Guest post by Meg from Saving On The Essentials
Moving can be a stressful time. Between packing your current house, coordinating schedules with those helping you move, and unpacking, things can quickly get stressful.
As if that isn’t enough to take care of, you also have to keep in mind the cost of moving: renting versus borrowing trucks, the cost of boxes, tape, and packaging material for fragile items, and much more.
Here are a few tips I have put into action during our last two moves to help keep our moving costs minimum:
1. Research Prices on Moving Trucks
My husband and I moved twice in a six month period. The first time was only a few blocks so we were able to use my brother in law’s truck and as well as our our vehicles to move our entire house.
However, during our second move, we moved out of state. We knew that we would need to rent a truck in order to move our house in one trip. As we began to research prices, we found a wide range and were shocked at how much it costs to rent a moving truck!
Make sure to compare prices in order to get the best bang for your buck. Read all the fine print to see who charges the most for miles traveled over the set limit, late fees, and any other hidden fees.
We were surprised to be charged a $5 Environmental Fee from our truck rental because the company uses an environmentally friendly soap when washing their vehicles.
2. Find a Great Deal on Moving Boxes
When we reserved our moving van, we had the option of purchasing moving supplies. These came to a whopping total of $100! Needless to say, we opted for a more affordable (free) option.
We were blessed to receive a lot of our moving boxes from my husbands workplace, but we also were able to get them from our local grocery stores, Craigslist, family, friends, and neighbors.
3. Use Items on Hand to Protect Breakables
Use your wash clothes, towels, newspapers, expired coupons, and other items you have on hand to protect your breakable items. Clothes and towels are going to take up space when you box them to move anyway so make sure to put them to good use during your move!
4. Plan Your Moving Day Meal in Advance
When our moving day arrived I was ill prepared to feed those who so generously offered to help us move. Due to the fact that we were moving and all of our pots, pans, plates, silverware, and glasses were loaded into the moving van, we opted to splurge for a pizza lunch as a way to thank our family and friends for their help during our move. Easy prep and clean up is a must!
Using these simple money-saving tips, we were able to keep our moving expenses to a minimum.
What are your best tips for saving money on moving?
Meg Kavanaugh is an Arkansas native married to her best friend, Andrew. When she isn’t bargain hunting she spends her spare time with family, reading, or photographing God’s beautiful creation! She shares her love for frugal living and money saving tips over at Saving On The Essentials.
I love idea number 4. I would have never thought of preparing meals in advance. You think of everything else but food and it’s the most important. Great article, thanks!
I’m moving in June and am only moving 1 state away so I have luxury of going to my new home a few weeks early to clean, paint, etc. One of the things I really want to do is have the carpets cleaned, since the previous owners had a dog. I looked online for a carpet cleaner rental site, and found Rug Doctor, available for rent at 3 locations nearby, I was also able to print a $5 off coupon for the rental of the Rug Doctor- which says its $25-$30 (per day I’m assuming?) And a $3 off coupon for the carpet soap I’m assuming you have to buy to clean the carpets. Has anyone had any experience using a Rug Doctor, or any advice on cleaning carpets yourself?
I have rented one but have bought and used other models that worked better if you have kids or pets I would suggest buying one they cheap when on sale and have saved my carpets I have 3 kids and 3 cats between them or being sick I have saved money and keep my box it came in for future moves with no issues when we PCS before.
I’ve been able to help moving friends recently by bringing over an easy-to-pack but tasty lunch (variety of sandwiches & watermelon for a summer move, calzones & veggie/fruit sticks for a winter move), so they don’t have to get pizza every time (one of them had worked in a pizza place and HATED pizza). It was much appreciated!
I have to tell a funny story! My husband is a pastor in a denomination that moves us around fairly frequently. At one move, we had a lot of church people helping us and it was rather chaotic. I had packed a cooler with all kinds of sandwich stuff for our lunch and in their haste to get us loaded, one of the men grabbed the cooler and put in the front part of the truck. I didn’t notice until lunch time and by then the truck was too full to unload it and find the cooler. So I had to go to the store and buy more lunch stuff.
