6 Easy Meals to Prepare When You're Moving

Moving is a hassle and even when you hire movers, all of the things going along with moving take up time. Sometimes, it's easier just to grab fast food, which can be very unhealthy.

You don't have to settle for greasy food when you move. Here are some of the easiest meals you can prepare in just one pot, when moving.

Chili

Chili is an easy meal to make in one spot on the stovetop or in a crockpot. The best thing is you can choose whichever recipe you want, throw all the ingredients in the crockpot and just let it cook. Then, it's ready for you whenever you're ready for it.

Stews and Soups

Of course, stews and soups fit with the same type of cooking process as chili. You can simply create the recipe in your crockpot or a pot on the stove and you can just let it cook all day. In fact, the longer you let a soup cook, the better the flavor usually is and you can even keep the leftovers for another day.

Grill Meals

If you have a charcoal or gas grill, pack it up last. This will allow you to create meals on the grill without much issue. You can easily grill up meats or vegetables and make a great meal without having to worry about using pots or pans, which you may already have packed up.

Stir Fry

The best part about cooking a stir fry when you're moving is the fact that you can use just about any ingredient in your fridge. If you have fresh or frozen vegetables, throw them in with a sauce and some type of meat and you're all set. It's best served over rice, which can be cooked very fast in the microwave making this a very healthy and fast meal for moving.

Sandwiches

A very easy solution to meal time when moving is sandwiches. You can use cold deli meats to make sandwiches or you can make pulled pork, sloppy joe or pulled chicken in your crockpot. If you go the route of the hot sandwich in the crockpot, it can sit in the crock pot all day on low and you can eat whenever you're ready.

Pizza

Of course, the tried and true for moving day and days leading up to moving is ordering a pizza. If you want to be a bit more adventurous and have some fun with it, you can make your own and it can even be done on the grill. Just do an internet search for "grilling pizza" and you will find all kinds of great recipes.

There are several easy and healthy things you can make during the weeks leading up to moving and even the day of the move. Crockpot meals are excellent because they can stay warm all day and your family can eat when you're hungry instead of having to stop and prepare a meal. Even if you have movers coming your way, you will need to eat. Use these meals to make your moving day food needs easier.

Downsizing Tips for New Retirees

When you’ve reached the exciting time of life to retire, one of the first things you may be thinking about is downsizing the home and living a simpler life. Whether you want to travel more, move to a different area of town, or just have less house to maintain, retirement is the time to reduce the clutter and simplify life.

It can be overwhelming to downsize a lifetime of belongings, but once it’s done you can start to decrease the outgoing costs of maintenance and utilities that you once covered with your salary. Take a look at these tips to downsize and starting living with fewer costs and less stuff!

Prepare for the new space

Whether you’ve decided to move to a condo building, into a tiny home near family, or into an RV, you need to look at the things you have in the current home you’re in and start planning for what things will go into the new home. If you’re going into a very small property, it may be time to pass your items onto children, have a garage sale, or begin to donate belongings.

For those that want to travel during retirement, you’ll want to think about how many items you can travel with and if selling most of your items would help you to afford travel. If you plan to live close to family, you could live with more of your things and still offer much of it to relatives that won’t fit into your new home. On the other hand, moving from a home to a condominium or other home, you may realize that your furniture and belongings don’t work in the new space. Don’t allow your stuff to hold you back from your retirement dreams.

Consider real estate costs

The good news is that you are going to be spending less on maintenance and home costs now that you are downsizing, but you’ll still need to consider real estate costs with this big change. Selling your home may mean you have to make repairs and other renovations to get it to sell.

Then you’ll be buying a home which comes with down payments, closing costs, and more. In some cases, you may find that renting out your current home will help to fund your new living situation. By moving on from your home though, you’ll save on insurance, utilities, and maintenance costs.

Don’t assume you’ll be profitable

While selling the home and lowering expenses sounds like an easy way to double your nest egg, don’t expect that to be the case. You may find your house isn’t worth as much as you thought due to the current market and you’ll likely be funding your new home or chapter in life with any money from the sale. Get what you can from the sale of the home and spend it wisely going forward to sustain your new lifestyle. You may find that it’s wiser to keep the home and rent it out.

Ask for help when it’s time to sort your things

One of the hardest parts of downsizing is making decisions on your belongings. Sometimes having a friend or relative help make decisions with you will make it easier. You’ll want to give yourself at least three months before the move to start downsizing the home. Pass items on to your children and grandchildren that they would have received from you in the future and hire an organizational expert to sort through the rest.

