If you’ve been following along on my TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, you already know we have a PCS to Alabama coming up, and for the past month, I documented the whole thing in a series called “She’s Moving Again.” It was packing, purging, business decisions, and more than a few moments of pure chaos, all shared in real time.
I figured it might be best to access it all in 1 place, so here it is. Whether you’re in the middle of your own PCS, gearing up for one, or you’re a small business owner who just needs to move your life at some point (military or not), there’s something here for you.
Start With a Brain Dump
Before I touch a single box, I sit down with my planner and a notebook and get everything out of my head. Home tasks, business tasks, paperwork, the stuff I always forget until two days before the truck shows up.
I break it into four buckets:
⚪️ Home — decluttering, scheduling movers, utility transfers, change of address, school and medical records
⚪️ Business — inventory audits, vendor notifications, address updates, anything tied to your LLC or business structure
⚪️ Paperwork and admin — orders, DEERS, license and registration timelines, all the government forms that exist solely to test your patience
⚪️ Personal sanity — goodbye plans, local bucket list items, anything that makes the move feel less like a task and more like an actual transition
Military spouses become project managers out of necessity. No certification required, the orders just show up and you figure it out. Getting it all out of your head and onto paper, or into a notes app, makes the whole thing feel less like it’s going to swallow you whole.
Get Smart About Boxes
You don’t have to buy a truckload of brand new boxes. A few ways to source them:
⚪️ Order from Home Depot, Lowe’s or UHaul
⚪️ Grab the big yellow and black bins from Costco or Home Depot
⚪️ Watch for other military families giving away boxes after their own PCS (this is a real thing and the community shows up for it)
Whatever you do buy out of pocket, keep the receipts. If you’re doing a DITY move (also known as a PPM — personally procured move), you’ll want those for tax season. Last year we switched to a full DITY move for the first time, after years of doing partial DITY moves. It was a big decision, especially with everything that happened with the Home Saf Alliance contract chaos last PCS season. We wanted to hold all the cards ourselves, so that’s the move we made. Whether you’re full DITY, partial, or a full military move, a lot of the prep still applies to you.
Treat Your Business Like You Treat Your Closet
A move is one of the best excuses to evaluate what’s actually working in your business. The same way you go through clothes and decide what’s earned a spot in the next house, you can do that with product lines, designs, and offerings.
Ask yourself what’s still selling, what’s just sitting there, and what your brand actually looks like moving forward. For me, that meant pulling some sticker, print, and t-shirt designs that served their purpose but don’t fit where the brand is headed next. A clearance sale isn’t just about making room in boxes, it’s a legitimate business strategy. This is also a good time to think about whether you need to raise your prices as well. When you reopen your business if you temporarily close or pause fulfillment or services, that might be a good time to do so.
Sell Before You Donate
Not everything that leaves your house has to go straight to a donation pile. Furniture that won’t fit the new place, books you’re done with, household items in good shape, all worth a shot on Facebook Marketplace or local Buy/Sell pages before you give them away. A little effort on photos and pricing can turn clutter into moving cash.
The rule that keeps it simple: if it doesn’t sell before the truck comes, it gets donated. No guilt, no dragging it across state lines. You can also opt to try selling again otherwise when you get to your new location, but then donate items if they don’t get purchased after a set time period.
Don’t Sleep on the Kitchen
The pantry, fridge, and freezer sneak up on everyone. Start early and get intentional about using what you have instead of running to the store on autopilot. A few notes from our process:
⚪️ Spices have a long enough shelf life that we take ours with us rather than tossing them
⚪️ Unopened non-perishables that won’t make the trip go to a local food pantry
⚪️ Opened items we know we won’t finish go to friends and neighbors
The kitchen is basically its own mini project within the move. Give it the time it deserves.
Protect Your Body While You Pack
Packing is physical labor and it will absolutely humble you if you’re not careful. A few things worth being intentional about:
⚪️ Lift with your legs, not your back, and keep what you’re carrying close to your body
⚪️ Pack and lift from a table when you can instead of hunching on the floor for hours
⚪️ Heavy items belong in small boxes, lighter stuff in big ones
⚪️ Take breaks, stretch, and stay hydrated
⚪️ Wear actual supportive shoes
⚪️ Ask for help when something is too heavy to move alone
You also might consider a back brace even if you don’t have an existing injury. Sometimes it’s just a physical reminder to engage the right muscles before you do something you’ll regret two days later.
Let Yourself Get Distracted by the Memories
You will find things while packing that have nothing to do with the move and everything to do with your life. An old Kindle that doesn’t power on anymore. A textbook with your maiden name in it. A photo of a pet you loved. A picture from a trip you forgot you took.
