Do you have a move in your near future? Nobody looks forward to moving. Even the smallest move across town is disruptive and seldom goes as smoothly as we would like. But there are some excellent tech moving solutions out there that can take some of the pain out of moving. Having just gone through two moves in three years, I have learned to take advantage of every tech tool available to make the move smoother. Here are three great tech moving solutions I have found really do the job.

VoIP Phones

If you still want that home phone to augment your cell, try switching now to a VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone for your home line. When you move, you keep the same number and simply take your VoIP phone box with you. The only drawback is that you will still get those pesky marketing calls from your old neighborhood. But now you can honestly say you aren’t interested since you are no longer in their service area.

Change of Address

Be aware that there are many scams out there claiming to be a change of address package. But the idea of having one place to make all these changes is just too tempting to pass by when moving. I used Updated for my change of address needs this past move and found them to be a great tool. That might be because the company was created by a person who hated moving and simply wanted a great solution. You can forward your snail mail, update your subscriptions, schedule your utilities connections, find movers for your area and even share your moving announcement amongst friends. The one thing it doesn’t do is let Uncle Sam know where you are moving for tax purposes, so don’t forget to take care of that on your own.

Keeping Entertained

These days, many of us have set top boxes with our cable TV. It is important to remember that any shows you have saved in your cable service DVR will not be coming with you when you move. The good news is that if you have a TiVO, you can move the box to your new location and enjoy the same shows. Of course, with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, this may all be moot for you. The joy of having these instead of TV is that they move with you. Just don’t forget to get your internet hooked up pronto when you move. I often will have it go live the day before I move in, just to be sure my computer is up and running right away.

Less is More

In the end the best advice is to get rid of everything you absolutely don’t need, even before you move. There is nothing quite as frustrating as moving across country with that huge ancient table you always hated and then discovering it doesn’t fit in the new home. Trim back, have plenty of yard sales and use these tech moving solutions to make the move at least a bit less painful.