Family Moving Checklist: Ultimate Moving Checklist for Families

Moving across the country is never easy. In fact, organizing and executing an interstate move is often considered one of the toughest things people have to go through in their lives.

Why is moving so hard?

There are a number of valid reasons why moving out is so difficult:

And when you’re moving with your family, things can become even more complicated. Depending on the age of your child or children, you’ll have to face some major challenges that will increase the overall level of complexity of the upcoming relocation.

Don’t panic!

This family moving checklist will help you overcome the most common difficulties when moving out of state with a family. Beginning approximately 4 weeks before the day of the move, the family relocation timeline below will guide you throughout the preparation period, focusing on the specific tasks concerning your family members, including your pets.

Ready for the ultimate moving checklist for families?

4 weeks prior to Moving day

As long as you know how to achieve and maintain a high level of time management, you should have enough time to prepare fully for the house move in roughly 4 weeks.

3 weeks prior to Moving day

Now that you have worked on your family moving calendar for a week, it’s time to keep marking those important moving tasks as DONE. You’ve got about 20 days left until the move-out date so it’s not the right time to let down your guard.

2 weeks prior to Moving day

With approximately 2 weeks before you have to move away, you should check with your family moving checklist whether the progress you’ve made is satisfactory. Hopefully, you will be able to keep up with the myriad of moving tasks and not fall behind your personal planner.

1 week prior to Moving day

Only 7 days until your scheduled move-out date. Hopefully, you’ll be able to keep things under control with the help of this moving checklist for family relocation.

Must-read: Moving Checklist: Interactive & Printable Moving Checklist

Moving day

Move day has arrived!

Are you ready to handle the most physically demanding and mentally taxing day of the entire house move?

Moving Day Checklist: How to Survive Moving Day in 20 Steps

The post Family Moving Checklist: Ultimate Moving Checklist for Families appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/family-moving-checklist/

How to Pack Hangers for Moving: Just Hang In There

Packing for a move is anything but easy.

In reality, there are so many things to sort out, protect, and pack for the upcoming relocation that the job often feels overwhelming even before you start working on it. Packing for moving is, without a doubt, the most challenging project during a house move so you must make sure you’re up to the heavy task.

Luckily, some household items are easier to pack than others. One good example is packing your clothes – your pieces of clothing are not fragile in any way, so you shouldn’t actually worry about whether they will arrive in one piece or not simply because they will. They might end up a bit wrinkled up but that’s not a big worry, is it?

While packing clothes for moving, you’ll also reach the point of having to also pack hangers for moving. That’s right – packing hangers for a move seems like a very easy thing to do but there are a few peculiarities about that packing job too.

What’s the best way to pack hangers when moving? These 10 packing steps will show you the correct way.

Step 1. Decide if your hangers are worth packing and moving

With so many things to pack during a house move, you should seriously ask yourself if packing hangers for a move is even worth the time and effort you’ll have to invest in the packing task.

Here are the top reasons why you should pack your hangers when moving house:

However, packing and moving your clothes hangers is not always a good decision. Here are the top reasons why you shouldn’t bother packing your hangers for moving in some situations:

Step 2. Understand why hangers are tricky to pack for moving

Packing hangers for moving seems like a pretty straightforward thing to do and in a way, it is just that. However, it can be somewhat tricky, especially if you’ve never done it before.

There are several reasons why packing hangers for a move can be trickier than you think:

Step 3. Sort your hangers prior to packing them up

Group your clothes hangers by material before packing them up.

This step is all about sorting out your hangers into 2 major groups:

Step 1 in this hangers packing guide has already given you some clues as to which clothes hangers are worth keeping and which ones are not. In a nutshell, here are the signs that will help you sort out and group all your hangers correctly:

Hangers that are worth packing and moving (Group 1):

Hangers that are NOT worth packing and moving (Group 2):

Packing Checklist: Packing Timeline for Moving

Step 4. Give away or throw away for recycling all hangers you won’t use

There’s really no point in packing and moving any hangers that fall into Group 2. And this basically means that you’ll be better off giving away or throwing away those clothes hangers depending on their overall condition.

If the hangers you’re not taking with you happen to be fairly OK and can still be useful to somebody else, then do consider giving them away to a person who you know might need them. Another option is to donate those hangers – try second-hand clothes stores or certain charitable organizations that accept clothes. Also, dry cleaners usually accept wire hangers in good condition for reuse.

But if the hangers you’re not moving with you cannot be reused – too old, too broken, or too stained, then your only viable option is to throw them away for proper recycling. Make sure you discard them in the correct recycle bin.

How to Get Rid of Stuff Before Moving

Step 5. Leave the hangers on your clothes (wardrobe box)

Believe it or not, the best way to pack hangers when moving is to pack some of your clothes together with their hangers. And how should you do it?

It’s easy enough: simply take your hanging clothes from the wardrobe or dresser as they are placed on their hangers and transfer them carefully into a wardrobe box of the right size. For your information, wardrobe boxes are specialized containers for transporting hanging clothes – they look like miniature versions of clothes dressers and have a metal bar on the top on which you should hang the clothes.

Clearly, using wardrobe boxes is the easiest way to move clothes on hangers but it’s far from being the cheapest one – depending on its size (small, medium, large), a single wardrobe box will cost anywhere between $10 and $15. Also, wardrobe boxes are rather bulky and will take plenty of space inside the moving vehicle as well.

Step 6. Leave the hangers on your clothes (garbage bags)

Clean, durable garbage bags will enable you to pack up the hanging clothes in your closet in no time.

Another good way to pack hangers together with your hanging clothes is to use a simple yet highly practical trick to speed up the packing process: to pack clothes on hangers in garbage bags.

Here’s how it’s done:

Using this famous clothes packing trick, both your hangers and clothes will be packed for moving together, quickly and safely.

Step 7. Group and stack your hangers properly

One of the most important steps when packing hangers for moving is to group and stack the items properly so that they take as little space inside a box as possible.

The first thing you should do is group all the hangers you’re moving by size and material. As a rule, not all clothes hangers are of the same size though they come pretty close. For obvious reasons, it would be very difficult to pack together hangers of various sizes, so make things easier on yourself from the start.

Next, you should group all hangers by material. In other words, you should stack and pack in bundles only hangers made of plastic, and so on. It’s OK to bundle together plastic and wooden hangers of similar size but you should remember to keep wire hangers separately from the rest of the clothes accessories for safety reasons.

Stack neatly one hanger on the top of another in bundles of 10-12 pieces. As mentioned above, do not mix wire hangers with plastic or wooden ones.

Step 8. Use rubber bands or stretch wrap to secure the hangers

Once you’ve created neat stacks of clothes hangers, it’s time to secure them for safe transportation.

One good way to secure hangers is to use long rubber bands.

Another way you can pack hangers together is to use stretch wrap. Simply go around the stacked clothes hangers twice with the stretch film and you’re good to go. Do NOT use regular packing tape because it is likely to ruin the top finish of the hangers.

How to Pack Winter Clothes for Moving

Step 9. Arrange the bundles of hangers in a cardboard box

Make sure the hangers cannot move inside the cardboard box.

The next step is to transfer the sorted and bundled clothes hangers into a cardboard box.

However, before you do it, place a sheet of clean packing paper along the bottom of the box for extra protection. Then, start arranging the pre-grouped hangers into the box by material, meaning that when you’ve done packing up all the plastic hangers, then start with the wooden ones, and finally, finish it up with your wire ones.

There isn’t any specific way to arrange the bundled clothes hangers into the box – just make sure the hooks of one bundle cannot get entangled with another one. Nevertheless, the most natural way to pack hangers into a cardboard box is to do it flat by stacking them up along the sides of the container. Use pieces of paper to fill in any gaps between the hangers so that they cannot move inside the box.

When done, place a second sheet of packing paper on the top, close the box, seal it with packing tape, and label it accordingly.

Step 10. Avoid these mistakes when packing hangers for a move

Now you know how to pack hangers for moving. As you can see, the packing task is not complicated in any way and you’ve got good options, including packing the hangers together with the clothes – either in wardrobe boxes or in plastic bags.

Nevertheless, there are several mistakes that you could make while packing hangers for a move – judgment errors that will not only lead to lost time, but possibly to broken hangers or sometimes even worse – damaged pieces of clothing.

Here are the top 3 mistakes that you should avoid making when packing hangers when moving:

Packing for a move is a huge project and you may not be able to handle it on your own, especially when you’re moving in a hurry. Consider hiring professional packers if you’re running out of time or you feel rather overwhelmed by the great number of household items to protect for the road ahead.

The post How to Pack Hangers for Moving: Just Hang In There appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/how-to-pack-hangers-for-moving/

5 Tips for Moving Out After a Long Relationship

A break up after a long relationship can be one of the most painful and heartbreaking things a person can endure in life. And the traumatic situation can easily become even more complicated in case one of the partners – and sometimes even both of them – has to move out as a result of the separation.

Moving out after a breakup is a complicated matter even if the emotional side of the upheaval could somehow be taken out of the equation. Oftentimes, there will be numerous serious issues to be resolved between the two partners – dividing up the shared belongings, deciding on the custody of the children (if applicable), and organizing the house move itself.

Moving out after a long relationship can prove to be the ultimate test for everyone even when the breakup has been accepted by both adults as the logical end of an extended stint together.

These 5 tips for moving out after a long relationship will help alleviate the problematic situation and assist in finding the best way to move out after a breakup or a divorce.

1. Act decisively when the relationship is broken beyond repair

The end of a long relationship means that either you or your partner will have to move out of the place where you’ve lived together until that moment. And if the person who’s about to move out is you, then your top-priority task should be to organize the move as soon as possible.

Act in a timely manner when the relationship is irrevocably over.

Taking into account the specifics of your particular case, you might want to speed up the relocation process after it’s become absolutely clear that the relationship with your partner has ended and there’s no way to fix it. In some cases, delaying the move is a bad idea because it is likely to only create more dramatic scenes – domestic drama that can be easily avoided through an emergency move.

One way to move out after a breakup is to do it discreetly so that your ex doesn’t learn of your intention until after the move is already a fact. A stealth move may be necessary when you just know that the person you’ve broken up with is likely to make a scene while you’re moving out of the place. And if the move is local, then that’s even better – you should be able to move a few boxes at a time so that nobody notices anything.

The other way to move out after a relationship breakup is to do it quickly in a single attempt. That clean-break type of relocation is only possible with the help of professional movers who will pack up and move your belongings in one go. Usually, this is the best relocation option when you’re moving far, far away to another part of the country.

No matter which option to move out you pick, make sure you act quickly and decisively in an attempt to save your sanity.

Moving Checklist: Interactive & Printable

2. Be smart when deciding who gets what

After years and years of living together with your partner, it’s only natural that both of you will have bought many things together. And now that you’ve decided to separate, all those material things (assets) will need to be divided up between the two of you.

The Millennium Falcon is coming with you. End of discussion.

You and your partner are supposed to divide your shared possessions evenly. But the process can be complicated and heartbreaking at the same time. Generally speaking, the best piece of advice in such situations is to never get too greedy – just take the things you really love and care about. After all, it won’t make much sense to haul large and heavy pieces of furniture across the country after a tough breakup.

It’s important to note that some household items will have strong sentimental value for both of you and if the relationship has ended with an excess of hard feelings, then dividing those things can become truly agonizing for everyone. The thing is that whenever strong feelings are involved, then sound judgment is often clouded and the term FAIR can mean two different things for you and your ex.

In the case of a dispute over a particular item, then it’s usually better to let your partner have it instead of escalating the issue any further. Of course, it’s definitely a case-by-case matter so it’s hard to generalize, but remember that you’re trying to get a new start so taking too many objects that will keep reminding you of the past is probably not the best idea anyway.

In case of serious disputes over the shared property, you should consider getting legal advice from a lawyer.

Packing Checklist: Packing Timeline for Moving

3. Ask friends and family for help

Moving out after a long relationship may well be the hardest thing you’ll have to do in years. The emotional turmoil of having broken up with a person with whom you spent a long time together will surely have its heavy toll on your mind and body.

Your best friends will be there to help and support you throughout the move.

And during such a challenging period, you will definitely need the strong support of your best friends and your beloved family members. So, be sure to reach out to the people you trust the most and ask them for help whenever you feel like you need it the most.

First of all, your friends and family members can help you with the move itself – that is, assist you with packing your things quickly and maybe even loading them up into your own car or into a rented moving vehicle. Bear in mind that when you’re moving out after a breakup, one of your major goals is likely to be to leave the place as quickly as possible.

Secondly, the people who are closest to you can provide you with invaluable moral support throughout the move. They will be there for you, listening to what you have to share, discussing the whole situation with you, and hopefully – giving you good advice on what you should do next.

And finally, if you’re organizing an emergency move out of the current place but you haven’t yet found where to move to, you can always ask a family member or a good friend to stay with them for a while until you find a place of your own. Ultimately, your friends and family can be your temporary safety net when you’re moving out after a long relationship.

Checklist for Moving to a New City

4. Get legal advice when you have children and/or pets

If you have a child or children with the person you’ve broken up with, then one of the most important things you have to do is to meet up with a lawyer and seek legal counsel with them about the critical issue of who will have custody of the children after you move out.

The well-being of your children must be your top priority after a breakup or a divorce.

In such highly unpleasant situations, your top priority should always be the well-being of your children. If the kids are old enough, their wishes will also be taken into account so that the final decision works well for everyone involved.

If you’ve just got out of a bad relationship or even an abusive one, then you must speak with a lawyer right away about the legal custody of your children. In most cases, it’s a very bad idea to just take the kids and move to another part of the country without being legally allowed to do that.

So, do your best to refrain from taking any impulsive decisions or from performing any reckless acts that can complicate matters even more. When unsure what you should do when it comes to moving out with your children, you must be absolutely sure that you’re not breaking the law in any way because doing so could get you to lose custody of your own kids.

Discuss the issue with your ex-partner (if that’s still an option) to decide what’s best for your children. Also, if you own pets together, then it’s only logical that the pet animals should stay with whoever can care better for them after the separation and the subsequent house move.

Remember that rash decisions that have been influenced by powerful negative feelings such as hate, anger, or revenge will always lead to even more pain and devastation.

10 Mature Tips for Moving With Children

5. Hire trustworthy movers

A secret move may be exactly what you’re looking for.

During a traumatic experience such as a relationship breakup, one of the best things you can do is to be around people you can trust. Your friends and family should be there for you, assisting you in any way they can. However, their support may not be enough when it comes to the move itself.

If circumstances force you to move out in a hurry, then organizing a successful emergency move can only be possible with the help of professional movers who have been trained specifically to work efficiently. In reality, non-professionals could never work as fast and safely as the pros simply because they don’t have the required experience and know-how.

On the other hand, if you’ve made up your mind to move out discreetly (so that your partner doesn’t know you’re gone until it’s too late), then, once more, you’re going to have to use professional moving services to get the job done the way you want. Bear in mind that a secret move is only possible through perfect coordination and maximum efficiency that only experienced movers can offer.

Your best option when moving out after a breakup? Hire top-rated movers you can trust to be able to move out without any problems or additional drama.

Get free quotes from licensed, reputable, and experienced movers that will help you out during the tough situation you currently find yourself in.

The post 5 Tips for Moving Out After a Long Relationship appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/break-up-and-move-out/

A Beginner’s Guide to Moving Out: 5 Steps to Pull It Off

It can be rather daunting and intimidating to have to deal with a house move when you’ve never moved out before. You’re likely to feel doubtful about your chances of success simply because you’ve never had to move house until that very moment.

