How to Move AND Celebrate Thanksgiving in Style!

Hello everyone! It's that time of the year! Thanksgiving is this week! Not to mention Hanukkah for those of us who celebrate it as well.

I know some of our Fairprice Movers clients are moving this week on TOP of preparing for the holidays...nuts you say? Yes, it must be stressful! In fact my family and I moved two years ago during the holidays and I remember it vividly, and would not wish it on my biggest enemy.

With all that being said, I've compiled some tips below to help you look like the holiday rock star you are, all while moving!

1.Outsource the Feast!: There are many fabulous caterers selling fully catered Thanksgiving meals with all of the trimmings! Don't be too proud to hire one this year to make your feast just as fabulous, without all the hassle of cooking it on your own. Besides, you can't find your pots and pans anyway=)

2.Ditch the Dishes!: Don't fret about finding your plates and flatware in time for the holidays. Reflections brand makes silver silverware that's fabulously fake, but looks oh so real! There are also plenty of nice looking high quality plastic and paper plates you can use for your feast.  The best part? No dishes!

3.Make an exception, special!: Instead of being stressed out about hosting the holidays at your house, just give yourself a pass this year. Find a cool dig to each your feast at this year with family, and instead of talking about how awful it is to have to leave your creature comforts of home this holiday, focus on the positive and how nice it'll be to have a fun dinner out for once, letting someone else do all the work for you! It's ok to do the dessert back at your place if you want a space to mingle after the dinner is over=)

4.Stubborn? (me too): Too stubborn to hire a caterer or go out for dinner this holiday? It's ok, me too. Here's what I'd do if I were you. Take all of the things you will need to produce a beautiful holiday and place it in box/es labeled "Thanksgiving". Take those boxes to your new place in your own car instead of on the moving truck as to ensure nothing will happen to them. Our guys can put your dining room table where you want it, and put it together for you if it needed disassembly before the big move. Have them place only the furniture in your house, then the boxes in the garage stacked up neatly. Use the boxes marked Thanksgiving to have just the right cookware, flatware, glassware, table cloths, napkins, glassware, and décor for your feast. Ordering your turkey prior to the move is smart, most grocers will hold your turkey for you so you can pick it up when you're ready to start cooking it, instead of trying to get it over to the new house and fridge in a panic! Doing your grocery shopping prior to the move, and placing those items into the Thanksgiving boxes is a good idea as well. Then just pick up the perishables when you go back to the store to grab your bird.

5.Keep up the positive spirit!: If you plan to have your Thanksgiving in your new home, instead of bumming around negatively whining and complaining about the house not being that great yet, be positive with your guests, telling them how you plan to decorate it soon=) Family members and close friends who join you for the holidays won't judge you for just having moved, they'll still be plenty grateful for the feast you've prepared, and will be pretty impressed if you pulled it off along with the big move!

Happy Thanksgiving and Hanukah to you all!

Nancy and The Fairprice Movers Team

How Much Does A Professional Mover Cost?

So How Much Does It Cost to Hire A Professional Mover?

It's a valid question! Should you do it yourself with a UHaul Truck and friends or hire someone like Fairprice Movers for the job?

Perhaps understanding the 4 major parts of moving costs will help!:

1st: Labor - This is the cost of the time it takes a mover's employees to load and unload the truck with your boxes and furniture, disassemble, reassemble your furniture, wrap your furniture in protective blankets, shrink wrap and tape. Most professional movers have a 2 or 3 hour minimum for labor. This is hard for people just moving 1 item, or small studio or 1 bedroom moves.

2nd: Double Drive Time - This is the cost of the time it takes the employees to travel in their truck from your old house to your new house, times two, at the same per hour rate as labor.

3rd: Gas - This is a surcharge to pay for fuel for the truck. Fairprice Movers charges 8% of the total if the move is over 20 miles from your old house to your new house. Each mover does this differently.

4th: Materials other than Shrink Wrap and Tape - This is the cost of boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap to protect glass items, mattress covers, lamp boxes, picture boxes, dish packs per use. To save on costs for full packing jobs, you can provide your own materials if you wish, they are easily found at any hardware store and most UHaul stores.

There are some other costs associated with unique move situations like having to hoist a couch or other heavy object that doesn't fit through your home's front door over a balcony to get it in, there would be a fee for this extra effort.

Stairs are only additional per flight when you have a super heavy or bulky item to bring up or down them. About $75 per flight.

Pianos and other really large one off items are a flat rate fee usually.

Hopefully all of this helps you understand the pricing structure that professional moving companies have.

Prices do fluctuate between Winter and Summer months as well as on weekday and weekends. Ask your moving company how this affects you.

Warmest Regards,

Nancy

Rain Rain Go Away! Especially On My Moving Day!!!

Moving in the rain is no fun but hopefully these helpful tips will prepare you to make the best of it!

1.Make sure you seal your boxes well, use laminated boxes, or Tupperware.

2.Get a sitter for the kids and pets during the move. Moving even on a nice day with the kids and dog running around is distracting, but on a rainy day can be worse.

