We all get to move heavy pieces of furniture at some point in life. It can be quite a nightmare if you have no idea of how to go about it or if you don’t go about it the right way. Oh, and there’s also the problem of steep staircases, tiny hallways and narrow doorways to add to the tugging and pushing. And if you have a credenza which weighs somewhere about 300 pounds or maybe more, you surely know that it’s a monster!

If you know some tricks to move heavy furniture, you may be able to pull it off successfully. My weight is about 105 wet and I was successfully able to move my credenza from one end of my room to the other, without breaking much of a sweat, without having a residual back ache and without ending up in the hospital. How was I able to accomplish that? Well, I have some tricks up my sleeve!

If you hire a moving and storage company, you’ll be saved the trouble of handling your heavy furniture all by yourself. But even if you have to, there are some cool tricks I’d like to share with you:

Slide but don’t lift – When you are dealing with heavy furniture, make sure you don’t lift it, or else you may end up injuring yourself. Slide heavy furniture instead of lifting it.  Many of us don’t know how to lift things the proper way, and even though we may succeed in placing them in the right places, we also end up having a bad back. If you have to lift something very heavy, make sure your back is relatively straight and don’t lift it on your shoulders.

Use cardboards and towels – Slip something underneath the legs of the furniture, so you can push it with ease. Don’t lift the piece; just rock it to and fro slightly to slide a piece of towel or cardboard underneath the legs of the furniture. This will make it easy for you to drag or push the furniture around. Try dishrags or towels for furniture that’s placed on smooth bare floors and try cardboard for carpet.

Use magic sliders – Magic sliders are amazing solutions for moving heavy furniture. Place magic sliders under all the heavy pieces of furniture you get. Even though they are a bit expensive sometimes, they are really worth the buy. They make it easy to slip furniture across rooms.

Pull or push – While pushing heavy furniture seems natural, pulling it is somewhat more effective. The best way to go about this is by placing your arms on either sides of the furniture and lowering your body as though you are going to sit, and keep pushing backwards, keeping your feet a few inches away. This way, your arms will work like braces and you’ll be able to pull the furniture with exerting excessive force on them.

Empty it first – Make sure the furniture is completely empty before you try to move it anywhere. Moving and storage companies also use this tip. Many of us forget to empty our furniture before moving it, which often leads to more problems other than a back ache. Emptying the furniture makes it lighter and prevents things from falling off and creating a bigger mess.

Moving from one house to another or from one city or country to another is one of the most nerve-racking times in our lives. Cleaning, packing, moving and storage of our most valuable belongings can drain all the energy out of us. Once you have successfully moved, the next thing is to unwind and relax. The key is to stay relaxed and take things easy. Unwind the most important things first and leave the rest for later when you need them. Here are a few easy tips on how to unwind after a move:

Go Through a Checklist of Some Things to Do
Now that you have moved, you can start thinking of relaxing, but remember, you still have a lot to do besides unpacking. Whenever anyone moves to a new place, the first thing to do is to make a checklist of all the things that need to be done now that they’ve moved. Start your checklist with the things that need to be cleaned before you can start unpacking.

Arrange the Furniture
One great thing about moving is the chance to start over in a new house. To get settled in as fast as possible, you’ll need to have your things placed and arranged in their places as soon as possible. The sooner you can have all your belongings in their right places, the sooner you’ll start getting used to the place. Start by arranging the furniture. Let your moving and storage company handle the heavy furniture.

Unpack!
Well, I personally loathe the idea of unpacking, but there’s one can do to avoid. When you’ve got to, you got to, there’s no running away from it. The most important thing is to unpack in an organized way. Make sure your moving and storage are placed in the right rooms when they are brought in. Get a plan ready on how to go about it. Start with the most important things to unpack, like personal belongings and clothing.

Have Your Closets Organized
From my last move, I realized that the biggest mistake is to ever let your closets get cluttered. Now that you’re starting afresh, your main focus should be on keeping your closets neat and well organized. Trust me, if you succeed in doing that right from the start, you may be able to maintain it ahead too. The key is to arrange things in them in a user-friendly manner.

Have the Utilities Set Up If They Aren’t Already
This should actually be one of the first things to look at once you move. Moving to a new location can mean that you’ll have to set up utilities if the suppliers are not providing service. Is that’s the  case, disconnecting and reconnecting the utilities can take some juggling and time to make sure that your heating, lights and other services are fully functioning.

