Amazing ways to cut back on the costs of moving!

 

Let’s face it - moving to a new place is time-consuming, demanding, and of course, costly – especially if you are going to hire professional movers. If the idea of forking over your hard-earned money on moving costs doesn’t sound pleasing to you then you have come to the right place. Here are a few simple yet effective tips to cut moving costs. Let’s delve.

Sort your items out

The first thing to ensure is that the bags of items you are going to move shouldn’t become ‘baggage’. You will be surprised at how this simple thing will leave you with more money in your pocket. The fewer items you take with you the better and the cheaper. You see, the costs of moving to depend on many factors like distance, time of year, and weight of freight (total weight of items to be moved).

So freight weight is an area where you can save quite a bit of cash. If you have fewer items to move then your freight weight will be reduced which means lower moving charges. So, make sure you sort your items before packing and moving them.

Pro tip –

Get rid of things you have not used in 6-12 months.

Bonus tip –

This ‘sorting-items-out’ exercise will, apart from saving you money on freight weight, leave you with items that you can sell offline or online. Now, who doesn’t like more incomings?!

Be flexible

You may have never thought of this one but it’s wonderful and one of the easiest ways to cut back on the costs of moving. Choose an economical date and time to shift. This will work wonders for you if you are looking to hire a professional moving firm. Your chosen day of the move can make all the difference.

Bonus tip -

Try to not move during the “peak moving season”. It starts in May and goes up to August.

Choose a mid-week day or mid-month period as your moving date. So, start marking the possible moving days as per your convenience in September and April. Why so? Because the demand is usually lowest during this period of the year. So, there are higher chances of you hitting the jackpot with lower moving costs. Of course, you may not have the luxury of moving during this ideal time of the year. But, if you can and you want to save money then you should consider this hack.

Get rid of the garbage

It can happen that your friends or movers may accidentally shove those garbage sacks lying around into the moving truck only to add to your freight weight (and ultimately your costs of moving).

A dirty secret-

Moving companies won’t mind (at all) to collect your trash as it adds on to the weight of your goods (and their profits!).

Get quotes from different moving companies

Last but not least, before you officially hire a moving firm, ensure you have sufficient quotes (at least from three top movers of your choice).

Concluding tips-

One of the ways to determine the credibility of your moving company is to make sure the company conducts either an in-person examination or a video inspection of your belongings before they give you a quote.

Remember that if you are shifting out of the state or long distance, your moving costs will largely depend on the weight of your moving items. So be clear when telling your moving company as to which things you will and will not be moving to get the most accurate quote.

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Whether you need more storage or not depends on these 5 indications

 

A clutter-free home supports you in so many ways. It makes you feel pleasant, relaxed and it’s easy for you to get into your daily chores without any encumbrance. So, to help you start your journey towards a clutter-free home, we’ve listed the key signs you need to be aware of which tell - you need more storage. Let’s delve.

1. Overflowing cupboards

If your closet looks like an overcrowded subcontinent where the items fall out eagerly to hug you, it’s time to consider more storage.

You can make use of a self-storage unit to store the items which you don’t want to abandon but are taking a lot of space. In this way you can kill two birds with one stone – first, you will find the thing you are looking for in the closet easily as it’s neatly maintained daily; second, your things will be stored in a safe and organised manner in the self-storage unit until you need them back.

2. No space for your vehicle in your garage

This happens to many people. It’s a situation when you realise that your garage is no more serving its true purpose - to house your automobile. Why? Because it’s crammed with other things.

You must also take cognisance of the fact that storing lots of things (especially heavy and sharp ones) increases the risk of your vehicle getting damaged. And anyway, a garage plays an important role in protecting your vehicle from dust, debris, heat as well as bird poo-poo and so many other things. So, if you want to reclaim your vehicle garage you should consider other storage options.

3. Your things go missing

You might have noticed that when your house is full of stuff, it’s difficult to find daily items. This is especially true in situations where your search activity becomes a frantic scrambling process as you go about finding an item that is buried under the heap of clutter.

So, if boxes and containers or sacks have begun to take over your private spaces, it’s a sign that you need more storage. You can rent a self-storage unit that will allow you to make more space in your living room for example. You may want to consider self-storage especially for random things lying around your home that always come under your feet making you almost trip over (if you haven’t fallen yet!). 

4. Your guest room turns into a storage unit

Many people do this only to find themselves in embarrassing situations when they receive a sudden surprise visit from their good old friend or a dear family member. The room which is filled with boxes would have easily made for a pleasant guest room (or your private den!) had you moved those items to a self-storage unit. Many people also use the guest room to dump things they don’t need. But, why dump in your own house when you can recycle or sell it externally and have more space in your home? If you are in such a situation, it’s time you need more storage.

5. You have weighty things that you do not even use

Many things fall in this category – That big wide extra couch, rows of empty drawers, unused treadmill, old TV – all of this can be moved to a self-storage unit. Imagine the space in your house (and your mind) it will leave behind!

Besides, a self-storage unit is the best way to securely store for example excess furniture until you need it.

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Top 8 storage tips to store electronic devices safely (with bonus tips!)

