Moving Across the Country

When I graduated college I was a young inexperienced individual with the whole world ahead of me.  I had many choices to make that concerned where I would start my future.  I did lots of research on cities and jobs that I was qualified for and what amount I would need to make and where I could be the most efficient with my money.  Having debt to pay off I needed to live in an area that paid lots of money and the cost of living was low so I could pay debt off. This is a complicated equation in the United States because many different cities have very different economy’s and the pay to cost valuation is very different.  Eventually I landed on the idea of moving to Nashville Tennessee.  This decision was based off the fact that I was hired to do a job that would pay for a high education and allow me to get my doctorate degree for free.

I decided it was time to go look for a place to live in Nashville. After the highing process I had driven down there many times and had a good understanding of the layout.  While down there for one portion of my interview I decided to go apartment shopping.  I visited 5 different places in one day and finally made my decision.  From here on out I went shopping for shipping supplies to make sure I had the correct amount of boxes and tape for my trip. 

Next thing i had to do was find a way to get down to Nashville Tennessee the most economical way possible with all my possessions. I had just moved from college and still had all my old shipping supplies aka old boxes and most of my stuff was packed up.  Unfortunately the boxes were flimsy after the move and they were not going to make another trip.  So I decided to purchases new ones and it was a good idea in the long run.  Instead of having stacking issues I was able to rent a uhaul trailer and borrow a truck.

  With the proper boxes I was able to efficiently stack all my possessions in the trailer.  The trailer was able to be smaller do to the efficiency and I was able to borrow a truck to pull a smaller trailer and pay less money to move. I would suggest being efficient in all things and and it allowed me to move safely and for less money.

Buying the Right tape

Nothing can be more frustrating then purchasing the wrong materials for work.  Having products not only fail you but your co-workers is an annoying and disheartening occurrence.  When products are unable to be shipped due to lack of proper shipping supplies being ordered it can not only be costly, but possibly career ending. Yes, that does sound extreme, but have you ever missed shipping a batch of marketing materials to a client by an entire week due to having the wrong tape and boxes?  It sounds like a simple fix, but in some cases it really isn't’.

So make sure you have a supply schedule put in place so you won’t be caught off guard.  I would suggest making sure your tape, boxes, and labels are ordered a week ahead of time before they are needed to be used.  This sounds excessive, but if your order changes or they send scotch tape instead of packing tape, you will have time to fox the problem.  It also gives you time to correct the unexpected visual problems that may occur.

It is amazing how important looks can be when it comes to shipping. If you are going to be using high end products and shipping to high end individuals looks are everything.  Having a dark colored packing tape can ruin the aesthetic look if the tape needed to be clear. So make sure your shipping supplies are color coordinated and also efficient. 

Don’t always go after the cheapest products.  Sometimes it is worth paying the extra money for tape that will not only look good buy stick well.  Some tape streaks when it's pulled from the role and if it's clear tape it is very noticeable.  It looks bad.  Can you imagine shipping a 1 thousand dollar marketing proposal and the tape makes the package look like its worth 2 dollars! Yikes, scary, but also it's a very important point. Don’t cheap out on things that matter.

Make sure you are purchasing the correct quantity. This sounds trivial, but it can save your company thousands of dollars by knowing how much you need and buying the proper amount in bulk. Packing tape comes in all different shapes, roles, and sizes. So map out each project by the correct size and amount.  Once you know what each project takes, you can order the amount for projects scheduled in the future. This means you may be able to buy in bulk.  In general you can save as much as 50% the cost of tape by buying a higher quantities. If you are shipping products all the time this can be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars saved every single year. Yes, it is tedious to take the time to measure the quantity of tape per job but it can certainly be worth it in the long run.