Of course, the lack of house-moving experience should be the one to blame. You just don’t know exactly what you’re supposed to do. When should you even start preparing for the upcoming move? What should you do first of all?

Even when you’re aware of the most important things you have to do prior to moving out (you do know that you’re supposed to pack up your things), you won’t really know how to prioritize the moving tasks so that you can be safe even if you run out of time before Moving day.

Moving out for the first time is no fun… but it happens to all of us at one time or another in life. And it’s just this one time – once you survive your very first house move without any serious injuries or costly property damage, it should be much easier to organize a smoother move the next time around.

And this is exactly why we’ve created this guide to moving out for the first time – to help you pull off a problem-free move now so that you can gain the experience and know-how needed for your next one.

Fear not! Just follow these 5 steps to moving out for the first time and you should be alright.

Step 1. Make a list of all the things you should do before moving out

The major issue when you’re moving out for the first time is that you simply don’t know what you should do to prepare adequately for the upcoming move. You do know what you’re expected to do in general – pack up your things in boxes and hire someone to transport those boxes to the new place – but you’re likely to be confused about where to start. And when. And how.

A personal moving checklist will help you manage your time in the best possible way.

To make things even more complicated, getting ready to move out is much more than just packing – there are also countless other important tasks to take care of such as changing your address, transferring your home utilities, and arguably the toughest job of them all – deciding which items you’ll take with you and which ones you’ll leave behind.

The sheer number of things to do when moving out for the first time can be overwhelming and that’s exactly why you should do all in your power to introduce order and structure to the house moving process. It’s simple – all you have to do is make a to-do list for moving so that you don’t forget to do something really, really important.

Write on a piece of paper or use a word processor on your computer or smartphone all the things you know for sure that you have to do during the preparation period. Don’t worry about arranging those tasks in any particular order, just write them down so that you don’t forget about them later.

Once you’re ready, check this detailed MOVING CHECKLIST and “steal” from it any extra jobs that happen to apply in your case as well. What you’ve just done is called personalization – that is, you’ve made sure all the moving tasks in your to-do list are relevant for you and your move.

The next step is to prioritize your newly-created personal moving checklist. Prioritization means assigning degrees of priority for each task with the purpose of completing the super-important ones first if it turns out that you won’t have enough time to do all of them before you have to move out.

What’s the next step? To start working on your own personalized and prioritized moving checklist.

Step 2. Say goodbye to the possessions you don’t need anymore

Since you don’t have much relocation experience, one rookie mistake you can make while preparing to move out is to decide to take with you all the household items found in the current home, including all the furniture pieces that you own.

Now, you may be wondering why moving all your possessions is considered a mistake – after all, aren’t those things yours? And you can do whatever you want with your belongings, can’t you?

Yes, and yes. But because you lack any house-moving experience, you won’t be able to see right away all the benefits of sorting out and decluttering your things before you begin to pack them into cardboard boxes of various sizes.

Here’s WHY you should pare down the number of your things prior to packing:

Opting out to move only the things you do like and do intend to use in the foreseeable future is one of the best decisions you’ll make when moving out for the first time. Just keep asking yourself over and over again, Do I really need this?, until you’re only left with useful items that you will continue to use and enjoy long after the move.

Go through your items carefully and decide what you’re going to do with each one depending on their current condition, usefulness, and value. Be ready for some tough decisions because the sentimental value will also play a big role in choosing what to take and what not to take to the new home. As a first-time mover, you may find it really challenging to let go of some of your possessions.

Moving experts are unanimous that if you haven’t used an item in more than a year, then you don’t really need that said item and therefore you should seriously consider not moving it to the new home.

How to Get Rid of Stuff When Moving

Step 3. Pack whatever things you can by yourself

Even without any experience in moving from one home to another, you must realize that the most important task before you is to pack up your things for a move.

You wish to take some of your belongings with you to the new place but that destination place is usually far away, often hundreds or thousands of miles from where you are now. What that means, in reality, is that the great distance between the two homes necessitates proper protection for your things – otherwise, there’s a very high risk that your items will get damaged along the way.

You shouldn’t have any problems packing up your clothes for moving.

So, packing your stuff safely is a must-do task but the real question is whether you should be able to do it by yourself or whether you should hire professional packers to do it for you. The great news is that you can use the in-between option that will help you lower your moving expenses without having to make any compromises over safety.

Luckily, you can still pack some of your belongings securely even when you’ve never had to pack any of your stuff for a move before. Household items such as clothes, bedding, blankets, and other soft goods are not breakable, so you can easily pack them up in large cardboard boxes without fear of damaging them in any way.

Shoes and books are two other types of items that you should be able to pack by yourself without any difficulties. Place wads of clean packing paper inside closed shoes to keep their shape. Also, remember to pack books in small boxes (they become too heavy too quickly) and to NEVER pack them with their spines facing you.

Thus said, you should recognize your limitations when it comes to packing skills and let professionals protect your breakable items – kitchen plates, glasses, electronics, artwork pieces, lamps, and anything else that requires plenty of padding to survive the move. Also, let furniture movers disassemble and protect any large and heavy furniture items that you may have decided to move to the new home.

Follow a packing timeline to give yourself the best possible chance of managing the packing task without any serious issues. However, if you happen to be in a hurry to move out or you doubt your packing skills, it’s always best to request the add-on service of packing from a full-service moving company.

Packing Timeline for Moving

Step 4. See if your friends will be willing to help you move

One of the things you should know when moving out for the first time is that you won’t be able to manage it all without any assistance. Even if you had plenty of experience in moving from one place to another, you would still realize that a house move is a big project that cannot be completed without any help, be it from family members, friends, or professional movers.

This beginner’s guide to moving out strongly recommends that you ask your good friends to give you a hand, especially on the day of the move when there are plenty of heavy items to be taken out of the home and loaded into a moving vehicle. You’re going to need a collective type of manpower to ensure Moving day safety, and the cheapest way to get that muscle power is from your circle of close friends.

Friends in need are friends indeed.

You should still keep in mind that there are certain disadvantages of asking your friends to help you move: you might feel awkward asking them for such a big favor, the risk of damage to your items or the property will be higher compared to using professional moving services, there’s always some danger of personal injuries, and of course – you will be indebted to your pals and will have to return the favor someday.

And yet, there are also a number of indisputable advantages of asking your buddies to give you a hand with the move, so here are 3 important things to keep in mind before you do so:

How to Get Friends to Help You Move

Step 5. Hire professional movers for peace of mind

Without a doubt, the easiest way to move out when you don’t have any house-moving experience is to hire a top-rated moving company to handle the toughest aspects of your house move.

When you’re moving across the country, then this beginner’s guide to moving out of state strongly recommends that you bet on professionals with many years of experience and a high degree of professionalism. Bear in mind that long-distance moves can be very challenging even for people with substantial moving experience, meaning that they will be close to impossible to organize and execute by first-time movers.

Trust professional movers with many years of relocation experience.

To secure the best interstate movers in your area, you only need to follow these 5 steps:

How to Find Top-Rated Movers Near You

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Moving Out: 5 Steps to Pull It Off appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/beginners-guide-to-moving-out/

How to Convince Your Partner to Move With You: 5 Tactics That Work

It can be really frustrating when you want to move but your partner doesn’t even want to hear about it. It’s normal to have minor disagreements in a relationship but your loved one’s refusal to move out with you is a serious issue that has the potential to cause a lot of damage.

As things stand, you’re likely to have a critically important reason to want to move away from where you are now: a great job in another part of the country, a unique chance to be closer to your family and friends, an area in the country with much more favorable climatic conditions for you, or an ideal retirement destination waiting for just you.

And to make things even more complicated and painful, you do feel like this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for and if you don’t move out soon enough, you’ll never have another good chance to do it.

But there’s one big obstacle along the way – your significant other refuses to join you. He or she won’t move with you for reasons of their own and it’s pretty obvious that you’ve reached an impasse – a tricky situation in which no progress can be made simply because none of you is willing to make a compromise in order to break the deadlock.

Don’t despair! You’re not out of good options yet simply because there are several smart things you can do to try to convince your partner that moving out is the right decision.

So, how to get your partner to move with you? These 5 tactics should help.

1. Wait for the right time to talk with your partner

The very first tactic to get your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend to agree to move with you may seem a bit silly to you in the beginning. However, what you have to understand is that timing is extremely important in all aspects of life.

Here’s the thing: get the timing right and many doors that seem firmly shut can suddenly open for you. Therefore, you should never underestimate the power of timing when you want to convince your partner to move with you to wherever it is that you wish to end up.

Here are a few things you should consider when you’re looking for the right time to discuss the issue with your significant other:

Be smart when choosing the right timing to talk with your partner and you will have a good chance of making them see the entire situation through your eyes. If you sense that things are not going well due to a poorly judged timing, then you’d better stop and try again at another time.

Keep in mind that you may only have one shot to convince your spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend to move with you to another place.

How to Deal With Emotions When Moving House

2. Discuss with your partner the advantages of moving out

You want to move but your partner doesn’t want to move with you. Now, this is a big problem because you strongly feel that moving away is the only option for you.

Trying to impose your will on the person you love will rarely work – remember that they must have a good reason to want to stay where they are. So, the best thing you can do under the circumstances is to make them see all the positives you will both gain by moving.

In other words, you’d better focus on the clear advantages of moving out if you want to have any chance of convincing your partner to move together with you:

While trying to convince your partner to move with you, your best bet is to be completely honest with them and to talk about the issue openly. Remember that you’re not trying to force them to agree with you – instead, all you should really be doing is making them see that moving away is the best thing for both of you.

Be a good negotiator. Instead of talking only about what YOU want, talk about the things that will be best for BOTH OF YOU. In other words, concentrate on the WE pronoun the way the best negotiators in the world do. Talk about your future together and discuss again your shared dreams in order to have a fighting chance of success.

Why Do People Move House? Top 20 Reasons Why People Relocate

3. Hear out your partner’s arguments and show empathy

When you want something too much, you tend to convince yourself that you’re right and anyone else who doesn’t agree with you is wrong.

Listen. Listen very closely.

In this case, you want to move out but your partner doesn’t. Therefore, the chances are that you’ll automatically assume that you’re right and he or she is wrong. And as you may or may not suspect, such a questionable assumption won’t help your cause too much.

You want to move to another city, to another state, or even to another country but your spouse or partner refuses to do so. Now it’s time to understand the main reason for their persistent refusal.

Listen to what your significant other has to say as to why they don’t wish to relocate. It may be a single major reason, or there may be a few good reasons for them to oppose the move. Either way, it’s time to just listen attentively to what they have to say about it all, without arguing and without interrupting.

In order to really understand why your partner is so reluctant to move out, you’ll have to really listen. Is it possible that you could have failed to see some obvious disadvantages of the move you want so much?

It can be extremely hard to be objective when you really want to do something, but what you have to keep in mind is that your best chance to get what you wish is to show empathy toward your partner. The moment they see that you’re trying to understand them, you’re really trying to place yourself in their place, then things may suddenly turn in your favor.

There’s got to be something that’s holding your partner back – their current job, their friends, or maybe even the climate of the area. Could it be the fear of the unknown? Or maybe they don’t wish to deal with change once again.

Showing empathy is not only your way of proving that you’re not selfish but it’s also the only path that can lead to a peaceful solution that’ll work best for both of you.

Top 10 Fears of Moving Out: Conquer Your Fear of Moving

4. Look for a mutually beneficial compromise

If neither of you is willing to change your mind after an open discussion about the pros and cons of moving house at that particular point in time, then it seems like the only option for salvation is to reach a mutually beneficial compromise.

When you and your spouse, or partner, appear to be in total disagreement over the house move, then your last chance is to look for a good compromise that will save your relationship. Remember that both of you will have to sacrifice something in order to make it work. If only one of you is willing to make a sacrifice in the name of your future together, then things won’t usually end well for either side.

One possible compromise is to decide to move temporarily (if it’s even a viable option) and see how you feel after a pre-determined period of time – usually a few months’ time. After the trial run, the plan is to assess the situation carefully in an attempt to figure out whether or not the move was the right thing to do.

If you and your partner feel happier after the trial run is complete, then it’ll be the ultimate proof that you were right all along. However, should you both feel miserable and regretful of the decision to move out, then maybe you can move back to the old place to honor the original compromise deal.

The thing is that what you think will happen and what will actually happen after the move can be two different things. Right now you feel that moving away is the only solution for you and it might be so, but there’s no way to know for sure until you find yourself at the intended destination place and see for yourself.

5. Assure your partner you’ll have a smooth move

A house move can be an extremely stressful affair and that’s why most people are not really thrilled when it’s time to start preparing for a move. The mere thought of having to sort out and pack up all belongings is enough to stress people out, often causing them to toss and turn all night.

Professional movers will take the weight off your shoulders.

One of the reasons why your partner may be reluctant to move can be the enormous hassle that comes with relocating to another place. In addition to all the time required to prepare adequately to move out, a house move can be rather expensive too, especially when no moving budget is created from the beginning to monitor and control all move-related expenses.

Time, money, stress… It’s no wonder why your spouse or partner does not share your strong enthusiasm to move out. Luckily, as long as you manage to play your cards right, you should be able to convince your spouse to move out with you. How?

Assure your partner that you’ll have a problem-free move, and then prove that you’re a person of your word.

How you manage your own time will determine just how successful the house move will be. There are many tasks to complete when moving to another home and that’s why a detailed to-do list will enable you to increase your efficiency by not wasting any precious time during the preparation period.

Moving Checklist

Also, a successful move is one where you spend as little money as possible by keeping moving costs within a reasonable and acceptable limit. Employ smart techniques to save money when moving across the country and your partner is likely to agree to follow you to wherever it is that you wish to go.

20 Simple and Easy Ways to Reduce Moving Costs

Ultimately, the only way to ensure a smooth house move from start to finish is to hire one of the best moving companies in your area. Get free quotes from licensed, experienced, and top-rated movers that will protect and transport your valuable possessions without any stress or hassle.

10 Tips for Hiring Movers

The post How to Convince Your Partner to Move With You: 5 Tactics That Work appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/how-to-convince-your-partner-to-move/

5 Uncommon Things to Do After Moving Into a New House

Once Moving day is over, the hardest part of the house move should be over. However, this doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down simply because there are plenty of important tasks to take care of right after the relocation is complete.

You’re probably aware of what you should do after you find yourself in the new place – all the essential things to do after moving will be waiting for you to start marking them as DONE, one by one.

Of course, you should start unpacking immediately after the move but not before you’ve inspected the new place really carefully. If you haven’t changed your postal address before the move, you should do it then.

Registering your children at a new school, finding suitable health care providers (including a vet for your dog, cat, or bird), and registering your car in the new state are all essential post-move jobs that you have to do sooner than later.

But believe it or not, there are also some uncommon things you should do after moving into a new house – unusual and even a bit surprising tasks that you wouldn’t normally think about after arriving in your new home. Whether you will actually complete those non-typical things will depend on your unique set of move parameters and house moving circumstances, but it’s important that you know about their existence nonetheless.

Here are 5 uncommon things to do after moving into a new house:

1. Bring good luck to the new home

You wouldn’t really mind bringing some good luck into the new home, would you?

Don’t bring your old broom to the new home.

Regardless of whether you feel very lucky about the whole house moving thing or you feel extremely unlucky for having to relocate, it’s always a nice thing to know that you’re starting the new chapter in your life with a certain dose of good luck. If you’ve had a tough house move, then you’ll surely wish to reverse your bad luck – isn’t it high time good things started happening to you for a change?

It doesn’t really matter if you believe in new home superstitions or not, it just takes a few simple steps to bring good luck into your new place. Luckily for you, it’s one of those nothing-to-lose-everything-to-gain types of situations, so you might as well give it a try.

