If ever there was one universal sentiment, it’s that moving is among the most excruciating activities. The notorious process of packing and moving the entirety of your earthly belongings requires just about an enormous mental effort, great physical labor, excellent organizational skills, endless patience, and a mighty good chunk of your free time that is seemingly never there.
Research Moving Services
Take your time to do strategic moving-company research: estimate those quotes and get the best deal in town. Moving companies often have better rates when you book at least a month in advance so make sure you confirm your arrangement with the moving company ahead of time. How to avoid moving scams.
Start Planning — Start Saving.
Planning ahead is your ticket to a pain-and-sorry-free moving-out experience.
Create a digital “moving” folder on Google Drive or Dropbox and start making an inventory list of the items paired with pictures taken on your phone – this way you quickly asset the magnitude of the situation and can start estimating the needed amount of moving supplies, men resources, etc. Make sure you’ll figure ahead how many trucks you need to fit your belongings – find out the square footage of your place or request a visual estimate on-site.
Get a good estimate of the space you will need for moving items in a truck, or temporary storage – Calculate Your Move
Reusing
Cutting expenses
Begin to save any packaging from shipments that you get several months in advance and ask friends and family to do the same. Pick up free moving boxes from the grocery store and local businesses, and post in your neighborhood groups to see if anyone is giving any away. We know you think it sounds too much of a trouble but experience shows that depending on how much stuff you’re moving, you can save between $70 and $400. Not to mention, you’ll also benefit the environment.
5 tips from Professional Movers to reduce your moving costs.
“I Don’t Want No Scrub”
De clutter Before You Go.
Start purging as much stuff as possible before you even make it to the packing stage. Just Let it go.
Look at everything you own with a critical observation. Separate from the main mass, everything that has lost its value, meaning, or simply won’t fit in your new life: clothes you don’t wear, battered furniture, dishes, and outdated electronics. Be unmerciful. Take this doomed list and make categories: donation/yard or online sale/ giving away to friends.
Depending on how much you have downsized, you could save hundreds of dollars, as one of the big costs of moving is the hourly expense of the movers themselves and there will be less since there is less stuff. Beyond that, you can make some big unexpected bucks from selling your stuff to somebody who needs it more.
Make It Official
Speak With Your Utility, Internet, and Cable Providers.
Do The Budget.
“Money, Money, Money”
Start estimating all the costs. It will help you not only find overlooked details but also put aside the required amount of money which will mentally and practically prepare you for upcoming expenses.
Leave some wiggle room in your budget to help offset some of the unexpected costs of moving that may occur — for example, if the move takes longer than expected, or you need to buy extra boxes at the last minute.
Purchase moving insurance in case something valuable breaks; it will likely save you money in the long run.
Start Packing Yourself.
Throw A Challenge
Try to pack as much of your stuff up forehand as possible. Pack strategically.
Start from those items that you use less frequently. Put heavy stuff in small boxes; very light stuff in big boxes. Exclude any perishable items and any items that contain gas or flammables. Clearly mark cardboard boxes with the name of the room where they’re going.
If the idea of boxing everything by yourself makes your eye twitch just use our packing service.
Go through your daily routine, make a list of items you use every day and pack all of your paired essentials in one clearly labeled box such as:
- Bathroom – toothbrush, toothpaste, towels, hand soap, toilet paper, hair dryer, etc.
- Kitchen – pair of dishes and utensils, food, and appliances needed for cooking.
- Devices and tools – a phone charger and other cables, a couple of screwdrivers, an adjustable wrench, and a box cutter.
These particular boxes are going to be the first boxes you unpack so take them in your car or load in the truck last. That way you can use your new bathroom, and kitchen as you’re moving, and if you don’t finish unpacking days you don’t have to dig through all of the boxes.
Final Tips On The Big Day
Day of the Move.
Congrats! You made it to moving day, hopefully with your sanity intact. If you’ve got movers, there’s not too much you should be doing, aside from making sure you, your pets, and your family arrive safely.
What to do today:
- Load your car with the boxes of the essential items
- Offer the movers drinks and be available for the first half of an hour to answer questions
- Head to your new home and direct the movers on box placement
- Pay and tip your movers
And don’t forget to pop up some bubbly!
It is good to know that we should begin estimating all the moving expenses. My friend is moving to her new apartment. I should advise her to hire a mover to make the day less stressful.
My fiance and I are finally moving to our house next month, just in time for the holidays, so we’re looking for moving-out tips to make the process easier. That’s why we think your article about creating a moving-out budget will be helpful for our move, so we’ll read it very carefully. Thank you for the advice on putting aside some extra money in case of a move-out emergency expense.
It’s interesting when you said that you could consider packing your things ahead of time for a better process. Yesterday, my coworker informed me that he needed to move his other furniture to his mother’s house, and he asked if I could help him move things with him. I’m thankful for your advice about how a residential trucking company can help us transfer the furniture hassle-free, I’ll tell him that it will be much better to hire one.
Sure, thank you John!