Lesson learned: Put the cooler in my car beforehand or put a big note on the top to LEAVE IT WHERE IT IS! lol
wow! Wonderful tips! We’re in the middle of our 11th move in 15 years. The only thing I have to add is that buying endrolls from the local newspaper is money well spent. It’s excellent for packing and you don’t have to wash everything when you unpack. Also, I would definitely suggest stearing clear of UHaul. We had trouble with them every time we used them, both trucks and trailers. When we used one of their trucks, the first one broke down so badly (nearly stranding us on a Montana highway) they had to switch our stuff from one to another. Then THAT one broke down 3 times. The trip took 2 extra days and the only thing they’d reemburse were the extra days on the truck. They refused to cover hotel or extra meals.
My new love when it comes to moving is the boxes that hold reams of paper. I get them from Staples when our office orders paper, and my friend gets them from Office Depot. Either way, these are amazing, and perfect for holding books and packing bathroom, toys, and pretty much anything. They stack very nicely! I used almost 30 of them during my last move (which was two, really, had to move from old roommates’ to storage, then from storage a week later into new apt).
8 years ago we moved from San Diego to Arkansas when I was 7 months pregnant. We saved by buying a car hauler rather than renting a truck. They were so expensive to rent, we could buy a used car hauler for the same price. Since we only really needed it for about a month, the value would be about the same when we reached our destination and could sell it for what we paid for it. This worked for us as we had a large truck we would be driving anyway. Obviously won’t work if you are trying to trailer it to a prius or a minivan, but if you have a truck, this was a great savings. There was only one surprise, to sell it in arkansas, we had to re-register it here, upon which we had to pay sales tax for it even though we bought it in california as you have to pay sales tax on used items in arkansas. So it did cost us about $500 but this was way less than the $2500 quotes we were getting on a rental. But if you research ahead of time, you can sometimes avoid these fees, or at least be prepared for them.
If you hiring a moving company to do the loading, driving, and unloading, pay them to pack the expensive breakables. The usual arrangement is if they pack it, they insure it against damage (check the contract to be sure, of course). If you pack it it’s insured the federal minimum, which isn’t much.
If hiring a moving company, the more obsessive you are about record-keeping, the better off you’ll be. Ideally you’ll know what’s in each box – a numbered list is the usual answer, photographs are good, too – and have proof of its value. For example: some movers lost a box with a Chinese statue in it. The company didn’t believe that that little thing could be worth what I said it was. So I found the receipt and proved it. End of argument.
Our last move kind of stuck up on me and I wasn’t able to prepare inexpensive meals for our friends ahead of time. By the time I realized this, nearly all of our dishes and cooking tools were already packed up. Thankfully, I was able to swing by Sam’s Club and pick up a large family-style frozen lasagna. We already had paper plates and plastic silverware and foam cups (we’d already been using them for two weeks…), so I was set to go with easy cleanup! Just throw the pan away.
While I don’t normally like to buy this type of convience food, I was so grateful to be able to have a delicious, one piece meal that required ZERO of my own pots/pans/utensils. And I was able to feed 5 very big eaters (all male) for under $15!
Our most recent move was pretty local, but when we moved, we saved a ton by having a friend help us out. We used his truck and a trailer to move all of our bigger stuff. His dad had a dolly and other stuff we could use, and the rest we packed into our cars. I worked at a grocery store so I got all our boxes from there, also. But even if you dont work there, you can always call, and usually they will be nice enough to set some to the side for you. 🙂
great post! also, if you happened to live near a cardboard (aka corrugated fiberboard) place, they may sell their ‘seconds’ (boxes that were misprinted or made it through the line when the ink ran out) – we were able to get 200 boxes for $10.
also, rather than printed news papers for breakables when you run out of towels and washcloths, ask your local paper if they sell their “end rolls” which are the very last bit of news paper paper on the roll after they print the paper. LOVED having that rather than having ink stained hands for a week – plus it’s just as recyclable as regular news paper 🙂
My husband went to extremes when we moved across the country. He bought us a 1970’s panel truck similar to the ones you get from Uhaul and then when we got to our destination he sold it for the same price he bought it for.
