10 Tips when Moving on a Budget
Many people don’t have access to a moving truck or van that they can use and cut down on expenses for, or they don’t have that many hands to do both moving and packing. With that, finding and scheduling local movers that are cheap and within budget can be a hard task, since every little thing adds up. From buying or renting a new home, to buying all the supplies needed, even in some cases paying extra charges for certain things. Putting all of that in a calculator will certainly give you a big number that might not be within your range of paying, so here’s a list of 10 tips that can cut down the cost of moving and scheduling your local movers by a lot.
1. Getting rid of items you don’t need
To start off with, no matter the situation you should always look for ways to declutter. From a money saving point of view, definitely keep your hoarding to a minimum, since selling most of the things you won’t need later down the line can get you a pretty decent amount of money to play around with.
On the off chance that you can’t sell certain things, look for ways to donate them, which will be helpful to both you and the people you’re donating to, since cutting down on packing material will cut down the costs of the whole moving process and it’ll help those who really need it. Don’t go overboard with decluttering and really look into what you will need and what you won’t need, once you start selling things and getting rid of them there isn’t a way to get them back so carefully analyse all the items at your disposal.
2. Packing can be expensive
As you probably know, packing costs and supplies can really be expensive, and since you’re on a budget move the extra charge of paying for your local movers to pack things up is a no go. But don’t worry, packing isn’t really complicated and the materials needed don’t need to be top of the notch. Look for your boxes from local stores that don’t have a need for them, as a matter of fact most of the time you’ll get your boxes at a really low price this way. However if you have some really valuable and expensive stuff you can’t afford to accidentally break or damage, don’t go cheap with the box and packing material for that, investing a couple of bucks in good packing can save you a ton of money later down the line.
Other than that you can save a lot of money by just using some household items as packing material, using socks as a way to package glass or breakable material, towels to separate plates, if you saved the original boxes of items you bought, you can use them either for the same appliance or just other items.
3. Measure up your home and furniture
A way of saving money you probably didn’t think about is measuring your new home and the bigger furniture you have, since you’ve probably heard of things going south with items not being able to get through door frames or just not fitting in a new place. Instead of booking your local movers to do the job for you, get a measuring tape and get the dimensions yourself, it isn’t a hard task and only requires you to be precise to some degree.
If an item can’t fit through, you’ll know in advance what to do with it, either sell it for a quick buck and buy a smaller or cheaper but just as good alternative, or disassemble it and make sure it can still go through. Most local movers will disassemble and reassemble bigger furniture with no extra charge, so you should check with your local movers before doing anything yourself.
4. Buying on a minimum
In theory, budget moving is a rather easy thing to do if you put your mind to it, however in reality it’s somewhat a battle of your mind and your money. Online shopping will really pull you in, from items that you think you need to items that you need but can find cheaper in local shops. So the trick to stop you from overspending is to keep away from online shops as much as you can, you don’t need much for your new home since you are moving and not starting fresh, and you can get all the stuff you need later down the line because again most of what you want to buy isn’t essential. Buy only things that you really need for your new home, don’t go overboard and fill your cart up as fast as you can. Decorating shouldn’t really come into question until you’ve settled nicely into the new home, and since you’ll want to spend less and move less on moving day, keeping off from buying before moving will save you a lot of money and stress since there can be a lot of unexpected charges, you can use all the money you saved later on when you see what you actually need and once all is set and done.
5. Expenses that can be paid for
If you’re moving due to a new job offer or you’re just looking for a new job in a new place. Try asking the company if they’ll pay for your moving expenses, this will save a huge amount of money that you can use for your new home or just put into your pocket. Talk to your local movers as well if they have any information about a certain company if you’re moving while looking for a new job, on the other hand before accepting any offers call them up and ask if they’re willing to cover your moving expenses, if you’re in the military your moving expenses may be tax-deductible but you’ll need to talk to your accountant about that.
