How to Make Downsizing your Home an Easy Process

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Whatever the reason for downsizing, it's not easy deciding what to move on with and what to leave behind but first, get a suitable home. Do you want to cut the home maintenance fees, energy cost, or you no longer need ample space? Are your children all grown up and independent?

Once you clearly understand the reasons for downsizing, talk to estate agents and check the different options in your preferred location. If you want to lower your overall maintenance fees and mortgage rates, look at the entire cost of the new home.

Make sure that the house is energy-efficient, easily accessible and in a secure environment. Most importantly, it helps you achieve your primary goal, which is to cut costs. Once you have an ideal home, the next step is to relocate.

It's much easier to relocate to a bigger home than to a smaller one because you can carry all your belongings with you. When moving to a smaller home, you have to go through the stress of deciding what to keep, give away or sell.   

Declutter and Check What You'll Need for the New Home

The first thing you need to do is to declutter. Account for everything that you have and whatever you don't use or don't need, give it away or sell. This includes old furniture, clothes, broken appliances and toys.

After decluttering, analyze your new home's size and design, then determine what will fit there. For instance, your furniture might be too large for the new space, which means that you might sell and buy smaller ones that fit in better.

Also, check the size of your appliances because they might not adequately fit in the new space. As much as disposing of your possessions might be an emotional experience, it's the right thing to do. You'll not be too attached to valuables, and you will only keep what is necessary. As you will realize, it will also reduce impulse buying.

Get a Reliable Moving Company

Decluttering and getting rid of stuff you don't need makes a move manageable. It will also be cheaper. Working with an experienced moving service provider protects your possessions and takes the burden off your shoulders.

If you are not moving very far away and have a truck, you can consider moving the delicate items first and then let the service provider handle the rest.

Keep Your New Home Organized and Clutter-Free

You'd probably wish that all your possessions fit into the new space, but that's not possible. Even after decluttering, selling and giving away some valuables, you might still have more left that will not fit in the new home.

If you can, give them away to people you value. If you have grown up kids, you can give them some items or donate to a worthy cause.

As your new home helps you achieve your downsizing goals, you'll live a happier and relaxed life. You'll save more and live a simpler life that will not be controlled by how much you own.

Making Money From Your Home (Without Selling It)

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If you are looking to sell your home because you need to make money quickly, you might be going about it the wrong way. If you need a sufficient cash injection, you might think that selling your home is the best way. However, there are ways for you to make money from your home without selling it. If you need some spare cash or a regular source of income, you can use your home to make money. Let’s show you some approaches. 

Selling Land

If you are living on or near to land that you aren't using, is it possible for you to sell part of it? When it comes to selling land, you can make a significant amount of money. There are a wide variety of things to consider, especially if you need permission. But there is an NFC Homes guide on selling land with and without permission that might be able to help you. Selling land is incredibly quick to do. But you also need to make sure you are selling to the right people. If you have a few acres at the back of your property going unused, check if it is classed as being your land. If this is the case, you might have a little gold mine on your hands! 

Rent Your Home as a Film Set 

If your property has unique and charming features, you can list your home through an online agency. The great thing about having a film crew is that they will pay hundreds of pounds for your home. While it is not a regular paying wage, if you end up using your home as a film location for a big-budget movie you could make a small fortune. If you have a quirky enough property, you can register your home on the Shoot Factory website.

Take in a Lodger 

Of course, you could always use your spare room for lodgers, however, if you don't want a permanent lodger, a university student may be the perfect option. Hosting a young person, either as an exchange or foreign language student can mean that you will get approximately £100 a week. If you like having people coming in and out of the property, this is a perfect way for you to start meeting new people and is a great way for you to learn about another culture. 

Rent Out Your Parking Space 

Some people have a car space outside the property going begging though this is not actually the case in a lot of places around the UK! You could rent out your website using one of the many websites out there, and you could potentially earn approximately £100 a month doing this. If you live near an airport, this might be the ideal way for you to earn good money off people who do not have the funds to pay for expensive airport parking.

As you can see, there's a lot of ways for you to make the most of your home without selling it. It's not easy to get by these days. And if you need to make money quickly, don’t forget, your home may also be hiding a treasure trove of items!

Five Tips For Giving Your Car A Spring Refresh

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Spring is always a good time to refresh your home, garden and car. This year, there’s an extra reason to give your car some love. You should, hopefully, be able to get out and about in it more. That means you’ll want it to look and feel good and run well. You’ll probably also want it to run as affordably as possible. Here are some tips.

Clean out your boot

Even if you ignore every other tip in this article, do this. Boots filled with needless stuff aren’t just untidy and smelly. They literally weigh down your car. That means your car needs more fuel to work. In other words, it costs you more to run. It might only be a little more each trip, but those pennies add up into pounds.

Take care of your bodywork

Leaving dirt on your car damages the exterior. Give it a thorough clean and take care of even minor scratches. They might not look like much but they can let rust take a hold. If you’re up for some fun, you could add a car decal or two. These are much more affordable (and much less commitment) than a paint respray.

Check your tyres

Spring is guaranteed to bring showers and that can make road surfaces slippery. This means that it’s still important to ensure your tyres have reliable grip. It’s also important to check the pressure regularly.  

This is because tyre pressure is affected by air temperature. In spring, temperatures are highly variable so you may have to inflate/deflate your tyres to compensate. Digital tyre pressure gauges are very affordable and make it really easy to monitor your tyres.

Get that “new car” smell back

If you’ve ever been to a quality car dealership like Jaguar Basingstoke, you’ll have noticed that all the cars have a gorgeous smell. Getting your car smelling great can really make a difference to how you feel about driving it. It’ll also impress your passengers.

Getting your car smelling great starts by getting it really clean. At the very least, give it a good hoover and remove any stains, even small ones. If you can give it a proper wash inside (or clean the leather with leather cleaner).

That should get rid of any lingering smells. If, however, you want to level up from good to great, then you need to invest in a proper car air freshener. You can still get “old-school” sprays, cardboard “pine trees” and gel packs. These days, however, you can also get proper car diffusers. You can also buy fragrances you’d be happy to use on yourself.

Sort out your organisation

Ideally, you should use your glove compartment for standard essentials like a first aid kit. Avoid stuffing it totally full because this makes the contents harder to access in an emergency. After this, think about how you use your car and what you need to make your driving experience more seamless.

For example, you might want to think about investing in a mobile phone mount with wireless charging capabilities. Even if your phone doesn’t support wireless charging, most of these mounts will let you use a regular USB cable to charge your phone on the go.