Don’t take your old broom with you to the new house

It’s believed that old brooms will transfer physically not only the dust into a new home, but also all the negativity and bad luck from your previous place.

Now, you may not even have a broom in the first place, but if you do, then the house move is the perfect time to just throw it away and get a brand-new one for the new place.

It’s not a good idea to get rid of your vacuum cleaner… unless it’s time to retire it due to technical issues. Just make sure you clean its dust bag or container well before the move.

Bring bread and salt into the new place

Bread and salt are well-known symbols of wealth, success, and fortune.

So, by bringing some bread (preferably pita bread) into the new home, you’ll be making sure that you and your family members will never go hungry. Similarly, taking salt with you into the new residence will guarantee a post-move life full of flavor.

As an added bonus to the good luck you’ll supposedly get, you’ll have something to eat after an exhausting move day.

10 Valuable Tips for Moving to a New Neighborhood

2. Remove the negative energy from the house

The thing is that your conscious attempt to bring good luck into the new home may not work out well if the place you’ve just moved into has a lot of negative energy lingering inside and around the property.

The ritual of burning sage is believed to clear out any negative energy and protect a home from evil spirits.

In such a case, one special thing you may need to do after moving into a new house is to try to dispel the negative energy that’s floating around the living space like a dark ominous rain cloud.

Note that there will be much more pressing tasks to take care of immediately after the move such as opening up the essentials boxes, setting up the bathroom and bedroom, and maybe even cleaning up the place.

However, whenever you find some free time on the checklist of things to do after moving, you should definitely consider doing some simple things in order to ward off any evil spirits from the new house and summon all the positive energy you can get.

Light a candle

Lighting a candle to chase away the darkness and bring light into a home is an ancient tradition. If the house you just moved to has a fireplace, lighting a fire in there should also have the same effect for the new home.

The flame of a candle or from a fireplace is thought to absorb all negative energy and purify the living space from all evil.

Burn sage

Burning sage is another old ritual that’s meant to clear out the negative energy accumulated over time in a home, protect the place from evil spirits, and bless the new house at the same time.

All you have to do is light a bunch of white sage in a metal or porcelain bowl and let it smoke while you walk around the new house, starting from the front door, going in a clockwise fashion, and not forgetting to smoke out the corners in all rooms.

Sprinkle salt on the floor

This one is easy enough – simply sprinkle some salt over the threshold of the new home. Salt is believed to ward off evil spirits, so find a packet of salt inside a KITCHEN-labeled box and get down to work.

Also, it’s a good idea to sprinkle salt on all window sills throughout the house – to keep evil spirits from entering your home from the windows.

What to Do on the First Day in Your New Home

3. Secure the new house

One of the non-typical things to do after moving into a new house is to secure the house against unauthorized access, harmful acts of Nature, or freak accidents.

The security of your new home is your top priority.

After moving into a new house, you won’t usually think about how safe that new place really is. You simply move in and start unpacking your stuff assuming that the new place is safe. And that questionable assumption could turn out to be a costly mistake later on.

You must make sure that the living space you’re going to occupy from now on is secure and safe enough for you and your family, including your dear pets.

Securing the home you’ve just moved into is done on several levels:

Secure the new home against unauthorized access

Secure the hew home against fire

Baby-proof the new house

How to Unpack After Moving: Boost Your Unpacking Efficiency

4. Go say Hi to your neighbors

If you’ve prepared a checklist of things to do after moving, then the task of going and meeting up your neighbors is not likely to be included in the list.

Be brave enough to go and say Hi to your new neighbors.

As things stand, you should NOT expect the folks next door to rush to you and welcome you in their neighborhood with a basket of tasty welcoming gifts. That’s very unlikely to happen and it would all look more like a scene taken straight out of a Hollywood movie.

The chance of your neighbors making the first step will be either zero or slightly higher depending largely on where you have moved to – which state, city, and neighborhood. And here’s the key question: why don’t YOU make the first step and say a quick Hi to the folks next door?

While it’s true that taking the initiative to introduce yourself to the new neighbors is one of the uncommon things to do when moving into a new home, it is just something that you will eventually do. Besides, being the first one to say Hi will win you points for good manners.

You may feel odd about going and saying Hello to your neighbors without a good reason. But the truth is that you do have a very good reason to do it – you’re officially their new neighbor and you would like to introduce yourself so that none of you feels awkward when you do happen to see each other later on, either on the street or inside the same apartment building.

You may not realize this but meeting the people next door soon after the move has a clear advantage – you can seek valuable advice from those people about the city or town you just moved to. Here are a few example questions that you can ask them:

How to Overcome Relocation Depression After Moving

5. Organize a housewarming party

It’s quite common to organize a moving party before you move away. It makes a lot of sense to host such a farewell party for a number of reasons:

A housewarming party may be exactly what you need to jump-start your new life chapter.

Organizing a housewarming party after the move is one of the uncommon things to do after moving to a new home simply because, unless you’ve moved across town or moved only a short distance away, your best friends won’t be there. Sure, you may still have a few good friends in the destination town or city but most of your best pals will live in the place you had to leave.

Nevertheless, bear in mind that it can prove to be quite beneficial for you to throw a housewarming party shortly after arriving in the new home. Why?

See also: 10 Essential Things to Do After Moving

The post 5 Uncommon Things to Do After Moving Into a New House appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/uncommon-things-to-do-after-moving-into-a-new-house/

Pros and Cons of Moving Into a Bigger House

Moving into a bigger house is a dream come true for many people, especially for the ones who have had to put up for years with all the inconveniences and nuisances of living in a home with insufficient living space.

Needless to say, the greatest advantage of moving into a big house is the extra living space a person will get and can use for various purposes. In the case of a growing family, that extra room will come as a blessing for each family member.

If you yourself are planning to move into a bigger place – often thanks to a higher income or an unexpected change in your lifestyle, then you should keep in mind that despite the numerous benefits of moving to a bigger house, there are also a number of disadvantages that come with a larger property.

You’re going to need to make an informed decision in order to avoid deep regrets after you’ve already moved and settled into the more spacious home. And to make the right choice prior to moving out, you’ll need to be aware of the obvious and not-so-obvious pros and cons of moving to a bigger house.

Advantages of moving into a bigger house

Here are the major pros of moving into a bigger house compared to the place you’re living in right now:

1. More living space for everyone

It’s hard to argue that the greatest benefit of moving to a larger house is the additional space you will get right after you cross the threshold of the new home. As a result, each family member, including any pets you may have, should be happier with more living space.

It’s no fun for a growing family to be restricted to a small home – after all, children grow fast and soon need their own rooms for more privacy. The great news is that you won’t have to negotiate a peace treaty between your kids when they fight over space-related issues.

But a bigger house is more than just each teenager having their own private room. You and your partner should also appreciate the fact that each one of you can get some breathing room for yourself from time to time.

Your dog or cat will also feel much happier when they have more room to run and play freely around the new house.

Ultimately, more living space means more breathing space without having to bump into each other all the time. And that’s a great, liberating feeling, isn’t it?

2. Enough space for all personal belongings

Another advantage of moving to a larger home is the abundance of storage space that you will get to keep your stuff.

The number of things in a house tends to increase with each passing year so when living under the roof of a small property, sometimes you may feel as if the place were literally bursting through the seams with all kinds of belongings, ranging from super useful and practical items to a bunch of worthless junk.

Prior to the move, you should still inventory your possessions and get rid of the things you have never really liked and don’t intend to use in the near future. However, when you’re not sure whether to take some things with you or not, you won’t be really worried about where you will store the items in question. Why?

It’s simple – you’re moving into a bigger house that will surely have enough storage space for your things. Basically, this means that thanks to the large storage areas of the house – garage, basement, attic, spare rooms, you’ll be able to enjoy a fairly decluttered lifestyle – at least in the very beginning

3. A spare room for out-of-town guests

Moving to a bigger place to live in will also give you an extra room, or maybe even rooms, for friends to spend the night when they come and visit you from out of town. And that’s a big bonus since you won’t need to worry about having to arrange a hotel for them or having your guests cramped up in a room corner.

Having a spare guest room in the house is a huge bonus.

If you happen to enjoy spending time with your friends, then you’re likely to like the idea of being free to invite your out-of-town pals whenever you feel like it. Having a spare guest room ready for such occasions is extremely convenient and hugely satisfying at the same time.

The thing is that you won’t ever feel uneasy or anxious when having your best pals over to spend the night at your place. As an added bonus, your children can also invite their school friends to a sleepover party at the new house.

4. More room for your own projects and a home office

The more space you have in your own home, the more opportunities you’ll have to develop personal projects over time – projects that require enough space to come to fruition.

If you enjoy working out, then you can easily choose to turn a big room into your personal gym – a place of your own where you can be at peace while staying fit or building a more muscular body. In reality, what this means is that you won’t need to worry about the working hours of local gyms and you’ll no longer have to pay for a gym membership card either.

Setting up a pool table or a ping pong table in one of the larger rooms will give you hours of enjoyment in your free time – a luxury that you could never afford when living in a place with a fairly limited living space.

Also, one of the not-so-obvious advantages of moving into a bigger house is that you can set up a home office in one of the rooms and potentially run a business of your own from the comfort of your own home. Also, if your primary job allows it, you can even work remotely from the new home without having to commute to your regular workplace twice a day.

5. Large space outdoors

There’s a big chance that the big house you move into will have a spacious backyard or/and a garden where children and pets can play together and engage in all types of fun activities depending on the climatic conditions outside.

A big house with a spacious yard – what more could you want out of life?

You can always set a trampoline or a swing set there in the outdoor space, or both, for hours of pure enjoyment. If you can afford it, getting a hot tub for the house garden should be a dream come true in many ways – a guarantee for unrivaled fun alone or with friends.

Of course, creating a barbeque area within the house garden is a must – especially during the summertime when you can have good friends over for memorable BBQ evenings.

The extra outdoor space that your bigger house will most certainly come with can also be used for more practical purposes such as growing vegetables or planting fruit trees there.

Moving Checklist: 8-Week Moving Timeline

Disadvantages of moving into a bigger house

Believe it or not, a bigger house comes with a few disadvantages as well. If it didn’t, everybody would be moving into larger houses, right?

Here are the major cons of moving into a bigger house:

1. Significantly higher costs

Everybody knows that moving into a bigger house is more expensive than moving into a smaller home. If you’re renting the property, then the monthly rent will be higher, sometimes much higher. If you’re moving into a big house as an owner, then the mortgage premium will be significantly higher.

The cost of the property itself is the major factor that will determine whether or not you can afford to move there. However, a large house comes with a number of associated costs that you should always factor in prior to your decision to relocate there.

Some of these extra costs include but are not limited to

As a rule of thumb, the larger the property is, the higher the above-mentioned costs will be.

Also, don’t forget that the proper maintenance of a large house garden can also be rather costly in the end considering the high costs of gardening equipment, various garden maintenance products, lawn furniture, etc. And if you don’t have the required time to keep your garden or backyard in good condition, you may need to pay somebody to do it for you – an extra expense you probably never included in your preliminary budget.

2. Extra time and energy to maintain the bigger property

One thing you should always keep in mind is that when it comes to properties, bigger is not always better.

You’ll always have your hands full after moving into a bigger house.

In addition to spending a fortune to purchase a bigger house or investing serious money into renting a larger home, you should be aware that maintaining a much more spacious property will require a lot of time and energy from you. And that’s something you may not be ready to do.

A bigger house will mean more time to arrange and clean the rooms inside it. A big garden will require constant care to remain presentable. Even minor repairs or small renovation jobs around the house can take a long time to complete.

Ultimately, you should be mentally prepared that living in a bigger house will subsequently mean less free time as there’ll always be something to do inside or outside the property. Of course, you can choose to pay somebody to do some of the jobs for you, but such a decision would mean more money out of your pocket too.

3. Less than desirable location

Location is one of the major factors when choosing where to live. And in most cases, big houses are usually found in the suburbs of a big city or in smaller towns. Ultimately, all of this means that you may need to sacrifice on location in order to move into a big house to live in.

Living away from the center of a big city can prove to be hugely advantageous for you but that’s not always the case you and you should weigh all factors in order to make the best possible decision in your set of circumstances.

After all, you may realize at a later stage that living in a big house is great but being too far from your workplace in the city or from your children’s schools is not ideal for you. So, the big question remains: is it worth moving to a bigger house if you’ll be forced to make a serious sacrifice on location?

Long before your move out, you just have to analyze all the pros and cons of moving into a bigger house and figure out if you’re making the right choice. And if it turns out that you are, then you should start thinking about how to organize the house move with minimum stress for you and your family.

The very first step? Use our Moving Cost Calculator to get free quotes from top-rated moving companies near you and secure their high-quality services for a highly successful relocation.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire Movers?

The post Pros and Cons of Moving Into a Bigger House appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/pros-and-cons-of-moving-into-a-bigger-house/

How to Pack and Move a Heavy Bookcase

If you love books, then you’re sure to have tons of volumes in your home. And if that’s the case, then it’s very likely that you also have a bookcase where you store your books and where have them on display for both easy access and decorative purposes.

Having a personal library in your home is an awesome feeling and you must be very proud of your own book collection. However, when the time comes for you to move to a new place, then you’ll have to decide what you’re going to do with your books and the bookcase itself.

Depending on a number of variables, moving a heavy bookcase to a new home can prove to be either a very good decision or a rather poor one. But if you do make up your mind to move the large furniture piece with you, then you’ll definitely need to know how to protect and transport your bookcase to the new house.

Read on to learn how to move a heavy bookcase by yourself – that is, without hiring the services of furniture movers.

Is it worth moving your bookcase?

Make an informed decision about whether or not you should move the bookcase at all. Here are a few pointers that should help you decide what’s best for you and your budget:

Ultimately, you’re the only one who can figure out if your bookcase is really worth the money, time, and effort to take it with you during the house move.

In most cases, moving your precious books to the new house is more important than moving your bookcase. Nevertheless, if you do like the bookshelf and you don’t wish to part with it, then it’s time to prepare it for the upcoming move.

Should You Move Your Furniture or Buy New After the Move?

How to pack and move a bookcase: 7 steps

Before you can take out the bookcase and load it up onto the moving truck, you’ll have to protect it first so that it arrives in the new home exactly the way it left the old place.

Here are the steps that will show you how to pack and move a heavy bookcase.

Step 1. Pack all books separately

Books are quite heavy so you shouldn’t just leave them on the bookshelves during the house moving process. Instead,

How to Pack Books for Moving

Step 2. Empty the bookcase completely

Once you’ve packed up all the books from the bookcase, it’s time to remove any other miscellaneous items displayed on or stored inside the furniture piece. The idea is to empty the bookshelf completely so that it becomes as lightweight as possible.

Remove any framed photos, figurines, souvenirs, etc. from the bookcase and pack those fragile items separately using plenty of wrapping paper and bubble wrap for extra protection. In the end, the furniture piece should remain totally bare, with nothing on and inside it.

Step 3. Disassemble the bookcase

This furniture disassembly step is critical when moving a heavy bookcase to another home. In most cases, your bookcase will be too big and too heavy to move as it is so you’re going to have to disassemble it safely to its main components.

How to Disassemble Furniture When Moving

Step 4. Wrap all bookcase components in blankets

So far, so good.

This step is all about protecting all the bookcase elements that you have managed to disassemble from the main furniture structure.

How to Protect Your Furniture When Moving

Step 5. Move the bookcase out of the home

Moving your bookcase out of the home and loading it up into the vehicle can range from being fairly straightforward to moderately challenging depending on how many helpers you have and the level of disassembly (partial or complete) you’ve managed to achieve.

