Most people feel that moving is an inherently stressful experience. There’s a lot of reasons why people feel stressed during a move, but financial considerations are usually at the top of the list. People generally need to take time off work in order to take care of a move, but at the same time, they usually see new expenses pile up. This doesn’t need to be an inherent part of the moving experience. In fact, by keeping a few points in mind you can fully estimate your moving costs so that you won’t end up with any unwelcome surprises.
Full Service Means More Money but a Lot Less Stress
The first point you should consider is whether or not full service moving is within your budget. This is usually the most expensive way to handle a move. The movers will essentially handle everything for you—including professional packing services. As you might expect, the costs go up to match the level of work involved. Still, it’s an easy way to reduce stress and unexpected costs if you can handle the price point. Sometimes a larger fee up front is worth the relief of knowing exactly what’s involved. Otherwise, you’ll want to keep a few points in mind when budgeting for the move.
Make Sure You Know if It’s Going To Be a Local Move
There’s usually a big difference in cost if you’re making a local move. People often assume that this only applies to moves within the same block, but movers are usually quite lenient in how they classify a location as local. Generally, if you’re moving less than 50 miles it’s considered a local move, and that should save a considerable amount of money.
Carefully Go Over Everything You’re Bringing to Your New Home
You should also put together a full moving inventory. When you’re putting the inventory together, you should make sure to estimate more than just the size and weight of an object. You should also ensure that you’ve factored in the complexity involved with handling certain objects. For example, fragile china would require more attention from movers than a box of paperback books.
It’s generally a good idea to note everything that requires extra work. This includes the aforementioned fragile items, but you should also note extremely heavy objects like pool tables or multimedia cabinets.
You should also make note of any special issues involved with moving your possessions out of your old home and into the new one. People often forget how hard it was to get some pieces of furniture into their homes. If you had to struggle to get all of your furniture past your front door, then keep in mind that every item will carry additional delays during the move.
Tis the Season
You should also remember that different seasons come with different costs. Moving during the summer probably has a special appeal to you. After all, it provides a great chance to really explore your new home while the weather’s beautiful. However, almost everyone else feels that way as well. As such, moving costs tend to go up during the summer. Fall is generally the most cost-effective time to move. It’s a period when it’s not warm enough to tempt others into a move but at the same time, it’s not cold enough to raise concerns of snow or ice.
Putting Everything Together to Create a Stress-Free Move
If you keep all of these points in mind, you should have everything you need to make your move go as smoothly as possible. The final point to remember is that it’s best to take care of all of these steps as soon as possible. Once you’re done planning, you can rest assured that everything is in motion and you won’t have any unexpected expenses.
