25

Apr 2018

How to Pack Up Your Apartment to Move, Fast & Easy

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Moving is, by far, one of the biggest stressors in our lives. When it comes to an apartment, moving would seem to be relatively easy. There’s usually no garage to clean out or decades worth of items to sort. However, moving from any size home adds a complicated task to our already busy lives. Are you an apartment dweller planning on moving into new digs? Here are some tips to make the process as painless as possible.

Get rid of it

As soon as you know you are moving, start decreasing your inventory of items. The less you own, the less there is to pack. According to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying-up, hold, or touch, each thing you own and ask yourself if that item brings joy. If it doesn’t, or if you’re not sure, don’t keep it. As you work through this process, you’ll realize how ambivalent you feel about many of your things. Often, we tell ourselves that we should keep something, and it just ends up in a drawer or closet.

When it comes to clothes, if you haven’t worn something in a year, give it to charity. If you’re saving some of your clothes until you lose weight, give them away. When you lose weight, you can buy new clothes.

What should you do with all the items that don’t bring you happiness? If you’re intent on making some cash, eBay or Craigslist may be the best places to list them for sale. However, don’t be afraid to throw things away and give things away. You’ll be surprised at how liberating it is only to keep what you truly love.

Planning to Pack

Before our world became so highly digitized, there was plenty of newspaper around to wrap our breakables. Now, the newspaper may be a little harder to come by, but you can buy cheap packing paper at your local mass retailer (more tips from this article). And, when you go to pick up that packing paper, also grab some bubble wrap. Per Cheap Houston Movers, wrapping your ultra-fragile items in bubble wrap will give you peace of mind and keep your valuables protected during transit.

Boxes

Boxes are still easy to find. Ask your local grocery stores, retailers, or fast food restaurants if they can save you a few boxes each day. If you’d rather have less hassle, but don’t mind spending the money, most apartment moving companies and self-storage facilities are happy to sell you boxes.

Start Early

If there is something you don’t use every day, pack it. If you pack a few boxes each week, you won’t have to ramp up your packing process until a couple of days before moving.

A word about cleaning

Moving usually involves deep cleaning. Make it easy: clean as you go, or hire a cleaning company to do a move-out clean.

Overall, only keeping the things you love and starting early will be your biggest allies. Put on some music, pour yourself your favorite beverage, and relax. Packing your apartment can be both easy and enjoyable.


19

Feb 2018

How to Estimate Office Moving Expenses When Relocating Your Business

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Contrary to moving home, moving a business to a new location has one primary differentiation: you still have to run the business during the move. For that reason, it can be next-to-impossible to plan and execute a successful relocation while still aiming to keep the doors open through the process. With a little planning, the move doesn’t have to be very stressful, however.

1. Appoint One Employee To Oversee the Move

Depending on the size of your organization, this can be either an upper-level executive or someone in mid-management that you feel has a special eye for organization. Whoever it is will need to have unfiltered authority from point A to point Z, in nearly every capacity of the move itself: planning, delegating, organizing, and moving. Make sure this person is also aware of the responsibilities of the move, such as negotiating contracts with the movers and utility companies, as well as ensuring that all employees have the proper amount of supplies. Most likely this person will be removed from their current duties at the actual job itself, for the time being, so be ready to re-delegate their work to pick up the slack.

2. Take a Full Inventory of All Assets

Before a single item is touched, make sure your employees write a thorough inventory report on the assets at hand. Not only does this protect against employee theft – which costs companies nearly $50 billion a year and is especially possible during a move – but it also keeps your inventory levels current while you’re moving to keep the business operable.

3. Tally All Possible Expenses

Not only will you have to consider the cost of hiring a moving company (get free quotes from Cheap Atlanta Movers) or packing supplies and employee time, but you’ll also have to consider the cost of breaking utility contracts and lease agreements. Hardly any of those things expire at the same time so that you can count on at least one early termination fee. Moreover, you’ll have to get quotes from your insurance company on lost or damaged items during the move and potential loss of revenue during the move itself.

4. Let Vendors and Customers Know About Your Move

One of the oft-overlooked itinerary items during a move is letting all relevant parties know about your new location. It’s not as easy as letting a few people in customer service know about the move; often, vendors will want a couple of weeks to reorient their logistics in their system to acclimate to your new address. Moreover, your customers will need to know where to find you as well. Your most loyal customers will most likely be aware of any new changes in your operations, but the casual ones that are used to you being in a new location will not. Make sure you advertise on social media, print media, local classifieds, and even direct mailings to let people know about your move.


29

Jan 2018

Tips for Planning a First-Time Relocation to New York City

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A job promotion, family relocation, significant other, or the call of city life has you wondering whether or not you should move to New York City. The food, culture, job opportunities, and general hustle are enough to make anyone consider the move. You decide to make the leap, and now it’s time to figure out all those pesky logistics. Housing, transportation, and the move itself will take some planning before the big day.