In case the bookcase is positioned firmly by the wall and you have trouble moving it slightly toward the center of the room, then you must use furniture sliders that are appropriate for the type of flooring in the room. Sliders made of hard rubber or plastic are good for carpeted floors while sliders made of soft felt material are fine for hardwood floors, including tiled floors.

Simply place a furniture slider under each leg or edge of the bookcase and pull the heavy furniture piece away from the wall.

How to Move Heavy Furniture by Yourself

Step 6. Stay safe when moving the heavy bookcase

Moving a heavy bookcase without the assistance of professional movers can be a dangerous task. To prevent property damage and personal injuries, follow these basic safety guidelines when moving the bookcase out of your home:

10 Safety Tips for Moving Furniture: Safety Above All Else

Step 7. Load the bookcase onto the truck

The last step to moving a bookcase cabinet to another home is to load it safely onto the moving truck.

Moving a big and heavy bookcase sounds like a job for the pros.

The best way to do is, of course, is to use the loading ramp to get the large furniture item inside the vehicle.

How to Load a Moving Truck Like the Pros

Packing and moving a heavy bookcase is not an easy task in any way – not only will you have to disassemble the large furniture unit, either partially or completely, to make it smaller and lighter, but you’ll also need to pack safely their components, take them all the way to the vehicle, and then load them up safely.

When the job of moving your heavy bookcase seems daunting enough, then do yourself a favor and get in touch with reputable and experienced furniture movers.

The post How to Pack and Move a Heavy Bookcase appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/how-to-move-bookshelves/

How Much Do Movers Charge?

There are many advantages of hiring professional movers when it’s time to move out of your current place. The pros will arrive on the pre-arranged day, pack up your things (if you’ve opted for the add-on service of packing), load them up safely into their truck, and transport your belongings to the new address.

When working with a full-service moving company, you won’t even have to lift a finger during the entire move – the experienced professionals will take care of each and every aspect of the relocation.

It all sounds too good to be true, right? And it is… as long as you can afford to hire one of the top-rated movers in your city.

Professional moving services are not cheap by any means. However, when you factor in all the hard work your movers will invest in the move and then think about that you would have to have done it all by yourself (or maybe together with a few good friends), then you’re likely to realize that choosing to go with a reputable and reliable moving company is still the best way to approach the upcoming house move.

And yet, you will need to find the answer to one important question before anything else: how much do movers charge?

Read on to learn the average cost of hiring movers and why you must know in advance how much movers will charge you.

Why you must know the average moving cost in advance

There are several good reasons why you should know the average cost of movers in advance, way before you pick a moving company and book their services.

Reason 1: You can be financially ready to move out

The very first reason to get a good idea about how much you’re going to have to pay your movers is all about your budget. By learning how much movers charge on average, you will be able to make some rough calculations and see where you stand from a financial point of view.

In the best-case scenario, you will have enough money to cover the inevitable moving expenses and you won’t be too stressed out about it. Or maybe you’ll almost have enough money to move out, in which case you’re going to have to use proven ways to cut moving costs.

In the worst-case scenario, you won’t be anywhere near enough the approximate moving cost, in which case you may need to postpone the move until you save more money, if that’s even an option for you.

Reason 2: You will be mentally ready to pay the price

The second reason why it’s a great idea to be aware of the average moving costs before you reach out to professional moving companies near you is that you’ll also want to be mentally ready for what’s coming.

One of your goals during a possibly stressful move is to avoid unpleasant last-minute surprises when it comes to the moving price. Basically, you’ll want to know how much your movers will charge you in the end – approximately, of course – so that you can have the peace of mind that 1) you have that amount of money, and 2) you won’t get scammed in any way.

Reason 3: You will be able to pick an affordable mover

It must be hugely satisfying to work with affordable movers who offer first-class moving services.

By knowing the average cost of movers, you will be able to figure out which moving companies are affordable and which ones are not.

Ultimately, your mission is to find an affordable moving company that offers high-quality services. The good news is that it’s easier than you think: all you need to do is get free quotes from at least 3 top-rated moving companies in your area, compare those moving estimates in terms of additional services, terms and conditions, and of course – price, and then pick the bid that’s perfectly agreeable with your relocation budget.

Reason 4: You will be able to spot any attempts at moving fraud

The average cost of movers will give you a rough idea of what to expect in terms of moving company rates. Why can this information be of any use to you?

If you do happen to get a quote that is uncharacteristically low – way lower than the rest of the estimates and even below what the average moving costs are telling you, then that could be an attempt at moving fraud from a not-so-reputable mover.

The approximate moving costs will help you stay vigilant when choosing a moving company, and thus avoid any possibility of becoming a victim of a moving scam.

How to Avoid Moving Scams

How much do movers charge for a local move?

It’s important to understand that local movers and cross-country movers charge differently.

So, how much will movers charge you when you’re moving only a short distance away?

The average cost of a local move is roughly $60 per hour per mover.

And now that you know the average cost of local movers, you can do some calculations to figure out how much you’ll need to pay (roughly) when you’re moving locally. Remember that the local moving company you’ve hired will charge you based on the hours they spend working on your move.

5 things you should know about local moving costs

Now that you’re aware of how much local movers charge on average, let’s take a look at 5 things you should know when moving only a short distance away with the help of a local moving company.

20 Local Moving Tips: Local Moving Checklist

How much do movers charge for a cross-country move?

Interstate movers will not charge you on an hourly basis – instead, they will quote you a price based on a number of variables such as distance, weight, and extra services.

So, how much will state-to-state movers charge you when you’re moving across the country?

If we assume that your destination home is located roughly 1,000 miles away from your current location, then we have the following average moving costs:

20 Simple and Easy Ways to Reduce Moving Costs

5 things you should know about cross-country moving costs

Now that you’re aware of how much interstate movers charge on average, let’s take a look at 5 things you should know when moving long distance across the country with the help of an out-of-state moving company.

Moving Cost Calculator

The post How Much Do Movers Charge? appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/movers-charge/

5 Things to Do When You Regret Moving

No matter how well you plan out every detail of your move, the house moving process is notorious for being unpredictable and sometimes the whole relocation experience can prove to be miserable, disappointing, and even disastrous.

But believe it or not, things may get much worse after the move if your initial expectations clash with the harsh reality in a way you didn’t anticipate prior to the move. The thing is that you could start to regret moving to a new city.

There’s a huge difference between being unpleasantly surprised by the post-move reality and feeling regret about the move in the first place. Ultimately, the feeling of regret is one of the worst things that can happen to you after the move simply because it’s likely to trouble and upset you every single day until you manage to find a good solution.

The feeling of regret when moving house is usually unmistakable and it can be really difficult to deal with the bitter disappointment and even suppressed anger at yourself when you realize that you’ve made a mistake. Yes, dealing with regret can be a serious challenge that you must overcome quickly in order to restore your emotional balance.

What to do when you regret moving? Don’t give up without a fight!

Here are 5 things you should do when you regret moving.

1. Figure out why you regret the move

The very first thing you should do when you start to feel sorry that you’ve moved house is to try to figure out why your regret your decision to relocate.

Sometimes answering the why question will show you the possible solution to the problem itself. Surely there must be a reason for the regret, or maybe even several reasons for you to feel the way you do. Therefore, your special mission should be to locate the source of the regret in order to remedy the situation.

So, why do you regret moving to a new place?

Answer the why question and you do have a chance of working out a good solution to get rid of that constant feeling of regret after moving.

2. Focus on the positives

Let there be no regrets.

After the move is complete, some things may not be exactly as you pictured them prior to the move. As a result, you’re likely to feel disappointed, sad, and maybe even miserable, strongly regretting your decision to move house.

Now, to feel better about the whole relocation, you have to try to change the way you see things around you. Changing your overall perspective can be the key to shaking off any lingering regrets in order to feel alright once more.

But how do you change your post-move outlook when things are just not what you thought they would be? It’s easier than you think: focus on what you’re gaining and NOT on what you’ve lost as a result of the move.

Here’s what you should do: make a list of all the things you will win thanks to the house move and all the things you will lose due to the relocation. It can’t be all that bad, can it?

Here’s what the great Alexander Graham Bell said once,

“When one door closes, another door opens. But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

And when you’re ready with the list of the pluses and minuses of moving house in your particular case, then all you have to do is focus on the positives in order to stop regretting moving away from home.

Cherish the unique opportunities that the new place will give you – for example, you will meet and hopefully befriend some great people whom you would have never met if you hadn’t moved. You will also experience some amazing things that the house move had made possible for you.

Instead of dwelling in past, you should keep your gaze fixed on the future. And no regrets, remember?

Checklist for Moving to a New City

3. Keep in touch with your good friends

Certain regrets are pretty much unavoidable, especially immediately after the move is over. You’ll find yourself in a strange, unfamiliar environment so it’s fairly easy to feel sad and nostalgic about what you’ve just lost due to the house move.

And of course, the thing that you’re likely to regret the most after moving away is the fact that your best friends are no longer around you and you can’t hang around with them whenever you feel like it. You are here and your buddies are over there, and that’s just not fair no matter how you look at it.

Whether you had a choice not to move away is irrelevant – what’s relevant at the moment is to make the most of the situation you’re in right now. You can’t undo what’s already done (or can’t you?), so what you can do is try your best to keep in touch with your good friends regardless of the distance that separates you.

And while it’s a great idea to keep the link with your past, remember that the only way forward is to make new friends whenever a good opportunity to do so comes around.

10 Essential Things to Do After Moving

4. Turn the unfamiliar place into a familiar one

The only way to get to like the new place is to be brave enough to explore it.

One of the major reasons for regretting a move is that you’ve replaced familiarity with unfamiliarity and comfort with discomfort. You just moved into a strange place where most people may seem cold and welcoming while the surroundings feel foreign and even menacing at times.

During those first few weeks and even months, you’re very likely to wish to go back to where things were familiar, people seemed to be not so distant, and everything just made sense to you. However, going back may not be an option at all so you’re going to have to find a way to cope with the strong sense of nostalgia in order to get rid of the regret of moving.

In fact, there are a couple of things you can do to improve the situation: 1) make the current place feel more like home, and 2) get to know the town or city better to shake off that distressing feeling of strangeness and unfamiliarity.

10 Tips for Moving to a New City Alone

5. Let time heal your regrets

If you can’t seem to get rid of that awful feeling of regret after moving no matter what you do, then you should try one more thing that should work great and that’s to give yourself more time.

They say that time heals all wounds, so you should also give yourself more time to acclimate to the new environment, more time to form new friendships, and more time to feel the new house or apartment as your own home. You just have to believe that adaptation is the key to feeling alright again as it that’s often the case.

Good things happen to those who wait… and hopefully, time will help you to stop feeling sorry that you’ve moved. However, things don’t always work out well in the end, so it’s possible that you don’t find a way out of the constant regrets about your decision to move. Your situation can become even more complicated if you happen to be dealing with relocation depression due to moving.

How to Overcome Relocation Depression After Moving

If you’ve tried everything and nothing works for you… then you may not have other choice but to move again. Here’s the thing: you can either move back to the place you left (when nostalgia proves to be too overwhelming for you) or you can choose to move to a brand-new place in the hope of finding that elusive sense of happiness that you’ve lost along the way somehow.

And if another move is just around the corner, you’re not likely to have the desire or the energy to organize yet another move all by yourself. So, it’s time to let experienced professionalс handle your next move.

Get a free quote from the best cross-country movers in your area to start your journey to a place with no regrets.

The post 5 Things to Do When You Regret Moving appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/what-to-do-when-you-regret-moving/

How to Pack Winter Clothes for Moving

If you’re planning a house move, then one of the things you should be interested in is how to pack your clothes for moving.

Of all the pieces of garments you own, your winter clothes will be the toughest ones to sort and pack. Why? Winter clothes tend to take up a lot of space due to their great volume, and space is usually rather limited during a move.

Now, packing winter clothes when moving house is quite similar to packing winter clothes for traveling, but it’s considered to be a more challenging task as a whole. The major reason for it is that, unlike packing a few sweaters and one extra jacket when going on a ski trip, you’re supposed to pack and move all your winter garments during a house move, especially when you’re moving to a cold state.

All in all, you’re going to need to know some neat tricks to save space when packing winter clothes for moving, thus making your house move more efficient. Also, you’ll want to make sure you’re following the best tips for packing clothes in order to ensure your winter coats, sweaters, hats, and gloves reach the new home perfectly intact.

So, what’s the best way to pack winter clothes for moving?

What to know before packing your winter clothes

There are a few important things you should be aware of before you start working on the clothes packing job. In fact, understanding the specifics of the upcoming task will help you speed up considerably the packing process without compromising the overall safety of the house move.

Winter clothes are not fragile at all

The good news when packing winter clothes for a move is that clothes are not fragile and therefore will not get damaged in any way if you accidentally drop on the ground a box full of clothes. Clothes are soft goods so they cannot possibly break the way household items made of glass, porcelain, and wood can.

This fact alone will reduce the pressure you must be feeling when packing up your warm clothes in terms of safety.

Winter clothes can be surprisingly heavy

Most of the clothes you will be packing for moving will be fairly lightweight, which is yet another bonus you should be glad about. However, the heaviest pieces of clothing you will need to box for safe transport will be your winter garments.

Winter coats can be surprisingly heavy because of the thick fur lining most of them have. As a rule, jackets made of thick leather tend to weigh more than jackets made of fabric.

Wool sweaters can also turn out to be heavier than you think, especially when they are crammed into a single large box.

Winter clothes take plenty of space

The bad news when packing winter clothes when moving house is that those garments will take up a lot of space inside the cardboard containers due to their great volume.

And this, in turn, will most likely force you to use more large packing boxes than you’ve prepared and to use proven packing techniques (including special vacuum bags) that will maximize the available storage inside the cardboard containers.

10 Ways to Stay Organized When You Move

What to do before packing your winter garments

Before you actually start transferring your winter clothes into boxes, there are several pre-pack tasks that you should complete first to ensure a problem-free packing experience from start to finish.

Sort out your winter clothes

Some winter clothes may not be worth the trouble to be moved to a new home.

The most important thing you should do when packing winter clothes for moving is to go through those garments and decide on a case-by-case basis whether to move each one or not.

If you’re moving to a warmer climate, then you won’t really need serious winter gear such as heavy fur-lined coats, wool sweaters, and thick hats and gloves. Since the climate in your destination area will be mild year-round, then you’d be better off getting rid of most or even all your winter clothes prior to moving out in order to save precious packing resources and of course – money.

On the other hand, if you’re moving to a cold state, then you’d want to pack and move all your winter garments. In this case, you should only get rid of the pieces that are too worn out or the ones you don’t plan on using anymore.

Sell or donate the clothes you don’t need

There’s really no point in wasting precious time packing and moving your winter clothes if you don’t intend to use them in the near future.

Once you’ve sorted out your clothes, you should have 3 piles of garments:

Do the right thing and donate the winter clothes you won’t really need – there are people who will need them more than you do. Alternatively, you can decide to sell some of those winter garments, especially when they are very lightly used or never worn for that matter.

Prepare large cardboard boxes

Keep in mind that you should use large cardboard boxes for relatively lightweight items such as clothes and bedding, and small to medium boxes for fairly heavy things such as books.

So, make sure you have enough large moving boxes before you start packing your winter clothes. Also, some of your winter coats and jackets may be too expensive to risk any sort of damage by folding them up into regular cardboard boxes. In such cases, you should use specialized wardrobe boxes where you’ll be able to hang those valuable winter jackets and coats as if they were stored in your home dresser (wardrobe).

