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!

                                                                     

HOW TO REDUCE THE COST OF YOUR HOUSE MOVE

Moving house is no easy task and often it can be both stressful and expensive.

The trick to handling the move and avoiding mental and financial stress is to make a plan and then stick to it. Organisation is the key to a well-managed move, but understand that with a whole house to relocate you might not have time to get organised..

REMEMBER:- The fewer items you have to move the cheaper the removalists will charge.

Firstly start by decluttering every room in the house, garage and backyard.

DISCARD OR DONATE? Pile up all the discarded goods in a pile. Consider donating your unwanted goods to the St Vincent de Paul Society or The Salvo’s .

 Any sale worthy items you might want to hold a garage sale or list them online.

                                                                     

FINAL STEP. Call a reliable local skip bin hire company, such as Need A Skip Now 1300 605 624 to discuss your skip hire requirements.

Or jump on their website to get a quote or to book a bin. 

If you have any other tips on planning a House Move - we would love to see your comments below....
                                                   

Skip Bin Hire in Melbourne for Valentines Day 2019

Dear Customers

With only two weeks away from Valentines Day 2019 - we are getting excited with all the projects our customers are getting involved in around their houses in order to surprise their partners with something special such as:

• de-cluttering of your garage
• clearing up of the back yard, to create that special place for a raised garden 
• clearing the space on your patio to create an entertainment area
• cleaning up your cupboards of all the junk and creating much needed space
• de-cluttering your home office area in order to create a free flowing open working space for your office
• re-organising your kids bedrooms by taking out old, unused clothing, old broken or unused toys and all the other junk, which has just been accumulating there for years
• re-organising your garden area, getting rid of broken pots, unused boulders, which no longer give you joy, getting rid of excess soil or overgrown vegetation 
• clearing your basement or guest room, to create a man's cave for your partner or a sawing / art space for your partner.
  
  

We get very excited to be part of your project and no matter what you've set out to do  - we've got the right size and design skip bin to suit your project.  With all the above projects - there will be rubbish to be thrown away and in order to avoid double handling, we suggest to organise a skip bin, so that by the time you get to your de-cluttering or re-organising your space - the bin will be already in your driveway, ready for all the junk that you no longer need in your life.

For an immediate online quote for a skip bin in Melbourne, please refer to our website.

With only two weeks left until Valentines Day - if you are going ahead with your surprise for your partner - the time to act is now!  Our friendly customer service team is ready for you to book and dispatch the skip bin to your projects address.  If you are a type of person who prefers to discuss your project or bin requirements over the phone - we are here to take your calls in Melbourne, Monday to Saturay on 1300 605 624!
If you have any other interesting suggestions on surprising your partner for Valentines Day with the projects around your house or garden, please post them in the comments, we would love to read them!

Construction and Demolition Waste Disposal

If you are a builder, a renovator, construction site manager an owner builder or a demolisher - one of the important questions in your project is how to manage and dispose of Construction and Demolition Waste.
Some Examples of Construction and Demolition (C & D) Waste are:

• excavated material such as rock and soil
• waste asphalt, bricks, concrete, plasterboard, timber and vegetation
• asbestos and contaminated soil
  

Each Building or Construction Site, particularly in Melbourne, Vic, Australia must have their Waste Management Plan, which will stipulate how the C &D waste will be managed and legally disposed of.
Due to some creativity or desparate measures due to cashflow issues, some operators have succumbed to the lure of getting rid of waste for free or nearly for free via engaging some dubious waste transporters or making illegal agreements with some rural land owners or farmers.
The EPA has stepped up its illegal dumping force and consequent fines, which range from $7500, or up to $777,300 (5000 penalty units) if prosecuted. EPA can require the waste generator, transporter and receiver to clean up and pay for waste to be taken to a lawful place.
To ensure that your building or construction site is compliant with the local Waste Disposal Laws - it is critical to be associated with a reputable Waste Management Company or a Skip Bin Hire Company,  which will be licensed to transport your waste and then deal with it accordingly to separate and either further recycle or take it to other recycling or material processing facilities.
When dealing with Soil in Particular - it is very important to obtain a soil report first, to determine whether soil is contaminated and to what extent, which will allow you then to select the appropriate Soil Transporter, who will need an appropriate EPA license to transport contaminated soil.
In addition to having Waste Management plans on your Building or Construction Site, the following are the suggestions from the EPA of what information you might be requested from the EPA, should they decide to visit your building site:

Supplying information about waste

At any time, you can be asked to supply information about your waste. Ensure all relevant information is disclosed, such as:

• waste assessment and categorisation reports, including sampling methodologies and laboratory analysis for potentially harmful materials such as contaminated soil
• written procedures and plans for managing waste, including handling and storage procedures, and incident response plans
• development applications, including waste management plans
• site assessments including contaminated site assessments, and environmental and geotechnical studies.

The maximum penalty for supplying false or misleading information about waste to EPA is $373,104.
 For more guidance on how to manage waste and properly dispose of Construction and Demolition Waste from your site, please contact Need A Skip Now - Melbourne's Experienced Skip Bin Supplier, who also runs its own Waste Transfer Station and will ensure complete compliance with the local laws.

