Relocating for Work

While there have been many intrepid explorers throughout the years, from Magellan to astronauts, most people prefer to stay in one place and establish roots. Starting a home and family in one area and spending a lifetime there is a natural part of the human condition. That's why uprooting yourself or your family can create a lot of inconvenience. One of the most frequent reasons cited for relocation has to do with a change of job or career.

Most people throughout the world have experience with relocating for work. Whether it's childhood memories of moving to different towns or cities, or personal experience starting a job in a different area, relocation is a common part of life. Changing your environment is a big undertaking and therefore requires much planning. There are so many things to consider when relocating, especially if a whole family is involved.

Moving for work is quite different from business travel that many professionals have to engage in now and then. The first things to think about when relocating for work-related reasons are the basic considerations. Moving costs are going to be first and foremost in any movers mind. Those who are currently employed may want to check with their employer to see about any relocation assistance that may be offered. Many times employers will share the cost of an employees relocation, especially when it's the employer who is mandating the move in the first place.

Those without current work - or without assistance from their employer - will need to calculate the cost all on their own. If time can be spared, it's always helpful to save up for a month or two to ensure that all moving and relocation expenses can be met. If this isn't an option, the best thing to do is check online deals on competing moving services in order to find the best possible bargain.

Checking for employment opportunities in the destination city is another good idea. Even if a person is moving for work, many times he or she may have a spouse that will need to find a new job. Most cities and towns across the U.S. have online resources available for those looking for job opportunities. Checking the cost of living of a particular city of community is also ideal when preparing a big move, as it will help movers adjust their living expenses budget.

If children are involved it is important to find information and good schools in the city or town the parent is moving to, as well as information on the neighborhoods surrounding the schools.

Things People Forget to Do When They Move

- Return library books and movie rentals

- Cancel gym memberships

- Pick up items from Dry Cleaners/Shoe Repair

- Pack school records, pet records, legal records, property records, necessary financial records separately from the rest the stuff

- Discontinue services like cable, newspaper, etc

- Defrost freezers

- Extract gas and oil from the machines (e.g. lawnmower)

- Make childcare arrangements for the moving day

- Return borrowed items

- Check for items left behind (spots like top shelves, long-time-no-use closets, sheds, kitchen cabinet draws)

What’s missing on your moving check list?

Spring Discount from Statewide Van Lines

These days many families ask themselves time and again: how else can we save money? Well, If you are planning to move any time soon we have some good news for you. Statewide Van Lines will give you $150 off your move with us if the move day falls on any date in March or April (weekends included). Getting the discount is simple: 1. Follow our blog 2. Contact us at 1-866-259-3405 or visit our website http://www.statewidevanlines.com/ to get a free quote and mention the blog discount. And that’s all that is required. Well, there’s still a challenging task of planning how to spend the $150 that you saved but we are sure you won’t need help with that.

Statewide Van Lines is a fully licensed and insurance moving company. We take pride in offering affordable moving services on a highly professional level. For those who value their time – make sure to take advantage of our expert packing and unpacking services.

This is the first promotion in the series of upcoming discount offers – so stay tuned for more deals from Statewide Van Lines.

Moving and Sweepstakes: Where Will Your Prize Go?

Changing your place of living can sometimes be compared to “burning the bridge behind”: some things will be gone from your life forever. You are unlikely to see again you neighbors, or your postman with whom you’ve frequently had a pleasant chat about weather; your kids will miss their classmates from the previous school – and even though they will keep in touch for some time, they will move on to new friendships rather quickly, making old friends history.

But don’t rush to abandon your old postal address: even if you notified your friends, employer, credit card companies and utility services where you now reside, there might still be some important mail cramming in your old box or getting thrown away by the new resident. A good example is if you were actively participating in various sweepstakes and contests. Sometimes it takes months for a winner to be selected but that could very well be you, so make sure you will receive notifications or prizes (if there are any) even after you move.