How to Get Rid of Stuff Before Moving

How to pack winter coats for moving

Now you should be ready to pack up your winter clothes. Let’s start with your coats and jackets.

Here’s the best way to pack winter coats for moving:

Alternatively, there are two other safe methods of packing winter coats for a move:

How to pack sweaters for moving

The good news is that sweaters are even easier to pack for moving than winter coats.

Here’s the best way to pack sweaters for a move:

When you’re packing extra delicate sweaters (cashmere sweaters, angora sweaters, etc.), wrap the resulted clothes roll in clean and soft packing paper for extra protection. Use pieces of tape over the paper roll to keep it in place.

Again, as was the case with packing winter coats and jackets for moving, you can decide to pack the most voluminous sweaters you own into vacuum storage bags to reduce significantly the volume of the packed winter pieces of clothing.

How to pack winter hats, scarves, and gloves for moving

Packing winter hats, scarves, and gloves for a move is pretty straightforward so you shouldn’t have any problems in completing the task in zero time. There are just a few things to bear in mind when doing so:

How to pack bulky winter clothes

Consider using vacuum storage bags to reduce the volume of your winter clothes.

As mentioned earlier, winter clothes can be rather bulky and that can easily turn into a serious issue during a house move due to the restricted storage space. And this is exactly why you should seriously consider using vacuum storage bags to pack your winter garments into.

Vacuum bags are also known as compression bags and they have a valve on one side where you should fit either a vacuum hose or a hand pump to suck the air from the storage bags. Without air inside, the collective volume of the bulky winter clothes will shrink greatly, turning the newly-formed compact bundle much easier to fit into smaller spaces.

Most vacuum storage bags on the market today claim to reduce the volume of soft and voluminous items up to 80%. However, you should consider the whole operation successful if you can manage to reach 50% less volume of your bulky winter clothes.

All in all, packing winter clothes for moving is a pretty straightforward task… unless you have very little time to prepare for Moving day. When pressed by time, your best bet is to trust professional packers with packing efficiency that still remains unrivaled.

Packing Checklist: Packing Timeline for Moving

The post How to Pack Winter Clothes for Moving appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/how-to-pack-winter-clothes-for-moving/

Approximate Costs of Moving: Average Moving Costs

The moment you learn that your residential move is only a matter of time is the exact moment when a myriad of questions will most likely flood your mind and make you genuinely worried about the preparation period ahead of you.

It can be really frustrating that regardless of how much time you have until moving day arrives – a few months, a few weeks, or a few days (!), you’re still going to have to answer a number of essential questions to complete the trouble-free move you want.

One of these fundamental questions is, of course, strictly related to the approximate costs of moving house: what are the average costs of moving house?

Whether you’re moving out of a 1-, 2-, or 3-bedroom apartment, or you’re leaving a 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-bedroom house, you need to know how much you’re expected to pay on average either by hiring professional moving services or by organizing and executing the move by yourself (self-moving).

Also, the move distance between the two homes – short distance (local) or long distance (cross country) will affect greatly how deep you’ll be forced to dig into your pockets, desperately looking for more dollar bills.

So, what are the average moving costs?

Why do average moving costs matter?

The truth is, you may not get the right answers to all the pressing issues at the beginning of your preparations, but you must know the price of your incoming move in advance so that:

Thus said, remember that the only way to get an accurate estimate of the costs of your move is to have your chosen moving company perform an expert visual inspection of your home and give you a precise price quote.

Nevertheless, understanding various real-life moving scenarios and their approximate costs will help you gain a deeper knowledge of what relocation options you actually have and what to expect from your mover’s estimate.

The approximate costs of moving you’ll find in this article should serve as a useful preview of what your actual moving quote will look like. In reality, these approximated values can only be used as guidance because the real-life moving company rates will be dependent on the region where you live, your town or city, the moving company itself, and the specifics of your own local or long-distance move.

Moving company costs on average

In most cases, moving house with the help of a professional moving company is the preferred way to approach the numerous challenges of that significant period in one’s life. As a rule of thumb, turning to the pros for assistance will eliminate plenty of stressful guesswork and will make the entire house relocation much faster and easier.

The only drawback is that you will have to pay for their moving services but that often proves to be a disadvantage in disguise the moment you calculate the potential risk and dangers of self-moving, add up the lost time in doing it all by yourself, and include the possible irreparable damage to your nervous system.

So, what are the average full-service moving costs?

Average moving costs for local moves

Myth #7: Hiring professional movers is the most expensive way to move house.

Local moves are moves that never leave the state of origin and the destination point stays within approximately 100 miles.

And if you do decide to hire local movers to help you out, then the first thing you should know is that local moving companies charge by the hour.

What that means for you is that it’s the time spent on performing the move that matters the most rather than the individual move-related tasks such as packing, loading, transporting, and so on.

And as time defines the price, the factors that affect how much time your local move will last are:

Taking into account that the average moving cost per hour is roughly $60 per mover per hour,

Home Size Number of Local Movers Number of Hours Average Moving Cost Studio / 1-bedroom 2 4 $480 2-bedroom 3 6 $1,080 3-bedroom 4 7 $1,680 4-bedroom 4 8 $2,160

  It’s important to keep in mind that unforeseen factors can and probably will influence the approximate costs of moving locally one way or the other. That is, your local move will become cheaper or more expensive depending on the concrete circumstances that surround it.

20 Simple and Easy Ways to Reduce Moving Costs

Average moving costs for cross-country moves

Moving across the country is a risky affair that’s best left to the pros. Ask movers for price calculation, and then take advantage of cost reduction techniques.

Once your move is bound to cross state lines or exceed the 100-mile radius, it’s already classified as an interstate move and the approximate costs of moving across the country will be calculated differently than short-distance relocation cases.

In practice, cross-country moves are much harder to be generalized as far as preliminary expenses are concerned because of three major price formation criteria that work at the same time: 1) move distance, 2) shipment weight, and 3) additional services.

The cost to move furniture, for example, will be calculated based on the weight, size, and nature of your home furniture. Expect to pay more if you need experienced packers and movers to handle bulky, super heavy, or antique furniture pieces.

The cost of moving furniture will also be dependent on the specific conditions in your home such as narrow corridors and staircases, smaller doorways, or unavailability of an elevator. For instance, if some of the furniture pieces have to be disassembled, the furniture moving costs will be respectively higher.

The approximate cost of moving cross country, without any extra services and additional charges, is as follows:

Home Size Move Distance Average Moving Cost Studio / 1-bedroom 1,000 miles $1,500 – $3,200 2-bedroom 1,000 miles $3,500 – $5,200 3-bedroom 1,000 miles $6,300 – $7,800 4-bedroom 1,000 miles $8,000 +

  Please keep in mind that the above-mentioned average moving costs per mile and average moving costs per pound can only be used as reference values due to the case-by-case nature of residential moving. As mentioned above, approximate moving company costs can still be useful for forming a general idea of just how strong a hit your budget will take.

For much more accurate price estimation, get free quotes by filling out this Moving Cost Calculator

Average moving costs of self-moves

Some people are quick to conclude that moving on your own is always a cheaper way to move house than hiring a professional moving company to take care of the toughest aspects.

While under specific circumstances that can be true, one should look at the bigger picture and consider a number of important factors that often end up being taken out of context.

Before you even think about performing a self-move, make sure you answer YES to all of these prerequisites to avoid a disastrous DIY move with loads of lost time and money.

And if you’ve got 4 positive answers, then it’s time to take a closer look at both the obvious self-moving costs and the hidden costs of moving on your own.

How to Rent a Moving Truck

Sometimes you can hear people say that money is not everything, and they should have a good reason to believe so. Still, when it comes to the fairly complicated process of moving house, it seems like money will dictate the way your local or cross-country move unfolds.

And now that you are familiar with the approximate moving costs, we believe you will make the informed decision that will change your household move for the better.

What to Do: Hire Movers or Move by Yourself?

The post Approximate Costs of Moving: Average Moving Costs appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/approximate-moving-costs/

How Much Does It Cost to Hire Movers?

How much does it cost to hire movers?

You are about to move to another home but you don’t really know what to expect in terms of pricing?

This can be really frustrating because when you are unsure about the cost to hire professional movers, you won’t be able to set up your moving budget accordingly.

Even worse, you don’t even know if the money you have saved up will be sufficient to cover the inevitable moving expenses.

There are just too many unanswered questions in your head that won’t let you focus on the myriad of moving tasks ahead of you.

How much does it cost to hire movers?

What is cheap and what is expensive?

You do need a good comparison base in order to know what your viable options are when seeking professional moving assistance. Moving companies provide free moving quotes, but what does the final amount tell you?

How much do movers charge?

Your house move falls into one of the two main pricing categories – Local Movers or Interstate Movers.

Read on to learn the estimated cost to hire movers so that you are better prepared for the financial aspect of your upcoming residential move.

Understand how the moving price is formed and you’ll be able to save big on your move.

How much does it cost to hire movers for a local move?

Local movers charge by the hour – this is the very first thing you need to remember when you’re moving locally.

But what does that mean for you and your budget? It means that the price estimate you receive from local moving companies should be based on an hourly cost and estimated hours to complete the move.

The average cost to hire movers for a local move is $60 per hour per mover but the precise hourly charge will depend on your exact location in the country, the season and day of the month you’re moving home, and the local moving company you’ve decided to use.

Home Size Number of Movers Number of Hours Estimated Cost Studio / 1-bedroom 2 4-5 $480 – $600 2-bedroom 3 5-6 $900 – $1,080 3-bedroom 4 7-8 $1,680 – $2,160

NOTE: Bear in mind that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, actual moving prices may be higher than the average moving costs mentioned above.

Sometimes local movers charge additional fees and you should ask in advance about those charges to make sure the estimate you get is as close to the final movers’ cost as possible. An example of such an extra charge is the travel fee – the time the movers require to get to your location and back to their base of operation. That fee is often charged as 1 additional hour of labor.

Most local movers will ask for a deposit when scheduling the move so that they can reserve the date for you. Contact your local moving company to learn more about their deposit policy.

Keep in mind that it’s important to know in advance how much local movers charge. Click here to get a free moving cost estimate by professional local movers.

How much does it cost to hire movers for a cross-country move?

Trying to calculate the long-distance moving cost on your own won’t really work.

As already mentioned above, the cost to hire movers in town and the cost to hire movers out of state will be rather different. And because of the numerous price factors that influence a house move across the country, it’s virtually impossible to calculate on your own the cost to hire movers for an interstate move.

Therefore, you will have to request cost estimates from various cross-country movers and get the company representatives to visit your home so that they can provide you with accurate moving quotes that will reflect the amount you will pay after your household items are delivered to the new home.

Nevertheless, for referential purposes, it can be useful to get familiar with the average moving costs of moving long distance. Do yourself a favor and ask reputable cross-country moving companies for in-house surveys, followed by the issuance of precise quotes.

So, how much does it cost to hire cross-country movers?

Home Size Move Distance Estimated Cost Studio / 1-bedroom 1,000 miles $1,500 – $3,200 2-bedroom 1,000 miles $3,500 – $5,200 3-bedroom 1,000 miles $6,300 – $7,800

NOTE: Keep in mind that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, actual moving prices may be higher than the average moving costs mentioned above.

Use the moving cost estimator at the top of the page to get accurate price quotes from top-rated cross-country movers.

Should you happen to receive a moving quote for an amount that’s A LOT less than those average moving costs, you could be dealing with rogue movers who have deliberately lowered the costs just to secure your move. Beware of moving scams – click on the link below to learn how to protect your move by recognizing fraudulent techniques used by dishonest moving companies.

How to Avoid Moving Scams

What are the price factors when moving across the country?

If you’re moving to another state, be it a neighboring one, then you’re about to complete an interstate household move. And, because of that, the first thing you should know is that the price of your cross-country move will be calculated rather differently than moving locally – it’s all about the price factors and how they will influence that final moving bill.

And more importantly – why should you care? Well, the good news is that once you’re familiar with how your interstate moving cost is formed through the interconnection of the various long-distance price factors, then you will be able to find and use good cost-saving techniques to your advantage.

Extra Moving Services Explained

How much does it cost to hire movers? The extra charges

As you can see from the example moving company costs above, this question can have very different answers depending on your move parameters such as location, type of move (local or interstate), and the professional moving company itself.

Here are some additional and often unexpected fees and charges that come into play when calculating the average cost to hire movers:

There are also some uncommon charges that you should be aware of. The best practice would be to ask your moving company about them and try to negotiate better terms in advance.

This is why you are strongly advised to get estimates from multiple moving companies as every company has its own set of parameters when estimating the move cost. Also, negotiating a discount in advance is another option worth exploring.

How to bring down the moving price: Top 3 cost-saving methods

As you can see from the average moving costs mentioned above, moving house is an expensive affair.

The good news is that you can use proven cost-saving techniques to cut moving costs. In fact, not only can you do it, but you should definitely do everything in your power to reduce the final moving price – after all, why pay more when you can pay less?

As soon as you learn how much your movers will charge you, you should use these top 3 methods to save money on your move:

1. Pare down your possessions

Move ONLY the household items you do intend to use in the future (practical stuff) and the things that you love (sentimental stuff). By moving fewer items with you, you’ll pay less money in the end simply because the interstate moving cost is calculated on the basis of your shipment weight.

Don’t hesitate to get rid of all unwanted items by giving them away to friends, donating them to charitable organizations, selling them online or at a moving sale, or throwing them away for proper recycling.

Remember: the less stuff you’re hauling, the more money you’ll be able to save.

How to Get Rid of Stuff When Moving

2. Pack up your things by yourself

Pack up your things by yourself to save money.

Requesting the extra service of packing from your full-service moving company will cost you additional money – anywhere from around $300-$450 for packing a 1-bedroom apartment to $600-$750 for packing a 3-bedroom home. And those packing costs don’t usually include the price of the packing materials.

Therefore, one excellent way to cut moving costs is to make an effort to pack up whatever you can by yourself. Provided that you have enough time until Moving day, you should be able to safely wrap up and box most of your possessions.

Leave any specialty items to professional packers to minimize the risk of damage or personal injuries.

Packing Checklist: Packing Timeline For Moving

3. Negotiate a better deal with your movers

One unusual way to pay less for your move is to try to negotiate a lower price with your moving company.

The thing to remember here is that moving company prices are not set in stone and there’s nothing to lose and only to gain if you choose to put your negotiating skills to good use.

Ask your movers about any ongoing promotions, deals, or discounts that you can take advantage of. Also, claiming that a competitor of theirs has offered you a better deal may work in your favor and convince your moving company to revise their estimate in order to secure your job.

20 Simple and Easy Ways to Reduce Moving Costs

The post How Much Does It Cost to Hire Movers? appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hire-movers/

How to Pack Without Bubble Wrap: Never Buy Bubble Wrap Again

When you’re about to start packing fragile items for moving, your very first thought will probably be to use as much bubble wrap as possible to make sure your breakables survive the move in one piece. And that’s the right thing to do as bubble wrap does provide the best possible protection for any household items made of glass, porcelain, ceramic, wood, or another delicate material.

However, there’s also a serious drawback of using bubble wrap to protect your fragile items and that’s the relatively high price of the packing material. During your move, you won’t really like the idea of spending money on extras that you can do without and that’s especially true when you happen to be moving on a limited budget.

Your top priority in such cases should be to use smart cost-saving techniques that will allow you to be as thrifty as you possibly can. In other words, you shouldn’t spend money on things unless you really have to.

To minimize your packing costs, you can choose NOT to use bubble wrap to protect the most fragile items in your home. No more bubble wrap when packing for a move. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Right. And yet, it’s perfectly possible – all you need to do is read on to learn how to pack without bubble wrap.

