time – they are notorious for packing EVERYTHING faster than you realize, so if there are things you need with you and NOT on the truck (like your suitcases or personal papers or valuable jewelry), it’s a way to set those items aside so they aren’t touched!
Hope that helps!
Megan
We’re moving on Friday. It will be my 34th move in 52 years. I have lived in this house for 11 years. My hubby has lived in 8 houses, our middle child has lived in this house for 19 of their 22 years, plus 3 houses part time with their Mum, between the age of 10 & 17. The boys both moved out at 20.
And due to Covid-19, we are moving into 2 caravans until our new house is finished.
So our furniture will be in storage off site, 45% will be packed in our shed &we’ll have another 5% in the vans. This would have been a gem when we hurriedly put our house on the market in the March.
The exciting thing is, come next Friday we will be debt free & should have enough money to finish building over the next six months. We hope to be moved in by Christmas.
Wow!!!!! Congrats to you and your family on such a big, life-changing step! Hopefully by now you’re out of your house and starting to find a new normal as you navigate this big transition!
Good luck with it all!Megan
My daughter is in the Navy and moving from VA to Cali this July after deployment. I am looking to create a binder for her and her bff who is moving with her. She is so stressed out and can’t really help bc she is on an aircraft carrier with little communication. Yours looks the best so far.
I am a single parent who moved across the state recently and this binder was a lifesaver! It had everything I wanted and things I didn’t even know I needed. Any time I felt anxiety or stress I could check the binder for reassurance that I was on top of things or tackle something that needed to be handled.. Thank you so much for taking the time to use your moving experiences to make it easier for other families. Thank you thank you thank you!
Wow, thank you thank you so much for putting this together!! I am planning on moving overseas in a few years and have been wondering how in the world to go about it. This post is so, so incredibly helpful. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to purchase your smooth move pack in the future!!