Only keep the things you absolutely love or that have a function in your life, while getting rid of anything that is for “just in case” or unnecessary. You may need new ways to organize your things or they may not seem as useful in the next chapter of life after you leave this house.

Downsizing for new retirees is one of the last things you’ll need to do before you can start to enjoy retirement. Take it one step at a time and once you’ve downsized and started this new chapter the way you’ve dreamt it, you can sit back and relax now that your dreams have become a reality and all of the difficult tasks are done!

Must-Have Supplies to Protect Your Items During a Move

Do you worry about your stuff getting broken or damaged during your upcoming move? It’s one of those things that homeowners tend to worry about despite their busy schedule of hiring movers, packing, and getting things prepared for the new address.

The good news is that you can take this one off the list because there are some easy ways to protect your items during a move that will make the odds highly unlikely of damage. From bubble wrap to furniture blankets, here is a look at the must-have packing supplies that you should pick up so that you don’t have to worry about your items during the move.

The essentials

Start with the essentials that you would need in any situation. This is going to be things like moving boxes, labels, permanent markers, and packing tape.

Talk to your professional movers in order to decide who will be doing the packing and if moving boxes or other containers are provided. You may want to upgrade to reusable containers for your move to ensure extra protection and to get something more eco-friendly.

If you already have some boxes, make sure you have enough in different sizes and durability since heavier items will go in smaller boxes and lighter items will go in the larger boxes. You’ll also need specialty boxes for things like art and televisions.

Next, make sure you have a clear way to label every box according to room and items inside. This will include markers and labels. Don’t forget packing tape which needs to be specific for packing, since packing tape is made with nylon fiber lining to reinforce bottoms of heavy boxes. Use clear plastic mailing tape to tape your labels on them so that you can still see them while protecting them from water. Lastly, pick up a basic tool kit to disassemble furniture or cut tape if you need to get back into a box.

Supplies for extra protection

Now you’ll want to start stocking up on the extra supplies that protect your items from damage. Start with stretch wrap which you’ll use to secure doors and drawers of furniture pieces like your cabinets and dressers. It works as a self-adhesive to itself without sticking to your furniture like a piece of tape would, and it leaves no residue behind. Next, get packing paper that you can use to stuff boxes and wrap your fragile items. Don’t use newspaper since the ink can leave stains.

You’ll love using bubble wrap during your move because it’s one of the easier ways to pad breakable items, while being affordable and easily available in large rolls. You can cut sheets as you need to line the bottoms of boxes. For items not going into a box, you’ll want to have blankets to protect furniture, mirrors, and other fragile items.

Get felt pads to protect the floors, rope or bungee cords to keep boxes and furniture in place, and a hand truck or dolly to move items carefully.

How to ensure a proper move

The best way to protect your items during the move is to hire a professional moving company to do the best job possible. They will know the best ways to protect your things, the safest ways to transport them, and they are trained to handle everything with care during the move out and the move in. Be sure to make this step your top priority for your upcoming move.

If you want to be sure you have the proper supplies to protect your items during your move, first hire a professional moving team, and then stock up on these supplies that will give you the best chances for success.

4 Common Moving Disasters and How to Avoid Them

Dented walls from moving out furniture, broken dishes from improper packing, not being able to find anything because you didn’t label your boxes, and not getting proper insurance when you need to file a claim are all moving day disasters.

Are you guilty of making these moving mistakes in the past? You don’t want to be that person that realizes you skipped Moving 101 by forgetting to find out about these things in advance. When you want to have an easy moving experience, make sure you start by learning what not to do so that you can focus on what you should be doing. Take a look at the four common moving disasters that happen to families and how you can avoid them so that the big move is a successful one.

Forgetting to hire the moving company soon enough

The first rookie mistake that families make is trying to hire a local moving company at the last minute because they procrastinated. This is a classic moving mistake because you have so much to do that you are bound to procrastinate on something.

You should be planning ahead at least by one month if not more, especially when it comes to hiring your professional moving crew. This is the team that is going to protect your items during the move, make sure everything is moved efficiently on moving day and makes sure you are covered for things like where the truck will park to unload your belongings and how you will move those house plants without killing them.

Your professional moving crew will walk you through the whole process from where to get moving boxes to what time of day you should move out. If you do this last minute, you could have a crew that doesn’t know how to properly protect antiques, doesn’t call ahead to make sure a truck can fit on the street you’re moving to, shows up late or with no experience, or is actually a fake moving company that will take advantage of unknowing families that have actually hired crooks.