Check all your moving options! Do-it-yourself moves may save you a lot upfront, but by the time you purchase gas, feed the friends who help you carry the piano up 3 flights of stairs, etc… you may not really be ahead. Having moved MANY times, there were times that renting a truck and moving ourselves saved thousands, and there were times that hiring movers to pack, haul and unload only cost $50 more than the rental truck alone!
Also, I agree with the other reader who suggested leaving behind those appliances and such that you don’t “love”. Can you sell your washer on craig’s list and buy a new one when you get to your destination? If you don’t love it, don’t move it! Chances are you can find another sofa/end table/area rug at your destination and you will probably like it better!
Oops, forgot to mention this. I have tons of toilet paper, so I used individual roles to keep some distance between fragile things. SOme of the rolls ended up oblong instead of round, but could still be used.
I swear I will just burn my house down so I can start over, rather than move all our stuff again. 8 moves in 10 years!
I’ve got a question for y’all. I’ve spent good money stocking up my upright freezer with quality meat from a local butcher. I hate to have to try and scarf it all down before the move (makes for many expensive meals in a short period of time) or give it all away. What do you think if we filled the freezer as full as possible, adding extra ice even, and then locking the door to keep it shut, and putting that on the truck last and off first. They always say food’s good for several days if the power goes out and that they’re more efficient if they’re full, so combining those tidbits, I’d say we’d have a pretty good shot at moving the frozen food as-is. Thoughts??
I assume you’re moving yourself? A moving company won’t move perishable food.
Personally, I wouldn’t risk it unless you’re absolutely sure the move won’t take more than three days (which includes planning for a breakdown). I wouldn’t want to deal with spoiled meat on top of moving!
We’ve had some long power outages and from experience, stuff starts to get soft in 48 hours. If the meat doesn’t still contain ice crystals, it can’t be refrozen unless cooked. Also, I wouldn’t try to transport any fruit, bread or vegetables, only meat, as those things thaw much quicker.
Another idea would be to try to re-sell it to friends.
I know people who have done this before, while moving about 3 states away, and it worked well. As long as you won’t be on the road for a long time I think you would be fine 🙂
When I moved 4 hrs away I packed a cooler with all of my meat. It was just fine. Instead of buying too much ice I froze plastic water bottles and used that as well to keep everything cold. I like this better than ice. I don’t normally keep bottled water in my apt. Although for that move I bought some froze a few for my cooler and for drinking along the way 🙂 You should be fine. The cooler you have for meat only put meat in there. Don’t have that as the cooler that will be used for drinks anything else so it isn’t opened a lot. Good luck!
For the question on the freezer- I’d try to get ahold of some dry ice.
We did this once. Be SURE the freezer goes into the truck first because of the weight and you’ll need a long extension cord to keep it plugged until you’re ready to go. Ask me how I know it needs to go in FIRST and not LAST! 😉
Actually, it was way too much trouble and we’ve never done that again. I just pack everything into coolers or send it home with my mom and get it from her later.
We’ve moved 2 times in the last two years with another coming up in July. We just unplug the freezer when it’s time to load it and keep it shut. It sits at the new place for a few hours to let the refrigerant settle before plugging in.
We’ve had no issues and no melting/having to throw anything away.
We moved six times in eight years, including cross country and back. We were fortunate to be able to store boxes and some packing material each of those times. We always save the original packaging that electronics come in, that way, they can be safely put back in the box with the molded styrofoam.
I also agree with the other suggestions to use mover’s saran wrap. That stuff is awesome.
Forgot to add, in our experience, many utility companies require security deposits for new customers and have new account fees. Don’t forget to budget for that when planning your move.
