Think Big Ease and Efficiency for Your Upcoming Move

Does the thought of moving stress you out?
While it can certainly be a challenge, a move does not have to be overwhelming.
If you think “big picture” about all of your moving needs from the very beginning, you can plan an easy and efficient move.

Think big about your moving checklist
The very first thing you want to do is keep an apartment moving checklist. This helps you think carefully about your upcoming move and make sure no detail is missed. Apartment Guide offers a comprehensive moving checklist that will help you plan an efficient move.

Think big about the big questions
There are a few questions that you need to ask yourself at the beginning of the moving process. These questions include:

• Am I going to pack myself or hire professional packers?
• Am I going to move myself or hire professional movers?
• If I am moving myself, am I going to rent a truck or a portable storage unit?

The answers to these questions will depend on your specific situation. If you have to move across country very quickly, it might be best to hire a company that will do all the packing and moving for you for an efficient move. If you have time and lots of friends to help you out, packing yourself and renting a truck might be the right move for you. Whatever you decide, you have to answer these questions before you can proceed any further.
Think big about your moving budget
Whether you are going with a full-service or a do-it-yourself move, you may only have a certain amount of money you can comfortably spend. Sit down and form your moving budget, factoring in the cost of packing supplies, moving costs and incidentals (pizza for your friends if you are moving with their help!) Keep the budget close at hand when you are calling for quotes from moving or truck rental companies.
Think big about your packing plan
You will need a system to make sure everything gets to the right room when it arrives in your new apartment. If you are hiring packers, this may be taken care of for you. If you are packing yourself, you’ll need a packing plan.
Color-coding boxes can help you tell at a glance which box goes in which room. Make sure each box is clearly labeled. Label several sides of the box because you do not know how it will be stacked when moved.
Always pack a priority box that contains supplies to get you through the first days in your new apartment. You’ll need to be able to get to your bedding and toothbrush, for instance.
Think big about your plan for moving day
Plan out how moving day is going to go. If you are going with professional movers, have all the details, such as payment and directions to your new apartment, all set and ready for them. If you are moving yourself, plot out when and how you are going to pick up the rental truck. Use this Move Out Checklist to ensure you follow all the steps to close out your old apartment and move into your new one.
When you plan out your move and think big picture, you can experience an easier and more efficient move with minimal hassle. Planning your move carefully can save you time, money and stress!

Are you moving soon or in the near future? Moving the traditional way puts an unbelievable amount of trash and other waste into our landfills which are harmful to the planet. Why waste time and money on cardboard boxes and tape that you’re just going throw away when you move into your new place? Instead, consider getting green plastic moving boxes from us at Rentabox. We’ll deliver them to you and pick them up from your new address so you don’t have to worry about it. With Rentabox, moving can be a streamlined, pleasant experience all the way around!

5 Factors To Consider Before You Sign The Lease

There are many things to think about before you move to your new home or apartment. You may be deciding on what kind of insurance you want, what movers to hire, whether or not you’re going to install safeguard systems like CCTV, etc. There are other factors that you may forget about in your scramble to get a good deal with an acceptable lease. Here are five factors you should make sure you consider before moving or signing on the dotted line:

Acoustics—Do your own research and test the acoustics of your new home. If it’s an apartment, you want to make sure that you can’t hear every step your upstairs neighbors take. If it’s a home, you should make sure that the walls aren’t too thin. Sometimes all it takes is a single closing door to send a wave of loud noises throughout the house.

Neighbors—Meet your neighbors, and, more importantly, hang around the prospective house or apartment to see how they behave themselves. If your neighbors hold loud poker games several times a week, or blast movies and music that the entire neighborhood can hear, it might be worth reconsidering the move. A landlord can address this issue, but sometimes nothing can be done.

Local services—Find out if there are recycling facilities nearby, as well as a variety of energy and Internet providers. Often times these options are limited, but it’s certainly a factor worth looking into before you move. It’s also worth looking into whether or not there are any companies that service smart homes. If you choose to upgrade your house or apartment in the future, it’s good to know there will be someone who can help you.

