Moving Tips
Your four-legged family members are vital parts of your family unit. Therefore, when planning to move, you should consider their well being just as you would your child’s, spouse’s or your own. Remember, pets are often creatures of habit, and very much entrenched in their current environment, so a move isn’t always easy on them. Thankfully, there are some ways you can make the process easier by following essential tips listed below:
Prepare Them
A large part of ensuring your pet does well during a move is simply preparing them ahead of time for the process. This often involves crate training. If your pet doesn’t currently stay in a crate, imagine their distress if you suddenly expect them to ride in one for hours. In the weeks, or months, leading up to your move, get your pet used to their crate. You can accomplish this by:
- Help your pet see their crate as a good, fun environment by giving them treats or playtime after they hang out in their crate.
- If your pet is small enough, crate them and carry them around your house, and/or take them on short drives in the car while crated to get them used to the motion they will experience during the moving process.
- Gradually acclimate your pet to their crate. This is especially important if your pet isn’t used to staying in a crate. To get them inside, place their food inside their open crate, leaving the door open. Eventually, feed them their meal inside the crate, getting them more and more comfortable with that environment.
If you aren’t planning on using a crate and will instead let your dog ride along in the car, take your dog ride for short car trips now, leading up to the trip, to get them used to riding in a car.
Know How to Safely Transport Your Animals
Dogs should either be in a crate when transporting or restrained in some form. The easiest way to ensure your dog’s safety during transportation is to use a safety harness, which you attach to your seatbelt. This lets your dog stand or sit comfortably, while keeping them safe. You can also use gates to restrain them to a certain area of the car. Cats should always be placed in a crate to transport.
Prepare Overnight Accommodations
If you are moving close enough to drive and get there in one day, disregard this point. However, if your move will involve at least one overnight stay, make sure you have reserved a hotel that will accommodate your pet.
Don’t Forget to Pack For Your Pet
You are obviously going to take your pet’s bed along and their favorite toys when moving to a new home. However, it’s important to pack a travel bag for your pet, which you can get to during the move. Include some of your pet’s favorite foods, a gallon of water, etc. When traveling with cats, know they won’t be able to go longer than eight to 10 hours between bathroom breaks. This might mean you need to bring along a disposable litter box. Also, make sure you have your new address, cell phone number, etc. on your pet’s collar should the worst happen, and they get separated from you during the move.
Steve Zawistowski Ph.D, who is the senior vice president of ASPCA Animal Sciences says the key to a successful move with pets is “plan, plan, plan.” Therefore, make sure you prepare your pets by following the essential tips listed above to successfully move your pet without too much stress.
Sources:
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/general-pet-care/moving-your-pet
https://www.petfinder.com/dogs/living-with-your-dog/moving-pets/
Moving Tips
Your kids’ wellbeing, education and even happiness is vitally important to you as a parent. Therefore, the choice of school system is a huge factor in any move. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtor’s “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers”, the quality of the local school district influenced more than half of all home buyers with children under the age of 18 when it came to their choice of neighborhood. Read below to learn how to evaluate schools as part of your moving decision:
Learn if The School Scores Well
We all want our kids to go to successful schools. A successful school is often considered such when their students test well. This shows the information students are supposed to be learning is in fact getting through and the school is either keeping up or surging past other school districts in the area. There are many sites you can use to find out information on how a district is doing in this category a few of the best are listed below:
- Greatschools.org: Type in the name of a school and see parent/student reviews, course offerings, and test scores.
- Education.com: Plug in a school name and see their test scores as well as how they compare to other schools within their district and state. Also, on this site, you will learn what each test score means.
- Schooldigger.com: This site will tell you the ratings for each school within a specific area.
- U.S. Department of Education: If websites aren’t for you, you can download a 52-page booklet, entitled “Choosing a School for Your Child.” This will give you some additional insights into scores, what they mean and why they are important, among other information.