1. Finding a Place

Apartment hunting in New York City comes with many loose ends. If you take a trip to the city to investigate new digs, you might consider signing a two or three-month sublet somewhere in the general vicinity of where you think you want to be. That gives you a little time to live in the city and find an apartment that you could fathom living in for over a year. You may find that neighborhoods just outside hot spots are a better value, whether you’re planning to rent or buy.

You’ll want to scout places using Google Earth or similar software to get a street view and a sense of the building and best NYC neighborhoods before you go check places out. If you’re on a tight schedule the first time you scout, this will help to narrow things down. Bring your money with you in case you see something you like; waiting could very probably cost you the opportunity.

Renting and buying come with strings; often there are intense income and credit checks that accompany both. Buyers are often subject to a co-op board that cares about more than just straightforward factors. Be prepared for your neighbors to get to know you. You may also want to have a guarantor or a backer in mind in case you’re asked to co-sign with someone who makes more money and is prepared to pick up your rent should things go awry after your move.

2. Transportation

You probably won’t need (or want) your own vehicle in NYC. Car services like Zipcar exist for the few times that you’ll need one, and parking can be quite expensive in garages with monthly service fees. Cabs and subways are your new best friends. If you must have a vehicle, you might base your decision about where to live on which areas have the most accessible parking spots.

3. Moving Day

Time, planning, and patience will serve you well on moving day. Pay your buddies in pizza and beer and get ready to bring as many hands as possible. You may have to navigate tricky one-way streets, parking, and a lot of logistics to get your belongings into your new place. So, if you have the budget, consider hiring NYC movers; professionals that have to navigate the ins and outs of moving on a daily basis are much better equipped for handling your move. They can get you moved into your tiny apartment up five flights of stairs in no time!

4. Celebrating

After the move is done, make time to celebrate. Your old and soon to be new friends will find ample opportunities for partying and clubbing in the city. Take advantage of the new opportunities you’ve afforded and let loose.


25

Jan 2018

5 Tips for Preparing for Your Cheapest Cross-Country Relocation

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If you are getting ready to relocate to another state, you could be feeling incredibly overwhelmed by the idea of your cross-country move. By being properly prepared for your upcoming move, however, you can help ensure that everything goes smoothly. These are a few ways that you can prepare for this upcoming life change.

1. Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

For one thing, you should not wait until the last minute to start preparing for your move. Making lists, changing your address, finding the cheapest long distance moving options (try this first: www.greatguyslongdistancemovers.com/long-distance-moving-companies/), and taking other steps to prepare for the move in the weeks and even months before your moving date is a good idea. If you get things out of the way now, then you will not have to worry about them later.

2. Don’t Try to Do Everything Yourself

Moving across town can be a big job, but it might be something that you and your family can handle on your own. Moving across the country is a completely different ballgame, however, and it’s probably not something that you’re going to want to try to tackle without some help. Hiring a good moving company is an essential if you want to get everything packed and moved to your new city with minimal problems. You may need to hire others to help you along the way as well. For example, you might need to hire a babysitter to take care of your kids while you’re packing, or you might find that it’s worth it to hire someone to clean your home when you move out so that you don’t have to worry about doing it. It’s also not a bad idea to gather up your friends and family to see if anyone is willing to pitch in and help you get ready for your move.

3. Get Rid of What You Don’t Need

It’s always a good idea to declutter and get rid of items that you don’t need when you are moving, but it’s an especially good idea when you are making a long-distance move. Along with streamlining the process of moving significantly, getting rid of unnecessary items can also save you a lot of money when it comes to moving your belongings across the country. Plus, you will not have to worry about filling up your new home with items that will just create clutter. Before you move, consider selling and donating things, and you’re sure to be glad that you did.

4. Buy the Right Packing Supplies

When you are just moving your belongings a short distance, it might not seem like a big deal to pack your items in any old boxes that you might have lying around. For a longer move, however, you’re probably going to want to make sure that your items are secure. Therefore, you will probably want to invest in better-quality boxes, stronger shipping tape and some packaging material — such as packing peanuts — to help you protect your belongings when they are being transported to another state.

5. Pack Some Things Separately

Before you start packing everything up for your move, you will probably want to pull some things aside so that you can pack them separately. These are some of the items that you might want to keep with you rather than packing up in the moving truck:

  • Important documents
  • Medication
  • A few changes of clothing for each member of your family
  • Pet necessities
  • A few toys or books for your children
  • Enough toiletries to last for a few days

As you can see, there are a few things that you can do to prepare for your cross-country relocation. If you follow these tips, then you can help ensure that everything goes well when it’s time for you and your family to move.