The first thing you should do is submit a change of address form to your local post office. Temporary mail forwarding will ensure that you get your mail that was sent to the old address forwarded to the new location for up to a year. Unfortunately some sweepstakes sponsors use express delivery services like UPS and FedEx to send your prize: the problem is these companies don’t have a mail forwarding option. Rather than giving up on your hopes of winning, you can take a few steps to increase your chances of receiving prizes you possibly won:

- Edit your profile if you participated in online sweepstakes and such an option is available

- Check your sweepstakes email address frequently: most people create a separate email account specifically for contests and other promotions that they want to participate in but then forget to check this secondary email

- Contact the sweepstakes sponsor and notify them of the address change; if that won’t work – follow up with them immediately after the winner announcement date and inquire if your name was selected by any chance

- Try to get on friendly terms with the new owners of your previous house/apartment: send them a welcoming note, maybe even a small inexpensive gift and ask them to notify you if there is any important mail/package in your name.

Participating in sweepstakes and contests is hard work and you shouldn’t let it go into waste just because you moved. A few simple steps will help the prizes find their rightful owner.

Packing and Moving Your Garage

The moving date is around the corner and everything in your house is wrapped, folded, dismantled and packed up. The one area that you dread approaching is your garage – it’s filled with odd stuff, most of which you barely ever use but still like to keep just in case… Bulky items like lawn mowers or old deck furniture, some auto parts from extra tires to engine stands, children’s stuff and outdoor equipment long out of use, tools, pots, broken statues – you have to sort through it all and figure out what still has value and what can be sold or discarded. (“Garage Stuff on Garage Sale” is a nice title for your newspaper ad).

A few things to keep in mind when packing your garage for the upcoming move:

- Drain all the gas and oil from gas-powered items such as a lawn mower or snow blower since they are considered hazardous materials, which most movers are not licensed to transport

- Empty the draws of your desks and workbenches and pack their content into boxes

- Secure together all the tools of similar length using a strong plastic cord; if you don’t have a tool box use a thick-wall carton to pack your hand tools and small power tools. Use paper to fill extra space and prevent tools from shifting. Cover sharp edges of the tools with linen or bubble wrap to avoid injuries when unpacking the box.

- Disassemble metal shelves and tape them together in a bundle along with the bolts placed in a labeled zip lock bag.

- Label your auto parts prior to packing. If there are certain parts that you cannot identify or which origin/purpose are a mystery, you are very unlikely to make use of them in the future and might as well donate them to the local auto shop.

- Flammable or explosive liquids (fertilizer, gasoline, kerosene, motor oil, pool chemicals) fall under the hazmat category and cannot be transported by most movers.

Most importantly, don't leave packing your garage till the last moment, it is notorious for being the most cluttered area of the house and can take longer than you expect to prepare for the move.

Moving During the Holidays

“To new beginnings!” is the toast you say as you watch the Times Square ball countdown on TV. And new beginnings they will be since you just moved to a new house just on time to ring the New Year in. In fact your boxes are still half unpacked and you are eating out of plastic plates after failing to remember where your best china was packed in. It doesn’t sound believable, does it? Who would want to mix the moving chaos into the holiday hassle?

You will be surprised how many people move during the period between Thanksgiving and New Year. Many families choose to move because that’s when the school is out or in hopes that the wide-spread holiday sale will apply to moving services as well. Some tenants’ lease expires at the end of the year and they may choose to move to a better apartment not to get locked in the new lease.

So if your moving date is during the holiday season, there a couple of things you want to be aware of. First of all you will not be one of the “few”, so don’t expect it to be a slow time in the moving season when movers are fighting to get business from you. Holiday discount on the move is probably just a myth so you shouldn’t count on that either. In fact the biggest challenge for moving companies around this time of the year is that they are short of hands because drivers want to take some time off to be with their families for the holidays. Hence, you might expect longer than expected delays for the delivery. So if there is a way for you to postpone your move till the holidays are over, you should give serious thought to the alternative option.

Have a Great Holiday Season!

What Men vs. Women Really Think before Spending

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Source: GoBankingRates.com