There are many steps to planning and executing a successful move. Each step is an important part of the big picture. It keeps you in control of your move and will save you money. All of the steps and tips are relevant to local and long distance moves. Each step is relevant to any type of moving service you are considering for your move. Putting thought into your move beforehand, researching the moving process and planning each step way ahead of time will make you move a successful relocation. If you are moving your family across the country, you are a college student moving to or from school, if you are a senior citizen or retiree moving or you’re looking to start over somewhere new, you will want to plan well and save as much money moving as you can. You want to avoid any added expenses. The important thing is that many of these steps are simple and can be done way in advance of your move!
The first step to saving money when you move, it to write everything down! Keep a notebook and a small pad with you where you list everything. Use a sectioned notebook like we would have used in school. Use the pad when you think of something you would like to add to the notebook. Write everything in pencil and not in pen. This way you can always make changes or corrections and keep your moving notebook organized. Use different colored pencils and create a color code for yourself. It will help you quite a bit.
Start to list all of the belongings you are planning to move. The easiest way to do this is by going room by room. Leave a few pages in your notebook for each room. In the early stages of the planning list everything. You can always make changes or delete things later on, but this way you will not forget anything!
List all of the furniture, lamps, TV’s and any major items that are in the room. If there is something unique or out of the ordinary about an item, (for example an extra large or heave piece of furniture or something that is special to you and will need special handling), remember to write that down.
It will be worth while to make a “guesstimate” of the number of boxes you will have from the room. One piece of advice about boxes or box counts is that most of us seriously under estimate the number of boxes we will have. Be liberal about this. Changes can be made as you moving day gets close. However this will help you to see the bigger picture about the size of your move.
Once you have created a list of all of your belongings you will have created a working inventory for your move.
Since you are planning ahead and looking to cut some corners and save money, your next step will be to collect packing materials. The most important packing material will be cardboard boxes. You don’t need to go out and buy special boxes for your move, unless you own certain items that need special boxes and handling. By going to shopping centers in your area, you will be able to find high quality boxes of all different sizes that will suit your needs for your move! Be sure that the boxes you collect are in mint condition and can be sealed with plastic masking tape on the top and the bottom of the box. Make sure the boxes are strong and clean. You want to have boxes that are different sizes for different needs, but it is very important to make sure that all of the boxes are stackable. This will save you space in your present location and help you when you need to unpack at your new location. It will also help to load and unload your belongings in the moving truck! One simple, but important guideline to remember is the heavier the box, the harder it will be to move. For heavy items such as books, use smaller boxes. This is why you will need boxes of different sizes.
As a guideline, in the moving industry there are 3 general sizes of boxes-small, medium and large. A small box can about the size of the box you would buy copier paper in or the size of a small microwave oven. A medium sized box is about the size of a small dormitory refrigerator that s college student might have in their room and a large box is about the size of a dormitory refrigerator with a small microwave oven on top of it.
By collecting used boxes, you will save hundreds of dollars.
Another great way to save money on packing materials is to save old newspapers! This is an excellent packing material. You can use it for many of the belongings you will be packing into the boxes. Just remember that newspaper does have ink on it and do not use newspaper for packing anything that will be sensitive to it (such as clothing, since it might create stains that will be hard to remove.) You can use newspaper for wrapping and also shred it if necessary and sure it as stuffing inside of the boxes.
Remember that you have other materials in you home already that you can use. Some very good examples are all of your towels and linens. These can be used to wrap belonging such as lamps that you will be boxing. Even though moving is a great chance to get rid of lots of things that you may not want or need, those old curtains that you might hate might just come in handy when you are packing, so don’t throw them out so quickly. If you can use them, save them and throw them out after your move.
The next step in saving money when you are moving, is considering the different kinds of moving services that are available to you. You have many options. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and you will need to explore them all to make an educated decision. If you know people that have moved over the last couple of years you might want to talk with them about it and their experience with the moving service they choose. It is important for you to be realistic about what you expect from a moving company or moving service and to be realistic about what you yourself will be capable of handling for your move. Since moving is not just about your belongings, but is also a life changing experience, you will want to take into account your personal physical and emotional needs and to what extent you will be able to participate in the move. For example, if you were thinking about renting a truck, but you realize that it’s too much work for you and you want to hire moving labor to do the work, it just might end up being much more expensive that just having a moving company do your move for you.
Now it will be important for you to start getting free moving quotes for your move! There are many ways to do this, but the simplest and least time consuming for you, will be just by going on the internet. The internet can also help you research the moving services as well as get free moving quotes. Let the movers come to you! You will want to have your inventory or item list handy when you are speaking to moving companies and moving services. This is how they will be able to give you a free moving quote! Remember to discuss with them any of your special needs for packing, moving or maybe storage. Each of the moving companies or moving services can do this with you by telephone or some might be able to give you an “in house estimate”. It is important to remember that a quote is an estimate and not a guaranteed price. A “Binding Estimate” for example will only be binding if there will be no additional labor or materials needed on your moving day and if your inventory is correct.
Each mover or moving service will then be able to email you a free moving quote for the move! It is important to educate yourself about the terminology of moving, so that you can properly decipher the moving quotes. One very important thing to do when you read a moving quote, is to make sure that everything that you discussed with the moving company is written down. Anything promised verbally and not written down will not be binding! Make sure there is no vague language on the quote. Vague language will mean that someone is trying to hide something from you and that will not be the kind of people you want to do business with! It will also mean that on moving day, you will have lots of unpleasant surprises that will cost you much more money. No one enjoys that!
Once you have made your decision, be sure to be in contact with your moving company or moving service. You will want to update your inventory when you have changes to make, either adding or removing items. It is not necessary to do this too often, but make your inventory or item list is fully updated by 2-3 days before your moving date.
The bottom line is, to save money moving, you need to think and plan in advance. You need to educate yourself about the moving industry and the moving services available to you. You need to know the language of moving. You need to be smart and think about where you can save and make use of readily available materials, not spending money on expensive materials that you really don’t want or need. You need to be realistic with yourself about what you can accomplish on your own and what you expect from the moving companies and moving services. You need to be smart when you are speaking with moving companies and moving services. Remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, be smart! This will all help you have a successful and stress free move that will save you money!