Determine if It’s Safe
Unfortunately, in today’s day and age, parents have to worry about their children’s safety, everywhere, even at school. Therefore, when considering a specific school or district, parents want to learn the safety protocols in place at that location. You will likely have to call and ask the administrators to determine their current safety standards.
Are They Welcoming?
Sometimes, the only way to determine if a particular school is ideal for your child, is to visit the school, meet the administrators, walk the halls, and meet the teachers. You obviously want to feel welcome as a part of the school family. You want a place where you can go volunteer and be in close communication with your children’s teachers and the staff.
Is There an After-School Program?
If your children are too young to stay home alone and you work a full day, you will want to know if a particular school has an after school program. Most elementary or primary schools have some sort of after-school program at the school, but not all. If the school you are considering doesn’t, you can check local libraries, community centers and the like to see if they offer after school programs.
The above are some aspects to consider when evaluating a school or school district as part of your moving decision. Choosing the right school for your child will go a long way towards determining their happiness, wellbeing and overall educational success. Therefore, it isn’t a decision to be taken lightly.
Sources:
Greatschools.org: https://www.greatschools.org/
Education.com: https://www.education.com/
Schooldigger.com: https://www.schooldigger.com/
US Department of Education: https://www.ed.gov/
https://www.updater.com/moving-tips/top-7-tips-for-evaluating-a-school-district-before-you-move
https://www.newhomesource.com/guide/articles/how-to-evaluate-schools-when-buying-a-new-home
Moving Tips
You received a promising job opportunity either within your current company or a new organization. Problem is, it requires a move. Is this the right step for you? What should you consider before relocating for a job? Read below on how to evaluate job outlook as part of your moving decision:
- Will You Have to Pay Relocation Costs? Find out from your potential employer will pay relocation costs. Obviously, your costs will vary significantly based on how far you are moving and how much you have to relocate.
- Consider Your Relationship Situation: Are You Married, Single, Have Kids? Your current relationship status will of course be impacted by any relocation. Therefore, if you are dating, married, have children, etc., all situations should be considered when contemplating such a change. If your kids are in school, you will have to consider the new location’s school system. Is it as good as they are leaving? What about other options besides public school? These are questions you need answered before relocating.
- Will Salary be Enough For Cost of Living? Cost of living varies vastly throughout the nation. This means you could get a pretty good increase in salary, yet not actually see much of an improvement income wise due to an increase in the cost of living where you move. In other words, a great increase on paper, might really mean breaking even in reality. Check out this cost of living tool from CNN that will give you an idea how different the cost-of-living is where you live versus where you are thinking of moving.
- Have You Actually Visited The Area? Never, ever, consider relocating before actually visiting the area in person. It is one thing to see photographs of the area. They will seem great. After all, do you ever see publicity photos that show the rough side of a neighborhood or the three hour traffic jams? No! Visit the area. In fact, visit and stay at least a week if possible. Check out your daily commute. See if you would have to deal with significant traffic. Is that going to be a problem? How easy is it to get from point A to point B? Find all this out “before” relocating.
- Don’t Underestimate The Weather: If you are considering an area with hurricanes, earth quakes, etc. you might have to get additional insurance. Also, if there is frequent snow, are you prepared to handle that? Consider all these factors before moving.
- Know If You Can Advance or Change Companies: Will There be Additional Career Opportunities? Another element to consider if you are thinking of relocating is whether you can advance. This might mean moving up in your current company. It might also mean changing companies. Therefore, it’s a good idea to know if the area you are considering has options in your career field. For example, if you are in the medical field, an area like Charlotte, NC, is great because it has a concentrated healthcare market. Check into your specific career field stats in order to safeguard yourself in the event you don’t like your new job. You want to have other options in the area.
Follow the tips listed above when evaluating job outlook as part of your moving decision.
Sources:
https://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/06/17/20-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-you-relocate-for-a-job/#12e2bce7b619
https://www.moving.com/tips/moving-for-work-questions-to-ask/https://www.gqrgm.com/is-relocating-for-work-worth-it-10-things-to-consider/
