10 Fantastic Tips on How to Move on a Budget
Whether you've just graduated from college or are a mid-career pro, picking up your roots and moving to another state brings several headaches.
Is it better to hire a moving company or rent a truck? How will you secure your belongings during the transfer? What expenses will your new employer cover?
10 Ways To Save Money On Your Move
Before you take out the boxes and duct tape, consider these 10 ways to simplify the moving process and how to move on a budget.
The Excitement and the Stress
Moving can be exciting and stressful. Finding the right place for the family is a wonderful feeling. However, planning and paying all the expenses related to the move, not so much. It takes money to make a big move and without proper planning, it is even more challenging and costly.
You can make the moving process easier by budgeting for moving expenses. Budgeting won't fold towels or store belongings, but it will avoid last-minute worries because money is the last thing you should think about while you are arranging all the boxes! Below, we will discuss 10 ways on how to move on a budget.
1. The New Place
One of the most important things to consider for your moving budget is the new house. Since you will be calculating costs while looking for a new place, it should be easy to plan for this part.
Buying a new home
Renting a house
security deposit,
rent for the first and last month.
down payment,
insurance,
closing costs.
These expenses will be the basis of your budget for the move.
If you are flying to your new home, you may incur additional expenses when shipping certain items or paying for pet transportation.
2. The Old Place
Take into account the expenses related to leaving the previous house. When you leave the old house, there may be some related expenses to consider.
If you own your home, you may have expenses related to the sale.
If you rent, you may have to pay if there was damage to the property while you lived there.
Other expenses that may arise before leaving your old home:
cleaning,
necessary repairs,
even loss of income (if you must take unpaid leave from work to move).
3. Basic Moving Expenses
The move itself will also have some expenses. There will be some obvious ones, like packing materials and hiring people to move or rent a truck. This is the part of the budget where you can look at how to save money.
Ways to save
You may be able to get free boxes at local businesses so you don't have to buy them. You will likely also have additional food expenses outside of your usual budget because you will have to eat on the go or buy food and drinks for friends to help with the move. A good idea is to leave some money in the budget for unexpected expenses that may arise along the way, for example, if your car breaks down and you have to spend a night in a hotel.
4. The Planning Process
You start first with planning and the planning process should be done earlier on before the actual move. It wouldn’t be uncommon or extreme for you to begin planning at least a year in advance.
In doing so, you would be able to determine the budget necessary to carry out the move successfully; especially, if you are doing it all by yourself. Planning means finding a good moving company, getting the materials together, soliciting help, and handling things like paying the last utility bills and securing utility for your new place; among other things.
With advanced planning, you can eliminate things that are not as important; just to cut costs.
5. The Packing Materials
Second on the list is gathering the appropriate packing materials. You can get the packing materials from a moving company or you can just visit different stores where cardboard boxes are discarded, if you are on a tight budget. If you use the latter scenario, you will find it to be a cheaper option.
If you have no time to be gathering cardboard boxes from stores, then you can purchase those same packing materials and other moving supplies from companies like Uhaul. Places like Staples or Office Depot do sell moving supplies; some of which you may be able to get at a discount.
Lastly, you can ask family members and friends to help you gather moving supplies or contribute items that they may have. You can get some of these supplies such as cardboard boxes from your employer as well. Use your creativity as much as possible. For example, to provide a cushion for your fragile furniture pieces, you can use blankets, clothing or towels rather than bubble wrap. This will save you a lot.
6. Storage Space And Moving Truck
If you are going to move and want to do it on your own, you should consider renting a truck. You could have a family member drive the truck to pick up your stuff and take it to the new location, if you don’t feel comfortable doing so. If you have a lot of possessions and you have to leave some behind, you may have to rent storage space and so you should put that into your budget. You could reduce the moving costs in this situation by having a yard sale or giving away some of the belongings that you can afford to part with. With both rental of a moving truck and storage space, you would need to conduct research on the reputation of the company in question as well as the prices.
Set Up Your Daily, Weekly or Monthly Budget with Budgetry.
Here are some suggestions:
If your new place was purchased through a real estate agent, ask for recommendations of moving companies and storage companies. In most cases, the moving companies do offer storage space rental.
Make sure that the rental truck is big enough to accommodate your possessions. While you can rent a small truck and make several trips, it will cost you money on fuel and it will slow up the move.
The moving company might be able to work something out with you to give you a discount, if you are renting the truck and the storage space.
Look for deals on renting storage space elsewhere. Some storage companies offer a $1 for the first month and if you plan to keep your belongings in storage for a short time, this deal could work best for you.
If your area has bulk trash day, you could get rid of a lot of stuff you don’t want to take with you. Find out which days the bulk trash should be put out and do your cleaning during that period. You could also donate stuff to the local Salvation Army.
7. The Cleaning Process
Of course, you should already know that when you are moving out of your old place, you have to clean it and leave it the way you got it or the landlord is not going to be happy. It might also reduce the amount of security deposit you get back. You also have to clean the new place that you are moving into. And so, how can you do both and stay within your budget? If you can get family members and friends to help you with some of the cleaning, this could greatly reduce the costs.
Hire a professional
Do It Yourself
However, you can find a cleaning company that will give you a discount to clean both locations. You could find local cleaners too; some of which have placed ads on sites like Craigslist.
You could cut more costs by purchasing your own cleaning supplies and getting a few loved ones together for a weekend of cleaning. Make it a fun experience with music and food.
8. Listing the Costs
When you are creating a budget, it is best to list the cost on paper so you can have a better idea of how much each item will cost. Moving can be quite costly and anything you can do to make it less costly is a good idea. Write down everything and cross off each item once it is taken care of. Putting it on paper makes everything a reality that you have to deal with. It also allows you to seek other alternatives, if something cost too much. Put aside at least ten minutes at a time to go through your list, revising where necessary and adding or subtracting items you no longer need.
Some of the items that could be on your list are:
First month’s rent
Security deposit
Truck rental
Moving supplies
Cleaning company
Cleaning supplies
Fees for utility connection
Fuel, if you are going to do the moving on your own
Add up the costs and then add ten percent to it as a buffer. Remember, anything can change or go wrong and so you want to be prepared.
9. Begin Saving
Your moving budget might seem like something you cannot afford. To get to the point where you can move on a specific budget, it is recommended that you save your money in advance. Every cent counts. If you are accustomed to having lunch every day at a restaurant, try to bring leftovers for a lunch at least 3 days out of the week. Write your grocery list so you can cut down on spontaneous shopping.
Start a new savings account or moving fund; specifically for your moving expenses. For example, if you were to save $233.20 per month for 12 months, you would have a total budget of $2,798.40.
10. Using Coupons
Nothing beats reducing a budget than cutting coupons to use for things you are going to need for your move. You can find coupons online, in the local newspaper, and in the mail. Many moving companies send out mailers. Don’t just throw out junk mail. Sift through them to see if there are any mailers from moving companies that offer discount coupons.
Another thing you can do is sign up for mailers using your new address so you can receive those discounted coupons on essentials such as appliance equipment. Visit coupon sites and enter your zip code to see what exclusive deals are being offered in your area.
Conclusion
These are the most innovative ways of how to move on a budget. The most important part of not being caught off guard with your moving budget is to include all the necessary expenses. It can be easy to plan for obvious costs, but there are other things you should include as well. An accurate budget will help make the move easier and less stressful so you can start enjoying your new home!
You can learn more about budgeting by visiting the Goalry platform online and checking out the Budgetry store, which provides as much information as you would require in understanding how to control your finances.