Moving Tips
Packing for and completing a move is not an easy task, no matter the time of year in which you are attempting one. This task becomes that much harder when attempting your move during winter. The following are nine tips to keep in mind when moving in winter to make it as safe and event free as possible:
1.) Be Flexible and Prepared: In the winter, the weather is anything but predictable. It can be sunny and clear one day, and dumping snow or rain the next. In addition, you can add wind, hail and other extreme weather into the mix. Therefore, you need to be prepared for this and remain flexible. Your planned moving day might turn out to be a bad weather day. Therefore, be aware you may need to reschedule your move.
2.) Don’t Wait to Start Packing: This tip holds true no matter when you plan on moving, season wise. Pack in advance, not waiting for moving day to arrive. This will make the moving process easier and quicker all the way around.
3.) Prep Your Home: If snow is regularly on the ground where you live, you will want to shovel the walkway and driveway, ensuring the path from your home is clear of ice and snow. This will cut down on the slip and fall risk you and/or your movers face while moving your belongings.
4.) Protect Your Belongings: If you decide to store some items in storage containers while preparing for a move, you need to keep the cold temperatures in mind. Breakable items, like glass and dishware are especially susceptible to temperature changes, which can lead to breaks and cracks. Double wrap these items in thick blankets to cut down on the extreme temperature transition when moving from a heated space to cold and back into heated spaces.
5.) Allow For Extra Travel Time: When moving in inclement weather, such as snow, you need to be aware that your travel time will likely be longer. Allow for this extra travel time.
6.) Prepare Your New Home: In the same way you cleared the walkways and driveway of your existing home when moving, you need to ensure the home you are moving into has the same treatment. Make sure movers are safe transporting your items from the truck to your new home.
7.) Take The Short Days Into Consideration: In addition to the cold temperatures , icy and snowy walkways and roadways, you also have to deal with shorter days when moving in winter. Make sure you account for this when planning out your move so you have time to properly unpack your belongings during daylight hours.
8.) Take Care of Your Movers: Prepare hot apple cider, cocoa or even coffee for your movers. Encourage them to come in out of the cold and get warm on occasion, especially when temperatures are below freezing.
9.) Hire Professional Movers: Speaking of movers, especially when moving in the winter, you should seriously consider hiring professionals to complete your move. They have experience dealing with the weather and moving your belongings safely, despite the conditions. Therefore, when such conditions are present, you need to consider bringing in professional movers.
Keep the above essential tips in mind when moving in winter.
Moving Tips
When it comes to storing your stuff, you have a few options. Get rid of it, store it in off-site storage or use portable or on-demand storage, also known as a moving pod. It is this last option we will discuss at length below:
What is a Moving Pod? How Does it Work?
A moving pad is basically a large storage container that is brought to your home and left for you to fill. You can store virtually anything and everything safely inside and keep pods set up at your home for as long as necessary. This means you can access any items stored inside at your convenience. Once items are inside you can either leave them on site or have the pod moved to a storage facility or other location. Virtually all major moving companies provide pods and there are also companies that specialize in moving pods. More on this later…
Benefits of Using a Moving Pod
- You don’t have to haul items to a storage facility.
- If you leave the moving pod on site, you can access the items stored within without having to leave your home.
- It provides easy, optional storage for excess items.
- Pods are placed on ground level, which means they easy to load and unload.
- It can allow you to prepack items when preparing to move, making moving day easier.
How to Find The Right Moving Pod Company: What to Look For And Ask
When contemplating what company to use when renting a moving pod, consider the following…
- How old are the pods, what is the condition of the pods? Will they keep your possessions safe?
- How much does the pod weigh? You want to know this because some moving companies/pod companies charge the fee based on the weight of the pod. Consequently, it’s good to know how much the pod weighs before you load it.
- How much does it cost? What is included in your monthly rental cost?
- When can you have your pod delivered?
- How long can you rent a pod, is there a long-term rental discount?
- Does the moving company provide any moving supplies or a lock along with your pod rental?
Moving Pod Companies to Consider
Here are a few companies you can consider when renting a moving pod:
- U-Pack: You pay for a trailer space or a container to use and can have it moved it anywhere within the U.S. in three to five business days. They provide instant online quotes and no deposit is required. The negative is no lock for your containers and no local moves.
- PODS: PODS in this sense stands for Portable on Demand Storage. This is likely the most well-known company as it relates to portable storage. PODS are available for local and long-distance moves, there are many container sizes available and there are weatherproof containers. The negative aspect is the fact that you have to finalize your PODS quote via the phone.
- 1-800-PACK-RAT: This portable moving company provides free locks, orchestrates long-distance moves, has multiple container sizes, has weatherproof moving containers, and provides $10,000 in moving protection. This company does require a phone call to finalize quotes and has less availability when compared with PODS and U-Pack.
Moving pods can be a great solution to a storage problem and make your move much easier overall.
Sources:
https://www.move.org/best-moving-container-companies/
Moving Tips
When it comes time to move, you have a lot to consider. One such item is whether or not you should obtain moving insurance. Sometimes, moving insurance is money well spent, other times you can save money by passing. The following will explain more about moving insurance covering the types and worth. This information will hopefully give you a better idea whether or not moving insurance is worthwhile in your situation.