6. The decision of moving on your own or hiring local movers
The most important step of all for saving money is the decision of hiring local movers or just asking your friends for help. Both options are completely fine and will work out either way, it’s just a battle of what your options are and what you need in terms of service, but one way is a more budget friendly option and that is to just bribe a couple of your friends with some barbecue and beer.
Logically before even calling anyone up consider what you need and what party can definitely do those things, local movers will more effectively and easily move heavy furniture as well as easily move it cross country, on the other hand calling your friends up is probably the better option if your new home isn’t located far from your current location, since let’s be honest no one wants to bother their friends to travel the whole day just so you could save some money. Local movers do have some restrictions on what can and cannot be moved, However they come as a worry free way of moving and any damage that might come from moving will be compensated for, as long as you hire some insured and professional movers that you made sure of have been both background checked and licensed.
7. Off-season moving
A lot of people decide to move during the period of time between May and September, so if you’re on a budget and you do have time to choose when, the best time for you to call your local movers is definitely the off-season. Most rates at that time fall a lot since not that many people are hiring local movers, and with that comes the most stress free scheduling in which you can choose from multiple dates since there is a lot of free time to begin with. However if by chance you are forced to move in the active season, there isn’t much you can do and you’ll just have to go with it.
8. Cutting prices down
When moving to a new place, always calculate the cost of living there and if it’s higher than the place you’re located in right now. Consider everything, from water bills to electricity bills and even satellite or cable providers if you use them. Put everything on paper and just calculate the cost of living on a monthly basis, food & drinks as well, once you’ve done that consider which things you really don’t need all the time and the things you can cut temporarily.
Some people just don’t watch TV at all and maybe you’re one of them so possibly just cut out cable TV temporarily, maybe even forever since most people decide to go with streaming services. Look at offers from every company and local movers that work in your location, many internet providers can be cheaper than your usual one so look at every possible thing. Consider not going out to restaurants or fast food places as much as you did for the first couple of months until you’ve settled in nicely. There’s a whole array of monthly payments that you can cut out temporarily, and once you’ve got a steady income, you can then go on and choose which subscriptions and payments you can take on monthly. A lot of companies even offer a moving 12 month special which offers it’s a lower cost than usual and can be really useful.
9. Affordable local movers
If you made the choice of going with local movers rather than asking your friends, from a budget standpoint you will probably be looking for cheap and affordable local movers. However, don’t settle on getting the cheapest option, as it could lead to accidents regarding transport and you can have a lot more damage which leads to direct increase of your spending.
Budgeting a local mover won’t be a really hard task as most of the time, calling a local moving company will tell you the estimate as well as offer an affordable price that falls into your budget, you just have to look around for reviews. At the end of the day, getting you to your new home without any accidents or damage to your items is the main priority, and you shouldn’t settle for less. Always consider every option when choosing local movers and always call customer support to see what they offer and if it suits you.
10. Start as early as you can
Everything on this list takes time to do, so don’t leave everything for the last minute. Selling furniture isn’t fast and you’ll probably have to put up ads a couple of weeks before actually moving, same goes for getting free boxes or packing material in general. Don’t leave cleaning your current house or apartment for the last minute as well, since if you’re renting it and find some damage you have all the time needed to fix it up because you won’t be getting the security deposit otherwise. Call your local movers ahead of time and get an approximate date you could move, and work on everything in advance.
Budgeting a move isn’t a hard thing to do, it just requires a lot of determination on your part and a lot of planning ahead. Even if something goes wrong in the plan, you should always have some backups and if not don’t worry too much, if you started ahead of time, you’ll have at least a week or two to fix everything and get back on track. That’s where Philadelphia Movers LLC comes into play, our local movers are professionally trained and experienced, our trucks are always in top of the notch condition and as sanitary as a truck could be. Call our amazing customer support right now and they’ll give you the answers on everything you could ask a moving company, from the free moving quote to an estimate of the price. There are no hidden charges and we take pride in our transparency. Booking a move with us couldn’t be easier and couldn’t be simpler, so give our local movers a call and we’ll be happy to help you move into your new home at an affordable and budget friendly price.