Money Saver: Why should you hire movers to help you load your moving truck?

So you’re a DIY-er trying to save a little money on your move. You rent your own truck, buy your own packing supplies, but — alas, — the daunting task of moving these items comes to the forefront of reality. Moving is a very physically-demanding job, even for a person that is physically-fit. What’s more, there are techniques and hacks to moving that can make a job much simpler. This is where our trained Los Angeles movers come in.

Movers are trained.

Our movers go through safety and training courses every quarter. This helps to ensure a safe and skilled move. Loading a moving truck or a storage container is a lot like playing Tetris. If everything is loaded correctly, it will be a simple and efficient move.

Less risk of damage.

If things are moved by an inexperienced person, that’s when damage and wasting time can occur. Your Cheap Movers in Los Angeles are experienced movers and have extensive training in how to safely and efficiently pack your valued items. What’s more, we are insured.

Movers are efficient.

All of our movers are full-time. This means that this job is the job they do day-in and day-out. They know how to efficiently load and get your things moved in a professional and organized manner. They also come equipped with moving equipment and tools to make everything go faster.

Ready to move?

Call Cheap Movers Los Angeles today for a free loading estimate! (213) 262-9440 or click, 24/7 at http://www.cheapmoverslosangeles.com !

 

 

 

 

 

5 Items You Need For Moving Day!

1. Post-It/Sticky Notes: Buy Post-It Notes of various colors. In this way, Post-It Notes are great for color-coding your moving boxes and large furniture items. In this way, it will be a breeze for your movers to know which items go where. It can also provide a simple system that enables you to unpack essentials quickly and methodically.
2. Permanent Black Marker: Using a permanent black marker ensures that you will be able to label virtually anything. From plastic bags to porous cardboard boxes, a permanent black marker is an essential tool for labeling these items for ease of identification later on.
3. Zippered plastic sandwich bags: A common complaint during moving is that screws and bolts can be easily lost or misplaced between disassembly and reassembly of beds and furniture. This situation can be almost completely avoided with the use of inexpensive zippered plastic sandwich bags to store bolts and screws during the moving process. Simply load in the hardware and tape securely to the bed frame or large piece of furniture for ease of reassembly.
4. Black Trash Bags: Having a couple of boxes of these durable bags on-hand during your move can be a time (and thus money,) saver. Instead of using bulky wardrobe boxes, stuff clothes in these bags for a last minute and dust-free move. Trash bags are also great to have on hand for  disposable of your large-item packing supplies like shrink wrap, tape, and other debris that may remain after your move.
5. Basic Tools: Unless you have hired Cheap Movers Los Angeles, many moving companies in Los Angeles do not offer courtesy reassembly of beds and other furniture. Even if you do hire us, we are not allowed to make holes in any structure, meaning you will need to mount your television. Therefore, having basic hand tools and a drill on-hand is necessary.

How to plan a Housewarming Party on a budget!

You want your family and friends to enjoy your new home as much as you do—and a housewarming party is a great way to accomplish that. However, parties can be expensive after counting up the costs of invites, food, drinks, games, cleaning supplies and more.

The good news is your party doesn’t have to be lavish or expensive to be memorable. Instead of going the traditional route, which can be costly, save money using these simple ideas. In the end, you’ll throw a house warming party to remember without stretching your budget.

Use E-Invites or Facebook

To keep your party classy, you’ll want to send formal invites. But doing paper invites is expensive and time-consuming. Save both time and money by doing e-invites instead. There are a wide variety of websites that allow you to create custom invitations for little to no cost. Be sure to add photos of your new place along with whatever games, food, and drink that will be there.

If you don’t want to be that formal, create an event on Facebook. Nearly everyone is on Facebook and it will take less than 10 minutes to do. For anyone not on Facebook, be sure to send the event via email, which you can do right within the Facebook interface.

For a potluck style party, this is a better option than a traditional invite anyway because everyone can share what they’re bringing on the event page’s wall. Not to mention it’s easy for guests to RSVP.

Create a DIY Photo Booth

Everyone loves a photo booth, and you can make one in your home without spending a lot of money. All you need is:

Backdrop (sheet, hanging streamers or decorative shower curtain)

Props (buy wholesale online for minimal cost)

Table for the props

Framed sign with hashtag suggestion

Find a corner in your backyard or home and set up your DIY photo booth for everyone to use. Instead of providing them with a camera, have everyone take photos their cell phone. They’ll share on social using your hashtag, so you can look back on everyone’s fun photo booth photos the next day.

Provide Something Other Than Food and Drink

According to the 2017 Ultimate Summer Party Guide, Americans spend most on food (60 percent) and drink (22 percent) when hosting a summer party. Your housewarming party is no different—and to save money, you may need to consider going potluck style and asking guests to contribute food and drink.

To show your appreciation for their contributions, provide guests with some other fun “party favors” instead. If your home has a pool, buy trendy pool floats—get some ideas from Sugar and Cloth’s 2017 list, which includes champagne, unicorn and flamingo floats. Don’t forget to provide lawn games, which you may already have, or can buy for cheap online or at a second hand store.

