Should you Hire a Sitter When Moving?

Kids While Moving

You've scheduled your moving date, you have a professional moving company coming to pack everything up, but you're worried about your children getting in the way. Should you hire a sitter to watch your kids, while the movers are doing their job?

Spending time with your children is very important, but there are times when you simply cannot have them underfoot. During a move is one of those times, especially if your children are young and require entertainment of some sort. Here are a few reasons why hiring a sitter when the movers arrive is a smart investment.

Saves you Money

If the movers are charging you per hour for every worker, you will pay more if it takes longer to get you packed up and moved. Getting the kids out of the way by hiring a sitter may cost you a few dollars, but it may actually save you time you'd pay for with a professional moving company.

More Packing will Get Done

Even if you only have the moving company coming to pick everything up, hiring a sitter can really benefit you. If you're doing the packing, you'll be able to pack much faster without your children in the way, asking questions and demanding your attention. A sitter will allow you to concentrate on packing and getting everything ready for the big moving day.

Handling Changes Becomes Easier

Even with the best moving plan and the top moving company, changes to your plan may occur. If children are involved in the move, they may not adjust to the change very well and it could cause an issue. For example, if a change occurs pushing back lunchtime, your children may throw a fit because they are hungry.

You can avoid the issue of dealing with changes by hiring a sitter and taking your children's need for stability out of the equation.

Children will be Busy, Entertained and on a Schedule

When you have a sitter taking care of the children, they will be kept busy, entertained and on a schedule. Most children really need a routine and when you go against that routine, it can be difficult for the kids to adjust. However, when you hire a sitter for your children on moving day, they won't have to adjust.

Could Actually be Free of Charge

If you have a grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend that loves your children and lives close by, you may not have to pay a dime for a sitter. What's better for the kids, spending time with a loving family member or spending time getting in your way and the mover's way? Let the day be a grandparent day or another relative day and the kids will be happier.

Hiring a Sitter While Unpacking

The same principles apply when you arrive at your new place and it's time to unpack. If the moving company you've hired for your move is doing the unpacking, you don't want to pay more because the kids are distracting and slowing them down. If you're doing the unpacking, you want to get it done and you don't want any delays. A sitter can help make it much easier to get unpacked and settled.

There are several good reasons to hire a sitter when moving day arrives. Even if you get the full service of having a professional moving company pack you up, move your things and unpack everything, you may save money by keeping your kids out of the way. Plus, it will be better on the children if they don't have to adjust as moving plans change.

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How to Protect Your Valuables During a Chicago Move

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Whether you're a student moving out of a dorm and into an apartment or you're a business professional moving across town, you need to protect your valuables during the move. You don't want to lose your most valuable items or have them stolen due to carelessness or for any other reason. Whenever you move, consider these tips to ensure your valuables are protected.

Create a Full Inventory

It doesn't matter if you hire a professional Chicago moving company or you move everything yourself, an inventory list is essential. You should inventory all of your belongings and make sure the most valuable items are on the list. Your inventory list should also include pictures of any valuables you own, especially if they are traveling in the truck of a professional moving company.

Take Your Valuables With You

Whenever you hire a company to move your things for you, it's a good idea to take some of the most valuable items with you, if possible. Of course, this isn't easy to do if your valuable items are large paintings or hard to move. However, smaller items, such as jewelry, currency and other valuable should travel with you, just to ensure they don't get lost or stolen.

Temporarily Store the Items

If your valuable items will fit in a safety deposit box, you may want to use this option during a move. Before you even hire a Chicago moving company to help you out, take your most valuable items and store them in a safety deposit box. This will help to ensure you don't lose the items or have them stolen due to someone's carelessness.

Storing larger items isn't quite as easy. However, you may be able to leave a larger valuable item with a relative or friend while moving. Make sure they are a trustworthy person and can take the item for you until you've moved into your new place.

Hide and Mislead

Maybe storing the items or having them travel with you isn't really possible. If this is the case and you need to pack the items with everything else, use hiding places and misleading labels.

For example, if you have a fine jewelry collection you want to move, but you don't want to lose or have stolen from you, pack it in the bottom of a box with holiday decorations and don't label it as jewelry or valuables. Instead, just label it as holiday decorations. This will help keep some passerby from deciding to swipe the box when no one is looking because it's labeled as "fine jewelry."

Use Declaration Forms

The best and most professional moving companies will allow you to fill out declaration forms for more valuable items. This ensures you and the moving company both recognized these specific items packed with your things and require special care.

Don't Share on Social Media

One of the easiest ways to announce you own something valuable and end up losing it to a thief is to share it on social media. Keep your valuable items off social media. It's best to keep the information that you're moving off social media altogether. Wait until the housewarming party to show off your new place.

