How To Find Your House-hunting “Sweet Spot”

I recently went house-hunting and discovered that it is very difficult to resist the pull of appealing elements that ultimately don’t matter to me that much. Ooh, is that a cedar-lined closet? Did you say the coffee shop is only a two-minute walk? Quickly, I realized I needed a little mental discipline in my search. Though we’d all love to be able to afford any house we want, the fact of the matter is most of us are priced out of a good chunk of our local markets. Sadly, we can’t all have the mansion on the hill, or even the three-bedroom in the nice neighborhood. Or maybe … [More]

Top Five Tips for International Moves

Moves of any type are stressful, but international moves provide some unique challenges. In addition to being uprooted from your home, moving to another country means a separation from your family, friends, culture and, in many cases, even your language. For these reasons, it’s important to carefully prepare for an international move by carefully choosing a good moving company, deciding what is worth taking with you, and learning about things like pet importation laws and possible tax breaks. Here are five tips for making your international move easier: 1. Scrutinize Movers An international move is quite different from moving within your home country, even if the move … [More]

How to Choose a Moving Company

The month of May contains many little celebrations – spring weather, end of the school year, blooming lilies and National Moving Month! Maybe moving isn’t as exciting as lilies opening up for the world or kids throwing down backpacks for the summer, but it’s part of everyone’s life at some point. As I’ve mentioned before when discussing how to pack moving boxes, I think hiring a moving company is worth it. I’m not lazy, just practical! However, hiring a mover does require some thought, even if you’re only moving a mile away. It’s important to protect your wallet and your belongings by hiring a reputable mover. After all, … [More]

How to Load a Moving Truck

If you don’t like to plan things, then you really may not like loading a moving truck yourself. Sorry, but you’ve got to have a plan. No excuses, and no winging it. I agree that it sounds rather boring to plan out how you’ll load your moving truck, but it’s better than the alternative. If a moving truck isn’t loaded correctly, you may not only waste a bunch of time, but also damage many of your belongings. Before you rent that moving truck, ask yourself a few important questions. 1. Do you have the physical stamina and desire to transport your furniture and multiple heavy boxes? 2. Do you have … [More]

How to Pack Boxes for a Move

If you’re like me, you leave the actual moving of boxes to the professionals, but you’d rather pack the boxes yourself. I’m not saying that I can do a better job than a professional packer, but I think packing my own boxes does have some advantages. For one, I can mull over whether I really want to keep and move an item, or toss it in the pile to donate. Yes, you might argue I can do the mulling before professional packers arrive, but I’d rather take my time deciding if I want to keep those satellite jumping shoes passed down from great aunt Martha. Another advantage of … [More]

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