It’s not just the actual house that can cost you a fortune, but the actual process of moving your belongings can start to add up over time as well.
It’s the little things that start to mount up and create hefty financial impact. Things you may forget about until they crop up at the worst possible time.
To help you plan and prepare for the big move, Storebox self-storage have offered a few tips and tricks, to help you save on excess costs.
Get rid of excess baggage
You will probably be shocked by the amount of items that have built up over the years. You may find you can fill box after box with ornaments and tiny trinkets. If that’s the case, go around room by room and decide what is essential and what can be given away. Be ruthless and donate anything you know you haven’t used or won’t use in the future.
Getting rid of the items that mean nothing and have no use to you any more, will decrease the amount of items you need to pack. This will save you both time and money.
Shop around
Don’t just go for the first removal or van service that pops up on Google, have a look around for the best deal. It may even require you to ring up and get quotes from a few different places.
You may even go back to your preferred company and see if they can do a price match, if their competitors have offered you a better deal.
Rope in friends and family
To save money all together on removal and van hire, grab your friends and family and see if they can give you a hand for free. As long as you offer them some food and a cup of tea, you might move all your belongings without spending a penny.
Recycle old boxes
Instead of heading to your local stationary shop to get packaging and boxes, recycle old packaging. The cost of boxes can start to mount, especially when you realise you need double the amount you originally thought.
A great way to find old boxes in varying sizes, is to ask your local supermarkets. Shops and stores will usually have cardboard boxes used to transport stock, and you’ll be doing them a favour by taking them off their hands.
Prepare easy to store meals
One of the biggest hidden costs of moving is food. On moving day, you’ll have to pack up your kitchen and the contents of your fridge and move them all to the new house. This means you may decide to take the easy way out and buy takeaways.
To save money on lunches and dinners, pre-plan and prepare a bunch of easy to eat meals the day before moving. It is the ease of takeaways that is the main draw, so prepare something that can easily be reheated or can be eaten cold.
If you know you’re going to struggle financially with the move, create a budget and write all your spends down, so you can see what costs there will be in advance. This will then help you to make cuts and identify the most costly areas.
No matter how far away you’re moving or how stressful it will be in the long run, there will always be ways to save a little bit of money here and there.