Wi-Fi and mobile reception—Test whether or not you get a lot dropped calls. Don’t sign the lease on a place before finding out whether or not you’re in a ‘dead zone’. The same goes with your Wi-Fi connection. A simple Google search should yield a reliable crowdsourced answer as to whether the area where you’re planning on moving to experiences frequent network trouble. You don’t want to be stuck resetting the modem every fifteen minutes.

Pests—Check the history of bedbugs, rodents, and other pests on your property as well as throughout the neighborhood. Even it has been recently fumigated, pests such as bedbugs frequently persist. Bedbugs are making a big comeback in South Africa. Fortunately, there are plenty of blogs out there that have archived tenants’ reports of their activity.

These are five factors that could spell the difference between a wonderful new home and a nightmare. Do your homework on acoustics, neighbors, local services, Wi-Fi, and pests before you sign the lease to your new place.

Are you moving soon or in the near future? Moving the traditional way puts an unbelievable amount of trash and other waste into our landfills which are harmful to the planet. Why waste time and money on cardboard boxes and tape that you’re just going throw away when you move into your new place? Instead, consider getting green plastic moving boxes from us at Rentabox. We’ll deliver them to you and pick them up from your new address so you don’t have to worry about it. With Rentabox, moving can be a streamlined, pleasant experience all the way around!

Selecting the Perfect Storage Unit

If you’re moving and are in the need for some help with the packing, storage and moving of your belongings, I’d advice you to hire a moving and storage company right away. Whether you’re moving into a well furnished apartment, an unfurnished one or are renovating and need some self storage space for your belongings, you will need to select the perfect storage unit to suit your needs.

Now, to begin with, what is a storage unit? A storage unit is a storage entity or a container-like thing that a moving and storage company will offer you if you wish to store away your belongings somewhere safe. Depending on the things you need to store, you can have as many storage units. Storage units are generally temporary storage elements which you can use for specific periods of time. There are many reasons why one may want to store away belongings. For instance, you might be renovating your apartment and need some place safe to keep your things secure. You may have to look for some place to keep some of your old furniture or things that you are not using for the time being. That is when you’ll need storage units, and the best way of going about getting them is by hiring the services of a moving and storage company to get the perfect storage units to secure your belongings.

Selecting a Storage Unit
Moving and storage companies offer safe, dry and clean storage units to customers. However, as a customer, it will be your duty to make sure that you explore all your options before selecting the perfect storage units. The most important thing is for you to know exactly what you’re looking for. First of all, you’ll need to know what you’re looking for in a storage unit solution provider. Look through as many options in order to find the best provider.

Once you’ve successfully found a good provider, the next thing for you to do is check out where the storage facility is located, i.e. where your storage units will be stored. It is always better to go for a service provider or moving and storage company that’s located closer to your location, so you can access it easily whenever you want.

Secondly, confirm the security arrangements provided at the facility location. Since your storage units will be entrusted in the care of the storage facility, it is important that you make sure they’ll be kept securely. Moving and storage facilities usually offer customers some self storage security alarm systems or locks. Some even provide CCTV’s for constant monitoring. The keys to your unit will be with you, so you can rest assured that no one will be tampering with your belongings.

Another thing you need to ensure is the climate control of the storage facility. Your goods may have some items that cannot withstand harsh weather conditions or changing weathers. Check with the facility to ensure that their units are safe for use. In conjunction with climate control, also look out for moisture and dryness conditions.

Are you moving soon or in the near future? Moving the traditional way puts an unbelievable amount of trash and other waste into our landfills which are harmful to the planet. Why waste time and money on cardboard boxes and tape that you’re just going throw away when you move into your new place? Instead, consider getting green plastic moving boxes from us at Rentabox. We’ll deliver them to you and pick them up from your new address so you don’t have to worry about it. With Rentabox, moving can be a streamlined, pleasant experience all the way around!

Depressed After Relocation? Try This…

When it comes to moving, there are many unavoidable realities that we must all face. The toughest part is when we are dealing with the moving and storage aspect. That’s when depression usually starts setting in and if we don’t control our nerves well, things can get pretty more difficult. Presently, around 600,000 people relocate every year throughout South Africa. Moving is generally looked at in only one way – as a very stressful activity. There are so many different factors that force people to relocate, such as business opportunities, school concerns, career advancements, etc. All that maters is how well you are able to keep your emotions under control, because that’s what leads to depression if not handled properly.