I agree with the whole keeping electronic box thing. I did that with my tv and it has protected it nicely.
We’ve kept all of our gaming console boxes (Xbox, Wii, etc) and we move with so much more ease of mind knowing that these expensive toys will still be working when we get where we’re going.
My biggest tip, if you have things that you cannot move, is to get a loading and unloading service. For a couple hundred bucks they will spend x amount of hours loading and unloading the truck, you drive it. They are experts at loading as well. If we had not had them, we would have had to make more than one trip, 45 minutes each way, so that helped with gas.
I second this! We spent less than $100 for someone else to move all of our big items (including disconnecting appliances and taking apart beds, etc.) and saved many hours and arguments between the two of us. For us, the extra spent was good for our marriage and helped since we have no family here to help with loading and unloading.
I often use plastic grocery bags for packing material…. great way to use up those pesky things….plus it’s lightweight, and seems to protect well…I’ve not had anything break so far…….
My family moved 7 times in seven years… or something like that. It was so much that I have lost count.
I agree with everyone who mentioned
-getting rid of stuff
-using that mover’s saran wrap
-using towels & blankets as padding
what also worked for me was
-using re-usable grocery bags as totes for books & files
-wearing an apron with pockets. Tie a permanent marker and scissors to it from separate strings. Use the pockets to hold a tape dispenser. This is an idea I got from an organization tip book.
-wearing wrist braces. I don’t normally have carpal tunnel problems but little sleep+stress+heavy stuff has caused problems I don’t need in a move.
What did not work for me was:
-moving appliances and things that I really didn’t love.
-Numbering each box and then writing what was in each numbered box down in a little notepad so that someone looking to steal expensive items wouldn’t know what was in each box. This was a horrible, no good, very bad idea for several reasons.
-Moving in general 🙂
Some of the best marriage advice I ever received was from another military wife. She said “Disregard any argument three months before and three months after a big move”… and I have found that this advice can be applied to many of life’s stressful situations!
Give yourself and your marriage grace. Paying for movers or a meal out while you are moving is cheaper than a divorce 🙂
Moving can be so stressful on a marriage! My husband and I are currently double renting (only for a month, thank goodness!) and having the HARDEST time getting on the same page with each other! He wants to make this place feel like home while I’m still preoccupied with getting everything out of our old place. He’s been working at the new place and I’ve been clearing out the old place and we both feel like we’re working alone! We have to keep reminding ourselves that our perceptions are not reality and that this will all be OVER in a matter of just 12 more days!
What we did was write on each box what room it went to and wrote a running tally of total box numbers. So one might say “kitchen- dishes #4/44” which meant that particular box went to the kitchen and we had a total of 44 boxes in the truck. It was very easy to see if a box went missing. I found that keeping an individual box contents list was too much for the time we had so we didn’t bother. We also did a “first night bag” of what we would need until we were up and running the next day. It was the smoothest move I have ever done.
Be sure that the last box on the truck, thus the first off, contains paper towels, soap, cans of juice and a can opener, packaged snacks, paper plates, cups, and plastic flatware, and *toilet Paper*, so you have at least minimal materials to work with. Have another box clearly marked “cleaning supplies” ready to come off the back of the truck as well.
brilliant! TP- I didn’t think of that.
Last time I moved we packed a large suitcase full of “essentials” that would be needed for the first night (we got in late)— sheets, pillows, TP, pajamas, toiletries, and an outfit for the next day. That way we could go to bed as soon as we got everything unloaded and start unpacking boxes early the next morning. It worked really well!
The first three years of our marriage, we moved thirteen times and had two babies during that period. I felt like a pro at moving, but was very thankful to finally get settled. (Husband was in heavy construction, and had to make frequent moves for job related reasons.)
Declutter and sell everything you can bear to part with or are not absolutely sure you will need. Smaller truck equals more savings, sale equals more cash. Also, don’t forget to ask an accountant whether any of your move is tax-deductible!
For our I town move…I planned everything out and wrote it out on a calendar.
