Well, its been a busy few weeks here.  Two and a half weeks ago DH gave my friend/lab partner a ride home after we did our Chemistry Lab.   When he got home, he metioned that he noticed the mobile home a few lots down from them was for sale.  For the heck of it, we decided to run the numbers just to see if it was even feasible. 

Well, two and a half weeks later, we've found an empty lot, put down a partial down payment the rest to go down when tax return comes in, and our brand new 3 bedroom mobile home will be going up the first week of May.  Between the mortgage payment and our lot rent, we'll be paying over $100/month less than we are now for rent. 

So any tips/advice/things to watch out for as we get ready for this move?  We'll have about 3 weeks overlap from when the trailer will be ready to move into and when our lease is up here.

Congrats!!!      maybe use the time to fix up the lot a bit or decluttering while packing.   with the overlap you don't have to rush the move so you can paint etc.

Congrats on your first home!

Not having to rush your move is the biggest gift you can give yourself.  You can move a little bit every day or every other day; you won't need as many boxes either, b/c you can unpack right away and reuse the boxes.  I did this once when I moved across the street from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom.  My roommate and I just took the drawers from the dressed and stacked them up in the car and drove them over to the new place.  Then we went back and got the dresser and put everything every away.  It was really easy and we only used about 8 boxes; we just kept packing and unpacking.

What have you decided to do with the money you're saving?

Congratulations!  I would suggest checking with the utility company; they should be able to give you information on estimated utility usage and costs for similar homes in your area.

Having moved 1-1/2 miles (but in a much shorter timeframe - I couldn't get into my new home until Friday evening, and had to be out of the old one by Sunday evening), I agree with sorting NOW.  Don't pack things you don't have to pack - like sunshinetreva, I didn't pack drawers, just removed them from the dressers and moved them as they were; things that were already in boxes stayed in boxes, etc.  I did rent a moving van, because of several large pieces of furniture that wouldn't fit in a vehicle, along with the queen size mattress - I would suggest reserving a van early, as the demand can be high, depending on when you move, the end of the month is a premium time.  Since you'll have time, put things away as you bring them into your new home; the time and stress you save not having to search for things in boxes will more than balance out the time it takes initially.

 You could consider putting the savings into a fund for home repairs. As renters, this is usually the responsibility of someone else, so it's often a bit shocking how much a simple visit from a plumber or heating person can run, or how much a lawnmower repair is. Also, most new homes don't come with things like curtain rods or blinds, If that is the case with yours, start looking now for those items on sale, since you'll likely want them as soon as you move in (unless you're far enoug away from neighbors that it's not a problem). 

 

Thanks for all the suggestions so far everyone!  Planning ahead will definately help things go smoothly.  We have airmattresses so the plan is going to be to set up those while we start moving, so we can sleep wherever we are at the end of the day.  Definately going to do this a little at a time over the 3 weeks, unpacking as we go so that there isn't alot to be done afterwards. 

Martha, definateley starting to declutter!  We're starting to pack boxes of seasonal items and stack them in the storage closet.  If we don't need it or haven't used it, its going out the door before the move!  Fortunately, for once painting isn't part of the moving plan.  Part of our lease here is a $150 repainting fee out of our security deposit, and doing it ourselves won't avoid it so we're not worrying about it.  The mobile home comes with neutral wallcoverings that we picked the colors for, so we're set there too! 

Sunshine, we've done the move the dresser drawers as is thing a few times, even for longer distance moves.  Its definately easier!  Especially as it lets you know where everything is during the process!  The money we're saving will be split a bit, some to debt repayment, and some to raise our emergency fund a bit to help with costs as homeowners.

Karen, we've got an idea of the utilities from both friends living in an older less efficent mobile home as well as from the utility company.  We're also planning on leaving a little extra room in the budget until we see for ourselves what our numbers will be like.  Fortunately we don't need to worry about a moving van, as we've got access to my parents' two Chevy Astro vans.  Those vans are how we moved in here, so we already know all our furniture will fit.

Falcon, that's exaclty what our plan is!  We already have a small emergency fund, but we'll be using the lower monthly costs to build it up a little bit more before we start throwing everything extra into debt repayment. 

Overall, I'm having to laugh about this a little bit.  A major motivation behind this move is reducing monthly costs so we can repay our debt from my dental work faster.  So basically, in order to get out of debt I'm getting into more.  I don't personally consider a mortgage bad debt though, and this will give us lower housing costs for years to come.   Once the dental work is paid off, we'll be attacking the mortgage.  We're already starting off with biweekly payments, and rounding them up from $190 to $200.

PurpledSilver:

we've got an idea of the utilities from both friends living in an older less efficent mobile home as well as from the utility company.

 

Since you are already an established customer, see if you can "transfer" your account instead of starting a new one.  Usually saves some fees there. 

Before moving to your new home, make sure that you have considered everything that needs to be considered. Such as the rate of the utilities, the areas that need repair and the items you will need to furnish the house. It is best to be prepared weeks before your big move so that you would not be taken aback by the unexpected costs. Make sure that you check your credit score and that you know how credit score changes to better keep track of your expenses.