(NC)—Summer is a popular time for Canadians to pick up and move. While moving is definitely a major undertaking, it can also be a great excuse to organize our belongings and decide what to keep and what to give away. Whether we are moving in with a roommate, into an apartment or into a different house, spring cleaning helps streamline the items that need to be transported and can cut down on moving costs.
Cut down on clutter
Go through your junk drawers, garage and storerooms - everywhere your clutter accumulates. Ask yourself what you really need to keep and what can be given away, recycled or thrown out. Better yet, why not organize a yard sale to sell the items you no longer need? Who knows? The money you make might pay for pizza on your moving day!
Tips for a successful pre-moving yard sale:
• Ensure that all items being sold are clearly labelled with the price you are asking. Buyers may be reluctant to ask you directly.
• Have several small bills on hand ($5 and $10 bills) as well as change to facilitate transactions.
• Consider organizing a collective yard sale with your neighbours. The more items you have on sale, the more likely you are to lure prospective buyers.
• Create a festive mood. Provide music and hang some balloons.
• Have batteries and an extension cord on hand to demonstrate that your appliances work.
Everything in its place
When the time comes to pack your boxes, a good electronic labeller will be extremely useful in helping organize your items. The P-touch labeller from Brother, for example, is an affordable and handy tool that can be found in office supply stores or online at brother.ca. When the popular P-touch brand was launched in 1988, Brother patented an exclusive line-up of laminated tapes that were tested to the extreme to withstand the elements. “Our handheld P-touch labellers are compact and functional for on-the-go needs, which make them ideal for the moving season. Users just type, print, peel, and stick durable, laminated labels in seconds,” says Brian Caldwell, Senior Product Manager at Brother Canada.
P-touch tapes are available in a variety of sizes and colours, and can be switched in a snap to make colour coding easy. Convenient and much more elegant than the traditional big black marker, colour labels can help you associate items with the corresponding rooms. To help your movers, you can assign a colour to different rooms or areas of the house and label your boxes, furniture, lamps, mirrors, paintings, plants and other bigger items accordingly. Brother labels won't leave residue when removed.
Another good idea is to label each cord from your computer and audio equipment. When the time comes to reconnect your machines, you won't have to search through all the similar black cords to find the ones for your computer, your DVD player or for your video game consoles.
By being well-prepared and ensuring that the right equipment is on hand, your moving day should go off without a hitch!
- News Canada