If you’re planning on moving house for work, growing your family, or just for a fresh start, you expect to spend a lot of money. Often, you end up paying much more than you initially thought, and this can wreak havoc on your budget and finances.
However, what if you didn’t need to spend so much? What if everything you knew about moving house was just information propagated by realtors and moving companies? What if it was, gasp, possible to save money when moving house?
Work With Respectable Realtors
One of the best ways to save money when you’re moving house is to work with realtors that will provide you with affordable House or Flat Fee Listing practices.
The typical mover will often spend far too much on commission fees and similar charges, and this can rock your budget like few other things out there.
Working with respectable realtors will help to mitigate such issues, and it will also provide peace of mind that you’re not getting ripped off.
As moving house can be stressful enough, you want to do everything you can to feel comfortable with your realtor to ensure that everything is above board and in your best interests.
However, this will take some shopping around and comparison, so it’s worth doing as early as possible to ensure a seamless transition and help you get houses sold as quickly as possible.
Plan Ahead
No one should move house before planning far ahead of the actual moving date. Outlining a thorough and clear plan for your moving strategy should make everything move much more smoothly.
Rather than panicking about packing, about arrivals, or even about random and unforeseen expenses, your plan will cover everything for you. With it, you’re able to anticipate potential bumps in the road, both literally and figuratively, that may occur, and this will allow you to be more prepared for issues that you come across.
If you’re someone who loves to make plans, this is likely the best thing you’ve heard all day.
However, if you prefer to take each second as it comes, it might be hard to adapt. Still, if you’re looking to save money, then planning is crucial to keeping the costs down.
Get Rid of the Junk
If you’ve lived in your current home for a while, it’s likely bursting at the seams with clutter and junk, and even more so than you might think.
No matter who you are or what you do, you accumulate junk over the years, but if you want to save money when moving, it’s time to get rid of it.
Eliminating this clutter from your home and donating or recycling it will save money on gas costs as you won’t need to lug so much weight in the car to your new home. By selling unwanted items, you’ll also recoup some costs, which you can save to spend on the first takeout when you move in.
Decluttering can feel overwhelming at first, but by approaching it sensibly and moving through the house being ruthless, you’ll find it much more manageable.
Get Free Materials
While there are plenty of moving box companies around, these will inevitably cost money, and that’s the complete opposite of what you’re looking for. With this in mind, free packing materials are an ideal solution for keeping everything boxed up and protected without spending a penny.
These packing materials can be old boxes you’ve found in the back closet, and boxes from home deliveries are especially useful.
Furthermore, friends and relatives may be able to donate their boxes to you. It’s also worth visiting supermarkets and stores, who will be glad to hand over any disused storage boxes that will help them cut down on junk and garbage.
You can also get creative with protective materials like when you need to transport glasses or a mirror. Use pillows, bedsheets, or towels to provide a buffer that should prevent smashed or broken items once you arrive.
Ask For Help With Packing
Packing can be stressful no matter who you are.
Whenever you pack the final items away, there’s always something else that you unearth. It can feel like a never-ending adventure into your past, and it can cause a lot of unnecessary stress you don’t need.
You can invest in people to help you pack, yes, but this means spending money. Instead, consider asking friends or relatives to give you a hand packing things away, or even storing items in their houses for the time being.
Obviously, if you have vehicles that need moving, like a car or motorbike, you clearly won’t be able to pack them. However, having them relocated by a specialist firm similar to Cars Relo would probably be a wise option. Apart from that, asking friends and family to help with packing or storing items is probably the best option for moving certain items.
This is useful for something you don’t have space for in the car or rental van, and also items you don’t need at your new place immediately.
Of course, you’ll need to show your appreciation somehow, so buy them dinner, a crate of beer, or treat them to something they’ve been interested in for a while, just to say thanks.
Move Off-Peak
As with everything in life, there are peak times for moving and off-peak times. Off-peak times will save you money when looking to move house, so if it’s convenient for your needs, look into which times of the year will save you money.
Typically, summer is the most popular time for people to move.
The weather’s nice, the days are longer, and there’s optimism that comes with the shining sun. However, because it’s so popular, moving companies will raise their prices to compete with such demand.
With this in mind, it’s certainly worth holding off on your moving date for as long as you can, or even not putting any money down until the summer ends. Fewer people like to move during winter, and this could save you a lot of cash during the moving process.
Pennies Saved, Pennies Earned
It’s nearly impossible to move house without spending any money, and there’s a beer waiting for anyone who can prove they’ve done so.
However, just because it’s near-impossible doesn’t mean you can’t still try.
By being smart and savvy with your approach to moving house, you’ll be surprised how much you can save, which you can then put towards throwing a lavish party, or fixin’ up the new place to make it the home you’ve always dreamed of living in.