Make BYOB Meaningful

Instead of simply having people bring their own alcohol, turn your housewarming party into a Stock The Bar party, where everyone contributes something to your “bar” or alcohol cabinet. This is a fun way for friends and family to share their favorite liquor, wine or bar accessories with you as a housewarming gift that you’ll enjoy for months to come. Remind everyone to be creative, choosing cool or unique bar accessories and alcohols.

To make it more exciting, host a tasting during your party and wholesale order custom cups or glasses (you can get them for less than $100) as a keepsake for guests.

Make it Feel Trendy—Without The Costs

If you want to throw a trendy party, don’t worry about glass champagne flutes or luxurious lighting. Instead, make it feel classy without spending the money on traditional items. For example, instead of buying red solo cups opt for gold, which look and feel fancy without costing any extra money.

Other fun, trendy include:

Statement balloons: Letter balloons that say Party or other custom phrases.

Drink station: Buy a few decanters or jugs from a second hand store.

Wildflowers centerpieces: Buy or pick a handful of wildflowers and dust off those old vases under your sink.

White holiday lights: You can buy them for less than $10 on Amazon at any time of year—white lights with a white chord always look classy.

There are so many ways to make your house warming party fun, trendy and memorable without spending a lot of money. Use these ideas to show your guests a great time. You’ll enjoy your party even more knowing you didn’t go over budget.

Happy Homecoming,

Cheap Movers Los Angeles

Moving this 4th of July?

Moving during a holiday can throw a few more unexpected obstacles into the mix. Since it’s the middle of summer and many people will be getting an extra day off this July 4^th weekend there’s sure to be a few families moving around Los Angeles. Here’s a look at why the timing may not be as ideal as you thought and how to overcome holiday moving hurdles.

Heavy Load Restrictions

Are you shipping items or a car from one city to another? Got a huge moving truck that’s loaded down? Truck drivers know that there can movement restrictions on holidays, but many home movers will have no idea. Independence Day is one of the holidays in which super heavy loads will be suspended.

People Drinking and Driving

Forbes has found that Independence Day is the second most dangerous holidayfor people that are on the road. The potential for accidents during July 4^th is increased for two reasons. 1.) People are drinking both day and night while they celebrate the country’s birthday. 2.) More people are on the road vacationing during the summer break. Moving during this holiday could have added risk, especially if you’re manning a big truck that you’re not familiar with.

If you have to be on the road on the 4^th of July, try to plan for an early move before people start celebrating.

Friends and Family Being Too Busy to Help

Cashing in on moving help during a holiday can be a little more difficult compared to other times of the year. Oftentimes friends and family already have plans for celebrating July 4^th, which don’t include spending the day moving. If you need a little extra help only ask friends and family for a few hours of their time and consider going the extra mile by having snacks, refreshments and lunch on hand.

Businesses Not Being Open

During Independence Day many stores shut their doors early or don’t open at all. This can be a big hindrance if you need last minute supplies, extra keys, food, etc. Your selection of moving companies in Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, and other Southern California cities may also be limited.

Road Closures

There are lots of events happening during the Fourth of July from parades in the morning to fireworks at night. There’s a good chance at least a few roads will be closed at some point in the day, which could cut off your travel routes. Call the offices of the cities you’ll be driving through or CalTrans well in advance to inquire about any possible road closures so that you don’t run into unexpected delays on moving day.

You Won’t be Able to Join the Fun

July 4^th happens on just one day out of the year, and there are lots of fun things going on no matter where you live. Instead of working away on the holiday why not enjoy the celebrations and schedule the move for a day or two later?

If you’re making a move in, out or around Los Angeles, give Cheap Movers Los Angeles a call, and we’ll handle the heavy load for you!

Apartment Move-Out Checklist!

Moving is complicated, whatever the circumstances, but moving out of an apartment building brings its own set of challenges and unique responsibilities.

Give notice

Giving notice is crucial, especially if you’re breaking your lease. Even if you’re not, it’s still crucial to let your landlord know that you’re actually moving out when your lease is up. That way, your landlord can not only prepare by trying to find a new tenant for your apartment, but can also potentially assist you in finding services to help you clean or move out of your apartment. This might help alleviate some of the stress of moving. Choose a specific day by which you’ll definitely be out of your apartment and notify your landlord you’ll be out by that time. Then, motivate yourself to have everything done two days early. This will give you extra time to deal with any emergencies that might arise at the last minute.

As always, communication is crucial—you’ll need to keep your landlord updated throughout the moving process, so he or she will be able to show the apartment to new tenants and guarantee a move-in date to the incoming individuals. Being flaky about your move-out date is not only an inconvenience for your landlord, it might also cost you some money—especially if you’re not out by the first of the month, when the new tenants show up with a moving van full of furniture. Changing apartments is not something to mess around with, so be sure you can leave by the date you set for yourself.