It’s tempting to treat these moments as a distraction from the real work. They’re not. You’re not just packing up a house, you’re packing up a chunk of your life, and that deserves a beat to actually look at it. The boxes will still be there when you’re ready to get back to them. Take the trip down Memory Lane while you can. It might just give you a little more pep in your step!
Check In On Your Pets
Moving disrupts dogs and cats just as much as it disrupts you, they just can’t tell you that’s what’s happening. Boxes everywhere and a shift in routine is enough to make even a confident pet a little clingy or anxious. Extra walks, extra attention, and keeping their routine as normal as possible for as long as possible all go a long way. Also don’t be afraid to reach out to your vet if you’re worried about their increased anxiety level. Our beloved chocolate lab, Tootsee, needed to be medicated to help with her anxiety with moves.
You also want to make sure you have a plan in place for loading day or any days in the process that might be less attention for your pet. We are opting to do doggy daycare on loading days for our DITY move so our current dog, Maverick, doesn’t attempt to wander out the door while we’re busy moving boxes onto the truck.
Get Your Kids Involved (At Whatever Age They’re At)
For younger kids, keep it simple. Let them pack a small box of their own toys or stuffed animals, something that feels like helping without being overwhelming. Keep their sleep schedule and daily routine as steady as you can.
For older kids, give them real responsibility. Let them pack their own rooms and have an actual say in what comes with them. It builds ownership and takes something off your plate at the same time.
Across every age, talk about the move early and often, answer their questions honestly, and find something to look forward to together. Their sense of normal matters just as much as the moving timeline. We make it a point to try to keep their rooms intact as long as possible for this reason.
Gamify the Whole Thing
If you do better with a reward system, build one in. I’m a bingo card person, I love checking off a box and adding a sticker when I complete something on my list. It doesn’t have to be a bingo card though, a sticker chart works, or a simple deal with yourself like “pack ten boxes, get dinner out” works just as well.
PCS season is a marathon. Build in the wins where you can, even the small ones.
Prepping for the Movers (Part 1)
Whether you’re being moved by the military or doing it yourself, a few things make a huge difference in how smooth the process goes:
⚪️ Take everything off the walls and consolidate it into one central spot
⚪️ Take down curtain rods, bag the hardware in a labeled ziplock, and tape it directly to the rod
⚪️ Wash and fold curtains before they go anywhere
⚪️ Bag serving utensils in large ziplocks
⚪️ Keep everyday utensils in their organizer and wrap the whole thing in cellophane so it stays intact
⚪️ Tighten spice caps, bag them, then store in clean airtight containers so you’re not rebuilding your spice collection from scratch later
If you’re going OCONUS or your things are headed to long term storage, the spice situation looks different, but for a shorter transit window this system works well.
Prepping for the Movers (Part 2)
This part is about protecting your space and your privacy.
Designate a do not pack zone before movers ever walk in. A room, a bathroom, a set of shelves, whatever works for your layout. Use painter’s tape to clearly label anything that should be left alone, down to something as random as a plunger. If it’s not labeled, assume it’s getting packed. No really. You don’t want the loaded Diaper Genie or a full trash can getting packed next to your fine china.
Pre-pack anything you don’t want strangers handling. Personal items, undergarments, anything that feels too private. Seal it, label it with something general like “swimsuits” or “pajamas,” and let the movers know you packed it yourself. In every move we’ve done, this has worked without a single issue.
If you’re doing a DITY move, this step matters just as much, since it tells you exactly what’s going on the trailer versus what’s riding with you in the car.
Protect Your Mental Load, Not Just Your Boxes
A PCS is exhausting mentally and physically, whether the military is moving you or you’re doing it all yourself. Sleep, water, and movement that isn’t just hauling boxes all matter. So does fun.
If you have local bucket list items left, do them. Ask a friend to come help you pack so you still get quality time together while crossing something off the list. Set a hard stop time in the evening so you actually get a break. An exhausted version of you isn’t going to pack faster or better, she’s just going to be miserable.
The Wrap Up
Fifteen installments of this series, a lot of boxes, and a business that’s heading into its next chapter looking a little different than it did before. If you’re in the middle of your own move right now, this is for you. The to-do list that never ends, the exhaustion, the strange grief of leaving a place you loved, or the quiet relief of a place that took more than it ever gave, all of it is a lot. You’re doing better than you think you are.
You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to keep going, one box and one decision at a time.
If you want to follow along with what comes next, find me on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
Next stop: Alabama.
(And if you’re not the one moving, but would love some ways to help support a military family through a PCS, you can check out my blog post that details ways to do just that! Find it here!)