A Guide to Updating Your Address After a Move
We have to juggle a lot of information in our everyday lives, from paying bills on time to making sure we meet deadlines at work to remembering a loved one’s birthday. So, when we’re faced with a complex task like moving, it’s natural to forget to get certain little things done.
One of those little things that often gets overlooked during a move is changing your address. Let’s go over the various places where you’ll need to update your address after a move, including a few you might not have even thought of.
Mail Forwarding
As soon as you know where you’ll be moving, set up mail forwarding with the U.S. Postal Service. You can get a form for this at the post office or from the USPS website. On the form, you’ll be able to specify your new address as well as when you’re moving in, so that they don’t send your mail there prematurely.
This will also allow you to register to vote at your new address. Make sure you do!
Friends and Relatives
From your next door neighbor you don’t want to lose touch with to your parents who send your kids $10.00 for each holiday, you’re going to want to let important people know your new address.
Anyone who might visit you, send you cards, and so on, should have your address. Start writing down names. Think back over the last few years to anyone who has your current address, and look over your social media accounts, where you will hopefully catch anyone you forgot.
Your Bank and Credit Cards
As soon as you arrive at your new home (not beforehand), access your account or accounts to debit and credit cards and change your address.
From now on, mail from your bank and credit cards will go to your new address.Online Stores and Services
Ready to add more to your list? Here we go. What are the stores and services you use online? These may include Amazon, Netflix, eBay, and others. Write them down. Look through your past emails to see if there are any you may have missed. For example, you may have a website where you pay for hosting monthly, or a subscription box that goes out every quarter.
On your first night, update your shipping and billing address in as many of those as possible. When charging one of your cards, the computers for these services ask your bank’s computers if the billing address is a match. That’s why it’s good to update your address with the bank and credit card companies first. Once this is done, new automatic shipments will get billed properly and go to your correct address.
The same goes for magazine subscriptions. Find the websites for the magazines you’ve subscribed to and change your address with them. You may need to call some magazines, while others will make it easy to make the change online.
Other Creditors
Many of us pay for our cars over time. You may also have an appliance or two that you’re paying for over the course of several months.
Within a few days of your move, contact your car loan and other loan services and update your address with them. If you have a student loan, also remember to contact the company that holds your loan and update your address with them.
The DMV
Contact the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state and change your address with them. If you’ve moved to a new state, start the process of getting a driver license for that state. Yes, you can still use your license from your former state until you get your new one.
For most people, that should do it. Getting your address changed with all these people, companies, and organizations is a bit tedious, but you’ll feel great once you have it done.