The day before the move when most stuff was packed and ready to go, I took a giant soup pot and utensils, along with fixings for chili and chips to the new house. I also took a rubbermaid tote filled with disposable, napkins, cups and utensils to the new house and set in the kitchen. I mixed the chili and put it in the refrigerator for moving day.
In the morning I loaded the car and drove to the new house to put the chili on to simmer. By the time our friends were done moving everything over, the chili was nice and hot. The best part was that the new house smelled like home and we had some leftovers to eat as we unpacked. 🙂
My mother-in-law recently moved and she needed to store her items for about 3-4 weeks because she needed to be out of her old apartment but couldn’t get into the new one until a few weeks later. So she was going to rent a storage unit for a month. I remembered the place she was renting the truck from had storage units also. She was able to get one month free of storage because she rented the truck at the same place. So she got a place to store her things for free, since she had everything moved out before the month was up.
We are moving next month and every time I go to the grocery store, I request their egg boxes they have saved. They’re a good size, are all uniform, and have handles.
When we’ve moved we use newspaper end roll paper to wrap anything breakable. Our newspaper sells them for about $3 a roll and there is a lot of paper on them. There is also some packing wrap that looks like colored Saran Wrap that we used for things like securing the dresser drawers, securing the refrigerator doors, keeping bookshelf shelves all together in one set. We bought it at the local U HAUL and spent about $7 for it. It was so very nice to have.
Paper towels between dishes keep the dishes padded and clean, and the paper towels are reusable. If you’re having people come and help you move, make sure you’re actually ready – everything packed and labeled! It’s terribly annoying to pack AND load all at the same time (for you and the people helping). It doesn’t save money, but it saves sanity and probably friendships. 🙂 I don’t think you can do this anymore, but when we moved from MT to MN, I returned a few bags of groceries. I was given gift cards for the two grocery stores which we used along the drive to purchase our meals. I’m definitely all about having a garage sale before a move, too. It’s less stuff to move and more money in your pocket!
We’ve moved a lot and one thing that we did when packing dishes was to use paper plates in between each dish. We didn’t need to buy some fancy plate holder and we could use the paper plates to eat on afterwards.
The liquor store is great a place to get boxes. I put news paper on the bottom of the wine box, left the divider in and wrapped each cup one at at time. These are perfect for glasses and cups. They are divided out. I still wrapped each one for security. I was also able to put wall decorations in the divided boxes as well. So handy! Also , use the sticker dots for each room. The dots you use for a rummage sale. Use pink in the kitchen and so in. It seems like a chore now. However, it will save time in the long run when you can say pink boxes in the kitchen, or yellow go with the bathroom! I have moved from Northern IN. to Southern IN. to Indy and this summer to Chicago! So all of these tips are helpful!
We love liquor store boxes for moving. They are the perfect size to keep you from over packing boxes as well, especially heavier items like books. My kids (6 and 7 at the time) were also able to carry in their own (lighter weight) boxes because the boxes were the perfect size for them to carry.
Liquor boxes are wonderful! We moved nearly our entire house with those- take out the divider and they are great for books.
for a cheap long-distance move, use a freight liner – it’s called a “ltl” truck – which means less than a load – and you pay based on the linear feet of trailer that you fill (i have filled an entire trailer a couple of times) the freight liner drops a trailer in front of your house, you generally have 72 hours to load and then they seal your things behind a huge plywood board and drive it for you to your destination – they add other loads to the back of the trailer and usually want 48-72 hours to deliver your stuff – watch youtube for how to pack a trailer – i have done it several times and never had anything go missing and have had very few items damaged – also, go nuts and buy newsprint – there is no money to be saved on reusing newspapers when you consider the water and cleanser you will use to get the ink off of everything as you unpack – hth!
Penske trucks gave us a great discount on a one-way truck rental because we were AAA members. (We joined AAA for the discount, which was about $50, but it was well worth it for more than $200 off the price of the truck. As a bonus, we now have AAA for roadside assistance and discounts at motels / restaurants while we move & throughout the coming year.)
