Creating a budget for a move is no easy task. This is often because moving is not something that most people do extremely often. We’ve come up with some pointers to assist you in creating a moving budget as well as some tips to help you stay within the budget that you’ve created.
Moving can be a very overwhelming process. Taking the process on early, with a plan, and a budget that you intend to stay within will help you a great deal along the way. Relocating your life and belongings is also very stressful. Lock down the necessary details, plan out far in advance, and make sure you don’t drop the ball on your to-do list prior to your move. This will make your moving experience much less hectic and allow you to focus on other important aspects of relocating.
Start Getting Estimates Early
You should not wait until a few weeks before you move to begin getting estimates for how much it will cost you. When creating a budget for a move, the estimates that you compile early on will allow you to have a strong understanding of how much your move should cost in total. If you know the date that you’re going to be moving months in advance, don’t hesitate to start contacting movers a couple of months prior to your move. There is no such thing as starting to plan your move too early.
Get Estimates from Multiple Movers
Getting estimates from multiple moving companies is key when you’re looking to create a budget for a move. If you only get a quote from 1 mover, there’s no way for you to understand how expensive they are compared to other companies and what the price range for a move like yours typically looks like. Verify the cost of your move by looking at prices from multiple companies.
Your mover should also be willing to do an in-home estimate with you. This means that they will come to your home and assess your items prior to giving you an estimate. A mover is never able to fully understand the scope of your move just by hearing what you have over the phone. The in-home estimate allows your mover to provide the most accurate estimate possible by understanding all of the small aspects of the job. Something that may not stand out to you, could be very significant to your mover and impact your moving estimate significantly.
Get Rid of Items You Don’t Need
Once you have your moving estimates, understand what your costs are likely to be, and have selected a moving company to partner with, you can really start to kick things in gear. This is where you set a timeline for yourself to be ready to move. One of our best suggestions we can make to help you stay within a budget for a move is to get rid of items that you no longer need.
The less stuff that you have on moving day, the less time your move will take. So if you have an old couch that you plan on replacing, don’t bring it to your new home. You can either throw it away, give it to a friend or family member, or find a local charity to donate it to. See our Blog Post “How to Get Rid of Items Before You Move” for more info on this.
Start the Packing Process Early
This is by far the most frequent reason we see our customers struggle with staying within their budget for a move. Packing stinks. Most of us put off packing until the very last minute. Whether its packing up your apartment or filling your suitcase for vacation. It’s just not fun and often ends up on the backburner of the priority list.
Set a hard date when you will get all of the moving materials you need (boxes, tape, etc.) and begin packing. The more prepared you are on moving day, the faster your items will get loaded onto the truck. If your movers need to spend the first 2 hours of your move packing dishes and disconnecting electronics, your move will end up costing you more money than you thought.
If you follow the steps above when creating a budget for a move, you can be sure to run into much fewer surprises and very likely be satisfied with your bill on moving day.
If you’re interested in receiving a FREE Estimate for your upcoming move, just fill out our Moving Request Form and our team will be happy to assist you!
