Tips for Packing Up Paperwork Before Your Move

You’re excited about moving to your new place—until you peek into your home office. How will you keep all those documents organized through the jumble of moving day?

Whether you’re moving personal records, a home office, or your business, getting records together before the upheaval of moving is the key to settling into your new place smoothly. Few Moves Moving Company in Wilmington, NC, has seen it all, from tidy organized files to papers flying about.

To make your move a breeze, we have a few suggestions for packing up paperwork before you move.

Save These Personal Records When You Move

• School Records: If your kids will be changing schools, get copies of your children’s school records. For high school students who may be applying to colleges, ask for a certified copy of their transcript.
• Medical Records: If you’re moving to a new city or are a newcomer to Wilmington, NC, ask for copies of your family’s medical records. Most offices will provide you with a condensed version of your records. Your new health care providers can ask for a complete version when you arrive. Don’t forget copies of your pets’ records, too.
• Financial Records: Save paper copies of all your financial records, including bank statements, account information and investment standings. These serve as a backup to your online files.
• Bill Statements and Receipts: If you’re closing any accounts, keep a record of your payments and ask for a final statement.

Downsize Your Paperwork Before You Move

Moving is the perfect opportunity to lighten the load. Before you start packing away documents, go through them and weed out what you no longer need.

• Start with a paper shredder and scanner.
• Shred items that are no longer needed.
• Scan any document you must keep.
• Create an organized system for scanned files. Clearly-labeled folders is key.

You will want to back up your scanned files, and many people back them up twice. An external hard drive, flash drive and the Cloud are good, convenient methods for backing up files.

I Have All My Records: Now What?

Once you’ve collected everything and have backed up important documents, prepare to pack your paperwork:

• Buy file folders and labels.
• Sort your documents into separate folders, and label them.
• Transfer folders into your file box.
• Mark the outside of the box clearly, indicating exactly what is in that box. This can save you an unlimited amount of time after your move, searching for misplaced documents.

Use Packing Boxes Made for Holding Files

Specially-designed packing boxes made just for storing files will make packing up files much easier, and your files will be better-protected during your move. Paper banker’s boxes are sturdy and useful, and plastic boxes sized to hold letter- or legal-sized documents are available at office supply stores. Some boxes have convenient inserts for hanging your files. Pack your boxes nice and full so the folders will stay in place.

Remove all files from filing cabinets. File cabinets are heavy and bulky, and the added weight of the files could bend the filing cabinet. Before moving the filing cabinet, your movers will likely remove the drawers, so it’s best if your files are protected elsewhere.

At Few Moves Moving Company in Wilmington, NC, we’ve helped many people and businesses move all their most important files and much more.

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