When it comes to moving your home, there are lots of expenses you have to consider. Luckily, there are also tons of opportunities to save money when it comes to moving as well. After saving for a home, you don’t want to break the bank when it comes time to move. Moving isn’t cheap, and it can be stressful when it comes to your finances and the actual move itself. With these tips, you can ease the financial burden of moving.
1. Consider Where You’re Moving To (Especially When Renting)
When you move somewhere new, your cost of living might change. For example, if you’re moving from the city to the suburbs, your cost of living will typically go down. If you’re renting an apartment, condo, or house, you should understand that your local market indicates rent. That means that if you live in a city like New York, your rent will be substantially higher than when you live in the surrounding suburbs.
2. Create an Ideal Budget for Moving
Budgeting is key when it comes to saving money on anything. When you’re moving, you’ll want to consider all of the expenses, from the gas money it takes to get to your new home to the packaging supplies and moving company. Luckily, finding out how much each aspect of your moving cost will be is easy and doesn’t require any financial planning experience.
For services and supplies, you can call companies in your area to get quotes. When it comes to finding the right moving company, make sure to get multiple quotes so that you can determine the best one for your needs and your budget. For packaging supplies, you can do a quick search online to determine just how much they’ll cost.
3. Find Cheap or Free Boxes
While you’ll likely need to purchase boxes for your move, you should start out by searching for free boxes before making a bulk purchase. Every cent matters, so try to get as many free boxes as possible. If you’ve saved the original boxes for your TVs or appliances, make sure to use those in the move. You can also find free boxes by asking your friends and family, and even your coworkers. If you work in a warehouse, your employer may be able to give you boxes for free.
4. Donate, Sell, or Throw Away Items You Don’t Want or Need
Look around your house for savings. Look at items like old furniture that’s been sitting in the basement for years or toys that your children no longer play with. We bet that you have tons of stuff piling up that you no longer need and don’t want to take with you to your new home. Typically, the more items you move, the more your move will cost.
By trimming down how many items you take with you, you can save a substantial amount of money. This is especially true if you’re moving across the country. You may find that it’s cheaper to purchase new furniture than hire a moving company to move your cheap, old furniture.
If you plan on purchasing new items when you move to your new home, you can hold an estate sale so that you can earn money during your moving process.
5. Empty Your Refrigerator
Once your moving date gets close, don’t go grocery shopping. Instead, take a look inside of your refrigerator and pantry to see how many meals you can pull together with what you have. While you may have to take a quick trip to the grocery store for essentials, you shouldn’t need to spend more money on food that may or may not get eaten.
6. Pack Yourself
You can hire a moving company to pack your house or apartment up for you, but that’s going to cost additional money. The more you pack up yourself and get ready to move, the less time it will take overall for movers to move your belongings, which saves you money.
While the upside to having the moving company pack for you is saving you time and packing things correctly, if you start early enough, you can pack up your entire home with ease. Start with a few items a day as soon as you know when you’ll be moving so that you can be ready without adding stress by procrastinating the packing process.
7. Get Help From Family and Friends
If you’re not moving too far away, you can enlist the help of your loved ones to help you move and keep your costs down. While you still may need a moving company for larger, heavier objects, you can load up everyone’s cars with other items to reduce your overall costs. Your friends and family can help you with everything from packing to cleaning, babysitting, and more.
8. Consider Moving Yourself
When looking at your budget, compare what it would cost for you to move yourself versus hiring a moving company. If it’s possible to move yourself and you have the time and ability, you can save yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars by taking on the responsibility yourself.
If you have a one-bedroom apartment with easy access to a rental truck and are not moving a lot of heavy items, you likely won’t need professional movers. However, if you’re moving an entire house, you may need help.
9. Change Your Address As Soon As Possible
Missing out on bills can cost you, so it’s important that you change your address as soon as you move to your new home. If you haven’t set up mail forwarding, you could be missing bills that you have forgotten to pay, which can end up costing you in the long run.
Final Thoughts
Saving money when moving to a new home is important so that you don’t use up all of your savings between the purchase and the move. Moving to a new home is all about preparing for the future. Now that you’ve moved, now is a great time to review your estate planning wills and trusts and make sure that everything is in order so that you can financially prepare for your future and the future of your children.
Matt Casadona
Matt Casadona has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. He is currently a contributing editor for 365 Business Tips. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys the San Diego life, traveling and music.