A Survivors Guide to Downsizing Your Home

When your family is having financial problems, health issues, divorce, kids moved out,  you reached an older age or one partner is recently widowed, one of the things you might think about is DOWNSIZING.   In other words, scaling your current family home to a smaller home, unit or moving into an apartment. Unknown to you at this stage is that making this move is emotionally charged and could be extremely traumatic.

Even though you know that it’s the best solution - you can't help feeling a bit depressed because of the emotional attachment to your home and its memories. You might even have second thoughts about the move. The following questions can come up in your mind:

•  Is there enough space in the new home to fit all our possessions?

Leaving the Family Pet Behind Can be Very Stressful

• How do I say Goodbye to my neighbours and friends from our neighbourhood that we've gotten to know over the years. And not to mention the cat. This loss will require grieving time.

                                                                             

If most people have these feelings it must be normal and anyway it passes with the excitement of the new home. Making the new home look pretty, meeting the new neighbours, discovering local shopping, joining the local gym or swimming pool will help to sprout your roots in the new place.

Most people are thrilled with the decision once they have made the move, finding it liberating and wondering why they left it so long to make the move. Once the move is done people are better able accept the change and set the stage for new beginnings.

THE STORM BEFORE THE CALM

THE SALE

Selling your house is said to be one of the most stressful thing you can ever experience. Especially if the house is going to an auction. 

What can you do to reduce anxiety and be more in control?

1. Agree on the lowest price you will accept for the property.

2. Decide whether you are going to rent if your new property isn’t immediately available.

3. Get your paperwork in order. Your conveyancer/solicitor  will assist you with what needs to be gathered such as copies of water bills, council rates, mortgage documents etc. You will also need to fill out identity forms.

4. Have your home ready for viewing at all times. Make sure it is clean, uncluttered and tidy as buyers could pop around at any time.

THE BIG MOVE

 If you thought the idea of downsizing made you sad, wait to the stress of the actual move hits you. There are things to pack and you don’t realize how much stuff you’ve got until you start the boxing experience. 

• Kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms and rooms to clean. 
• Contracts to sign and then you need to work out what furniture will fit in your new smaller home. 
• You do not realize what you have accumulated over the years. If dad has a tool shed where will all the tools go? 
• If you can afford it you may have to sell all your possessions and purchase new items as the furniture you do have is too big or dated. 
• If you are older you may feel overwhelmed so don't be scared to ask your family for help. 
• If you can afford it - enlist a furniture mover who also packs and unpacks for you. The Salvos and St Vincent De Paul's will happily collect your unwanted furniture.

One way around it is to think about things that you use daily and would like to continue using every day in your new home, the rest give them away. 

• Distribute things to family and friends including family mementos, photos and books. 
• Save only those keepsakes that mean the most to you. Don’t ever throw away something that has special memories, is valuable or is a family heirloom.

Focus on the positives

1. Your to do list shrinks. Less or no yard to mow or rake etc. Vacuuming takes two minutes and maybe no garden to water or weed.

2. Your leisure time increases.

3. Security. Less doors to lock. Less stairs to climb. Less possible accidents. If moving into an apartment  - security is the best. Security system in place is for the whole complex. Camera view of visitors and because you can see them you can let them them in and allow them access in to elevator. If you don’t want to see them – you’re not home.

3. Knowing you will be moving into a smaller space forces you to de clutter.

4. The fewer items you need to pack and move, the cheaper the moving bill.

 DO YOU SUFFER FROM ANXIETY?

Whether you do or you don’t its coming. The unknown can make anyone anxious. Triggers range from cost of the move to making new friends. You might be faced with the following decision or thoughts:

• What if there are undesirable living in the complex, loud noise, traffic noises. 
• What stuff to keep and what stuff to get rid of. Items of sentimental value such as that Big Ben clock has been in the family for generations and you must make the decision. 
• Keep or go, even though it won't suit the new place and there is no room for it. Does the item give you happiness? If not  - it can go. Pass them on to family if they want it. If they don’t want it they won’t want it when its left to them so donate them.

If you haven’t moved in 20 or 40 years and if you try to take the move on yourself, if you have no plan, if you are surrounded by 50 boxes, you are going to make the event a bad experience. When you are not pro-active about your move and  there is no professional plan, anxiety awaits you.

SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?

Skip Bin Hire is a Must for Downsizing

Downsizing can take you on an emotional roller coaster whether you are young or old. Understand that the benefits of downsizing outweigh the negatives. Make sure you keep the things you love and if you can afford it  - hire professionals to handle the professional move and a professional skip bin hire company to remove all your recyclable and non recyclable waste.

We would love to hear your comments, your questions or your experience from a recent downsizing and if you are about to downsize - we wish you all the best!

                                                                     

Virtual vs Real Skip Bin Hire in Australia - Know What You Are Choosing

What to Look For When Choosing a Skip Hire Company

Unless you personally know the Skip Hire company, have been referred to them, have used them before or checked their facebook page for reviews, you really can’t tell. Anyone can start a skip company, advertise and you could be enticed to call. Unless you compare companies it could be a gamble in terms of prices and service but more importantly what actually happens to your waste – recycled or land filled?

Virtual Skip Bin Hire Companies vs Physical Bin Hire Companies 

It has been an increasing trend in Australia in particular of more and more virtual skip bin hire companies or more likely websites, which offer customers almost like a comparison  platform to find their bin.  Some of these virtual companies are very good, with their own dedicated customer service centre, emails and phone numbers, while others will be very generic websites, which simply pull data from a database and will identify the skip bin at the geographic area where consumer is looking for.
If you are only hiring a bin once in your life and might not need any customer service or follow up or build a relationship with your bin supplier then perhaps generic or virtual bin hire website will work for you.  However, if you are interested in building a relationship with your Skip Bin Hire Supplier, so that they will look after your waste management needs, speak to you on a phone, carefully note down all your requirements as to the time of the bin delivery, placement instructions, site contact details, any variations to your bin hire order or any other issues such as bin change over - then you can't beat dealing with the real physical bin hire company that will provide a full service.

What Happens to Your Waste?

Skip companies are not actually regulated to a great extent but the best ones such as Need A Skip Now operate their own waste transfer stations ensuring proper recycling processes.  Hence when dealing with the physical Skip Bin Hire Company, one of the fundamental questions to ask is: 

"what happens to my waste after its picked up from my home / building site / commercial site?"

You can only ask questions about your waste treatment from a physical skip bin hire company.  If you book via generic price comparison website - these questions will not be answered, nor will you likely have any information about your potential bin provider or his reliability therefore. 

Council Permits for Bins on a Road

One of the tell tales between good and qustionable companies is how they treat the issue of Council Permits.  Professional Skip Bin Hire Companies will ALWAYS apply for a permit if the bin is going on a road or a nature strip and this issue will not even be up for a discussion.  Some questionable operators out there might either: not get a permit at all or charge customer for a permit but actually never apply for it.
Council Permits for Bins on a Road are absolutely critical for compliance with Local Laws in Australia, in addition - should anything untoward happen like someone colliding with your bin overnight or any other issues - if you don't have a permit - the fines and penalties will significantly outweigh the cost of the permit.

We recommend to always pay a Due Diligence when selecting your Skip Bin Hire Supplier and we hope that you find our tips above very useful.  Should you wish to add anything to the above - we welcome your comments below this article.