What is Moving Insurance?
Put simply, moving insurance is insurance coverage protecting your obsessions during a move.
Basic Limited Liability Protection: Moving Valuation
This type of moving insurance comes along with a signed contract and is federally regulated. In other words, if you sign a contract with a moving company to transport your possessions, you have this basic coverage. Unfortunately, the value of your belongings and the coverage amount often do not match. The rate of value provided by the moving company is called moving valuation. The valuation amount provided typically begins around $0.30 to $0.60 per lb for local moves or per item or article per long distance move. This type of coverage is not actually moving insurance as valuation only provides replacement or loss for goods damaged within a move, not punitive damages. For this reason and the fact that it often does not provide “enough” coverage for lost or damaged items, many people opt for additional moving coverage.
Additional Moving Insurance
Various moving companies label this type of insurance differently. Some call it Declared Value Protection others label it Full Value Protection (FVP). However it is labeled, it means you are paying an additional amount of money in order to protect your items during transport. Full value protection works like other forms of insurance. There is an amount of coverage provided and most coverage features a deductible. You can determine the amount of coverage you would like and where you what your deductible set. The valuation given to your items will again be based on the items’ weight. If you do not want this and would prefer to instead have your coverage determined on cost of replacement, you can choose Lump Sum Value coverage. With this, you simply insure your items up to a certain amount. Be sure any additional insurance coverage is added to your Bill of Lading agreement with your moving company before allowing them to move one item.
Third Party Insurance Options
If the moving company you choose doesn’t offer additional insurance options like Full Value Protection, you can buy your coverage from a third party. The rates will vary based on which company you use and the amount or value of coverage you need. Be aware, some third party companies will evaluate the moving company’s damage history before providing you will moving coverage. Obviously, if a moving company has had a negative history in terms of accidents and damage claims, you might have to pay a higher rate to be insured if you choose to use them.
As with any type of insurance, moving insurance is something you hope you never have to use. However, having the coverage present can be a life saver if something does occur to your items/possessions during transport or during the loading or unloading process. Ultimately, you have to decide if additional coverage is worth the money. In general, though, the more valuable your possessions, the more seriously you should consider obtaining additional insurance on your move.
Sources:
https://www.mymovingreviews.com/move/moving-insurance-types-cost/
Moving Tips
Moving on a budget can be a challenge. One way to cut down on costs is to implore a friend to lend a hand during your move. The following are some tips to keep in mind if your friends do give up their weekend and help you move:
Pay for Their Meals
It might go without saying, but it’s important to at least feed your friends while they volunteer to help you move. Be sure to check with them before ordering delivery or a pizza. After all, so many people have dietary restrictions of some sort. Also, make sure you provide amble drinks, water and snacks throughout the day in addition to meals. Moving is hard work and burns a lot of calories, so everyone needs to be well fueled and hydrated.
Offer to Pay For Gas
If your friends are coming from a distance away or are using their own transportation to help move your possessions, you might want to offer gas money. Some people won’t take the money, but you can still offer. The thought at least is nice.
Try to Schedule Moving Days When its Convenient For Your Friends
While it can be difficult to find an ideal weekend or a day that works equally well for everyone, do at least try to schedule your moving day when it’s the most convenient for your friends to help. Also, make sure you offer your friends amble notice for when you plan to move. Provide at least a week or more of notice prior to your move, the further out the better.
Don’t Expect Everyone to Help
Some friends are more able to help than others. For example, if you have friends with small kids or kids who play sports, getting them to help probably won’t happen. Therefore, when contemplating who to ask for help, take these factors into consideration. Don’t ask too much of friends who have a lot of other stuff on their plate.
Don’t Be Mad if You Get a “No”
You don’t know everything another person is dealing with, even your closest friends. Therefore, don’t take it personally if a friend gives you a simple “no” when you ask if they can help you move.
Direct, Don’t Boss
Yes, you are in charge of your move, but don’t micromanage your friends. They gave up their day to help you, so treat them well, listen to their thoughts about the best way to do things and be kind to them throughout the whole process.
Be Well Prepared
Be mindful of your friend’s time and value it appropriately. Try to have as much as possible done before your friends arrive to help with your move. This means tasks like packing and sorting should be completed prior to help arriving.
Send a Thank You
After the weekend of moving is over and your friends have all made their way back home, be sure to send them a thank you note in the mail. Of course, you could shoot them a little text, but since snail mail is so uncommon, it will seem more special to get a handwritten note saying how much you appreciate your friend giving of their time. Also, if you can afford to add in a gift card, that’s even better.
Do the above to get a friend to help you move and then show them you appreciate their efforts.
Moving Tips
The last thing you want to do when preparing or orchestrating a move is injure yourself. Therefore, in order to ensure you get your belongings moved from one location to another without injuring yourself or causing damage to your prized possessions, keep the following six tips in mind:
1.) Don’t Overexert Yourself Moving Heavy Furnishings
If you hire movers, they will often do the heavy lifting for you, but if you don’t or if you help them on moving day and try to move things on your own, take precautions. Make sure you use a dolly or furniture sliders anytime you move something heavy. The furniture sliders are made of either durable rubber or hard plastic and allow you to literally slide furniture from one place to another without picking it up.