In our current town, we almost never think of Denny’s as an option when going out to eat. But recently we were traveling and stopped at Denny’s. It was Tues after 4pm & kids’ meals were free. I ate a $2 salad, a $2 quesadilla, and had a cup of coffee. Kids had kids’ meals and drinks. Our bill was $7.63. You can bet we’ll be stopping at Denny’s if it’s an option during our cross-country move. (Specials/promos might not be at all Denny’s but their food is very reasonably priced, anyway.)
When we moved from Ohio to Kansas, we opted to purchase a small enclosed trailer used, which my husband pulled behind our truck while I made the trip with our little ones solo. We were able to take our time packing, since we were not paying any per-day rental, and we did not have to pay to store or wait for movers to arrive days later. We posted the trailer on Craigslist for what we had in it as soon as we got here, and we had a buyer before unpacking! It only spent one night in our driveway! What a blessing to spend only the cost of gas on moving and storage! (I would not recommend this to anyone who is averse to DIY repair, as you are on your own if you get stuck!:))
Be sure to save receipts for anything related to the move; even hotel rooms. When we relocated to another state 5 years ago, many of our moving expenses were tax deductible because my husband’s new job was over 100 miles from his former one. I don’t know the tax laws now, but it’s worth looking into!
I forgot about all the expenses being tax deductible. I think when we did our taxes this year, it had to be at last a certain number of miles before it counted. (i.e. If it was a local move it wouldn’t count.). I can’t remember for sure, but I think that was the case.
I recently moved from Colorado to Tennessee, and I used a company called U-Pack and had THE BEST experience. I called every moving company I could think of for quotes, and they were less than half the cost of the second cheapest – and then, they drive it across the country for you instead of having to pay for all that gas and deal with the hassle of driving a big truck. I highly recommend checking into their system if you are interested in moving!
Also, as far as boxes are concerned, if you are a regular at a restaurant or grocery store, many places will save the boxes for you if you come pick them up that evening. We use to do this for people when I worked at McD’s in high school.
Here are a few things I can think of to help lower moving costs:
1.) If moving in state, check with real estate agents – many of them have free moving vans you can check out just need insurance and pay the gas. Because they are free be prepared to book one at least 2 weeks in advance to get more than a 24 hour use. If moving out of state and you have someone on the other end, start sending must have’s in flat rate shipping boxes as there is no weight limit and you can do it a bit at a time instead of all at once. You can do what my bil did …he drove down from Ak to Utah and before he left, he arranged for his stuff he couldn’t part with to be shipped down (1.25 per pound) to a storage facility where one of his friends directed the trucker which unit to put it in and paid for a month of storage so he would have plenty of time to get there and find a place to move it all into.
2.)Make convenience meals to freeze, defrost and/or keep on ice a couple of days to a week before the move depending how long its going to take: pulled pork/chicken/beef, oven baked fried chicken, pizza pockets, ham an cheese roll ups, burritos etc. Many of these are great cold as well as hot.
3.) If moving a long distance, you can stay a night or two at a campground – many places have KOA’s or what I call a fancy campground as they have washer/dryers, stoves/ovens, games to play etc. – Many high schools have swimming pools and they can charge you half of what it costs per person or a flat rate if there are more than 3 people for an open swim to use their showers.
We moved about 8 months ago from Northern Indiana to Southern Indiana. It felt like everywhere we looked, someone wanted more money for something. Even setting up new utility accounts….some of them had a fee just to be setup. Grrrrr! It can really be expensive to move.
When it comes to a moving truck, we found the best deal we could find online, and then ordered through Ebates to get a further discount. That was helpful.
For packing, we used apple boxes from Meijer. We are able to pick up quite a few every day until we had enough. They had a lid and handles and were the perfect size for packing.
We also got rid of as much stuff as we could either by selling or donating so we didn’t have to move nearly as much.
