Let’s face it, moving can be really expensive. The costs can add up quickly if you don’t take the time to pinch the pennies. By paying a little extra attention you can easily save a lot of money! Check out these moving tips that can help you save money and time on your move!
1. Do you need professionals?
Many people consider skipping the professional, but this can be a difficult task if you have a lot of heavy items. If you want to hire movers just to move the big things, you can do just that. Movers get specific requests all of the time, and they do not mind catering to your needs.
2. Do you need new boxes?
New cardboard boxes are a luxury that most people cannot afford. Instead of buying new boxes ask around if acquaintances, friends or family have any extra boxes around that you could use for the move. Also, you can use trash bags to pack up a lot of things- especially clothes and linens. If you do opt to buy boxes make sure to research your options before buying anything.
3. Do not waste money on packing materials!
Buying bubble wrap and paper for a move is just silly. Use old newspapers, clothes, linens and other soft materials to pack delicate items. The only reason I would ever recommend buying packing materials for are valuable mirrors, paintings or furniture that could easily be damaged without proper packing. Everything else can easily be secured with non-traditional packing materials.
4. Research
As early as you can, it is a good idea to aspect all the different aspect of moving services you’ll need. Self storage, movers, boxes, switching utilities, etc. all require a good deal of time to research if you want to get the best deals out there. So don’t wait until last minute to start exploring all of your options.
5. Get Rid of Stuff
Selling, donating and throwing away stuff will make less stuff you have to pay for and spend time on moving. Free yourself of all the things you don’t really need before a move!
6. Ask friends to help
Rather than relying on movers to pack up and move everything, ask around to see if any of your friends or family would be willing to help. Although many people will feed friends in exchange for a move if you can’t afford it, it isn’t necessary. People who care about you will understand your situation if you can’t pay them back right away.
7. Move off peak season
Summertime and weekends are when movers are at their busiest, so it is a lot more expensive to move at these times. If at all possible, try to move on a weekday or during the school months to get a better bargain moving trucks and movers.
8. Go without luxuries when you first move in
Internet, cable and a land line can usually wait when you first move in. Remember if you don’t have internet and cable at home you can also save on Netflix, pay channels, Hulu, etc. Let’s face it, you are going to be pretty busy unpacking and settling in for the first few months anyways, and those luxuries can often serve as a huge distraction. You can save yourself hundreds of dollars by going without certain utilities for a couple of months. Warning: just make sure, especially if you are staying with the same internet and/or cable provider, they will not charge you for not hooking up immediately in your new place.
9. Get the right size moving truck
Most of the time I recommend erring on the size of caution bet getting a larger moving truck if you think it may be a tight squeeze, but when you are on an extremely budget it is better to get the smallest truck possible. Here is a website that can help you figure out what size moving truck you need.
10. Food ready to cook
After all the work of a move it can be awful tempting to just get some carryout, but carryout is often costs a significant amount of money. Instead of opting for carryout have something easy like Ramen noodles, peanut butter and jellies, etc ready to make when you spend the night in your new home.