5 Tips for Corporate Travel

Frequent corporate travel can be  exhausting. With the right travel strategies you can feel less stressed and more “at home” during your next business trip! Keep reading to learn our tips to try the next time you are living on the road for work.

1 – Keep your travel itineraries, important documents, work schedules and laptop in your carry on (if you are traveling by plane.) You will be able to locate everything easily and prepare for meetings while on your flight.

2 – Don’t over-pack. Check with your hotel or corporate furnished apartment to see what is already available for you.  At Princeton Properties, the corporate furnished apartments are ready for immediate-occupancy including such essentials as High-speed Internet, housekeeping and even a corkscrew.

3 – Unpack your clothes as soon as you arrive. Don’t let your suits or dresses stay folded and wrinkled in your suitcase. Once you are settled in, find a home for your luggage in a closet that is out of the way.

4 – Connect to the wifi and setup a work station. You’ll feel settled and more productive if you have all of your work materials setup and easily accessible.

5 – Check your schedule and make sure your alarm is set in time for your first day of work. If you don’t use the alarm on your cell phone, test out the alarm clock in your room. You’ll want to make sure it’s setup and ready to wake you up

5 Ways to Organize Your Bill Paying System

Sometimes we can get busy and forget about a utility bill or misplace our cable bill.
Follow these steps to sort out your bill paying system and you’ll feel much more organized!

1.Keep bills together in one area- Whether its a plastic tray on your desk or a basket on your kitchen counter, always place the bills you receive in one place. Receive e-bills for some of your utilities? Print them out and put them in your designated place too so you don’t forget about them!

2. Make a calendar- Use a small pocket calendar to mark the dates that your bills are due along with the amounts. Seeing this visually will help you keep track of your finances for the month.

3. Designate 2-4 days per month to pay bills- If most of your bills are due at the beginning of the month, you can probably get away will only paying bills once but most of us have them spaced out. Pick the days that you will sit down and write out your checks and put stamps on your bills to ensure they get out on time.

4. Record your paid bills immediately- As soon as you pay each bill, immediately record the payment in your check book (or spreadsheet). Don’t wait until later because if you do, there’s a good chance you will forget.

5. Prepare envelopes for reoccurring bills that you mail- If you pay a certain bill by check each month, write out 12 envelopes with the proper mailing address and put stamps on them all at once. Now you have a year’s worth of envelopes prepared and you don’t have to worry about being late with payment if you run out of stamps.

Pedaling for a cure – Princeton Properties’ President rides the PMC

Every year over 5,500 cyclists gather from all over the country for the annual Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) bike-a-thon. The PMC has raised over $414 million for adult and pediatric cancer care and research since 1980. 100 percent of the funds raised by riders is donated directly to the cause and amounts to over 50 percent of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue.

This year’s PMC was held this past weekend, August 2nd and 3rd. Princeton Properties’ President, Terry Flahive, is a veteran rider and this year marked his sixth PMC. Terry rode the two-day route, which covers 192 miles and runs through 46 towns across Massachusetts. The cold, wet and slippery road conditions on Saturday made this year one of the most challenging PMC rides in history.

This year, even more than the last five that I have ridden, seemed more important, meaningful, and unforgettable” Terry said. “I was really chilled and my hands had stopped working. I couldn’t use my fingers to shift gears and I had to get someone help me finally take off my helmet strap!”

As if to put the whole ride into perspective, a cyclist passed Terry and said, “Tough day today, but better than a day of chemo.” Like Terry, thousands of riders, were committed to riding as long as it took, knowing that their efforts were helping to make a difference.

Every year Terry rides for a ‘pedal partner’ – a child currently receiving treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This year Terry is riding for Jack, a two year old who is fighting for his life (pictured above with his parents and older sister). They cheered Terry on along the route and provided support early Sunday morning.

“Every time I looked at Jack, all I could think of was how lucky I am to have three healthy grand kids and how hard it would be to have one as sick as Jack” Terry said.“Then, there were so many survivors and doctors and nurses out there with me, riding with all their strength to provide more money for more research. We know that with every little break through, someone is living a better life.”

Cyclists put their physical, mental and emotional energy to the test, using their combined strength to bring researchers closer to finding cures for various types of cancer. The 2014 PMC has currently raised just under $30 million of their $40 million goal.