Why you should use bubble wrap

Let’s first say that the idea of NOT using bubble wrap when packing fragile items may seem rather odd at first. After all, everybody knows the major advantages of using bubble wrap when packing for moving:

Why you should NOT use bubble wrap

Many people like the idea of using bubble wrap and would not be willing to substitute it for any alternative packing materials.

As you can see, using bubble wrap during the house packing process has many indisputable advantages, especially when you’re moving a large number of breakables. For example, packing most of your kitchen items will require a large number of bubble wrap sheets to make sure nothing gets broken during transit.

However, bubble wrap as a packing material has a couple of disadvantages that you should know about before you rush to purchase a few large rolls of plastic wrap.

Here’s why it may be a good idea to pack your fragile items without bubble wrap:

Here are some price examples so that you can get a general idea of how much bubble wrap costs:

If these prices seem somewhat affordable to you, remember that it’s the sheer amount of bubble wrap that you will need that will hurt your budget the most.

In your kitchen alone, you will need to use bubble wrap to protect an overwhelming number of breakables – plates, glasses, bowls, cups, porcelain mugs, forks, spoons, knives, and more. When packing the rest of the rooms in your house, you will need bubble wrap to protect art pieces, vases, mirrors, delicate furniture, and most types of electronic devices (use anti-static bubble wrap for your electronics).

As a rule of thumb, any item that you view as fragile should be protected with the air-filled plastic material for added safety. And that’ll most likely mean numerous rolls or boxes of bubble wrap as well.

Packing Checklist: Packing Timeline For Moving

Is looking for free bubble wrap worth it?

Before we give you the full list of good substitutes for bubble wrap so that you don’t have to spend money on the plastic packing material, let’s discuss whether acquiring free bubble wrap for your packing needs is worth the time and effort.

Now, the only way to use bubble wrap when packing fragile items and not spend any money on acquiring the said packing material is to get it for free. Yes, similar to finding free moving boxes, it’s perfectly feasible to find free bubble wrap as well.

In fact, getting bubble wrap for free will be a win-win situation for you – you’ll be able to protect your delicate items in the best possible way AND save money in the process. The only problem is that you’ll have to sacrifice plenty of time you may not really have at your disposal and effort you may not be willing to invest.

In practice, there are several good ways to secure free bubble wrap before you start packing up your fragile possessions:

Where to Find Free Packing Materials

How to pack without bubble wrap: alternative packing materials

Bear in mind that finding free bubble wrap won’t be an easy task. What’s more, the time you’ll spend searching for that packing material may be a luxury you cannot really afford, especially when you have too little time to prepare to move out.

So, when brand-new bubble wrap is too expensive for you and free bubble wrap is too much of a hassle to get, then you’re only left with one good option: to pack your fragile items without bubble wrap. But since you still have to protect your breakables, then you’re going to have to use good alternative packing materials to bubble wrap that will enable you to keep your possessions damage-free throughout the move.

Packing paper

Wrapping paper is believed to be the best substitute for bubble wrap.

White packing paper is soft enough to create a cushioning layer that will protect fragile items during a move. Wrapping paper conforms easily to any shape and keeps dust and moisture from reaching the items you’re trying to protect.

The good news is that wrapping paper is (much) cheaper than bubble wrap – 200 sheets of clean, white newsprint cost around $10 at UHaul.

The bad news is that you’re going to have to use at least 3-4 (sometimes more!) sheets of paper to protect a single fragile item since one sheet of paper is much thinner than one sheet of bubble wrap.

Blankets

Blankets can be excellent substitutes for bubble wrap.

Thick furniture blankets offer an outstanding degree of protection for fragile items thanks to their soft padding effect. However, moving blankets are more expensive than bubble wrap to purchase and use during the packing process, so you should consider using blankets only when trying to safeguard very delicate items that also have sentimental value for you.

If you have regular household blankets lying around in your home, then you should definitely use them to wrap and cushion breakable items. You’re moving your blankets anyway, so why not use them for padding instead of large sheets of bubble wrap?

Towels

Similar to blankets, towels are great padding materials and can be used as an excellent substitute for bubble wrap.

You don’t need to use brand-new, still unpacked towels that you’ve kept for years since there’s always a chance to ruin a towel or two during the house moving process. However, feel free to wrap extra-fragile items in used yet clean towels that you have in your home.

Bear in mind that, as a rule, towels are heavier than bubble wrap and will increase the overall weight of each box when used to protect breakables. However, since you’re taking those towels with you anyway, you’d better use them as bubble wrap alternatives to reduce moving costs.

Pieces of clothing + bed sheets

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on bubble wrap when you’ve got all sorts of old clothes and old bed sheets lying around the house.

The thing is that most pieces of clothing and bed sheets that you’re thinking of discarding completely during the sorting process can be used effectively as substitutes for bubble wrap. There’s really no point in throwing away potential packing materials, at least not until after the move is over.

Use only clothes and bed sheets that you won’t mind seeing ruined as it can easily happen during a move. Such old fabric pieces can be used not only to wrap fragile items but also to fill in gaps inside cardboard boxes.

Socks

Socks can be used to protect kitchen glasses, especially glasses with super-fragile stems. Normally, you would bubble wrap such stemware pieces but since you’re willing to save money on packing materials, then you can simply insert those glass items inside thick and clean socks and transfer them into pre-padded boxes.

Newspapers

Old newspapers will come at no extra cost for you but you should be careful how you use them during the packing process due to the risk of ink stains. And this is exactly why you should only use newspapers as space fillers inside moving boxes and never as protective layers that will come into contact with your fragile and delicate items.

10 Delicate Tips for Packing Fragile Items When Moving

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How to Pack Dishes for Moving: Dish Packing Guide

If you’re interested in learning how to pack dishes for moving, then you must have already started the arduous task of packing a house for a move.

It is no secret that packing is the ultimate challenge when moving house – the most time-consuming task that is notorious for having the potential to spoil even the most impeccable plans.

And if you’ve read some of our other packing tips, you will definitely be familiar with the number 1 rule when packing for a move: Start packing your stuff as soon as you can, and never look back.

Together with storage areas, kitchens are the next toughest premises to sort and pack into suitable moving boxes.

So, what is the best way to pack dishes for moving?

Read on to find out the answer.

What you need to pack kitchen plates for moving

Packing dishes for moving can be rather tricky due to the extra-fragile nature of kitchen plates. Plates are commonly made from ceramic materials such as bone china, porcelain, and glazed earthenware, and that fact alone makes them extremely susceptible to damage during a move. And this is exactly why you should make sure you’re using the proper dish packing supplies in order to avoid finding any pieces of broken kitchenware upon arrival in your new home.

A word of warning: Don’t use newsprint (newspapers) directly onto the delicate surfaces of kitchen plates. be aware of is that newsprint can easily leave ink stains on your valuable kitchen plates. Those ink marks are not only hard to remove, but they could also completely ruin a kitchenware piece, and consequently – a set.

10 Delicate Tips for Packing Fragile Items When Moving

How to pack dishes for moving

Follow the detailed steps below to learn how to pack dishes safely regardless of the distance your breakables will travel – be it just a few miles across town or a few thousand miles across the country.

Here, we will describe the individual dish packing method that’s known to offer the best level of protection for your breakable kitchen items. At first, that packing technique may feel a bit slow but once you get the knack of it after wrapping up a few kitchen plates, you’ll be able to speed it up thanks to its repetitive nature. In fact, you shouldn’t have any problems packing up your dishes for a move as long as you observe a few fundamental safety rules and guidelines.

So, how to pack plates for moving? Follow these packing steps and you should ace the task of packing your fragile items in no time.

How to Pack Glasses for Moving: Glassware Packing Guide

Safety tips for packing dishes

It would be disastrous to find some of your favorite sets of kitchen plates ruined after opening the moving boxes to start the unpacking process. To avoid such an unpleasant occurrence from ever happening to you, here are a number of additional safety tips for packing plates when moving house:

Can you think of other valuable pieces of advice on how to pack plates for moving? Please leave your comments below.

  The post How to Pack Dishes for Moving: Dish Packing Guide appeared first on The Moving Blog.

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10 Ways to Protect Your Walls When Moving Furniture

If you’ve hired one of the best movers in your area, then you shouldn’t really worry too much about property damage when the hired workers are taking your large and heavy furniture out of your current home and later, taking it inside the new place.

Top professional movers have been trained on how to avoid property damage at all costs. However, if you’ve made the conscious choice to move out by yourself (for valid reasons such as moving only a short distance away, having good friends you can rely on, and having previous moving experience), then you should make sure that you do not damage in any way the house or apartment you’re leaving or the residence you’re moving into.

Not surprisingly, it’s the floors and walls that usually take a hit during a house move. Scratches, scrapes, and dents can appear in the blink of an eye unless you know exactly how to protect the property on your way out or in.

We’ve covered extensively the topic of how to protect floors during a move. Now, let’s take a closer look at the walls of the property and see what you can do to keep them perfectly intact while moving large and heavy furniture pieces.

Here are 10 ways to protect the walls in your home when moving – both indirect and direct steps to making sure the walls remain unscathed during a move.

INDIRECT ways to protect your walls

There are quite a few things you can do to protect the walls in the home in an indirect way. Don’t underestimate the importance of these safety steps as they will enable you to avoid any type of property damage whatsoever when moving house.

1. Plan your steps carefully

One of the best ways to protect the walls in your home while moving is to plan your steps well. This will enable you to not only avoid property damage of any kind – usually floor damage and wall damage, but it will also minimize the risk of personal injuries sustained during the furniture moving process.

Most furniture pieces are large and heavy, so you should never rush the job of moving furniture by yourself. Instead, spare some minutes to think of a good plan of how to take those furniture units out of the current home or inside the new one without any problems.

A good plan of action when moving furniture should include who will help you move the heavy items, how you’re going to protect them, and how exactly you’re going to transport them to the moving truck outside.

Remember: think before you act to keep property damage away from your doorstep.

2. Clear the path to the truck

If the path to the moving vehicle is not perfectly clear of clutter – most often boxes, then a person who’s guiding a piece of furniture might trip on an obstacle along the way and send the large and heavy furniture item into a wall, thus causing substantial wall damage.

This is why it’s important that the exit path out of the home remain perfectly clean and clutter-free during the moving process. To ensure this, take a walk along that pathway and make sure nothing stands in the way.

In addition to clutter, make sure the path out of the house is free of any dangerous spots such as wet spots from rain or snow that could jeopardize the safety of the furniture moving task.

20 Moving Safety Tips: Stay Safe When Moving

3. Dress properly for the job

If you think that it doesn’t matter how you dress on Moving day, think again. This is especially relevant when you’re moving heavy furniture units with your friends.

In general, what you wear in terms of clothes doesn’t matter as much as what you wear on your feet. The idea is to wear clothes that are comfortable and flexible – especially when it comes to pants. Avoid having any baggy pieces of clothing that might catch onto something and cause an accident.

Ultimately, to protect the walls when moving, you should wear shoes that are enclosed and that provide a good level of traction. You can’t go wrong if you go with sports shoes with anti-slip soles.

One thing you may not realize is that jewelry – especially large rings – could accidentally scrape a wall and leave a bad mark on it. So, don’t take any risks and take off any large rings or bracelets before moving furniture without the help of professional movers.

4. Secure enough helpers

Another way to protect walls during a move is to make sure you’ve got enough friends to help you move the furniture.

Keep in mind that wall damage, as well as floor damage or any other type of property damage, is often the result of people underestimating the seriousness of the situation and trying to move big and heavy furniture pieces either completely on their own or together with just one other person.

When moving large furniture pieces, you should have at least two other helpers by your side to support the heavy load on the furniture dolly while you’re maneuvering it out of the house. Of course, the more people there are to help during the furniture moving process, the better.

Ask your friends to help you move early enough so that you don’t ruin their own plans for the said date. However, you may still be unable to gather the necessary number of helping hands, in which case you’ll need to contact professional furniture movers to get the job done quickly and safely.

How to Get Friends to Help You Move

5. Disassemble the furniture

Oftentimes, a wall is likely to get damaged when a tall piece of furniture (a dresser, for example) or a long furniture unit (a large couch) is being moved out of the house without being disassembled first. In those cases, such oversized furniture pieces may get stuck at a sharp turn and forceful attempts to free it are likely to damage the wall corners as well.

So, one of the best ways to protect walls indirectly during a move is to disassemble large furniture to smaller units that will pass safely through door openings and corridors with zero chance of bumping into a wall.

Furniture disassembly is a required safety step when moving furniture between two homes. To avoid property damage, remove any protruding parts (legs, arms, etc.) of large furniture such as tables, beds, dressers, desks, couches, and so on.

How to Disassemble Furniture When Moving

6. Cover the furniture with blankets

Some furniture pieces cannot be safely disassembled, or you may not have the time or skills to take them apart safely. In such cases, the only way to ensure that their protruding parts won’t inflict any damage on the walls is to wrap those critical areas in bubble wrap. This way, the created extra-soft air cushion should keep things safe, both for the furniture in question and the walls inside the home.

Additionally, you should also wrap the entire furniture items in thick furniture blankets to absorb any direct hits if the units get accidentally into contact with a wall. Moving blankets (pads) will create a soft, shock-absorbing layer that will protect your valuable furniture from scratches, dents, or scuffs on the day of the move.

How to Protect Furniture When Moving

7. Use a moving dolly to keep things safe

On Moving day, you’re likely to get stuck if you have no idea what you’re doing.

It’s not a secret that moving dollies are the most trusted sidekicks of professional movers. When used properly, a moving dolly is virtually priceless in the hands of a skilled professional. So, if you’ve opted to move house without hiring a moving company, then you should also choose to use a moving dolly to wheel the big and heavy furniture items in your home.

A furniture dolly is a flat and low 4-wheel platform that can withstand hundreds of pounds of weight depending on the exact model. In most cases, you should be able to move your furniture with such a dolly but its usage has one drawback as well – furniture dollies are not meant to go downstairs or upstairs.

Secure the furniture onto the moving dolly and get at least two people to help you navigate the heavy load past walls without any damage to them.

How to Use a Moving Dolly: Furniture Dolly vs. Appliance Dolly

DIRECT ways to protect your walls

Now, here are the top 3 direct ways of protecting the walls during a move. These are must-do safety steps if you don’t have much furniture moving experience and you suspect that you may inflict some kind of property damage due to your inexperience.

8. Cover the walls with blankets or drop cloths

The best way to guarantee that the walls will remain unscathed during a house move is to cover them with protective pads. This way, even if a furniture piece bumps into a wall, the soft padding will absorb the hit and both the wall and the furniture item will remain undamaged.

Cover the walls along the exit path with thick furniture blankets or drop cloths. You don’t need to cover the entire walls, of course, but only the sections that seem to be especially vulnerable to direct hits. Don’t forget to pad the corners of sharp corners where a furniture item will have to be turned for safe passage.

Use painter’s tape to secure the blankets or cloths on the walls. However, if you find out that the pads are too heavy to be secured on the walls by masking tape, then you should consider using sheets of cardboard for the same purpose (see below).

9. Cover the walls with cardboard

It’s important to understand that cardboard is one of the most versatile materials you’ll be using during your move. Yes, your moving boxes will be made from cardboard, but you can use cardboard for a number of other things too: extra padding inside boxes, cut-outs for protecting extra-fragile items such as screens and glass elements (panels, doors, shelves, etc.), protecting floors (both hardwood floors and carpeted floors), and protecting walls as well.