Make a List of the Emergency Numbers
Make sure you make a list of all the emergency numbers in your new location. Stick them on your fridge or some place you can easily see them. You can find them on the internet or in phone directories. When you move into a place, you will want to know the emergency numbers in case of any emergencies.

When it comes to moving and storage, “double-boxing” particular items in the proper way is very important. First of all, double-boxing is ideally done for items that are easily breakable. It is a method of packaging, commonly used for moving and storage purposes or for shipment purposes. If you are getting ready to move or relocate and have any vulnerable items that can easily be broken on even the slightest recklessness, you should seriously get those items packed in a double box.

It so happens quite often that people don’t seem to realize what items to pack in double boxes, or they don’t realize when to start packing particular items in double boxes. One thing you should realize is that double-boxing doesn’t come in handy for only moving and storage purposes. It is also used in cases when you may need to put away or store some things temporarily or if you are trying to protect your belongings against any natural disaster. For example, after holiday season, you may want to pack up and store some of your delicate decorations or the delicate gifts you are not likely to use for some time. This is when you have to double box the items you need to store temporarily. Another example is when there has been a dangerous weather forecast or maybe the prediction of a natural disaster hitting your region, like a hurricane or flood. You will want to store all of your most important belongings in double boxes and have them moved or stored in safer locations.

Double boxes are thicker cardboard boxes that are used for moving and storage purposes.  As compared to regular moving and storage boxes, double boxes are much safer because of their thick coating. The thick cardboard lagging in double boxes helps keep all vulnerable items safe from any vibration or heavy movements. When using double-boxing for packing and moving and storage purposes, be sure to do it the right way. For example, if you are planning on packing a pretty heavy antique piece or item, here’s how you should double box it:

- First of all, get a regular storage box and a double box from any moving and storage service company.

- Make sure that the double box is double the size of the regular box, and make sure that the regular box is big enough to sufficiently contain the antique piece and Styrofoam peanuts.

- Safely wrap the antique piece in a clean large plastic bag, to keep the Styrofoam dust from getting in.

- Place some Styrofoam peanuts at the base of the regular box in an even layer.

- Place the antique centrally in the regular box, keeping room for more Styrofoam peanuts to fill the sides.

- Fill the void spaces around the antique with Styrofoam peanuts and jam them.

- Cover the top of the box with more Styrofoam peanuts and close the box. Make sure you tape it well to have the top properly sealed.

- Once the antique is safely packed in the inner regular box, the next step is to place Styrofoam peanuts in the larger double box.

- Place the regular box centrally in the double box and fill the void space around it with Styrofoam peanuts (remember to jam the peanuts in).

- Place more Styrofoam peanuts on the top and place the double box cover and tape it shut.

Your double box is all packed up and ready for moving and storage.

When it comes to moving and storage, handling a teenager can be quite an ordeal. Moving with teens is truly an art. But just a little bit of patience and good preparation beforehand can make things pretty easy for you.

We all know that getting our teenagers out of bed early in the morning can be very tiring. When only making them leave bed in the morning is so scary, how on earth can you get them to leave their home, school and the friends they love? Well, it’s definitely not going to be easy, but with the right blend of patience, cajoling and sympathy, you will just as well manage to pull things off in a pretty neat manner.

Though you may not want to agree with this, but as parents, we sometimes don’t fully understand our children’s emotions. Relocation is not only a hard thing for adults, but is also a very difficult thing for kids. Thinking of it from the emotional aspect, it is even a notch higher in the case of children.

Teenagers generally start their tantrums right from the moving and storage stage of packing up belongings. Or rather, that may be an understatement – they actually start their tantrums right from the day they get hint of the move. You will basically get to see a pattern of three stages unfolding. Firstly, they will start showing you how bad their temper can get. When that doesn’t seem to work so much, they will then resolve to talking you out of it – convincing you why it is going to be a horrid idea to move to a new place. When that fails too, they will then start off the whole “emotional blackmail” scene of telling you how mean you are for taking them away from everything they love.

In most cases, parents feel that ignoring their children’s melodramatic phases may actually help reduce the trouble. However, it is really the other way around. Ignoring your teenager at such a time will only make things worse. To make the transition easier and as smooth as possible for your teens, you will need to be extremely patient and sympathetic. You may even need to have a heart-to-heart with them, telling them why it is so important to move. This may even turn out to be a good time to bond with your teen, and you may be surprised to see the result of it at the end. In case this doesn’t work, you may need to take slightly more drastic measures like making your point in a stern way and staying fixed on it. But in such cases, parents need to be very careful that they don’t overdo it. Most importantly, they must know exactly how and when to intervene and back off.