3.Throughout the moving day take a break on the hour with some water, dry off, make sure you are rested, as rainy days can make moving more frustrating than usual, and you need to keep your cool.

4.Wear proper non-slip shoes during the move so that you don't hurt yourself.

5.Let the professionals do the hard work for you, we have many clients that want to help, but when it's slippery outside, sometimes it's best to leave the work to the pros who have moved many times in the rain before and know how to do so safely.

6.Have some old towels on hand to wipe down anything that gets wet before it goes into the truck, or after it's taken out.

7.Cover a path through your house for the movers to walk on. You can buy painter's tarps at Home Depot to help with this. The movers can also use a few free blankets to help. Also, ask your  mover that they bring shoe covers as well.

8.Move everything down to 1 or 2 floors of the house so that the movers don't have to trek through your whole house to get items into the truck.

Best wishes! Stay dry!

Warmest Regards,

Nancy

No time to pack? No worries!

Are you finding your move date steadily creeping up and your packing progress staying the same or non-existant?

Need help packing?

Fairprice Movers can help!

Did you know that we offer full packing services?

We can pack all of your loose belongings carefully for you so that you don't have to mess around with it.

We can also just pack the kitchen, garage, or any other space of the house that you are dreading, or wish to have packed professionally.

Not many people know that we offer free use of wardrobe boxes for all of the hanging clothes in your closets, so don't worry about packing up those!

Our employees are trained to pack your items carefully for you so they stand a better chance of not breaking in their boxes during transit.

Also, if we pack for you, our cargo insurance covers the items in the boxes we packed! Which is a huge bonus in case anything goes wrong, you can simply file a claim with our claims department.

Tight on cash? If you want full or partial packing services, we can help you do so and use your materials! Ask your sales associate for a shopping list of items to purchase and provide to our movers to pack for you, this way you are only paying our hourly rate for the packing services, and not for our materials on top of that. Although our packing materials are a fair price as well if you wish to use ours. It's only $6 per box no matter what size you use, $12 per pound of white packing paper, and $12 per dish pack box.

We look forward to custom quoting your full or partial packing move today!

Warmest Regards,

Nancy 408-621-8530

Protecting your home during a move

Moving from or to a home with hardwood floors?

There IS an answer to protecting them!

Ask your movers today if they offer the option of adding Masonite boards as a rental item to your move. This is an additional cost.

Masonite are thin boards of wood that are laid over the top of hardwood floors, even tile floors, to protect them during moves.

Winter is coming up and if you are worried about carpets getting dirt tracked on them by the movers during the move, ask your mover if they can wear shoe covers, this is an easy request, and normally its free of charge.

Movers also bring lots of moving blankets, which are not only good for wrapping around furniture to protect items, but can also be used in the doorways and heavy traffic areas of a home to try and help protect the floors that way as well. Remember they are not waterproof though, so if you are worried about rainy days causing a muddy mess on your carpets, it's not a bad idea to make the shoe cover request, use the blankets, and also provide your own big plastic painter's tarps from Home Depot for the entry ways and high traffic areas.

Movers are not responsible for damage to the inside of your home, such as damages to doorways, floors, and ceilings. Therefore it's a good idea to explore covering your floors against damage.

It's also not a bad idea to call your home owner's or rental insurance policy to see if you have, or need to add on, additional insurance to cover the interior fixtures of your home during your move, as movers are responsible by law only for the items they move.

Hopefully this little tip helps!

Warmest Regards,

Nancy

How to move a mattress...

Moving?

Don't know how to prepare those mattresses for the move?

Well first, check with the moving company you are using to see if they provide free shrink wrap for your mattresses.

If not, you can ask them the cost they charge for their mattress covers (like the ones seen in the photos above), they are usually under $10 a piece. You may find them cheaper at another place like Home Depot, a UHaul Store, or elsewhere. Remember to get one for your mattress as well as for your box spring if your bed has one.

Your movers will wrap your headboards and footboards with padded moving blankets, shrink wrap and tape to protect them during the move.

It's a good idea to provide the movers with zip lock baggies labeled for each bed to place your screws from the bed in, then have one person, either yourself, or your foreman keep the baggies in one spot so they don't get lost when it's time to put the beds back together again. This is also helpful for any other furniture that the movers may need to disassemble and reassemble.

Hope this little tidbit was helpful! Keep a watchful eye for more tips to come!

Best wishes,
Nancy

Tips on Packing for a Successful Move!

Happy Monday!

Need a few tips on packing for a successful move? Well you're in luck! Here are some pointers that are sure to help you avoid typical moving blunders.

First thing is first, you are going to need boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, dish packs, picture boxes, lamp boxes, mattress covers, shrink wrap, and tape. You can get your supplies at any UHAUL Store, Home Depot, Lowes, Orchard Supply Hardware, there are many places you can purchase your supplies, and most offer great online coupons to help you save!

How many boxes do you need for your move? Well JDM Packing Supplies of San Jose has a great website with some suggestions here, based on the size of your move: http://jdmpackingsupplies.com/index.php/im-moving-how-many-boxes-do-i-need/.