Is Your Waste Going To The Right Place?

Skip Bin Hire and Illegal Waste Dumping in Victoria, Australia and What To Do About It

A very interesting publication was issued by the EPA on Hiring a Skip Bin Company.

One of the main areas of concern addressed in that article was  - paying a Due Diligence and Selecting the right Skip Bin Hire compay to deal with your waste.

Due to the ever increasing cost of processing the rubbish and taking it to the landfill, there have been an increase in illegal waste dumping in Melbourne, Australia, to the extent where councils are now spending more than $30 million dollars annual to clean up residential and construction waste.
One of the suggestions EPA gives when researching a Skip Bin Provider is to ask a question:

What Happens to My Waste Once its Collected in a Skip Bin?

 If a Skip Bin Provider cannot adequately answer this question - there might be a reason for this and you need to look elsewhere.
You can also ask the following questions from the perspective Skip bin Hire Company:

• What does your company do with my waste?
• Can you provide me with a report/receipt which shows where the material ends up?
• Are you a member of any waste or industry associations? 

How you can prevent illegal dumping - a suggestion from EPA

• Be wary of skip bin providers who offer very cheap quotes for waste removals.
• Report suspicious activities – such as unusual truck movements at night and commercial properties/warehouses collecting piles of waste.
• Report skip bin companies who are unable to satisfy questions about where your waste is going, through our illegal dumping intelligence form.
• Share your experiences with others via online reviews to raise awareness of illegitimate skip bin operators. 

So when  you are searching for the next skip bin hire provider in Melbourne, perhaps price is not the only consideration and making sure that you are dealing with a reputable, licensed and ethical company is also very important.
Skip Bin Hire companies with their own Waste Transfer Station is certainly the next level of service and you can be sure that waste is first being taken to their own facility, properly sorted and then taken to further recycling centres and in some cases to landfill.
For More information of what to look out for when selecting a Skip Bin Hire Provider, check out the EPA Website or Need A Skip Now Blog.

Australian Recycling Crisis and What Is Your Skip Bin Supplier Doing About It

As most Australian residents would be aware by now that Australia has been shaken up by the decision of China earlier this year to put a Ban on many types of waste materials exported from Australia.
This "Chinese Ban" on Rubbish Exports has been termed in Australia as "Recycling Industry Crisis".  What's important here - is what is your Skip Bin Supplier is doing about it?  When hiring your next Skip Bin - it would be a great idea to ask your Skip Provider - where are you taking the rubbish from my site and what happens to that rubbish afterwords?

Here's a perfect example of how a Skip Bin Hire Company - Need A Skip Now, who also operates it's own Waste Transfer Station handles this process and assists in Australia's recovery from the Recycling Industry Crisis - one step at a time!

Skip Bins Hire - Demystifying the Bin Hire In Melbourne Australila

While there are plenty of builders, landscapers and DYI enthusiasts who have ordered plenty of skip bins in their time, there are also many residents, who have never ordered a skip bin and the first time skip ordering can be a bit confusing, considering the large amount of options within skip hire.
 There are a few variables, which go into what contributes to skip price, such as the suburb where your project is, the type of waste, the mixture of waste, the amount of waste and of cause the length of bin hire required.

 We have simplified all of the above and discussed the purposes and benefits of each skip bin size and each bins purpose, depending on a project that you are working on, please read this simple summary on selecting the right skip bin for you.
We look forward to hearing your questions or comments in regards to Skip Bins Hire, particularly in Melbourne, Australia - where we are the experts in regards to local laws, council permits and other nuances associated with Skip Bin Hire Melbourne.

Skip Bin Hire Melbourne - Bin Size Selection

With a wide variety of Bin Sizes offered in Melbourne, Australia for hire - anywhere from 2 cubic meters bins all the way up to 31 cubic meters bins - one might find themselves at a loss as to which bin size would be right for them.

It would not come as a surprise for many of our Melbourne Bin Hire customers that the most popular bin, which ticked off all the boxes actually was 6 cubic meters bin!

For all the practical reasons - why it might be the right bin size and a choice of so many building and residential customers - please Click Here.


To get an instant quote for your bin hire needs - please don't hesitate to consult our website and you'll be on your way in moments, knowing all the bin sizes prices, dimensions and full confidence in selecting the right bin size.

8 Cubic Meters Skip Bins for Hire in Melbourne - by Need A Skip Now

We are so excited to have received our new 8m3 Skip Bins that we wanted to show you how they get painted into its royal green colour.  On a serious note though: 8 cubic meters bins have been a sell out this winter and hence we had to order more of them to satisfy the demand of our fellow Melbournians.

The advantages of 8 cubic meters bins:

• Ideal size to fit into your driveway - only 1.5 meters wide
• Tall enough to accommodate items from either household clean-out or a renovation  - 1.6 meters high
• Long enough to accommodate doors and other bulky items - 3.6m long

For exact Dimensions of 8m3 bins and all of our other bin sizes from 2 cubic meters all the way to 31 cubic meters - please click here.