by Eileen Roth
Getting Insurance
Call ahead for insurance quotes for all the coverage you’ll need at your new place — cars, medical, home or renters’, liability. Have a current appraisal of jewelry, art, and other valuables before moving.
Planning Ahead for Travel
Arrange any necessary travel a long time before your move so a plan is made and that task is out of the way. If you’re driving, renew your auto club membership for roadside assistance and maps to your destination. Have the cars checked for tires, tune-ups, oil changes, and any other maintenance services.
Covering Your Financial Assets
Leave bank accounts open until the last check clears the account. Don’t cancel ATM cards until the account closes, so you have access to your money. Close out your safe deposit box and transfer it to a new bank. Close all charge cards at local stores. Send address changes to all investment accounts. If you’ll be on the road for awhile, purchase traveler’s checks and take a charge or debit card so you don’t have to travel with too much cash.
Collecting Personal Records
Collect school transcripts; medical, dental, and vision records (including X rays) as well as legal documents such as trusts and wills before you leave town.
Purging Before You Pack
As soon as you make the move decision, start seriously asking the five W-A-S-T-E questions (explained in Chapter 3) of all your possessions and tossing or donating what you don’t need. Here’s your golden opportunity to donate that albatross of a gift whose giver has since moved on. There’s no point in taking the time and money to pack and move clutter. Remember that you may have different wants and needs in your new place. If you’re moving to a warmer climate you can toss most of your winter clothes and consider whether you want some new light-colored furniture. If you’re moving from a house to a condo, all that lawn and snow equipment can go.
Packing What You Need
Start packing at least a month ahead of your move. If the house is large, or you have quite a bit to pack and only weekends to do it, start two to three months in advance. You’ll need boxes before you can pack item one, so put that on the schedule first. If you’re moving locally, boxes that have been used before are fine, and you can start scouring local stores for extras. However, you should ship only in new boxes, which you can buy at truck rental places or shipping stores. Hit the office supply store for file boxes. Be sure they’re sturdy, and don’t buy them so big that you won’t be able to lift them after you pack them.
Special wardrobe boxes with a bar across the top are great for packing clothes. Professional movers can supply wardrobe boxes as part of your price estimate, or you may find it cheaper to purchase your own.
Pack like items together by the room they’ll go in. Don’t mix things up just because they might fit better in another box. Exception: Go ahead and use your towels and linens for packing material to cushion fragile items. You’ll save space and weight.
Use a permanent marker and in bold letters on at least two sides and the top of the box write the room and the box’s main contents. Mark any boxes that are fragile with a fragile sticker. If you don’t have any, run some off on your computer, preferably in bold red ink. Number all the boxes, and then make a separate list by number of what’s where. If you need something, locating it will be much faster if you refer to your numbered list and find the corresponding box rather than reading all the box names.
Preparing the New Place
Make arrangements to clean up the new place, replace carpeting, paint walls, and complete any other work you want done before move day. If your future home is in another city, is there someone who can let service people in and out? Call the telephone company and arrange for a new number(s). If it’s a new home, the phone company can install the jacks before you get there so you’re wired upon arrival. Call the electric, gas, water, sewer, and garbage company and arrange to start utilities the day before you get there. You can also have rental furniture delivered before your arrival if there’s someone available to open the door. New home sweet home!
Chapter 24
Ten Tips for Great Garage Sales
In This Chapter
Timing your garage sale to meet market demand
Creating a compelling consumer experience
Pricing and money-handling techniques
Preventing clutter rebound when the sale is over
T here’s nothing like a garage sale to turn clutter into cash flow. The trick is to give garage sales — not go to them yourself. Whether you’re selling from the garage of your house or out on the front lawn of your apartment complex, here are ten ways to make your garage sales great.
Scheduling Your Sale
May and June start the garage sale season in winter climates, with sale activity generally peaking in August and early September all across the country as everyone cleans up for the new school year. Join the club and plan to have yours at peak time, when people are out and about hitting the garage sale circuit.
Advertising
If you’re selling a large number of items or something valuable, consider placing an ad in the local newspaper to bring in eager buyers. There’s usually a two-week deadline for ad placement, so plan accordingly. If you don’t want to pay for an ad, just be sure to post signs on major cross streets and all the way to the site of your sale.
You can buy preprinted signs that say “Garage Sale” or use posterboard to make your own. Bright colors and decorative borders help draw attention, but don’t overcrowd your message. Make the words short and sweet and print with a large permanent marker with letters big enough to easily read while driving by. Note special features, such as toys or a complete bedroom set for sale, to add extra advertising appeal.