One side note….be sure that if you have empty boxes laying around on moving day, your friends helping you pack don’t load those into the truck. When we unloaded our truck, we discovered about 9 empty boxes that had taken up space….oops! LOL!
We moved from Missouri to Montana last year and from California to Missouri in 2004. Both times we used ABF U Pack. When you figure the gas, etc. it was about the same as driving it yourself and no hassle of the truck breaking down…not that it ever happens! 😉 They deliver a trailer to your house and you load it, then they drive it. You only pay for the space that you use, so you pack it tightly. It is cheaper on weekdays and they give discounts pretty easy. Having done several moves where we drive the truck and have had numerous problems, I highly recommend ABF.
I buy tape at Costco/Sam’s, never pay for boxes and we always pack ourselves and really don’t have any more damage than my friends/family that hire packers.
The biggest thing to do is to plan, plan any hotel stays and search for discounts, plan where to buy gas, mapquest actually lists prices and stations, plan your move early because that is cheaper, etc. etc. Moving and getting set up in a new place is expensive, so saving those pennies is important. We were in Nebraska once and there was a 20 cent difference in gas prices between 2 exits. A little savings on gas doesn’t seem like much, but it all adds up.
Many times on Craigslist there are plenty of offers for free boxes. I don’t think those would be worth buying when there are so many free offers for them.
Like someone mentioned above, have a garage sale or two before you start packing your items! You’ll have some extra money in your pocket, and less items you have to pack! I made a move in 2010 from Florida to Texas using a self-pack company called U-Pack. They were GREAT! They offered a military discount, and they also have discounts for off season moves. You don’t have to pay anything upfront until you’re ready to pick up your items. I’ll be using them again next month to move back to Florida.
We used U-Pack twice, both their cubes and their trailer system. It ended up being the same price as any truck rental we could find after you included the cost of gas. We only had to drive our own car cross-country and this was so much easier than driving separately and with a large moving truck!
We LOVE U-Pack (ABF). Hubby is an airline captain so we have made cross country moves a few times in his career. They saved us so much money compared to renting our own truck, plus you don’t have to worry about the issues with driving your own truck (liability if you run someone off the road because you are not used to driving such a large vehicle, tolls, overweight fees on some roads, etc). They were awesome.
The first time we moved we loaded it ourselves. The second time we found out that it is worth it to hire an experienced packer who is familiar with U-Pack. You are charged per the linear foot for the truck. We have more stuff and they packed it better so we ended up paying less the second time around. We actually saved more that the packers cost us, plus we saved our backs!!!
U-Pack is very accommodating: They worked with us on dates and you can track your truck as it moves across the country so there are no surprises on where it is.
The only caveat is that you can only use them if you are moving across state lines, no in-state moving for them.
We did ABF UPACK on our last move and are likely to use them again. How did you find the help for loading? That sounds awesome!
– Checkout freecycle.org for free moving boxes. People are always offering them when they have finished from a move.
– If you are lucky enough to receive a moving allowance from your company for meals (out-of-state move), negotiate with them to allow you to use the money at regular grocery stores rather than eating out at restaurants… that made our food money last over a month versus the standard expectation of eating out at restaurants
– Label boxes well and in detail. Try to keep important paperwork with you; we’ve had to dig through storage once for paperwork we needed to buy a house… not fun!
Ask everyone you know to save any boxes and packing materials they may receive. I put one request out on facebook and within 2 weeks I had plenty of bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and boxes of every size. People hate to throw that stuff out and are glad to give it to someone for reuse.
I like to use my towels to pack my dishes when we move. That way, the dishes don’t break, and I don’t have to wash them when we unpack them because the towels are clean.
And if it’s an in-town move, you can just put your dishes in a laundry basket with a few towels around them. Easy to pack and easy to unpack.
Just be very cautious about going with the lowest bid if you’re hiring a mover. There are horror stories all over the web about unscrupulous companies basically holding a family’s possessions hostage.
Our local news just had a story about a military family who have already paid a company over 3K more than they thought initially, and they still haven’t seen their stuff!