Once you’ve managed to have your teen cooperating with you, the critical part will then be the moving and storage of their belongings. Children are very possessive about their things, especially teenagers. If possible, allow them to monitor the moving and storage of their things themselves. Allow them to handle their packing or allow them to instruct you on where and how to store their things.

Yes, we all hate taking out the garbage, especially when we have to drag it all the way up a hill to get rid of it, or if we have to walk a very uncomfortable distance with it. It’s even worse when it comes to utilizing garbage cans for moving and storage. However, using garbage cans that have wheels or are placed on carts with wheels is a lot better. Aside from making it easier to take the garbage out, wheels also make garbage cans easily movable.  There are generally two basic methods used for moving garbage cans: dolly carts and moving carts.

If you are moving from one house to another, you might be wondering about ways you can utilize your garbage can in a sensible manner. After all, we need all the storage space we can get when we are getting ready to move. There may be many ways you can use your garbage can, but in my opinion there are just two ways that actually make sense, and they are:

1.    Utilizing Garbage Cans as Organic Farming Containers
Organic farming refers to a farming method which involves all-natural farming methods, without the use of any chemicals or external additives. This farming method involves the use of containers that can be used to plant vegetables. You can decide to use your garbage can as an organic farming container or a trash can composter when you are getting ready to move. Or, alternatively, you can also temporarily transfer any traditionally planted fruits and vegetables, until you’ve successfully moved into your new home. If the cans are placed on a dolly or moving cart, it will be a lot easier to maneuver them wherever you want.

2.    Using Garbage Cans as Moving and Storage Space
Using garbage cans as moving and storage space is a pretty common thing you’ll see most movers doing. The best thing is to store small items like cans or containers that don’t take up much space and won’t easily break. This way you can fit as many items in a garbage can as possible. Some people prefer using them as storage space for basic household tools, vehicle tools or garage tools like spanners, screw drivers, nails, etc., whereas some people prefer using them to temporarily store or hold small holiday decorations like safely packed ornaments and lighting.

Of course, using a garbage can in any of the two ways mentioned above will require you to ensure that it is thoroughly disinfected first. In fact, even if you decide to utilize it in any other way, you will still need to have it disinfected.

Aside from these methods, there are many other ways people choose to utilize their garbage cans during moves. The truth is, many people are unaware of the fact that they can actually put their garbage cans to good use, especially when it has to do with moving and storage purposes.

If you are preparing to move an office or home on your own, it helps to have a checklist handy. There are many scenarios in which you might need some special supplies, but for the most part you can get away with having the following items handy. Prepare and collect all of them before you start packing and moving to help things go as smoothly as possible.

You should have:

• 15-20 small cardboard boxes
• 15-20 medium cardboard boxes
• 15-20 large cardboard boxes
• You can collect these for free from local shops and merchants, or you can buy them from a moving company. You can also get an entire kit of boxes from a number of home supply stores, such as the Home Depot or Lowes.
• You will also want cardboard separators. You can buy these or prepare your own using extra cardboard boxes picked up from local shops. Make sure to use thicker cardboard if you are going to make your own separators, and don’t cut them down until you are ready to use them.
• Bubble wrap
• Packing Peanuts
• Fresh newspaper
• A large roll of plastic wrap (used to protect items with distinct shapes and furniture)
• A mattress bag is recommended for each mattress your transfer
• Packing tape to seal the boxes
• A box cutter or razor blade
• Permanent markers

You should already have some of these items around the house (markers, box cutter, news paper, and a few boxes). Make sure that each person helping with the move has their own supplies, including tape. It will help everything go a lot faster.

You also want to have a hand truck to facilitate your move. Having a hand truck can help when moving an office, apartment, or home. You can stack several boxes and move heavy items much easier with one of these.

Make sure to label your boxes intelligently. We recommend using a system when moving an office or apartment that involves labeling each box by room and items. For instance, labeling one box “Kitchen: glasses” will make it easier for you to find and unpack these items in the right order.

Don’t forget to label boxes with fragile items. Make sure this is marked clearly on the top of the box. Use newspaper and packing peanuts to fill in empty space in boxes that have fragile items and draw an arrow on the sides indicating which way is up.

