Moving is a tiring, stressful experience, and it also can cost a small fortune. A long-distance move is particularly expensive because of the additional cost of transporting your items farther, your travel expenses and many other factors. You may easily spend several thousand dollars on a long-distance move in many cases. If you are looking for a realistic way to save money when moving cross-country, use these tips to find savings every step of the way.
Remove Unwanted Items Before Moving
The volume of stuff that you are moving cross-country directly affects the cost of your move. It impacts the cost of moving supplies, labor, the size of truck that you need and more.
Spring cleaning to remove unnecessary clutter, clothes that you have not worn in years and other unwanted items may seem like a waste of time at first glance, you can now see that this effort can save you a significant amount of money.
Remember to get rid of large items, like furniture that will not have space in your new home, before you load the moving truck as well.
Use Free Moving Supplies
The cost of a single moving box may only be a few dollars, depending on its size. However, you may need dozens of boxes as well as tape, permanent markers for labeling, packing paper, foam sheets, and many other items.
The cost of these items can add up, and this is an expense that can almost entirely be avoided. You may find free moving supplies from others who have recently moved into your area. These may be people you know or people who have advertised free moving supplies online.
In some areas, some organizations gather donations of supplies and give those items to other people free of charge.
Set a Smart Relocation Date
Loading and unloading the moving truck on your own is a great way to save money, but this can be tiring and time-consuming. In many cases, it is not feasible for you to move your largest and bulkiest items out of your home on your own.
If you intend to use professional movers for their labor services, choose your moving date and time carefully. Some companies charge a premium for the weekend and holiday moves.
Drive the Truck Yourself
Rather than hiring a moving company to load, unload and transport all of your items, consider hiring cheap labor to load and unload a truck that you rent. When you drive this truck yourself, you can save a small fortune on moving costs.
However, consider the logistics as this is not practical for everyone. For example, if two people need to drive your two personal vehicles, you may not be able to drive the moving truck.
There may be ways around this, such as by towing your vehicle behind the moving truck or asking a friend to drive your car for you. You would likely need to pay for that friend to fly back home as a courtesy.
Conclusion
You can see that there may be opportunities for savings at all stages of the long-distance relocation process.
Take time to analyze your moving project plan thoroughly, and consider how these tips and other money-saving ideas may be incorporated into your relocation plan.