Being Neighborly
Teaming up with neighbors can add impact to your garage sale because you can advertise on signs and in ads “three homes . . .” or “the block of . . .” and put out plenty of stuff to entice passers-by to stop. The group approach can also make a garage sale easier and more fun. Sellers can rely on each other to run the show while one shuttles a child to soccer practice or takes a break. If you don’t know your neighbors, here’s a great way to get acquainted. Some developments make a group garage sale an annual event the same weekend each year.
Bagging and Boxing
Start collecting brown and plastic grocery bags as soon as you decide to have a sale so that your best customers have a way to carry their loot away. Also assemble as many boxes as you can to use for display. Pile one full of stuffed animals, or stand an open box on its side to act like a bookcase. Arrange the books with the spines out. As boxes are emptied, give them to buyers to carry their purchases.
Collecting and Marking
A week in advance, collect everything you plan to sell in one room so you can see what you have and start pricing. Group like items together — clothes in one place, toys in another, jewelry in a third — and get going on deciding how much you want to sell them for. Put a low price tag on that old moosehead that’s been collecting dust in the attic in the hope that it will move.
Give yourself at least two days to price and mark everything. Start with a sheet of paper and a general price list: T-shirts $2, pants $3, games $4. Once you have your list, mark each item with colored stickers. You can use different colors for different dollar amounts, or code them to family members or neighbors if you plan to divide up the proceeds by sales of individual items.
Setting Up
Borrow tables from neighbors — long tables, card tables, anything you can tote — the day before. Set up the tables in the garage the night before so you’re ready first thing the next morning. Pull things out into the driveway the day of the sale so people can see you’re having one, but if there’s a chance of rain, stick to just a few big items so you can get them under cover quickly if you need to. Display smaller items on tables, which are the right height for easy viewing and browsing. Arrange big things in two parallel rows so people can walk bet
ween — perhaps lining both sides of the driveway.
Changing Money
Go to the bank the day before the sale and buy a roll each of quarters, dimes, and nickels, and at least 20 $1 bills. Find a covered box to use for cash; one with dividers or sections is best for keeping different denominations sorted out. Write down your initial change amount on a slip of paper and store it in the box, so you can subtract it from the total to figure your profit at the end of the day. As soon the box hits $50, start taking additional cash into the house.
To track revenues for different sellers, use colored price stickers for each seller and write each person’s name on a separate piece of paper. As you sell things, pull the sticker off the item and paste it directly on that person’s list. Tally up the totals at the end of the day.
Selling Toys
If your house is in toy overload, target your sale to children and sell only toys. Let the kids use the money made to buy something new. It’s amazing how they’ll suddenly agree to part with old and outgrown things with a promise like that on the horizon. Ka-ching!
Involving the Kids
If you have a family, your garage sale should be a family affair, both in principle and to keep you sane. Have the kids handle the money if they’re old enough; it’s a great mini-lesson in math and commerce. Younger children can have a small lemonade stand. At a quarter a glass, the math is easy and mistakes don’t matter much.
Making Items Sell
If your garage sale is two days long, mark things down the second day by putting up a sign: “25% Off!” At noon, change the sign to “50% Off!” or “Best Offer!” You’re in the business of selling here.
When the garage sale is over, do not put leftovers back into the house. Leave it all in the garage (or in boxes in a storage unit if you’re in an apartment), and then call Goodwill, Salvation Army, or some other charity to come and pick it up. Take the tax deduction and enjoy all the extra space.
Chapter 25
Ten Pointers about Pets
In This Chapter
Should you be a pet owner?
Choosing the right animal companion
Feeding, training, and traveling with pets
H aving a pet is like being a parent. House pets aren’t wild animals, so forget the romantic idea that they’ll take care of themselves. Whether you’re deciding to get a pet or trying to improve your relationship with the woolly one in your house, these pet-parenting tips can help.
Time
Pets take time, so take a good look at your schedule and the timetables of other household members before you take the plunge. If you have children, realize that even if the dog belongs to young Katie, much of the burden of care will probably fall on your shoulders.
Don’t just go to the pet store and buy whatever is cutest. The primary criterion for adding a pet to your family (even if the family is just you) should be whether you have the quality time available that the pet needs to flourish. Read up on the needs and habits of different animals to find one that fits your schedule. How long can your pet be left alone and how much time does it demand while you’re home? Dogs need several walks per day and loads of affection, while cats can occasionally take care of themselves for a few days in a row (though they may be mad when you get back). Fish need daily feeding and occasional cleaning but little else. Iguanas, guinea pigs — all have different wants and needs, but all appreciate predictable daily routines and interaction with their owners. Some pets’ needs can seem subtle. You might think a bird doesn’t need much attention, but Skippy, our family canary, stopped singing when we kids got busy and spent less time at home.
Nothing is more tragic than when people get a pet only to later discover they don’t have enough time to make it happy. Make a realistic assessment of the time your pet requires on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis; who in the household can devote the time to the pet’s needs; and whether you can continue this level of care well into the future. Once you find the pet that fits your schedule, write daily times for cleaning, care, and play into your calendar. If you made the right choice, your pet time will be time well spent.
