Moving to a new property can be an exciting time, or it can be a huge pain if you don’t have a solid moving plan. What’s more is the fact that not having a plan can lead to a lot of wasted money. The good news is that saving money during a move isn’t that hard, and literally any one can do it with a little foresight. Let’s go over five effective ways that you can save money when you’re moving.
- Rent a Trailer or Moving Truck
This one may seem obvious, but it is really one of the best ways to save money. While this will be an expense, you won’t have to pay anyone to pack/unpack your stuff, so it won’t be as pricey. Just be aware that there will be some stuff you’ll have to learn if doing it this way, such as how to get the turn signals/break lights on the trailer working if that’s what you’ll be using.
Also, driving a moving truck or using a trailer can take some getting used to if it’s your first time. Don’t feel shy about taking a few practice laps around the block if you need to.
- Pay Friends and Family to Help
While there is no true substitute for the professionals, you can save money by paying friends and/or family to help you move. Of course you’ll need to instruct them to be extra careful, and make sure that they’re putting everything into the right boxes. Also, if they break something, don’t expect them to reimburse you either as an actual moving company might do.
Another thing to consider is that they may only be available for the loading, not the unloading depending on where you’re moving. In a case like this, you may be able to find cheap help on a site like Craig’s List for the unloading process.
- Convince Friends and Family to Help for Free
Before dropping money on your friends and family to get them to help you move, it’s always worth a shot to try and convince them to do it for free – if you think this wouldn’t be too insulting to them. There’s nothing better than free help, but of course, you get what you pay for. Just because someone is doing this as a favor to you, doesn’t mean they’ll be putting their heart into it, and they may be prone to slacking off.
- Buy Good Quality Packing Materials
While this may seem like an added expense, this could actually save you a ton of money. Think about it this way, if you pack your items cheaply and something expensive breaks, then you just lost a lot of money. On the other hand, if you pack everything using high-quality packing materials, you could prevent something like this from happening. Also, be sure to label boxes with fragile materials in them as such, and instruct anyone helping you move to handle them with care. This one tip could save you a lot of trouble later.
- Discard Unneeded Items
Moving can be a great time to lighten your load, and clean out your home. Discard any items you don’t need, and it will save you a lot of money when moving. If you want to be generous you can give the items to family and friends, or put them on the curb and make a listing saying that the items are up for grabs. Donating them to charity is also a viable option, and could even be tax deductible depending on the circumstances.
Stay Smart About Moving, and Save Money
As mentioned before, saving money when moving is all about planning. Review the tips here, and see which ones apply to your situation, and which ones don’t. There are many ways to save money when moving, but you need to plan ahead. Even if you are using North American Van Lines just stay smart about this, and you’ll definitely save a lot of money on your move.