 

Storing electronics requires special care and attention especially if you are going to store your devices in a storage unit for a long time. Here are some important storage tips to consider. Let’s delve.

Flick through manufacturer’s manual

Before storing electronics into a storage unit, we recommend you to go through the owner’s manual or the product website for precise information regarding storage for your devices.

Back it up

When it comes to storage for your devices, it always helps to be prepped for the worst-case scenario. You should take all the necessary precautions that favour your electronic devices to sit safe and undamaged in storage for a long period of time. It’s because electronics are not created to remain unused and without a power connection for long.

Hence, to make sure you don’t lose important data and information, we recommend you back up and store everything off-site. You can even store it online.

Store devices in boxes

When storing electronics in boxes, always make it a point to let weighty items sit at the bottom of the container. The smaller items should sit at the top of the heavy items.

Pro tip -

Fill the empty spaces with paper. You can also use linen. This will prevent electronics from moving and hitting each other.

Say no to plastic sacks

Plastic bags have the ability to retain moisture. If you store your electronics in such bags, it’s detrimental to your devices like circuit boards.

Bonus tip -

Worried about humidity interfering with the health of your devices? Place a couple of silica pouches. It will help the inside of the bag to remain dry.

Store in original packaging

When it comes to storage for your devices, storing electronics in original packaging containers is the best way to store your devices. They contain the necessary internal supportive elements created especially to hold and protect the device during storage and transport in vehicles and storage units.

Use pads

Storing electronics with pads is important to prevent scratches caused due to items rubbing abrasively against another which is a common occurrence during the transfer of goods in trucks. So when it comes to storage for your devices like television sets, PCs, and other big electronics, use pads to avoid the rubbing of items.

Pro tip –

Don’t place your flat-screen TV on the ground. Let such big electronics lean against the wall of your storage unit. And cover it with a cloth.

Label your devices

Here’s a great tip to avoid confusion after you separate wires and other trinkets (like mouse and keyboard) that are a part of your electronic devices.

First, keep the wires together and label each one of them with a specific colour marker that matches its device. Then store the parts together attached to their respective electronic device. 

Take out the batteries

Batteries and storage do not go well together. And this is serious. So, if you are planning to shove batteries into some box and toss it into a storage container, abandon it right away!

You see, batteries can’t lie around unused for long periods of time. If you leave batteries connected to an electronic item, it can damage the battery container and eventually the item itself. And if they are cheap AA type batteries they will burst if left for extended periods.

So, we recommend you to store disconnected batteries by themselves. Even better is to recycle old batteries and buy new ones after getting your electronic device back out from storage.

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Top trends in document management to rule in 2020

 

Although most organisations have moved from paper to digital documents via the document management system, many are still yet to unravel the full and real potential of digitisation. You get to tap into countless benefits like enhanced efficiency, least error, and easier access to information when you upgrade to the latest tools of document management.

Document management has progressed over the past decades. Current document management practices differ from what they used to be some decades ago. As we move into the new decade, the trends in document management will also see new highs and lows. While many of the trends in document management have stood the test of time, there are some which are relatively new. Here’s a list of some of those top trends in document management. Let’s delve.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is expanding to different parts of the world at a mushrooming speed. 

Its benefits have impacted especially the IT sector around the globe. Naturally, document management systems of the world haven’t been immune to these advancements.

With the flip of the internet switch, cloud computing allows you to access your documents at your chosen destination (computer and location) from anywhere in the world. Cloud solutions empower your business to scale up, speed up, and become flexible. This trend in document management is going to further rev up as it’s a never-seen-before kind of situation where both operating expenditure and capital expenditure can be reduced at the same time using cloud computing.

Enhanced budget-friendliness

The wide-scale adoption of the online document management system has spawned more competition in the market. This is always a good thing for consumers as they get more and more options. There was a time when cutting-edge document management systems used to be so costly that organisations ruled them out. The vendors of today realise that for their document management system to be accepted globally, the first box needs to check its – affordability.

The revolutions in cloud computing and technology have paved the way for organisations to buy the latest document management software without having to break the bank.

Now, you get to see a plethora of sophisticated document management solutions at greatly reduced, reasonable costs.

Apart from lower up-front expenditure, document management helps an organisation to save more cash. It is a device that can help your business to entirely overhaul tedious, time-consuming manual processes.

Smarter robotisation

One of the hottest catchwords in the realm of document management is automation powered by robots. It’s called robotic process automation (RPA). What does it do? RPA uses specialised computer programs to automate and systematise regular business processes.  

This may sound ultramodern, but all it does is empowers the application to track and learn to execute tasks by observing humans at work.

The document management system embedded with such automated technology for instance can track the keystrokes of a person and mimic human activities. The system is intelligent enough to learn via machine learning and eventually take over and execute the mundane repetitive tasks which humans no longer need to take up.

Document management is not boring

Last but not least, document management as a process is getting exciting. Gone are the days when document management systems were dull. Today, they can record data faster, automate tasks more efficiently and even convert your document archives into valuable information. Document management systems are making business processes and the execution of tasks more enjoyable. So, if you don’t have one, get a document management system to make your business more cost-effective, adept as well as profitable.

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