Benefits of downsizing to an apartment

Benefits of downsizing

Downsizing isn’t just for seniors.

Downsizing isn’t just for seniors. For some reason, it’s still associated with retirees, aging and possibly preparing for the final step. We don’t believe that downsizing is only for the elderly. In fact, downsizing offers great benefits for all ages.

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3 Essential steps to prepare for an expat assignment

3 steps expat assignment

How can you prepare for an expat assignment

Today’s guest post comes from Aura at STORAGECafé.

Expat assignments are a great opportunity for advancing professionally, and also for personal development: you get to travel, to learn a new language and to become familiar with a different culture. The perks associated with it are also generally pretty nice: a good salary, transportation and housing provided, school tuition and spousal allowance included, language tutoring and so on.

It’s no wonder, under these circumstances, that most people jump at the prospect of an expat assignment.

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Coping with stress when moving house

Make moving stress free

Over the last 2-3 weeks, we’ve been supporting a few client move. While they’ve stayed in the same city, they decided against doing it all alone. They’ve valued their time more and outsourced the stressful parts – to us (more to come in the next few weeks). We understand not everyone can afford this. Here are our top tips to keeping you sane when moving.

  1. Start early.

Often, we get stressed when we are facing tight deadlines. Give yourself ample time to prepare for your moving day. Will you make it a DIY move or will you have professional movers pack, load and unpack the boxes for you? Or will you a combination of the two, where you let professional movers carry the heavy items like furniture?

Take some time to also declutter all those pieces you no longer want, need or use. If possible, sell or donate them so someone else can enjoy them. Don’t just throw them away, like we’ve seen when college kids are vacating their dorms.

Decluttering reduces the number of boxes you’ll need and can lead to quite a bit of saving in the moving quote. For our clients, it’s also the relief of not having to take all these postponed decisions to their new home. They can start fresh without the items that have been weighing them down for months and years.

Home is where the heart is moving home stress

  1. Keep a project plan for your move.

It always seems like 100 thousands items need to be arranged. Some are dependent on others. For example, you can’t move out of an apartment until you’ve disconnect the electricity and have received the final bill.

Have a note book handy or write a list where you write down all activities with the due dates. It lets you keep track of what you need to complete without missing one. Include phone numbers, contract numbers and the name of the person you’ve spoken to. In case you’ll need to reach them again, you may be transferred to that very same person.

  1. Decide what to pack and what not.

There are some items you don’t want have packed up. Your passport, degree certificate, marriage licence and your jewellery are just a few. Medicine which you take on a daily basis needs to be carried in your luggage. One trick is to put everything you want to keep or move yourself in one room and lock it. The movers won’t mistakenly pack any of these items and you know where they are.

Knowing what is where will help you handle the mess that you’ll see when the boxes piling up. As you pack, use a box only for items from one room. This way, you’re not going to mix items from your bedroom with items. We recommend that you write on the side and on the top of the box what’s in it, e.g. “Kitchen – Pots”. It’ll make it easier should you need to open up a box and when you’re unpacking in the new home.

  1. Eat out on moving day.

Cooking causes stress on most days. Add the additional chaos in your kitchen and it may end up in complete chaos. That’s not what you need! You need simplicity for your food and drinks.

Taking your family to a restaurant for breakfast or dinner gives you some physical space to all the moving action in your home. You can treat yourself to some delicious and healthy food, giving you the feeling of being on holidays. You can also take this time to go through your project plan and create an “attack plan” for the next few hours without hearing another plate being wrapped in thin china paper.

If you haven’t budgeted for eating out during your move, consider ordering in. While you may not get away from the moving action, at least you’re removing one more stressor.

  1. Stay in a hotel.

Especially when moving across countries, moving can be extremely complex. It’s normal to be a bit anxious about an upcoming move. This stress can impact your sleep quality. You may wake up numerous times during the night or not feel rested in the morning. A night in a hotel room can help you chill and may be just what the doctor ordered.

Check out offers and discount prior to your move date. The Entertainer has options for multiple nights in hotels and during the summer, many hotels are offering special rates for UAE residences.

Peace of mind Brian Tracy moving home stress

  1. Do a fun activity.

This one is for you. This may be running or working out in the gym, reading a book in a quiet space or getting a massage to relax. This time for you will allow you to switch and focus on what you need to recharge your batteries.

If you have family, find something all of you enjoy. During this heat, it may be going to a swimming pool, jumping on a trampoline at Bounce or listening to a book reading in the library. Whatever you choose, let it be a fun activity that won’t create more stress and anxiety for you.

Over to you, what tip did we miss? What was your biggest stress relief when you moved homes? Looking forward to reading your comments below

Until next time,
Agni

7 benefits of owning less

7 benefits of owning less

Owning less as the new pursuit of happiness

Are you overwhelmed by all the stuff in your home? You are not alone. In 2014, the average US American owned 300,000 items. 300,000! That’s a massive amount and yet, it doesn’t seem make Americans happy. They were only ranked 19 of the World’s Happiest Countries 2019. Is owning less the answer?

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Don’t move your clutter to your new home

Don’t move your clutter to your new home

Enjoy your new home clutterfree

When was the last time you’ve moved? For us, moving into a new home is generally during the warmer month, that is spring and summer. Temperatures were more conducive for the movers. You didn’t have to worry about your items waiting to be put on the moving van in the rain or worse snow. For many families, moving often means changing schools and to reduce the impact on children, the long summer is the ideal time.

Even out here, where temperatures are getting a tad too hot for us, moving seems to concentrate on 2 months: July and August! So who wants to take all their junk with them to their new home? Not us! This week, let’s look at decluttering before you’ll move.

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Downsizing

Downsizing

Prepare to downsize

Downsizing has been a common process for seniors. Many seniors found it difficult to maintain their house and garden or struggled getting upstairs. Moving into a retirement home, often only consisting of one room, or a smaller apartment were often the answer. In recent years, more and more younger folks are also downsizing – voluntarily.

After long discussions, we’ll be downsizing this summer, too. Over the last few months, we’ve started the process and are letting go of even more items.

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Think ahead

Think ahead till the end

“Think a step ahead!” One of my old colleagues used to say it all the time and she was extremely proud to be at least one step ahead of everyone else. Indeed, thinking ahead can have numerous advantages as colleagues, friends and I have discovered over the years.

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How to say good-bye to a friend who’s moving away

5 ways to send your friend off to their new adventure

Chances are you have a friend who moved to a different city since you’ve met them. If you’re in the Middle East, this chance seems to go up substantially and many families are using the summer to relocate. Earlier in the year, two good friends told me they’d be moving back to their home country. I was shocked! If you’ve met me, you know I can be built very close to the water and these days, can cry for every possible occasion (tears of joy included).

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Summer time is moving time

3 top tips before you start looking for a new home

One of my clients approached me to support them in finding a new home. They are short of time and asked me to pre-view suitable houses for them. Now, I’m not a real estate agent and generally don’t offer this service. This time, I said yes and will share their and my experiences in a mini-series with you (with their approval, of course).

Before you evening start calling landlords and agents for a viewing, gain clarity of what you are looking for. These 3 tips will be of substantial help during this potentially very stressful period:

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How to take the Stress out of Moving (Part 2)

Congratulations! You’ve found your new home, decided on the moving day and are… anxious about the stress over the next few weeks? Don’t be! In the last post, I’ve helped you with an easy checklist: Things you need to do in your current (old) home before the moving day. Now, let’s focus on your new home. These tips will help you stay organised and relaxed during such this major event.

Get your new home ready before the move:

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