What’s in a Sharpie?

Sharpies are quite possibly some of the hardiest, toughest, and most versatile writing utensils the world has ever seen. They can write on so many things that other utensils such as pens and pencils cannot. There’s a reason why people call them magic markers: they’re magically able to write on anything.

What all can they do, though? Here are the top three reasons Sharpies are amazing and we say they can “write on anything.”

They write really well on t-shirts.

I recall Sharpies of different colors being quite the craze back in high school when classmates would want to write on my shirt and every other shirt of every other person in the school. Well, we went to a small school, but that was still a tradition across other larger schools, too.

But they also work when you want a pro athlete or a musician to write on your clothes. If you don’t come prepared with a Sharpie when you go to a sporting or music event, you’re asking to miss out on one of the coolest moments of your life. It’s just science.

Duct tape isn’t off limits.

When you’re labeling totes or other items that need organized, there’s no better writing utensil than Sharpies. Heck, they’re the best for packing tape, too. Being able to write directly on tape is something that regular old pens can’t claim to do. And the best part is you don’t have to write on the items or containers themselves so that they can be used later on in the future. Just rip the tape off and you can write a new label.

They’re the best writing utensil for cardboard.

If you take some old cheap moving boxes and draw or write signs on them for a sports game, you’ve got a decent chance of making it on TV. (Isn’t that why everyone does this in the first place or is it just me?)

Since they show up super well on cardboard (often those that are black), Sharpies are perfect for making posters, sports signs, and anything else you can think of. The best part is almost any color will show on regular old cardboard, too, save for yellow and lighter colors.

Overall, Sharpies can get just about any job done when it comes to writing on things. They’re great with styrofoam, clothes, cheap moving boxes, some metals, and wood, too. If the surface isn’t really dark, Sharpies find a way to write on everything you can imagine.

Using Plastic Wrap While Moving

If you are planning on moving, you are going to have to make sure that your items with shiny surfaces are secured well. For this purpose, one of the items that you need to have is the plastic wrap. The visible benefit of this clingy and simple material is that it is going to protect the shiny surfaces of your items during the move. However, it can also help you save a lot of space by condensing several items such as furniture and rugs.

Having that said, it would be worth mentioning how you can use plastic wrap.

What is the plastic wrap used for?

The use of plastic wrap can be tricky enough to intimidate you but you can avoid this frustration. You need to keep in mind that it is the best packaging material that you can use for securing your valuable items. Since plastic wrap is usually tear-resistant, the several layers of it can help you keep the large pieces of anything together during the move. So, if you are moving drawers with doors, dressers, desks, chests, sideboards and/or anything that can let its pieces falling off during the move, you can use plastic wrap to secure those items.

How to use plastic wrap for moving

You will have to make sure that items, which you want to wrap using plastic wrap, are disassembled and cleaned well. If you are moving items with drawers, make sure that the drawers are empty. If you are planning on padding the item, you need to do it first before you wrap it using the plastic wrap. You can wrap your items both horizontally and vertically. You will just have to move around the item for every wrap.

Finding the plastic wrap

Good news is that you can easily purchase plastic wrap because it is available everywhere. You can go to the local Home Depot, Office Depot, Lowes and Walmart to get the plastic wrap in the size and amount of your choice. Furthermore, you can also find plastic wrap online. Websites, such as Uline.com and UHaul.com, are there to provide you with every kind detail that you want in order to purchase the plastic wrap. You can also buy it from the places where you buy moving boxes.

The role of packaging supplies is huge when it comes to securing the items for moving. Simply put, the difference between using packaging supplies and not using packaging supplies is just like securing your items and wasting them with your own hands.

How to Save Money on Moving

Wrapping everything and moving to the new place doesn’t sound inexpensive from any aspect. But saving money in this entire practice can be huge prospect for the life that you are going to start at the new place. Nevertheless, it’s rather concerned with making accurate calculations rather than assuming that apparently cheap practices would always save you the money. Sometimes, the money saving method turns out to be expensive eventually. However, planning everything and making smart calculations is the only key to save money on moving.

Below are some helpful ideas that you can take into consideration if you are on a budget and you are about to move to the new place.

Compare the costs of DIY and professional service

Jumping immediately to the conclusion that DIY would always be cost effective is not the right approach. If your luggage contains costly breakables, you can’t afford to risk the integrity of those items by picking DIY option. You will definitely need to hire professional moving service in order to ensure that your items are not coming in the harm’s way. Furthermore, you can compare prices of different professional movers and pick the best one.

Don’t pay much for the boxes

For their high importance, boxes are usually sold at inflated prices by many companies. Don’t get flattened by their scary sales pitch that would tell you to pick their expensive boxes rather than going for the cheaper, or even free of cost, boxes. The best way to get cheap moving boxes is to contact the shipping companies and order the amount of boxes you need. You can also ask your moving service to provide you the moving boxes. They may provide you with the boxes without charging anything for them.

Furthermore, you can inspect the free section of craigslist to get boxes for free. Remember, paying huge price for the boxes when you can get them free can seriously hurt your budget.

Make requests for shutdown of less significant utility services

It should be easy for you to survive without utility services like TV and internet for a week or so. Thus, you can order for the shutdown of these services a couple of weeks prior to your moving day. That would surely help you save good amount of money.

Consider selling or donating some of your stuff

Selling items can save you huge amount of money in many perspectives. You will have cash in your hand. The weight of your luggage will be reduced and so will be the price associated with it. You will be able to avoid paying tax for the luggage. So, the items that you are not going to need at the new place should be sold out for good.

Provide cushioning to the items using fabrics at home

This trick works many times but it is recommended that you check the feasibility for it before you do it. Furthermore, you might need packing material no matter how hard you try to avoid it; so make sure that you have analyzed properly regarding what to be wrapped using fabrics and what would need specified packing materials.