Space
Match the size of your indoor and outdoor space to the size of the animal and how much it moves around. A small apartment is ill-suited for a big, rowdy dog that needs room to run and romp, but fine for hamsters that hang out in their cage. Of course, hamsters have a tendency to have babies, so account for reproduction. Plan for projected growth too. That little 6-inch iguana can grow to several feet, going through a few different cages and taking up more space in the process.
You also want to organize your space to give your pet a good home that works with your household setup. Do you want the pet in the living room, family room, or bedroom; outside; or everywhere? Where’s the best spot for a dog basket, kitty litter box, birdcage, or fish aquarium? Can you build a backyard fence to give a dog free-range play? Where can you leave out food and water dishes that is convenient for people and pets alike?
Cost
So far, we’re not required to send pets to college, but they can still rack up a long list of expenses. First there’s the initial purchase cost, which can be steep if you prefer purebred dogs, free if your neighbor’s cat just had kittens or you get your pet from a shelter, and somewhere in between at the pet store. Next consider cage and equipment, supplies, food, care while you’re out of town, and veterinarian costs from initial shots to ongoing care. Don’t skimp on supplies necessary to keep the animal healthy and clean, like a good filter system for fish.
Plan a pet budget to prevent financial surprises. Start with initial costs: buying the pet, equipping its home, and basic supplies. Calculate the cost of food on a weekly basis. Add in veterinarian care and medications-—regular checkups, procedures such as shots and de-clawing, and a contingency for illness and injuries. If you travel and expect to board the pet often, figure those costs too. Add these allocations to your overall household budget, cutting back in other areas if you need to. Finally, track your pet bills and compare them to your initial budget, making adjustments as necessary. For more on budgeting, see Chapter 17.
Family Harmony
If you have a family, a pet is a new member, so don’t take on the added responsibility without group approval. To assess young children’s interest in animals, watch them at the homes of people with pets or at the park. Do they approach and pet the dog or want to hold the hamster? Does your family want a friendly animal that wanders the house like a cat or dog; a bird, that may have the run of the house but isn’t particularly cuddly; or a creature that stays in a cage? You may all go to the pet store together to view the possibilities, but do your research first. Few families leave a pet store empty-handed, so be prepared with your parameters before you go.
Records
Make a pet file to keep all health records, including shots, and a history of illnesses and injuries. Establish a schedule for checkups and immunizations, perhaps when you’re making appointments for yourself. If you bought the pet from a breeder, keep a record of its bloodlines and family history in case of illness and for any future breeding. Research your pet’s habits and life cycle, from eating and sleeping to when it grows a fur coat for winter, goes into heat, and has a growth spurt or slowdown. Organize this information into one hanging file per pet, subdivided into separate folders for medical records, breed information, and habits. Keep your pet records with your personal files as described in Chapter 16.
Training
Decide on house rules for the pet, and begin training immediately (puppy kindergarten is a great start) so there are no mixed messages. You can’t let a puppy jump on the couch for the first week and then change your mind. Be sure all family members are communicating the same rules, and con- sider obedience school for a little help from the pros.
One day at a time is a good way to tackle pet training. Whether you’re taking a class or going it alone, schedule some time each day to train your new pet. Write it into your calendar, keep the c
ommitment, and enjoy the payoff of a happy pet relationship.
Pet Supplies
Treat pet toys like kids’ toys: Contain! An open basket works well, so kids and pets can find what they want and you can move it around as needed. Create a pet center to keep all supplies on a shelf in the kitchen, laundry room, or basement. Keep leashes by the door for easy access when it’s time to walk the dog.
Grooming and Cleaning
Most pets get plenty dirty, so create a regular cleanup schedule. A longhaired dog may need to be brushed every day, while once a week is enough for a shorthaired pooch. How often does the box or tank or cage need to be cleaned? Pick regular days and/or times for pet chores and write them down in your calendar until these tasks become habit.
Feeding Time
Buy a closed plastic container for storing pet food to keep Sylvester’s chow from smelling and protect it from insects, and then decide where to feed your pet and keep the food close by. The kitchen is often convenient, as you can rustle up a meal for Fido while you prepare your own. If you have young children, be sure to keep food and water out of the way of their play. Some animals regulate their own food, so you can just leave meals out and let pets nibble at will. Others subscribe to the see-food-and-eat-food diet, wolfing down anything they can get their teeth into, in which case you need to control the supply so pets don’t become overweight, which is no healthier for animals than it is for people. Many pets need water all day long, so keep that bowl full with fresh water. Make feeding and replacing water a routine at the same time each day, perhaps before or after your own meal.