2.) Dress Appropriately
Make sure you are dressed appropriately for the job at hand. This means no flip flops or dress shoes, which will increase your risk of slipping, stumbling or falling. Also, avoid wearing overly baggy clothing that can become hooked on items during moving. Wear a closed toe pair of shoes such as tennis shoes when packing boxes, loading trucks or moving furnishings.
3.) Double Tape Boxes and Pack Properly
There are many tips on packing properly to remember. However, when it comes to not injuring yourself, the most important thing to remember is not to over pack your boxes. No box should weigh more than you can easily lift without straining your back. Also, once you have a box packed, double tape it to ensure it doesn’t pop open in transit and spill out, possibly damaging the contents or injuring someone.
4.) Eat Regularly and Take Frequent Breaks
Moving is a physically taxing exercise. Therefore, you must take the time out of your day to eat well, stay hydrated and don’t go without sleep. It can be tempting to push on through meal time or pack up just one more room instead of getting the sleep you need, but being sleep deprived and malnourished can lead to all sorts of physical problems.
5.) When Lifting, do so Carefully
Although this was touched on briefly above, it’s important to remember that when you do lift something heavy you have to take precautions. Using a dolly or furniture sliders isn’t always applicable. When moving heavy boxes; for example, keep the following tips in mind:
- Wear gloves to ensure a firm grip.
- Keep your back straight when lifting. Lift with your back not your knees.
- Center heavy objects close to your body, at your waist.
- Don’t ever twist your back when carrying heavy objects. If you need to turn, move your feet together.
6.) Keep Children and Pets Away on Moving Day
When it comes time to load up a moving truck and then unload and set up house in a different location, keep pets and children out of the picture. This is not a safe environment for them as they often are hard or impossible to see when you lifting something in front of your body. It is super easy for them to get underfoot, causing you to drop your box on them, injuring them or yourself or worse.
Follow the six tips listed above to ensure your move goes smoothly and you don’t become injured during the process.
House Cleaning, Moving Tips
The act of moving as in transporting your belongs from one location to another place of residence presents an ideal opportunity for you to downsize/organize your possessions and belongings. The following are just a few of the many benefits of reducing the clutter, or purging the stuff, in your life:
Less Things to Pack And Subsequently Move
Obviously, one major benefit of getting rid of clutter is simply having less stuff to pack and then move. When it comes time to move, you will be glad you did this!
Make a Little Money
Another benefit of getting rid of excess belongings is making a little money. You can do this by having a yard sale, selling items on Ebay or on Facebook Yardsale or other similar sites. Of course, you could also donate items to a charity, and write the donation off on your taxes for a similar financial boost.
It Helps Out Others
Speaking of charities, they are helped immensely by people like you, donating unneeded items to charities that either give it to needy individuals or sell it at a cheap rate. Even if you simply sell items at a yard sale at discounted rates, you are helping others out by allowing them to get items, which are in good used condition, at a fraction of the cost they would pay for them in a store.
Science Says its Healthier
According to science, clutter is generally unhealthy. As stated in Psychology Today, “clutter can have quite the psychological effect.” It’s easy to believe this, simply think about how a cluttered or messy desk or kitchen makes you feel. It causes your heart to race and that feeling of dread to come over you. Clutter is like that on steroids. Therefore, removing it from your life, ensuring everything has a place, will create an atmosphere of peace and calmness in your home.
Makes It Easier for You to Find Possessions, Saving You Time
It would be interesting to determine how much of our time we spend trying to find lost or misplaced items. Having a home that is cluttered and overfilled, of course, only increases the likelihood that you will waste time regularly performing tasks. Therefore, in order to cut down on stress, and save yourself valuable time, you need to organize your home, and declutter.
It Will Help You Sleep Better
A new sleep study noted on Today.com discovered that people who sleep in a cluttered room have a high risk of developing a hoarding disorder and are more likely to develop a sleep disorders. Therefore, a well organized room will help you catch more zzz’s.
It Makes You Moody
Clutter can be considered “visual noise.” As such, clutter often makes you “feel” bad or moody. In essence, it causes you to feel like your life isn’t exactly together. This relation between moodiness and/or well being and clutter was proven by researchers at UCLA’s Center on Everyday Lives and Families. It was discovered through this and other studies that “It turns out that clutter has a profound effect on our mood and self-esteem.”
The above are just some benefits associated with a well-organized, clutter free home. If you are nearing a move, now is the perfect time to get your house in order and even if you aren’t, there are still many benefits of organizing your living space as evidenced by the above.
Sources:
https://www.bustle.com/articles/136499-6-benefits-of-decluttering-your-life-according-to-science
https://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2017/01/31/10-good-reasons-to-get-rid-of-your-stuff/#6b5c522273f1
https://livingwellmom.com/1-moving-tip-turn-chaos-into-organized-sanity/