Once you get to packing, it's a great time to try and clear out unwanted items that can either be sold on websites such as Craigslist, or EBay. Or you can donate them to your local charity such as Salvation Army, or Goodwill. If something is truly un-sellable, or not fit for donation, Fairprice Movers can drop it off at the dump for you, they can even bring your items to donation! Just ask your representative for more information on how this can be included in your move.

Here are a few other helpful hints to make your move go smooth:

1.Don't pack your boxes too heavy! Not only will it benefit the safety of the items inside the box, but will help the men safely carry your boxes.

2.Don't place valuable heirlooms, and ultra breakable expensive items in unmarked boxes, moving crew will treat all boxes as if they are breakable, but accidents do happen. Consider moving these items on your own.

3.Take everything out of your dresser, china cabinets and filing cabinet drawers, and place in boxes. This will ensure that the tracks inside your dressers and cabinets don't break from the weight place on them as the furniture is tilted while being moved up and down stairs, or while being carried to and from the truck.

4.Leave clothes in the closets hung on hangers, most movers include the free use of wardrobe boxes for the hanging clothes in your closets.

5.Take the tops of breakable lamps and lamp shades in your personal car or pay to have them wrapped, as loose items will not be covered by cargo insurance.

6.Defrost your refrigerator two days before the  move to allow for plenty of time to empty it out of food and ice. We can wrap the inside glass shelves for you professionally so they don't break during the move.

7.We can detach and reattach your washer and dryer for you.

8.We can unmounts your TVs from the wall. Ask for a recommendation on a company who can do a professional job re-mounting it for you, as we do not specialize in that.

9.We can move your BBQ but not the propane tank.

10.We can move your piano for you, just let us know before the move that you have one, and what type, there is a fee associated with adding a piano to your move.

11.We can shrink wrap your mattresses for you to keep them clean, you can also get your own mattress covers if you wish, or purchase one from us.

12.We can move tool boxes for you from your garage, just give us a heads up that you have some.

13.We can move motorcycles and quads, as well as ride on lawn mowers for you, please make sure there is no fuel in these vehicles before we move them.

14.Label your boxes which side is up, as well as if it's fragile, and what room it goes into when at your new house.

15.If you want us to stop by your storage unit to pick up or drop off anything during your move process, we can do that! Just be sure to put a bright sticker on the items that we will be bringing to storage so we load them last into the truck for easy access out of the truck and into the storage unit on the way to your new place!

16.The day before the move when pretty much everything is packed up in your house, and you feel like you are camping out in your old place, it's a good idea to have a clear plastic tub (can get them at Target) for each space of your house that you can quickly toss essentials into after you are done using them on the move day. These tubs can either be loaded into the truck, or popped into your own personal vehicle for easy access when you arrive to camp out the first day in your new house as well.=) For example you can keep your toiletries in the bathroom until the minute, and then toss them into the bathroom tub, then you have them for easy access at the new place too.

17.Don't have enough time to pack your own boxes? We can do that for you! Ask your sales associate for more information.

18.Potted plants in ceramic pots can easily crack and break from the vibrations of the truck, we can move them, but our Cargo insurance doesn't cover them. If you want to try and reduce the chance that they may break you can place them into a box with some padding.

19.Loose pillows from the couch, comforters, towels, can be placed in our wardrobe boxes as well if needed last minute.

20.Keep valuables with you at all times, fine jewelry, cash, heirlooms, and other important items should stay with you during the move.

21.TVs that don't have their original box to protect them anymore, china cabinets, glass table tops, big standing mirrors, and any other big breakable items can be crated with additional materials by our crew to keep them safe. Ask your associate for a quote.

I hope these tips help! If you have any questions for Nancy feel free to let her know and she'll address it in her next blog post!

Warmest Regards,

Nancy

What the heck is Double Drive Time?!?

I know you're thinking it...what the heck is Double Drive Time?

Well...it's known in the moving industry as the way the PUC (Public Utility Commission) asks moving companies to charge for local moves (classified as under 100 miles between point a and b of move).

Your moving representative will take the time, one way, from point a, to point b of your move. Then they will double it. Then they will charge that time at the same per hour rate as your labor rate.

Double Drive Time pays for the time the moving company's employees: 1. Drive from your old house to your new house, 2.Drive past your old house on their way back to dispatch.

Double Drive Time is always charged separately from a 3 hour labor minimum.

Double Drive Time does not cover the cost of fuel for the truck. If your job is over 20 miles from point a to point b of your move, you will also incur a fuel surcharge to help cover this expense.

If a moving company ever trys to charge for the time from it's dispatch to point a of your move, or from point b of your move allll the way back to their dispatch, that's not what Double Drive Time is.

Hopefully that helps clear it up! But if not, I've found this article to be really helpful on Priority Movers Blog of San Diego, CA:
http://www.prioritymoving.com/blog/2010/04/11/double-drive-time/

Hope you have a happy hump day!

Warmest regards,

Nancy