Low Cost Moving
Question:
Hi everyone, I'm new to this website, and I really like to read the posts here. I'd like to know if anyone has any suggestions or tips on keeping moving expenses and the costs of setting up a new home low? I'd really appreciated it.
Answer:
For moving.....try getting boxes from businesses that don't need
them anymore. Liquor stores are a pretty good source, and grocery
stores could be a good one as well. In the past, we've rented a
van and driven it ourselves. One thing I've read people suggesting
is to color-code the rooms of your new place, and paint a large
streak of the appropriate color on the box to go in a certain room.
This makes it easier to tell where the boxes are supposed to go,
so you don't have to strain to figure out where to take them.
I've found in the past that moving is a good time to get rid of
stuff I don't need.....whenever I move, I either sell or give
away things I don't consider to be worth the bother of moving.
This reduces the amount of weight you have to move.
Try to eat your way through your pantry supplies before you move
so that you don't have to transport too much of it. There is
food I'm planning to transport when I move (spices -- I can get them
*far* cheaper here than elsewhere, and where I buy them they come in
very lightweight containers, so it won't be much weight), but not
much of it. You can easily re-build your pantry slowly at the new
place as long as you have some real basics. Again, some of the lighter
stuff that is normally expensive to buy is worth bringing....think
about what it would cost you to replace certain items vs. how much
it would cost to bring them with you. Have some basic cleaning
supplies that you bring with you so that you won't completely have to
restock them -- I always find that I need cleaning supplies during
moves.
If you're moving yourself, see if you can get people to help you on
both sides of the move. Often this isn't a real problem. If you're
not, consider moving some of the more fragile things yourself
and cut down the weight for the movers as much as possible.
It depends on the move, of course. We just moved to Hawaii, and it's
considered an international move, because it's over water. For that we
HAD to go with a national moving company -- none of the local companies
would touch us. Also, compare costs -- it was more frugal for us to
have a moving company move us than for us to do it ourselves, both in
terms of time and in actual $$/insurance.
I too am moving in the near future (D.C. to Seattle), and I have been looking
into the "self-service" moving companies. These are the companies that
deliver a pup trailer to your home, and you pack it yourself. Then they pick
it up, drive to the destination, and you unpack it.
Has anyone had any experience with this kind of move?
The last time we moved, my father and I split the driving on a U-Haul, and it
wasn't a problem. I'm the only driver on this trip, and the quote on a
U-Haul doesn't look like it will save me much, if any, money on the move
(depending on how much stuff I end up taking).
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