It’s Moving Season Again and This Year You Can Get a Good Deal

Memorial Day has typically marked the beginning of “Moving Season”, if there really is such a thing. As Americans, we have a reputation for changing residences more often than citizens of other countries, but as you may have heard, the moving business is in a slump. Bad news for movers, but good news for you if you are one of the few who needs to move this year.

Although there is no hard data for this season yet, there is every indication that the number of moves by Americans will be even lower than it was in 2008 – and last year was bad enough. According to the U.S. census bureau, the number of moves by Americans in 2008 represented a 12% reduction from the 2007 season.

After calling several major van line operators across the country and asking their opinion, there can be no doubt: judging by performance so far, this season is quite likely to be worse than last year.

I talked with one owner of a major van line agency, located in the southeastern U.S., “Our first quarter this year was just awful”, he exclaimed, “If it weren’t for commercial truckload business we wouldn’t have done much business at all.”

So, if you are one of the few who need to move this summer, chances are good that you will be able to get a great deal. You will also need to be careful because there are unscrupulous people in every industry and the moving industry has its share of businessmen who are willing to cut your corners in order to keep their bank accounts nicely rounded. Find a mover with a good reputation. Do your research; its easy, Ill even show you how.

Almost all moving companies are local businesses. Even the big van lines have local agents who manage their offices locally and are independent. They all advertise in their local markets, not nationally. You can find their local internet advertising by including the name of the city that you are moving from (or to) when you search. For example, if you were moving from Chicago to Denver, you might search for “movers chicago”. This type of search will return local internet ads with words such as “yellowpages”, “superpages” or “local” in the website address. When you click on these links, you will see the listings for moving companies that are advertising locally. Here’s the key: Make sure your mover has a picture in his listing of his warehouse. He’ll be proud of that warehouse and he’ll have it in there if he owns one. This will weed out the commission-hungry internet operators who are search engine savvy, but don’t actually own a truck. They only want your business so thay can re-sell it to the lowest bidder. Stay away from these guys! Otherwise you will end up moving without having anyone to hold responsible if something gets broken, or worse.

The next step to finding a good mover is to use the rating and review systems that most local internet advertisers use. These are great! If you read these reviews, you quickly get a feeling for whether a mover is a real company or just a sham operator. And even real operators are not necessarily focused on the satisfactions of their customers, so you can see all of that in the customer reviews. It can be pretty entertaining too; is there anything funnier than reading comments from a mad-as-hell consumer who has good command of the English language?

After finding a reputable mover, it’s time to do your negotiating. I’m giving you inside goop here; my employer may not be very happy with me, but I’m going to tell you anyway: this summer, you will have leverage as a buyer nwhen you negotiate your moving contract. Ask for a discount, otherwise none will be offerred. Be firm in your request for a good discount. A good mover will be able to give you some discount, so stand firm, knowing that this summer, you are the buyer in a buyer’s market.

I hope you enjoy your upcoming move and that you enjoy life in your new locale!

Doctor Orders a Healthy Vacation

I need a vacation! There may be more to that statement than we realize. Recent studies show your life may depend on it. With a struggling economy and corporate layoffs, Americans are leaning towards not planning a vacation next year.

The Conference Board, a private research firm, reports the number of Americans planning to vacation in the next six months is at a thirty year low. Their regular consumer survey indicates 39% of respondents were not considering a getaway next year either — the lowest figure since 1978. Public health consultants say this is a mistake.

Just when job insecurity and stress are at an all-time high, we could use a break. The Framingham Heart Study, an ambitious health research project, has been striving since 1948 to identify common risk factors contributing to cardiovascular disease. Researchers of the project observed three generations of questionnaires filled out over a twenty year period. The data showed women who vacationed only once every six years or less were almost eight times more likely to develop coronary artery disease or have a heart attack.

The correlation between stress and way of life is evident. In 2000, the results of another study involving 12,000 men over a period of nine years had similar results. Men who did not travel on an annual basis were 33% more prone to dying from a heart attack and had a 21% risk of dying from other causes. Mental health is also indicated to be affected by travel. According to research scientists at the Marshfield Clinic of Wisconsin, the instances of depression increase as frequency of travel decreases.

So, there is true evidence that travel is necessary to a healthy well-being. The time is now to redefine our vacation planning strategy. Tighter budgets require that we consider all the options. In the not too distant past, the ambitious travel giant, MOR Vacations, made public a new product that makes family travel on a shoestring budget a reality. Getting vacation time approved may be the only hurdle.

According to the BLS, one-quarter of Americans who work in the private business sector are not afforded paid vacation time. Further, there are 127 countries that do have mandatory paid vacation time. The U.S., however, is not among them. The editor of Take Back Your Time, John de Graaf, is lobbying for an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act that would guarantee three weeks paid vacation to anyone who has worked at a job for a minimum of one year. Although a tough sell, this arrangement is more tempting to business because vacation time is more predictable than sick time.

Economic indicators are still pointing downhill. Making up for the negative effects is necessary to our continued health. Allocating funds towards a lavish, tranquil vacation is even more compelling. We all have it coming.

A travel club lifetime membership could turn out to be a worthwhile investment. Stay away from timeshare rackets with recurring anniversary fees and long, drawn-out payments. Consider the options with a one-time, front-end fee and completely transferrable membership. Even more valuable is automatic VIP status for new members and free travel passes for unlimited guests. A travel product with these attributes will help balance your work-life responsibilities and squeeze every cent out of your travel budget.