I’d pay more for one with recommendations and a good reputation, for sure.
Yes, be very careful hiring movers. Cheaper is NOT better or cheaper.
I agree. Check the reviews of companies!! There are horror stories on tv sometimes about companies that take off with their stuff or hold their stuff hostage until they are paid more money, etc!
The military pays to move their people. I moved with the military many times, and always had a satisfactory experience (although, once the movers arrived a day EARLY!).
I’m really glad to hear that!
I think this fellow might have been leaving the service? I just remember it was an Awful story. I’m so glad to hear your moves have gone well.
Oooohh, I actually know something about this one! We moved from Texas to California, from California to Texas, and Texas to Indiana in the last 7 years (all while pretty darn poor), so we have lots of experience 🙂
1) HAGGLE on moving trucks. We have had the best luck getting a deal with Penske. For our move from California to Texas, my husband was able to talk them down from $2200 to $1600. He held firm to $1200 for awhile, and they slowly lowered it until they met in the middle. When he said $1600(including all taxes and fees), my husband asked if they could throw in some extra moving blankets and hand trucks for that price. They agreed!
(Then, the truck ended up being late, so he had them take an extra $200 off the price. He is great at haggling!)
2) Move during the week. The reason our truck was so expensive from CA to TX was due to our need to move over the weekend. Our parents were flying in to drive the long trek with us, so we needed to accommodate their schedules. But for our next move, we went during the week, and it was much cheaper.
3) If you can get your hands on some banana boxes, these are awesome for moving. We actually kept ours in our storage shed during our 3-year stint in California (my husband was in seminary, and we knew we would not be there long term), because they were so great for moving!
4) Think about gas costs when you are packing… Is it worth it to move the desk that you likely won’t keep long-term anyways? Heavy items require more gas!
When we moved across the country, we found it was far more affordable to deal with local truck rental than reserving online. We were able to haggle back and forth between a local U-Haul and Penske until we got the price down to almost half of what is was online.
Great timing. I’m moving next weekend for the third time in two years. I defiantly second purging before or as you are packing. No sense in moving things you don’t want or need or are trash. I also recommend labeling boxes well with what’s inside so when you get there and are looking for something in particular you can find it. Lastly, unless your required, don’t unpack drawers. This seems like a no brained to me but friends have wasted space and resources packing stuff that was in drawers that didn’t need to be unpacked.
Oh, and think about the claimant your stuff will be stored/ travel in. Things like candles and soaps can melt and make a mess.
Get rid of stuff!! It costs less if you have less stuff!!
Fast food places are another great place to check for boxes. Usually if you just ask them to save boxes for a couples days they are more then willing to help. Just don’t forget to pick them up!
We’re also moving oout of state. We bought an older camper to save on hotel costs (with 6 of us, plus pets, that would have been way too much!), I planned some meals, and I’ll have snacks for the kids. With a camper we won’t have to stop every 100 miles or so for those potty breaks! lol Use your own blankets to protect furniture. I’m decluttering in a big way, and hope to have 90% of it done by moving day! We’re renting a truck and towing our SUV. We’re also looking for a smaller enclosed trailer for some of our bigger things – kids ride ons, bikes, etc. It’ll be something we use again, so well worth the cost. We’re basically on our own this move, so looking into pizza places or something we can grab and eat once we get to our new city. Trying to plan our trip with stops for meals and over nights has been the biggest battle for me so far – and I’m the one job hunting for dh, house hunting, etc. Basically, it’s all falling on me. Luckily I have a friend down there who can help when I need relief!
I don’t mean this in any kind of a nasty way, but why is it all falling on you? Your dh should be job hunting, at least. When we were looking for our house, I was the one that did the initial house hunting (narrowed down those in our price range/good size for our large family), but then we went and looked at them and decided together. Maybe you could suggest in a kind way that he help out.
I say this because my husband is not one to jump in and help—he will let it all fall on me if I let him—but if I need him to help with something and tell him what it is, usually he will.