The advantages of using cardboard to protect walls are that the material is very inexpensive, provides a good level of protection, and is light enough to be attached easily to the walls of the home. In addition to safeguarding walls and wall corners, cardboard sheets can be used to protect doors and door frames as well.

10. Use corner guards

Pad your furniture pieces well to protect them and keep the walls safe at the same time.

If you’re really worried that you might leave bad scuff marks on a wall while carrying furniture out of the place – for example, when moving out of a rental and not wishing to lose your security deposit, then you can place wall corner guards on the corners that happen to be most susceptible to damage.

Corner guards do offer excellent protection for wall corners but, unlike discarded cardboard sheets, they don’t come for free. You can buy a set of plastic corner guards online or get the wall corner protectors from the best home improvement store in your town or city.

Installing wall corner protectors is really easy too, so you can easily choose this way to protect wall corners when moving.

There are many things to consider when moving to a new home and one of your major concerns on Moving day is to prevent any type of property damage simply because it’ll mean more money from your own pocket for repairs. If you don’t feel confident enough to move your furniture with zero damage to the walls, then you should do the right thing and hire one of the best furniture movers in the country.

Get FREE QUOTES from top-rated furniture moving companies in your area to see whether you can afford to hire their high-quality and risk-free moving services.

The post 10 Ways to Protect Your Walls When Moving Furniture appeared first on The Moving Blog.

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How to Move a Safe By Yourself: Stay Safe!

The process of moving house is an interconnected series of move-related tasks that serve one common purpose – to get you, your family, and all your possessions from Point A to Point B. But here’s the hardest part – you and anyone involved in the move should sustain no damage in the process and your household items should not get damaged while being transported between the two homes.

Since you must have already started working on the jobs in your personal moving checklist, have you noticed how some tasks are relatively easy to complete? Those no-brainers offer some kind of breathing space for your busy schedule while other tasks will certainly give you a run for your money.

The fact that some household items are much harder to pack, transport, and unpack than others cannot be really disputed. How could you possibly compare moving your book collection to moving your antique piano with you? You can’t. And what about moving big and heavy furniture pieces? Taking your pool table with you? Moving a hot tub to a new home?

Wait a second – what about moving a big and heavy safe to another home without using professional assistance? It’s important to know in advance that moving a big safe by yourself can be a true challenge.

Here’s how to move a heavy safe by yourself.

What to know before moving a large safe

Before you even decide to complete the extra challenging and dangerous job of moving a safe without professional movers (but with a few reliable friends, of course!), you should be aware that there are a bunch of important points to take into consideration first.

Rank safety above all

Safety should be your primary concern. After all, we’re talking about the best ways to take a huge metal beast of a safe and move it safely to another home altogether. If you own a much smaller portable safe for important documents and cash, then you don’t really have anything to fret over – you just take it with you as if it were a metal packing box. In reality, that’s all it is, isn’t it – a much more secure and heavier metal box where you store really essential and expensive items.

The problem here is not really how to move portable lightweight safes, such as document safes, data safes, and jewelry safes. The real problem you may be facing when moving to another home is how to move a huge safe – your High-Security commercial safe that could weigh up to 500 lb, or even more. And when you add extraordinary weights and large dimensions to the world of moving, things can go from easy to hard, and then from safe to dangerous in mere seconds.

Thus said, if you do own a commercial safe that was designed to offer the ultimate protection against theft (burglar-resistance), fire (fire-resistance), and other forces of nature (environmental resistance), then your best bet is to hire professionals to do it for you. Re-assess the whole relocation situation with a clear mind and keep in mind that your monstrous safe is surely no joke to be moved around safely.

Solve the safe-moving dilemma

Big. Heavy. Dangerous. Sounds like a safe thing. Or does it?

Although you do realize that the best way to move a large and heavy safe is to hire the services of specialty movers, the thing is that, under specific circumstances, you may be tempted to complete that daring moving task without any professional help. Such circumstances may include:

So, if you feel like you’re really up to the task, then you should get familiar with the necessary preparations before you get down to the job at hand. Follow the safe-moving checklist below to get ready to move your safe by yourself.

What to do before moving a heavy safe

It’s important to understand that the successful relocation of your personal safe depends primarily on how well you prepare for the challenge ahead.

How to move a safe by yourself (without professional movers)

Gun safes are especially tricky to move for obvious reasons.

Now, the moment you’re done with the preparation stage, it’s time to get down to the serious business of moving a safe with a dolly.

This is the right time to forget about all kinds of unusual and plain dangerous ways of transporting a large and heavy safe, like moving a safe with golf balls, skateboards, or metal pipes. For best results, stick to arguably the greatest invention in human history – the wheel.

So, how to move a safe with a dolly? Follow these tips for moving a safe to keep things safe!

IMPORTANT: Safety is your top priority when moving a safe to a new house. Do not risk your health or that of another person if you’re not 100% sure that you’re up to the challenge. When in doubt, do the sensible thing and turn to experienced professionals who know what it takes to move a large and heavy safe.

The post How to Move a Safe By Yourself: Stay Safe! appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/how-to-move-a-safe-by-yourself/

10 Signs It’s Time to Move to Another State

If you think about it for a minute, you’re likely to come up with a bunch of good reasons to move to another state – to find a better job, to continue your education, to enjoy a better climate, or to follow your loved one.

Besides these common reasons people move to another state, you can surely add a few good motives of your own to pack up your bags and relocate to a place where the grass seems greener than the place you are right now.

But here’s the thing: moving away is never that simple. In reality, you’ll need to see the signs clearly that the time has come for you to move to a different state altogether.

Here are the top 10 signs that it’s time for you to move to another state.

1. You feel pretty much stuck in your current job

The feeling is unmistakable – you’ve begun to feel fairly unappreciated at your work and when you really think about it – grossly underpaid as well. You have a friend who moved to a different state roughly six months ago and he makes much more money than you at a similar position.

It’s not easy to admit it to yourself that you’re stuck at work and your career is heading in the wrong direction. It can be really disheartening to realize that your skills are being wasted at your current work with no signs of improvement in sight.

And frankly, you’re sick and tired of being bossed around by your superiors while most of your colleagues are trying desperately to prove that they are better human beings than you could ever be.

It’s the sign you’ve been waiting for – it’s time to pack up your boxes and relocate to another state where your professional skills will be adequately appreciated.

2. Your disposable income is gone before you know it

It’s not a secret that the cost of living in some states is much higher than that of others. Nowadays, it’s not hard at all to compare the cost of living of various states along the country to get a better idea of just HOW expensive is the area you live in. But still, general statistics can be quite irrelevant because all that matters is your disposable income and whether or not your budget is enough to get you comfortably to the next month’s paycheck.

So, if you’re struggling financially due to the high living costs in your current state, maybe it’s time to research housing, utilities, food, healthcare, education, and transportation in other states too. Moving to a cheaper state could resolve your financial difficulties but mainly the resolution should come when you manage to find a well-paid job.

Remember to check the unemployment rates in other states too before you make your final decision.

3. Your home is too small for your needs

If you feel like you’ve been living in a LEGO house, then you should consider moving to a new state in order to upsize your home.

A growing family can make a house or an apartment too small too fast simply because as your children grow up, their needs will grow too. And when your two kids can no longer share a room peacefully, then that’s a sure sign that the home you’re living in at the moment has become too small for your needs as a family.

Again, you may not be able to afford a larger home in the same state but since some states are more affordable than others, you may be able to upsize your home only if you move to a different state.

The best thing about it is that your options are on the table so all you need to do is choose the right one. That’s not always easy, of course, but as long as you’re seeing the signs right in front of you, you should be able to do what’s best for the entire family.

Moving to a new state can be tough but the extra living space you’ll gain as a result may be worth all the stress and effort in the end.

4. Your children don’t receive the education they deserve

Without a doubt, education is one of the most important things in life. And that’s why as a parent, you should do all in your power so that your children receive the best education possible.

You know that good education equals a good start in life for your kids, so if you’re not happy with the level of education they get in your city and maybe even in your state, then that’s a clear sign that you need to move to a different state. It’s even possible that it’s your children who are not content with the level of education they’re getting at their current school.

Of course, schools differ not only city by city but within one city alone, so you may not really have to change the state to guarantee better education for your kids. And yet, a little research on your part can reveal which state and which schools offer the high-quality education you’re looking for as a demanding parent.

5. You hate the constant coldness in your state

It’s not fun to live in a state with a climate you’ve come to hate over the years. And sooner or later, everyone has a breaking point when they decide they can’t take it anymore and decide to relocate to a state with climatic conditions that are more to their liking.

You don’t even have to live in Alaska to come to hate the 6-month winters that seem to last forever. If you happen to live in North Dakota, Maine, Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana, Vermont, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Idaho, or Michigan, then the chances are that you’ve used up too many snow shovels and that’s the surest sign that maybe it’s time to move to a warmer state.

Moving to a state with a warmer climate will mean no more shoveling driveways, no more driving on ice-covered streets, and no more walking in raging blizzards either.

Pros and Cons of Moving to a Warmer State

6. You can’t stand the oppressing heat in your state

The sun may be setting now but tomorrow is going to be another scorching day.

Another sign that it’s time to move to a different state is when the heat in your current one proves to be too much for you.

From the moment the sun shows up on the horizon, you just know what to expect until it sets in the evening – heat, heat, and more heat. And there are those days when even the AC working non-stop to cool down your home doesn’t seem to have any effect.

And yes, everyone has their melting point and you may have reached yours when you find it hard to even think straight with all that oppressing heat around you, you’re fed up with all those constantly buzzing insects around you, and your outdoor allergies are getting worse by the day.

If you happen to live in any of the hot Southern States such as Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, or California, then you may decide that it’s time to head up north to take advantage of all the benefits of living in a cold state.

Pros and Cons of Moving to a Cold State

7. You don’t like how people think in your state

Another sign that you need to move to another state is when you notice that a lot of the people around you think rather differently from you on many matters and you definitely don’t share their viewpoints.

Now, it’s not right to generalize since every person is a different entity but it’s not uncommon for people from one state to show similar opinions about certain matters that can be hard to understand or even unacceptable to people from another state.

Generally speaking, people from some states seem to be more conservative than other more liberal individuals, and sometimes that can be an issue that’s fairly easy to resolve.

So, if you’ve come to despise the way most people think in your state and their opinions and viewpoints really annoy and even anger you, then that’s definitely a sign that you’ll need to relocate to a new state. Instead of trying to change their minds, you’d be better off just packing up your things and moving to a state where most of the people there will think similarly to you.

8. You’ve felt depressed for too long for no particular reason

There are many reasons why you may be feeling depressed… but when a state of depression lasts for too long without an apparent cause, then one possible cure can be to introduce a drastic change in your life.

And what’s a more drastic change than to relocate to a different state to live and work there?

You may not realize it but sometimes the climate is to blame for unexplainable depressions that go on for too long. And if this is the case, then move to a state with quite different climatic conditions could solve the problem for you.

Regardless of the cause of your depression, a change of scenery is almost guaranteed to do you good – seeing new places and meeting new people are likely to make you feel alive again, helping you find what’s been missing in your life until that moment.

9. There’s nothing your state can offer you anymore

Once you know your state inside out, maybe it’s time for a new adventure.

One of the most obvious signs that you should move to a different state is when you realize that your current one has nothing more to offer you.

It’s unlikely that you’ll know every city, town, and village in the state – more often, it’s a nagging feeling that you should move on, and the only way to really move on is to move to a different state altogether.

In a way, it does make sense – with 50 states in the country, why should you restrict yourself to living in only one when clearly you’re not feeling happy in it? It could be a classic case of the grass being greener in another state, but you won’t really know for sure until you move to that other state and see for yourself, right?

Finding the right place for you can be deeply satisfying, so you shouldn’t put up with being miserable in one state – just make up your mind and move to a different state in search of your share of happiness.

Moving Out of State Checklist

10. You wish to run away, far away from where you are

You may be able to spot a few signs telling you it’s time to move out of your state but one of the strongest motives for you to do so is to get the feeling that you just have to run away from where you are at the moment.

You may be able to understand the exact reasons why you wish to move far away or you may not know exactly why but still have the urge to move to another place where you will feel better. Either way, the urge to move out of state can be too strong and there’s no use fighting it – if you know deep inside that you just have to move, then you have to move. Period.

Depending on your move parameters, moving to another state can range from being fairly straightforward to complete to being extremely difficult to pull off. Basic criteria such as whether you’re moving on your own or with your whole family, or whether you’re moving only with a few select items or with a household’s worth of possessions will determine the level of difficulty of your out-of-state move.

To make things easier to handle, using the high-quality services of an interstate moving company is always a big bonus. Click here to get free quotes from one of the best out-of-state movers near you.

10 Things You Should Know About Interstate Movers

The post 10 Signs It’s Time to Move to Another State appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/signs-for-moving-to-another-state/

7 Excellent Ways to Save Money on Moving Costs

You may have read left and right that moving house is too stressful – so stressful that it’s usually ranked as one of the most anxious and worrisome events in life. Just add the fact that the moving process is notoriously expensive too, and you’ll probably be genuinely stressed out even before the real moving preparations start.

Let’s get this straight: moving home is both stressful and expensive – nobody can possibly deny that – but there’s also a bunch of sunrays at the end of the tunnel in the shape of proven ways to save money on your move. And once you’re able to keep more savings into your bank account, then you’ll quickly notice how your move-related stress level starts to decrease until it drops down to its NORMAL value.

Moving on a budget is definitely not fun but you can still make it work without too much hassle.

Follow these 7 ways to save money on moving costs to keep things running smoothly from Day 1.

1. Take total control of your budget

The very first thing you need to do to keep more money in your own pocket is to be very cautious about how you go about spending your own money during the moving process. This is a relatively simple idea that is really hard to implement. And in order to make this idea work, you need to create a budget as early in your pre-move period as possible.

A moving budget will enable you to have more control over your moving expenses.

A moving budget is fairly easy to make (it’ll still take time and some effort though), and the great thing about it is that it will enable you to monitor your move-related expenses more closely and do something about it when you feel that you must.

For example, let’s say you’ve allocated a certain amount of money to secure the required packing supplies and you go over the limit without even realizing it. Now, when you have all the expected moving expenses in one place, it’s much easier to control those costs by keeping the budget up-to-date.

One solution to the overspending scenario in the example, as you will learn below, is to either concentrate on getting packing materials for free or to use the ones you already have in your home. Or you can do both, of course.

Another bonus of having a moving budget – that is saving money on your move by not spending money that you don’t have – is to do some preliminary calculations of whether you have saved enough to cover the moving costs in the first place. A possible scenario where you go into debt due to pre-move miscalculations will practically put an end to any brave attempts to move house cheaply.

Make sure your budget includes the

What to Budget for When Moving Out: Moving Budget Checklist

2. Hire an affordable moving company

Of course, you’ll soon be looking for the cheapest ways to move cross country, and that way comes down to finding and employing the services of a low-cost moving company. This frugal way of having your household items moved between two homes makes a lot of sense, so you should definitely do your best to take advantage of it. The only obstacle along the way will be where to find cheap movers that still offer quality moving services.

No, it’s not going to work. Get yourself a low-cost moving company instead.

To find the level of moving cost affordability that you’re after, your first step is to get price quotes from several different companies so that you can sit down and compare those offers carefully.

The good news is that the cost estimates you will receive won’t cost you a dime, so there’s nothing for you to lose during that period of hunting down a good moving company you can afford.

Requesting moving costs estimates is super easy – the hardest part comes next when you’re expected to compare the various movers and pick up the one that will best fit your budget and schedule, and will meet your requirements and expectations.

