Moving + Renovation Tips plus CAA #caarewards & $500 GC Giveaway
Moving From House A- B
It has been almost four years since we moved into our second house, a move I didn’t actually think was ever going to happen. See, we bought our first house 14 years ago we were young, I was only 18. We put a lot of heart, soul and money into creating a home we loved. We renovated it from top to bottom, built a beautiful 3 tier deck from the house to the pool. We were comfortable but our family was growing and with three kids at the time we seen our dream house go up for sale.
I remember the move in date was sneaking up and packing seemed to be a nightmare. I didn’t realize how much we had accumulated over time. We did spend over six years before children in our first home and during that time we filled it with a lot of stuff. Nice stuff but stuff. With three kids home with me during the day and hubby commuting to our own business 30 minutes away I remember the daunting task of packing to be something I told myself I would never do again.
Moving Tip:
Now looking back I can see some room for improvement from our first time around. It is definitely true you do learn a thing or two from your past. Although moving ourselves was the only way we seen as an option then, I am seeing many more options today. As
a loyal CAA member I recently have learned that we can Save 12% on one-way & local truck rentals from Penske Truck Rental plus 12% off moving supplies and accessories. Looking back finding boxes from our local grocery store did pose quit a challenge and to be honest a one stop shop has my attention if another move ever happens.
Outdated & Needing TLC
In the matter of a weekend we were back at square one again, the dream house we bought needed some huge updating and much-needed TLC. We are visionary’s and had seen the beautiful home deep inside but now we had the huge job of taking on a whole house renovation project with three small kids 4 and under on our hip.
Pairing our vision and ‘now’ personalities, it did result in a full-out mess and a lot of hard work to the on-looker, but in our mind it was progress and satisfaction. We had much more than painting to complete this home renovations, we gutted two bathrooms, a whole basement and some huge landscaping.
Renovation Tip:
When we took on this renovation project of the main bathroom we knew everything but the Jacuzzi tub had to go. It was many trips for us to the local dump and a lot of wasted time to remove all the junk accumulated from the gut. If only we knew about our CAA discount where 
members save 10% on your junk removal with 1-800-GOT-JUNK? that would have put a lot of time, hard work and money back on our side.
Money Saving Tip: DIY
My husband is not afraid of getting this hands dirty and learning a new skill. He watched a dozen You Tube videos so he could personally tile our whole main bathroom and doing so saved us a ton of money. Plus he gets the satisfying feeling of stepping back and looking at his master piece.
Although most renovations are not as extreme as ours was, we all are still looking for ways to put some more cash into our pockets. CAA 
members save 25% on the regular retail price on all Dulux Paints manufactured paint products. Which is a great way to keep your renovations in on budget.
This was the biggest renovation we have ever under took, our main bathroom was out of service for many months from planning, learning, to gutting, shopping, price matching, and finally putting our dream bathroom into place.
Decorating Tip:
My number one tip when it comes to stepping back and taking in your new renovation is, make sure you budget money for accessories. When our main bathroom was finally done I couldn’t wait to hit the stores and buy new towels, soap dishes and decorative touches. Although at this point we were way over budget we squeezed a little more to complete the room, which gave me a huge feeling of satisfaction. When you shop online at Walmart.ca through CAA members get 4% back in CAA dollars.
Get Quotes
Before the big move make sure you get some quotes on House insurance. The market is expanding and this is the prefect opportunity to save yourself some money. CAA offers Home/ Auto / Travel Insurance that is worth taking a peek at.
Although we still have one last and final room to renovate, we can finally sit back and enjoy all the hard work we have completed on our dream house. The rewards are paying off, leaving us proud of our purchase plus leaving our equity climbing up. Which is great for any home owner.
Looking for more great tips? Check out the CAA Blog.
What is the last renovation you completed?
CAA Home Essentials Twitter Party
Join @CAASCO and me @inRdream on Thursday May 22nd noon-1pm est. Tweet with us and have a chance to win some great prizes. Plus learn more about CAA member rewards.
CAA is Generous
One CAA Winner will WIN a $500 Gift Card (winner will be announced at the Twitter party details above.)
Contest runs from today until May 9th, more details here.
The winners can choose either $500 in CAA Dollars or a $500 Gift Card to one of the following CAA Partners:
Dulux | 1-800-Got-Junk? | Teleflora | Penske | AMJ Campbell Van Lines | ComparAction | CAA Home Insurance
Thank you for reading In R Dream!
(This post is Sponsored by CAA, but based on my first hand experience moving and renovating.)
Getting moving supplies from the moving companies is a whole lot easier that collecting boxes from grocery stores.
Clear out the renovation area so that it is easier to work in.
we always have a few pieces of “junk” hanging around the house so I make sure i throw away things as we pack. anything we havent used in the past year or so and anything that doesn’t have some sort of sentimental value might as well go. no point in cluttering your new place with old junk.
When renovating be prepared for surprises especially in an older home. Also have a plan in place but be prepared to modify as you encounter surprises! Try to do as much of the work yourself which does not require a licensed tradesperson as it will give you a bit more money for the look you really want to achieve.
When renovating especially if it is an older home be prepared for surprises and delays. Try to do as much of the reno as possible yourself to save costs and wait for materials to go on sale before you start. Have a plan but be willing to modify or change it as you go depending on surprises you may encounter.
When moving label boxes well, always put what room the box belongs and items in box
MAKE A LIST!!! Put in order of priority as well as projected costs – otherwise you will be overwhelmed and won’t start any project.