There are many good ways to ensure your most valuable items stay safe during a moving. Hiring a professional moving company with a good reputation is a very good start. Make sure you use the tips above and your move will go smoothly, even for your most precious items.

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7 Tips to Help with Unpacking After a Big Move

You've already spent time packing everything up and the moving company has taken all of your belonging away. They are in transit and on the way to your new home in Chicago. Have you considered the best way to unpack when you arrive in your new home or will you just wing it? If you were organized during the packing process or you had the professional moving company take care of the packing for you, then you'll already be ahead of the game. However, you can still make unpacking much harder on yourself than it needs to be. The easiest way to handle unpacking is to allow your moving company to take care of it for you. However, if you plan to do it yourself, here are a few tips to make it much easier.

Find the Time

Before you do anything else, make sure you have the time to unpack. There's nothing more annoying about moving than getting so busy you never seem to get unpacked in your new home. You don't want to be unpacking boxes for weeks or even months.

Take a day or two off from work, if necessary, and make sure you have the time to unpack. If this isn't possible, carve out a few hours and enlist help of family and friends to get the job done quickly. Of course, if you're strapped for time and don't have much help, your moving company will do the unpacking for you.

Unpack Your Rooms in the Right Order

It's easy to think you're going to unpack an entire home worth of stuff in just one shot. While this may happen, it's not always the case. Moving day is draining and so is unpacking. If you unpack your rooms in the right order, you will have the most important things ready for you even if you don't make it to the end.

Start with the bedroom. This is where you sleep, so you want to make sure your bed is set up, made and ready to go for a good night's sleep in your new home.

The bathroom comes second and shouldn't take very long to unpack. Obviously, you need to be able to use the facilities, so unpacking your bathroom and shower items is a must.

Next, you will want to get the kitchen unpacked. This will ensure you have a place to make food when you're hungry. It's often a larger job, but it needs to be operational as soon as possible. You don't have to make the kitchen fully operational, however. Just make sure you have the things you need to get you by until you have the time to unpack everything.

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After the kitchen, the order isn't as important. You've taken care of the essentials, so you're set up for success with the rest of your unpacking.

Other things you should do to make your unpacking easier include:

• Inspect all boxes before picking them up

• Sort your boxes or have the movers deliver them into the right rooms

• Unpack any essentials boxes first

• Set up any large furniture items early in the process

• Clean up throughout the process

If you follow these simple tips unpacking will become much easier. Of course, if you want to make it hassle-free and super easy, hire your moving company to do the unpacking for you.

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Top Things Most Commonly Forgotten During a Move

When you move, it will become stressful and you may forget a few things. It's even worse if the move comes suddenly and you didn't have time to prepare. With more than 30 million people moving every single year, it's no surprise that some things get forgotten or left behind. You're not alone, but if you're aware of some of the most commonly forgotten things during a move, maybe you won't forget them.

Things Borrowed by Neighbors

Maybe the easiest and most commonly forgotten thing from any move is anything you let your neighbors borrow. If you loaned out a weed whacker, for example, and you're moving in the winter, you may not think about it because it has been a while since you needed it.

The best thing you can do to avoid moving without items you let neighbors borrow is to keep an inventory of the things you own and loaned out. Make sure it includes anything you've stored with friends or neighbors, as well.

Anything Packed Last

You may think your packing system is perfect because you plan to pack the microwave or coffee maker last. However, these items can be forgotten because they are left until last. Make sure you remember to pack these final items and triple check before you completely vacate your old home or apartment.

Pets

Believe it or not, many people forget their pets (at least at first) when they move. Cats and dogs have both been left behind because people get so caught up in the stress of moving. Make sure you have a plan for your pets and either move them first or kennel them while you're moving, if possible.

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Anything in a Crawlspace or Attic

It may not happen quite as often as some of the other things on this list, but people often forget to pack and move an entire attic or crawlspace. The things they store here have been there for so long, they may not even think about them, especially if they have to move in a hurry.

Toilet Paper

This isn't an item people forget to pack when they are moving, but one they forget to leave handy during the move. Make sure you leave out some toilet paper and even if you leave it behind it's not a big deal. However, if you need to go and you don't have any paper, it can become a rather big deal.

Other commonly forgotten items and mistakes during moving include:

• Losing packing tape often

• Packing cleaning supplies and tools too soon

• Leaving charging cords for electronics behind

• Leaving food in the fridge

• Forgetting countertop appliances

Items often get left behind during a move, especially a move happening suddenly. One of the best ways to ensure items don't get left behind is to hire a professional moving company to not only move your items, but also pack them up for you. This allows you to concentrate on double and triple checking to ensure everything gets packed and nothing is left behind.

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