When you are moving an office or home it is easy for things to get disorganized pretty quickly. By figuring out how many boxes you need for each room and placing them accordingly, moving an office can become a simple and straightforward task.

Don’t forget to reinforce the bottom of your boxes with extra packing tape, especially when they become heavy. Books are the worst, because they can be deceptively heavy.

When you find yourself hiring a moving and storage company, you have a great opportunity to toss some of the old things away that you never use. But you also have one of the best times to purchase those new things that you have wanted for a long time. You will essentially start with a clean slate, meaning you have the perfect opportunity to start fresh with your interior decorating or storage solutions. Saving money during this step is important, so here are some of our favorite sites to find great discounts!

1. What list would be complete without mentioning Groupon? You can find deals in your old neighborhood as well as your new spot. If you are planning your move far in advance, you might find plenty of great deals that you would have otherwise overlooked.
2. O.co (formerly Overstock.com) has some of the best deals that you will ever find on name brand merchandise. Check the site out ahead of time and try to place your order so the delivery comes to your new place two or three days after you are scheduled to move in. The hardest thing about this plan is getting your items before things are out of stock.
3. FatWallet.com – this site is far more than a discount or coupon site, but for our purposes, we are interested in the cash back option. By purchasing items through their site, you can earn from 1% to 15% back, as well as finding some of the best deals you could imagine. Their message board also has a lot of information about the current best deals available!
4. Woot.com offers a daily deal, usually with a limited availability. If you stay focused, you might be able to find exactly what you need for your new home. This site is generally geared towards gadgets and other forms of “nerd” merchandise.
5. Amazon Goldbox – The Amazon Goldbox will give you great access to deals, which are updated a few times per day. You can subscribe by email or just check the site out on your own. The deals are limited, so you have to act quickly to secure anything you find.
6. LivingSocial.com – This site will help you find plenty of deals, updated daily. They aggregate deals across multiple social buying sites, helping minimize the amount of time and effort you need to invest in scouring all of the other sites.

There are plenty of other sites out there to help you with these tasks. It makes sense to stay subscribed to as many as possible. The hardest thing about relying on any sort of deal site is the limited nature of most promotions. Being subscribed to many different sources of deals will increase your chances of finding exactly what you were looking for.

Don’t forget to check out and subscribe to coupon websites, too. There are plenty of these out there. Some are designed for specific types of shopping and other are general in nature. Fifteen minutes with your favorite search engine will turn up more than you can handle!

Moving is a tough time, not only because you are uprooting yourself and your family from familiar territory in exchange for new and unfamiliar experiences, but also because you have a hard decision to make. You can either spend lots of money hiring a professional moving company, or you can tough it out and do it all on your own.

Unless money is extremely tight, it often makes more sense to just go with the moving company. Not only will you be able to relax more throughout the process, but you will benefit from the experience of the moving company when it comes to getting everything done as quickly as possible.

Here are a few things that a professional moving company can handle for you that you probably wouldn’t have the time or resources to do on your own:

1. Coordinating long distance moves: When your old home is only right down the street from your new home, it’s pretty easy to move everything. But if you’re going through multiple states things can become much more complicated. A professional moving company can coordinate the entire process through a network of contacts, ensuring you have a solid team there to help you from start to finish.
2. Properly packing your boxes: As an amateur mover, you are likely to make a lot of mistakes when you pack your boxes. While you may have moved five, ten, or even twenty times, professional movers have handled hundreds (if not thousands) of moves. When you hire a mover to pack your things, you can be sure that they will pack them safely and securely, as well as efficiently.
3. Calculating space: Normal people tend to eyeball the amount of space they will need while moving. This goes from the number and size of boxes need to the size of the truck to the hallways and doors of the new location. The professional moving team will actually use methods that allow them to measure the cubic footage needed for each of these things. Unless you want to sit there with a slide ruler, they are going to do this way better than you could.
4. Insurance: When you pack and move your own stuff, you have to deal with anything that is broken. If the movers break or lose anything, they have an insurance company that will handle the claim for you.
5. Supplies, Contacts and Muscle Power: These folks handle moves all day, every day. It is their job to have the right supplies (boxes, hand trucks, tape) and to know who to contact throughout the moving process. They also have individuals who are able to handle all of the heavy lifting for you throughout the whole process.