A professional moving company will ensure they can move all of your belongings, will protect your house from damage in the process, and will bring the right equipment for the job.

Not packing properly or labeling boxes

The next mistake to avoid is improper packing and not labeled well. Did you pack a large box with your whole library of books that will hurt someone’s back? Did you try to pack breakables with other items carelessly into a box that will bang around in the moving truck and shatter? Did you get old boxes that are in poor shape and try to pack lampshades and dinner plates that need more support?

It’s important to pack properly with heavy items in small boxes for a manageable transport, sturdy boxes for your malleable items, and everything packed into good quality boxes that aren’t about to cave in. Then, labeling items with the contents and the room they belong in, rather than just the word “fragile,” will ensure that you can find the things you need when you arrive at the new house. You don’t want to arrive at the destination and not know where to find the first aid kit, the dog food, or bath towels.  

Trying to move your heavy furniture yourself

Hiring a professional moving company will help you to avoid beating up the house you just sold or the house you just bought when moving furniture and other bulky items. Those heavy couches and furniture pieces can easily bang up walls and corners, but your moving company will have the proper supplies to make sure everything is well protected from the floors to the walls and the staircases.

Not getting the insurance you need

Lastly, don’t forget to look closely at that moving insurance policy. You may avoid buying it altogether or try to get a cheap coverage plan but then you are in a rut when you need to make a claim on a piece of artwork or family antiques. It’s important to cover those fragile items that are worth a significant amount of money and worry less about furniture from a department store that you put together yourself. Put your insurance focus on your high-dollar or sentimental items.

Avoid these common moving disasters by planning ahead, getting proper moving insurance, and taking plenty of time to pack and inventory your items for a successful moving day experience.

How to protect walls when moving

When it comes to moving day, your biggest concerns are likely about something happening to your stuff or something happening to the house you’re moving out of that day. That’s because many times, furniture and heavy items can bump your walls and cause damage to a house that you’ve already sold.

On the other hand, you may be worried about damage to the walls of your new home you just purchased and the work and money that would go into repairs. The good news is that you can take some precautions to greatly reduce the likelihood of damage. Take a look at the best ways to protect your walls during your move.

Protect your walls

There are different ways to go about protecting your walls during the move. The simplest way to start is to make sure everyone is wearing proper attire, with things like loose chains, large zippers, and large rings removed to avoid something rubbing up against a fragile surface. Wrap the items you’ll be moving out and into the new place with proper plastic, shrink wrap, padding, and soft fabrics to avoid damage if something rubs up again your walls. 

Next, contact your local Chicago moving company or pick up your own supplies that would help cover the walls before the move. You’ll find that cardboard or Masonite is a great solution for protecting the walls. You can also try furniture pads, especially for areas like the stairs or underneath banisters, since these are easy to hang and drape.

Another way to protect your walls during the move is to cover the walls in drop-cloths that will help prevent scratches during the move. Sharp corners will need extra padding to avoid marks on the walls while you’re moving out items like the bed frame or the armoire. Consider other options like cardboard, wooden boards, or bubble wrap for wall protection in narrow rooms. Even brown paper grocery bags on the walls will work and will save you some cash if you already own them.

Make sure everyone is taking plenty of time to move heavy or large furniture, especially when going through doorways. You’ll want to measure the areas you are taking them through and have enough movers to help with awkward and heavy items.

Sometimes dismantling an item is the best plan of attack and using proper equipment to assist you with the moving process. Make sure any items that can be slippery are not dirty or wet to avoid dropping it or slipping, such as kitchen appliances and pack away your fragile items in advance. Then, make sure your pathway is clear of debris, rugs, and mats.

Don’t forget your carpets and floors

One area you may have forgotten to address is your carpets and floors. Make sure you’ve applied some self-adhesive plastic covering to your carpets to keep clean of dirty shoes, tears, or spills, and then protect the hardwood floors with cardboard or felt to avoid denting or scratching. You can also use rug-runners over hard floors and Masonite boards over carpets.

While you may be most concerned about protecting your household goods and don’t want to spend additional money to protect your walls and floors, you may want to give this area more thought.

Consider the difference in costs between adding safety precautions to the home you’re moving out of and moving into, versus the cost of repairing the walls, the carpets, or the floors. Protecting your home may be one of the best investments you make when it comes to your upcoming move. Use these tips to properly prepare for your move so that you are not left with a repair bill afterward.