When moving label boxes clearly and large with contents as well as what room they are going to be placed in
My favourite tip is…if you think you are organized and all heck breaks loose, just laugh,smile and keep on going
my tip for moving day is to enlist lots of help
hire movers!
When doing renos, finish up everything! We always manage to leave one small stupid thing unfinished, thinking we’d get to it later, then later becomes never and I have these projects that are like %99 done.
haha Karen your tip made me giggle. I do have a few 99% done jobs around here too, LOL
Definitely get more than one quote. My hubby is a contractor and he has won jobs several times because he was significantly cheaper than the competition. As a home owner do your research and know who you hire is credible and insured (dirt cheap work doesn’t always result in great work)
You pay for what you get, great advice!
My favorite tip is to make sure you budget money for accessories. Best tip ever! Staying on a budget is very important when remodeling.
I learnt the hard way on that tip 😉
For moving, always label boxes with contents as well as what room they are going to!
labeling the boxes for better organisation
as soon as you know you are moving start packing things you dont use very often. Ive moved a lot and I always start minimizing things and having them packed, really helps with the stress
Labeling every box with a list of what is inside the box.
my favourite tip is to pack everything together in one room, label every single box
I love this post! My tips are: make sure to purge and get rid of things you don’t want to move to your new home, get quotes for reputable movers, and make sure your label your boxes for the items inside and the rooms they need to be placed in. It helps SO much later!! 🙂
Code label all of your boxes. This code would be connected to what’s inside the boxes. Less likely someone seeing the boxes will try and steal them. Yes this does happen curbside when moving and when using moving companies with lowlife employees.
Great tip Gord, any suggestions on how to code?
Always clean out and get rid of items no longer needed or used before you pack.
Be systematic, and get rid of the unwanted stuff
Yes this is so important, I agree!
I agree with the tip about getting quotes. When we had our bathroom done, we had a few quotes and the prices varied by thousands of dollars. If we had went with the first person, we would have easily spend at least three times what we eventually spent, and I don’t think spending the extra money could have made the room look any more beautiful than it is now. We were also in complete agreement about what we wanted done with the bathroom, so there were no changes to be made or extra expenses mid-work.
Yes Donnas that is a great tip! Protecting your money is so important.
I LOVE what you did with your bathroom reno!
We did a bathroom reno due to a flood last winter.
Thanks Amanda very proud of it! Our basement flooded this Spring looks like more renos coming. Any tips on flood renos?
My favorite tip for moving would be to hire someone to do it lol! Research moving companies, check their reputations, but this way you save yourself so much aggravation, possible fights with your partner 😉 , and your items will be insured in case of damage.
Love –> “Possible fights with your partner” Moving can be stressful and eliminating as much as possible is so important! Did you use a moving company?
We did 4houses in 6yrs. Do NOT focus on the mess. It will drive you crazy also make sure you have a backup vaacume.
When it comes to doing renos, know your skills and be realistic. If it’s over your head, hire someone to do it or at least to help you. I love your bathroom reno, it looks fantastic!
clean out the house before you move making sure to get rid of things you no longer use
My best tip for moving is to eliminate as much as possible. There is no need to bring unused/unwanted items with you…less is more 🙂 Try to keep boxes as organized as possible for making unpacking easier. Label everything. When unloading the truck… put boxes in their destined room to avoid having one big mass to pick at and dig through to find what you may need right away.
My tip for renovating is to always increase your budget by 25% to cover for those “unexpected” costs.
Start way before the move, when you declutter your home have a garage sale and donate or give-away what is left only move those items you love. This is the perfect opportunity to get rid of years of accumulation. Also if you are able to obtain wardrobe style boxes these keep your clothes in order and makes it very easy to transfer them into the new closet. Another great tip is to color code boxes with colored masking tape so you know, bedroom (who specific noted on box), bathroom living room, garage, kitchen
Have everything ready before the movers show up.
Get more than 1 quote and pick the one with the best reputation
Call 1800 got junk for junk removal!
When you renovate, you don’t always have to do everything at the same time. By doing things periodically, it doesn’t hit the wallet as hard.
Label the boxes with which room the the items in the box will go
My favorite tip for moving is to label your boxes with the room they need to be put in ie blue bedroom at top of stairs, downstairs bathroom etc. It saves handling boxes twice.
I think the most important tip is to make sure you budget money for accessories! That way you don’t end up with a sparse space and a lot of disappointment and frustration!
Know your responsibilities to the community, zoning, by-laws etc. in regards to all of it.
My favorite tip when moving is to hire professionals who offer a guaranteed quote up front. The stress of trying to do it on your own is not worth it!
Label your boxes when packing! I did not do this on my last move and boy, was I ever sorry!
Start early and enlist help!
In all honesty I label my boxes and list some of the contents as well on the box. This is HUGE in unpacking.
Btw, the accessory tip is a bonus. We recently had our small bathroom redone, I wish I’d thought about accessories, I was just concerned with getting the ordeal over with….. now I’m sorry lol
Use your towels and wash cloths to pack your dishes. Does double duty: protects them and also packs two things at once.
Wrap your dishes in un-printed newspaper
Renovating Tip: DIY..try to do as much of the work yourself as possible..saves a lot of money.
That looks like quite the shower!!! My favourite tip when moving is to hire professionals! It is so much easier when left in the hands of people you can trust.
label all you boxes well!