Get out

This should go without saying, but you’ll need to actually get all—yes, all—of your stuff out of the apartment before taking off for good. It’s not the responsibility of your landlord or the next tenant to get rid of all the junk you don’t want to take with you to your future place of residence. If you don’t want something, at least haul it to the curb or dumpster, or just advertise it on the craigslist for your city—you’ll be amazed what people will go to great lengths to pick up and even pay for. No matter how great your car (or, if you’re lucky, truck) is, you’ll likely need to hire a moving company and/or some strong friends with trucks to help you move any significant amount of furniture.

If you’re not moving furniture, get rid of it, or get a contract allowing you to leave it behind. Even if you meet the people who’ll be living in your apartment next, and they indicate an interest in your furniture, obtain a written agreement signed by the tenants and your landlords that allows you to leave certain items of furniture behind. Otherwise, you might be faced with extensive charges from your landlord if he or she had to pay people to take out and dispose of your stuff.

Clean up

Your landlord can usually issue a cleaning fee if you leave your apartment excessively messy. Since messiness is a subjective issue, it’s better to be on the safe (i.e., clean) side and tidy up as much as possible. If you’ve been a total slob for your tenancy in the apartment, this might be rough, but if you’ve maintained decent cleanliness levels, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

If possible, get as many of your belongings out of the apartment prior to cleaning. This will not only make it easier to clean, since you’ll have fewer objects to work around, but it’ll also help you get a more thorough clean and avoid being surprised by fees charged by your landlord, who discovered a huge stain under the rug you left behind in the living room. If you want to get your deposit back, try to leave your apartment even cleaner than you found it when you moved in. That may not be possible, but it’s a good goal.

Fix it

Now’s the time to own up to any damage you caused to the apartment while you were there. You might be able to get away with a temporary cover-up that will pass a quick inspection, but eventually the new tenant will uncover what you did and refuse to take responsibility. Rather than risk a messy fight in the future, simply allow for whatever you might have done to your apartment to be set right. When your landlord finds out, you’re probably in for a messy lawsuit to recover damages, not to mention a drastic decrease in your future desirability as a tenant. If you have damage to repair, do make sure to hire competent workers who’ll do a good repair job; you don’t want to be stuck with bills from both the construction crew and your landlord. You might also work directly with your apartment complex’s maintenance crew, since they’re already on-site and equipped with the tools to do the job.

Record it

It’s a good idea to have some record of the condition your apartment was in when you moved out. That way, your landlord can’t accuse you of making the place any dirtier or more damaged than you actually did. It’s also important to have a record of the condition the place was in when you moved in—but of course, if you didn’t take care of that initially, you’ll be hard-pressed to do it now. What you can do is make absolutely sure you won’t be charged for damages you definitely didn’t inflict. Once you’ve moved all your stuff out and done a thorough cleaning, take pictures of the apartment to prove you left it in an acceptable condition. You’ll probably also want to walk through the apartment with your landlord before you leave, just to show off the condition of the place and hand over the keys. This will not only show the landlord how you left your apartment, but also prove that you didn’t make any modifications to it after surrendering all access.

Get your deposit back

Depending on the terms of your lease, you should be entitled to get your security deposit back when you move out. As long as you haven’t wrought excessive and irreparable havoc in your apartment, and as long as you’re honest about what you’ve done, you should be able to get most of your deposit back. Repainting and carpet cleaning are costs you shouldn’t have to cover unless you caused undue damage to your apartment. Unless the carpet is stained and ripped up from your devilish pets, or the walls are covered with color from your late-night painting frenzies, it’s your landlord’s decision to redo aspects of the apartment, and you shouldn’t have to pay for your landlord’s desire to improve the condition of the living space to attract future tenants.

Some landlords will hold on to the security deposit unless you take steps to get it back. Start out by simply sending a written request by certified mail with return receipt requested. If there’s no response, you might look into going to small claims court to get your deposit back. Depending on the size of your deposit, this may not be worth the hassle, but you are legally entitled to get your deposit back unless you’ve caused damage so extensive that the money’s needed for repairs. This is where the photographs of the pristine apartment you left behind come in handy—they’ll demonstrate that you didn’t do enough damage to merit the seizure of your deposit.

Pay it off

In some lease agreements, the security deposit can be used toward the last month’s rent. This is an option you may want to explore—though you may not be able to, depending on the terms of your lease and the size of your deposit. Ask your landlord if your deposit can be used toward rent or not. If not, you’ll still need to pay your rent through your term of residency—not doing so will cause more grief and eventually cost more money than it’ll save you.

Apartment Move-Out Checklist

A great way to help keep yourself organized and methodical is to implement the use of a Move-Out Checklist. This is your handy record of what you have (and may have not,) done that you can keep and actually provide as evidence to your landlord.

Check out this nifty check-out list from our friends at American Apartment Owners Association:

Best wishes,

Cheap Movers Los Angeles Customer Care Team