In order to save money on your move, don’t agree on moving estimates offered to you over the phone or via e-mail as they cannot possibly be as accurate as you need. If you say Yes, you will most likely get moving company quotes that won’t reflect accurately the final price, and that will burden additionally your budget.

What you should do instead is to ask the moving companies that have contacted you to visit your home for on-site surveys. Keep in mind that having moving experts inspect in person the things you intend to move is still the best way to move cheaply across the country with the assistance of a reasonably-priced moving company.

How to Find Cheap Movers in 10 Simple Steps

3. Schedule your move to save money

One indirect way to save money on your move is to pick a move-out date that will help you reduce the moving price without any effort from you. Now, how is that even possible?

Schedule your move on a date that’ll help you bring down the moving cost.

It’s important to understand that moving company rates vary during the different times of the year. For example, during the height of the moving season (May-September), professional movers charge more because their services are in great demand. All this means that during the off-peak season (September-May), moving companies tend to lower their rates because fewer people need their services.

Provided that you’re lucky enough to be able to pick your move-out date, you should definitely look to move out during off-peak moving season simply because you’re likely to get a much better deal from your movers – sometimes up to 30% off the standard movers’ rates, or even more.

To cut moving costs even more, avoid scheduling your move on national holidays, during the weekend, and at the beginning and end of a month. Why? Those are the times when people usually seek professional moving services regardless of the season, either because they are off work then or because their rental leases expire.

So, what’s the best time to move out in terms of saving money on your move? Ideally, you’ll want to move during the off-peak moving season, on a weekday in the middle of a month. Of course, it may not be possible for you to have that scheduling freedom, but if you have it, then make sure you use it to pay less money in the end.

How to Choose the Best Date for Your Move

4. Don’t move items you won’t ever need again

What is the cheapest way to move house? There’s a pretty simple answer to this mind-boggling question: just take fewer items with you to the new home.

Reduce the number of things you’re moving to save money.

It’s really important to point out that this is a cost-saving technique that really works. In reality, the power behind it lies in the way the moving cost is calculated. The price of your move depends on a few major factors, such as:

Fewer items to move automatically mean reduced weight, and less weight means lower charges by the cross-country moving company you select. Take a good look around your home – can you spot immediately items that you haven’t used in years? No? What about checking in the storage areas of your house or apartment? Moving experts often advise people who are getting ready to move out to get rid of anything they haven’t used in 12 months.

Sort out all of your earthly possessions before you reach the stage where you will start placing them in suitable cardboard boxes. In addition to reducing drastically your moving expenses, the next best thing about purging your home of unnecessary stuff is that you have the great option of selling some of your things for a profit. Whether it’s an online sale or a garage sale, the extra cash you will most likely pocket prior to moving day will make the moving costs more bearable in the end.

How to Get Rid of Stuff When Moving

5. Don’t take any furniture items with you

When moving across the country, you’re likely to cross multiple states and your destination will be hundreds or thousands of miles away from where you are now. Not surprisingly, this type of relocation is very different from moving locally – that is, moving within the same state within a radius of 100 miles.

Are you seriously taking that huge couch with you too?

So, in order to save money when moving long distance, one of the best pieces of advice you’ll ever get is to leave your furniture pieces behind. And here’s the reason why: most furniture items are both large and heavy, meaning that their transportation will cost you more money than you’re ready to pay.

As you already know, the moving cost will be calculated on the total weight of your shipment, so the more furniture items you choose to take with you, the higher that relocation cost will be. And vice versa – the fewer furniture pieces you choose to bring with you (ideally, NONE), the less money you’ll pay up in the end.

And here’s the tricky part: when moving long distance, you’ll often pay more money to transport your furniture pieces than to buy brand-new ones after the move is over. Therefore, unless you own antique furniture items that hold great sentimental value for you, you’ll be better off

In addition to saving you money when moving, your sound decision to NOT move any furniture will save you plenty of time as well – time to disassemble it and time to pack it for safe transport. Bear in mind that some of your furniture units may not fit inside your new home or match the overall décor of the new place.

Should You Move Your Furniture or Buy New After the Move?

6. Save big on moving boxes

Finding cheap ways to move your stuff across the country is all about the seemingly small-scale cheap moving ideas, tips, and tricks that, when combined, will make a huge difference for your fledgling moving budget.

It seems like your mission to find free moving boxes has been highly successful.

Now, you can’t possibly initiate the task of packing your items for a move without getting hold of the right packing supplies first. That is unless you’ve decided to hire professional packers for the job – experienced packers who come with their own array of high-quality packing materials.

So, let’s assume that you will pack up your home by yourself, or at least part of it. What do you need the most when it comes to the required materials? It’s moving boxes, of course.

Even though you’re still going to need to purchase packing paper, bubble wrap, and some packing tape, those versatile cardboard containers make up the biggest packing expense when moving from one home to another.

Here’s the deal: if you manage to find the needed number and sizes of packing boxes without paying for them, then you will surely do yourself a huge favor – most of the time, we’re talking about at least a hundred dollars or more saved on cardboard boxes alone.

So, what’s the cheapest way to get moving boxes? To get them for free, of course.

Where to Find Free Moving Boxes

7. Believe in your own packing skills

Until now you’ve learned that the cheapest ways to move long distance are to manage your moving budget from the start, to hire a low-cost moving company, to schedule your more smartly, to move only the household items you do need, to leave heavy furniture behind, and to save the money meant for purchasing the required packing materials. So far, so good.

Packing up on your own will save you plenty of money by not having to pay professional packers.

The final cheap moving tip you should definitely consider when moving to a new home is to determine which easier aspects of the move you can manage by yourself and which tougher aspects you’d better leave to the pros. And how will that choice of yours save you money, you wonder?

Knowing that each additional moving service that you ask your moving company to perform – packing, unpacking, disassembly of large furniture, temporary storage, crating, handling of special items, hoisting, and so on – will cost you more money, let’s take a look at the most time-consuming and arduous task of them all. Yes, you guessed it right – it’s packing.

Sometimes it’s hard to make up your mind whether to hire professional packers or to pack your household items by yourself. Packing on your own will save you money, but what about the invested time – how much is your time worth anyway?

Yet, you don’t want the saved packing costs to result in damaged items due to poor packing techniques or improper handling on your part. Moreover, if you own specialty items such as a piano, or a pool table, or a hot tub, then you should definitely seek professional packing services.

Provided that you don’t own any specialty items and you have a bunch of friends who won’t mind helping you out, then you may as well try to save money on moving costs and attempt to pack your home by yourself. The first step? Create a packing timeline that will help you organize your time in the best possible way.

Packing Timeline for Moving: Complete and Unabridged

The post 7 Excellent Ways to Save Money on Moving Costs appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/ways-to-save-on-moving/

Pros and Cons of Moving to a Cold State

In order to make an informed decision, you must look closely at all the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a cold state.

Is the upcoming big change something that you will enjoy thoroughly? Or it is something that you will come to hate as time passes?

The only way to know for sure is to move to the colder state and see for yourself. But moving house is a lot of hassle (it’s expensive too), so knowing what to expect in advance can help you tremendously in your final decision.

Here are the pros and cons of moving to a cold state so that you are truly prepared for what’s coming your way:

Pros of moving to a cold state

Generally, most people are moving away from the cold climate – they are moving to warmer states because of the obvious benefits that warm weather can have on the human body and mind.

Believe it or not, there are a number of advantages of moving to a cold state that you may have never known before. Too many people are moving to California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, and other Southern states for the long months of sunshine there, but colder states can also have somewhat surprising health benefits for anyone who wants to move there.

Here are the benefits of moving to a cold climate:

Cold weather burns more calories

When it’s cold outside, the human body has to work much harder in order to maintain its core body temperature of around 98.6°F (37°C). So, when you find yourself in a cold environment, your body will use a greater amount of energy to keep you warm and humidify the air you breathe when you’re out in the open.

As a result, you are likely to burn roughly 30% more calories than when it’s warm outside. So, it turns out that cold weather can help you in your efforts to lose excess body fat.

Cold weather helps you think more clearly

Colder temperatures are believed to help people think more clearly and tackle cognitive problems a bit more easily. So, what’s the scientific explanation behind this?

The brain requires glucose to function at an optimal level but when it’s warm or hot outside, our body uses more glucose to keep its core temperature down. That basically means that there’s less glucose left to power the brain in terms of pure cognitive functioning.

Therefore, while cold weather may boost your brain activity ever so slightly, you can’t expect to become a genius simply because you’ve moved to a colder state.

Cold climate alleviates outdoor allergies

No more outdoor allergies after the move.

Moving to a cold state will be good for you if you happen to suffer from allergies, especially allergies triggered by pollen – tree, grass, and weed pollen.

In fact, pollen counts don’t really exist in cold weather, especially when there’s snow outside. So, for people with outside allergies, the cold climate can be a blessing as it will enable them to stay allergy-free for most of the year.

It’s interesting to note that about 75% of Americans who are allergic to pollen are also allergic to ragweed, and ragweed thrives in warm and humid climates. And this basically means that moving to a colder state will mean no more ragweed – one of the strongest outdoor allergens of all.

Cold weather can help you sleep better

Another advantage of moving to a cold state is that you’re very likely to sleep longer and better thanks to the cold climate.

When you’re trying to fall asleep, the core temperature of the body lowers naturally. On a hot summer day, this can take up to 2 hours while it’s much faster in a colder environment.

When natural sunlight is gone during the shorter winter days, the body tends to go into sleep mode. All this can be a drawback when you’re trying to work during the day, but it’s definitely good for your sleep.

And there’s no denying that having a good night’s sleep (at least 8 hours of peaceful sleep) brings many benefits for a person, including a boost of the immune system, a better memory, reduced stress, improved mood, clearer thoughts, and so on.

Cold air can help prevent infections

While it’s true that the flu thrives in cold and dry air, it’s important to note that your immune system should be in better shape to fight infections in cold weather. Why?

The human immune system can get activated when it’s exposed to colder temperatures, meaning that your body should improve its ability to ward off infections more effectively once you move to a colder environment.

Of course, the immune system boost you’re likely to get when moving to a cold state doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be extra careful not to get infected – you should still get your annual flu shot, wash your hands regularly with soap and water, avoid touching your eyes and mouth, get adequate sleep, and avoid people who you know or suspect that are sick.

Cold air can lower inflammations

Moving to a cold state can have somewhat surprising positive effects on your body as well. The colder air in your destination can work as an ice pack on an injury – it will generally reduce swellings and help alleviate aches and pains of various origins.

The colder temperatures outside will make the vessels in your skin less prone to redness and swelling as a direct result of the reduction of blood flow. Again, it’s similar to applying ice on an injured area in the body and getting almost instant relief from the pain.

Cold weather can strengthen your heart

Working out in a cold climate can help strengthen your heart.

Numerous studies show that a cold climate can prove to be beneficial for your heart. Why?

Winter workouts outdoors such as walking, running, or even fun activities such as playing in the snow will require a human’s heart to pump a greater amount of oxygenated blood to compensate for that physical activity and to make sure that the whole body maintains a core temperature that stays within healthy limits.

In fact, exercising outdoors in cold weather can make your heart muscles stronger thanks to the extra work the heart has to do. Thus said, you should still be careful not to exert yourself in a cold environment and risk putting too much stress on your heart.

Cold weather means much fewer insects

Another big advantage of moving to a cold state is that they will be fewer insects flying in the air.

It’s important to note that bugs such as mosquitoes and ticks are not only a great nuisance, but some of them spread bad viruses too such as the West Nile virus, Dengue virus, or Zika virus. And since most insects, including the disease-spreading ones, thrive in milder climates, your decision to move to a colder state will keep you much safer from being infected with one of those viruses and coming down with fever through a mosquito bite, for example.

And when you’re moving to a colder state from an area with a warm and wet climate, you should definitely appreciate the lack of bothersome insects in the air during the cold months of the year.

10 Tips for Hiring Movers

Cons of moving to a cold state

You shouldn’t get the impression that moving to a cold state has many advantages and almost no disadvantages. If that were true, people would not be moving to warmer states like they are.

There are also a great number of snowbirds – people who are moving to the warmer southern states just to escape the cold months in their places of origin. Once the winter passes, they return to their home states to enjoy the warmer months of the year.

So, moving to a cold state has also its share of drawbacks which you should know in order to make an informed decision.

Cold weather means shorter days

Living in a colder climate usually means shorter days as the sun sets early. While that fact can be a blessing in disguise and improve your sleep and increase your hours of sleep, it also means fewer hours of fun activities outside and less work done outside your home.

Of course, you can still go outside and have fun when the sun has set, but it’s just not the same feeling, and some people never really get used to the shortened winter days after moving to a cold state.

A cold climate can mean dangerous weather

A cold climate can be dangerous.

Battling through winters can be dangerous if proper care is not taken.

Icy sidewalks in winter do increase the risk of falls, which in turn can lead to fractures. Driving in winter conditions is always risky and patches of ice on the road or too much snow could sometimes result in car accidents. Winter storms can be very dangerous if one gets caught in one outside the protection of their home.

Also, in cold weather, some older adults face a greater risk of hypothermia – a dangerous condition in which the internal core temperature of the body becomes too low. That may happen when a person gets prolonged exposure to cold.

Cold weather usually means more work

Moving to a colder state will offer some hidden disadvantages as well… like having extra work around your house when the snow starts falling from the sky.

Wintertime will mean more work around the house – shoveling snow around the yard, pathways, driveways, and the house foundations. But that’s not all – after a heavy snowfall, you’ll also need to remove the accumulated snow from the roof of your house to avoid all sorts of structural problems.

You may not realize it at first, but moving to a state that’s notorious for its harsh winters will, sooner or later, force you to get up at least an hour earlier than your habitual wake-up time in order to dig your car out of the snow. And that’s not any fun now, is it?

Cold winters mean higher utility bills

Moving to an area with long and cold winters will automatically mean that you’ll have to pay more money to heat your home. In other words, you’ll have higher electricity bills during the cold months of the year.

Of course, moving to a warmer state will also get you to spend more money in the summer when you’ll be running your AC full time to cool down your home, but nothing beats an electricity bill during long spells of sub-zero temperatures.

Utility bills are probably the last thing on your mind when moving to a cold state but you should assess everything before reaching your final decision.

Long and cold winters require specialized equipment

Do you have what it takes to survive a long and harsh winter?

Moving to a cold state will also mean learning to survive the long winters there which will depend mostly on your frame of mind. If you want it to be fun, it can be fun… but survival in the wintertime will require some specific equipment as well.

First of all, you’re going to need to buy thick clothes such as winter jackets, sweaters, boots, hats, gloves, and so on. That’s especially relevant if you’re moving from a warm southern state. But you’ll also need various winter gear as well, both for cleaning out the snow around your property (snow shovels, snow blower, etc.) and cleaning snow, ice, and frost from your car.

And without a doubt, getting all that snow equipment will cost you money.

Cold weather can affect you on a psychological level

Interestingly enough, one of the disadvantages of moving to a cold state is that it can affect you psychologically.

It’s been proven that the lack of sunlight during the cold months of the year and the constant coldness can influence your mood, energy, sleep, concentration, and appetite. This condition is known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and its symptoms usually start in the fall and continue well into the winter months.

Also known as winter depression, the winter-onset SAD may disrupt your biological clock (your body’s internal clock) due to the reduced level of sunlight. Also, reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin – a brain chemical that affects mood.

Click here to read more about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

See also: Pros and Cons of Moving to a Warmer State

The post Pros and Cons of Moving to a Cold State appeared first on The Moving Blog.

source https://www.themovingblog.com/pros-and-cons-of-moving-to-a-cold-state/