Your move is going to be stressful. Hiring a professional moving company can reduce that stress significantly. And even if something does go wrong, you are left with options that help make things right. Consider hiring a moving company to make the experience as pleasant as possible.

One of the toughest things to orchestrate can be moving your animals. While it’s rather straightforward moving your dogs or cats, other animals can prove much more challenging. In order to make the move as stress-free as possible for your pets, follow these tips.

General Tips: Talk to your vet. He or she will be able to help you understand the different types of stress that your animal may experience during the move, as well as helping you with suggestions on making it as easy on the animal as possible.

Fish Tips: Be sure that your pet’s new home is set up before you move them. For instance, if you are moving fish, you want to make sure that the tank is all set up and ready to go before you move in with them. This can be difficult without having multiple tanks. Do not feed your fish for 24 hours prior to moving them. This will minimize waste in their transfer containers and minimize any potential poisoning. A Styrofoam box is that best case for transferring these animals. Use water from the original tank in your transfer containers, and use this same water in the new tank upon arrival. Talk to your local fish store for more tips, and check some of the more popular forums.

Birds: Avoiding the shock of moving can be tough when you are dealing with a bird. They are more sensitive than almost any other animal, so you must express extra caution during this process, but they do tend to enjoy car rides. If you are going to transfer them in a different carrier than the one they normally live in, make sure they have a month to get used to it before transferring them. Also, keep at least one month of water (a few gallons should suffice) and food from your old location in case you can’t find it in your new neighborhood. A rapid change in diet or water quality can cause intestinal issues for your feathered friend.

Reptiles: The toughest thing about moving your reptiles will be maintaining the consistency present in their routine. Maintaining temperatures during the day/night cycle can be tough. The best thing to do is move your reptiles yourself with a car ride. If you can’t do this within a normal day, you should hire a professional pet transportation company. They can often ship your pet within 24 hours, minimizing the overall stress. You will have to also consider the time of year you are moving, as shipping your pet through cold temperatures could result in a trip that is fatal.

Dogs and Cats: If your dog or cat isn’t used to travelling, talk to your vet about getting some medication to make the move easier. Most dogs and cats (as well as other mammals) can make it through the average car trip with little or no difficulty.

If you are planning on moving too far to bring your pets along in your car, then you must contact a professional pet moving company to make sure the process goes as easily as possible.

One of the toughest things about moving can be the cost. Most people can easily burn through thousands of dollars between boxes, moving trucks, and hiring some help. There are many benefits to hiring a moving and storage company, especially one with great reviews and reasonable prices.  However, if you decide to take matters into your own hands,  the following tips will help you cut down on your expenses drastically.

1. Ask your friends, family, and church members for help. You might be surprised at the response you get, and a lot of people will be happy getting a free (cheap) meal out of the deal. Just make sure that you are getting help from people you can count on!
2. Many of these same people may have a truck or trailer that you can use. It’s polite to put gas in their tank either before or after the move. This will save you a lot of money on renting a truck and should make it easier to complete the move with one trip.
3. Check Craigslist and Freecycle for free boxes. You will be surprised at what is available. You can also check with your local shops. Grocery stores and fast food restaurants might be willing to help, and if you know someone who works at one of these locations it will be even easier.
4. Ask your neighbors for newspaper instead of buying packing paper. You can save a lot of money with this tip alone.
5. Use your linens to wrap your furniture instead of paying big money to get wraps from the local moving supplier.
6. Plan your meals in advance. A lot of people make the mistake of overlooking their food situation before and immediately after their move and end up packing their food. This results in last minute trips to the pizza parlor, sandwich shop, or grocery store. Dedicate one box to a few food items, as well as the pots and pans you will need to cook them. You can save a hundred dollars or more with this tip.
7. Pack a suit case with your essential items, such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, shower curtains, toilet paper, a change of clothes and other bathroom necessities. This tip isn’t so much about being frugal, but it’s nice to be able to take a shower after you’re done working so hard unloading the trucks.
8. Clean your old home instead of hiring a cleaning crew. If you plan to move out at least 48 hours before your last day in the old spot, you can make time to get back and clean out on your own. This will help you get back more of your security deposit, too, if you were renting.

Whatever you do, avoid breaking and losing things, too. There’s nothing worse than unpacking all of your boxes to realize that you have broken some of your dishes or realizing that you lost something. You wouldn’t believe how often this happens to people.

Making sure that you utilize these tips, as well as getting creative and coming up with your own, will help you save a lot of money during your move.