There is no doubt that moving kind of ends up leaving a significant impact on our lives. Aside from the environmental change, our thoughts are also greatly impacted. I have a friend who had to move to another province some time back. While she and her husband handled the move pretty well, sadly and surprisingly enough, her husband fell victim to depression. He had to undergo a series of therapy sessions and treatment for depression, which affected the whole family in many ways. Many people undergo relocation/moving depression without even being aware of what they are suffering from. In fact, most of us just look at depression as a passing phase which we think we’ll eventually overcome as time goes on. Most of us fail to realize that it is actually a psychological problem which has the tendency of getting out of control if not paid attention to at the right time.

However, despite how low your feeling may get, the good new is, there are many tested and proven techniques that can help anyone get through the entire moving and storage process without being affected in a serious way. In order to overcome depression, you must first be aware of it. Here, try these few coping tips to help overcome moving depression:

- Collect the contact details of your loved ones, so you can be in touch with them immediately you relocate. Speaking your heart out to someone makes moving a lot easier. You’ll be surprised how light and at peace you’ll feel when you speak to someone and tell them everything about your trip and the new the place.

- Bring along some reminders or keepsakes from your old house, probably things that you hold dear such as frames, decorations, photographs or others. It is not necessary to let your home go abruptly. Doing it slow and steady will help you assimilate the new change much more easily.

- Moving and storage are not the only things that shape relocations – new homes, new neighbors and new neighborhoods do too. They are part of the whole moving process, which is why you should look for ways of reconciling with your new surroundings. Learn new ideas and realities to fit in.

- Once you’ve moved, you can look for different and new things to do in order to keep your mind off old memories. Take charge of your feelings by enrolling in some helpful classes or exercising programs to help you move on faster.

Are you moving soon or in the near future? Moving the traditional way puts an unbelievable amount of trash and other waste into our landfills which are harmful to the planet. Why waste time and money on cardboard boxes and tape that you’re just going throw away when you move into your new place? Instead, consider getting green plastic moving boxes from us at Rentabox. We’ll deliver them to you and pick them up from your new address so you don’t have to worry about it. With Rentabox, moving can be a streamlined, pleasant experience all the way around!

Break Your Back While Moving!

Rentabox knows moving can be a very stressful time. It can become even more stressful if you injure yourself in the process. Therefore, we have created a list of precautions everyone should take to ensure that you do not injure yourself while in the process of moving.

Think of moving, especially lifting boxes, like any other exercise– you must stretch first if you really would like to prevent any damage to your body from happening. You should definitely stretch your arms, legs, and back since those will be the parts of the body that will be used the most while lifting. Check out this site for ways to stretch these parts of your body for a move.

There are many ways to lifting boxes, however many people tend to do it wrong. The proper way to lift a box to keep yourself injury free is to:

• Bend at the knees, not the waist.
• Keep the object you’re lifting close to your body.
• Do not twist your body.
• Avoid lifting things over your head.
• Position legs apart.
• Get a good grip and lift with the legs, not the back.
• When moving something, push rather than pull.
• Keep your footing secure.
• Lift smoothly and slowly; do not jerk.
• Use a dolly to carry objects when possible.

The main key to lifting a box is to put more pressure on your legs over your back so as not to strain your back. Hand carts should become your best friend when moving because they not only make moving many boxes at once easier, but it also alleviates the stress on your body since you are not carrying boxes, just pushing them. If you can, avoid lifting at all costs.

Other ways to prevent injury while moving is to wear gloves when lifting heavier objects, especially furniture, so you have a better grip and the object does not fall out of your hands. Also, do not forget to bring plenty of water to keep from becoming dehydrated and if it is possible to move during the morning or early in the day that is also a wise move too because that will prevent you from overheating or tiring out quickly. It would also be wise to have a First-Aid kit handy just in case someone does get a cut or a minor bruise.

Rentabox is all about making moving as little about stress as possible. We do not want something that can be prevented like an injury or strain to your body to effect your move one bit, so take caution when lifting boxes during your move and remember these tips; you will not regret it once your all moved in with no issues.