I had literally a 2 weeks notice before I moved. I signed my job offer with Nuance, resigned from Deloitte, and signed my new lease all within 3 days! The short notice required a lot of organization on the front end. Luckily, I had already given my 30day notice to my apartment complex in Atlanta that I would not be resigning my lease (I did this without a job or place to live in Boston). Paul and I had decided I was moving in October no matter what (but that was our last option) we were solely relying on faith that it would work out. Thankfully, it did! I landed a job and found a great place to live before I even expected it!
As a first time long-distance mover, I was a little unprepared. There is a lot of paperwork that goes into moving not only your belongings across the county but even more goes in to moving your existence! There is so much to think about, such as: notifying the post office for change of address, finding your car title, updating your address on all of your accounts, canceling/transferring your utility accounts....the list goes on and on!
After a month of searching websites, countless hours on the phone, waiting in multiple lines, and a few hundred dollars later...I'm now an official resident of Boston!
My license was the easiest "document" to obtain. We stopped by the RMV one mile after we crossed the state line. It took a few phones calls and faxing over my lease, but I was able to get my license on the first day. Getting my license helped out with the items to follow...
In Boston you have to have two license plates (front and back) which is unfortunate since I wanted to put an Auburn plate on the front! :) These were the toughest things to get out of everything. Proof of Insurance was not enough, I had to change my insurance to MA insurance. After a few hours on the phone with Progressive (literally was on hold for over an hour one morning) and a couple hundred bucks later...I had all the paperwork I needed! After that, I was forced able to wait in line at the local RMV, pay a fee, and then go pay some more to get my car inspected. I am quickly learning everything has a hefty price tag up here!
But wait! I wasn't finished. In order to be able to park near my apartment in the North End, I had to get a resident sticker - this was FREE! Yippee! Boston doesn't charge you to park where you live! All I had to do
was wait in line and show paperwork. It felt really good getting that little sticker - a lot of work went into that!
Finished product - while I do think the Georgia License plate is a little prettier and Paul doesn't really like the numbers I got, I am still very happy with my new one!
My advice to anyone moving to a new city - have all your documents in advance if possible. I left my car title at home, didn't have a copy of my lease, and hadn't updated my insurance to MA. All were things I could have prepared in advance. Another piece of advice - have a lot of room on your credit card for unexpected fees/charges everywhere you turn!
Happy Hump Day everyone!