How to Move on a Budget

Moving is a lot of work and can be REALLY expensive but it can be done if you are on a budget. We’re getting ready for our 3^rd move in 2 years and we haven’t had the luxury of having a relocation package provided by an employer. Since we’re paying for everything ourselves, we prefer to pay as little as possible so we’ve tried to cut costs whenever we can.

There’s a lot of unavoidable added expenses involved with moving, like putting down a deposit or down payment on a new place to live and restocking your pantry with basics, but you can cut costs on many things along the way.

Do the Work Yourself

The largest expense of moving is if you hire a moving company. If you are moving for a job you may be able to talk the new company into covering the cost of your move (or at least offering a stipend that would cover a portion of it). If you are moving on your own, renting a truck and driving it yourself is far cheaper than hiring someone else to move you. If you need help with some of the heavy lifting, you can always hire someone to help you load the truck.

We’ve moved several times in the last few years and U-Haul has been consistently more affordable than other companies. U-Haul is currently a sponsor of Busy Mommy Media and has generously provided us with a truck for our move this time but when we moved on our own we chose U-Haul as well and they saved us a ton of money.

Have a packing party and invite some friends and family members to come over and help you pack. Convincing friends to help you load the truck is the tricky part. It’s always a good idea to help out a friend but if you know you’ll be moving in the near future you may want to offer some extra help to your friends and neighbors so they are more inclined to help you when you need it.

When all else fails, bribery always works. Order some pizzas or clear out your pantry by cooking some of the excess food so it doesn’t go to waste before you move and you’ll be much more likely to encourage friends to help you.

Move During the Week

Many companies, including U-Haul, offer lower truck rental rates during the week when demand is low and you’ll have easier access to banks, utilities, and businesses than you will on the weekend when many close. It may be a bit trickier to find help loading the truck since many people will be working but the savings is often worth it.

Declutter Before you Move

Even if you declutter your home on a regular basis, you really want to aggressively sort through things when you’re getting ready for a move. Keep in mind that anything you take with you is going to cost you money. The more things you have, the larger truck you have to rent, the more boxes and packing material you need, and the larger storage unit you need if you are planning on using one. You may find that it’s much easier for you to let go of things that you’ve been on the fence about once you realize how much money it’s going to cost you to keep it.

If you are not sentimentally attached to an item, evaluate whether you still need it or if you can replace it at the other end of the move for the same cost or cheaper than it would cost you to move it.

As you are packing up your house, keep 2 extra boxes – 1 for items to be donated and 1 for stuff that just needs to be thrown away. This is a great opportunity to teach kids to declutter and get them involved in the packing process.

Packing Material

Save your newspapers to use for packing dishes and breakable items. Rather than buying bubble wrap or extra moving blankets, use your pillows, blankets and towels, to protect pictures, and breakable items. Save the moving blankets for larger items like furniture and pictures.

You can often find some great packing material in the boxes that come when you order something online. Let your friends know that you are collecting packing material and ask them to save any bubble wrap, packing peanuts, or extra newspaper rather than throwing it out.

Boxes

You can find boxes for free or at very discounted prices on Craigslist or Ebay. Some areas also have great freecycle groups that can help you stock up on all the boxes you need. During our first move we met a wonderful family through Freecycle that provided us with all the boxes we needed for our move.

Try and find boxes that mostly similar sizes and shapes because they will take up less space in the truck and can save you money by helping you fit into a smaller rental.

U-Haul has a box exchange that you can find free or cheap boxes after people are done using them. Even if you have to pay a little bit for U-Haul boxes, I’d highly recommend them. It is so much easier stacking boxes that are designed to fit together and you can always save them to reuse for another move.

Take Advantages of Tax Deductions

Depending on the reason for your move, you may be able to deduct your expenses on your taxes. Save all your receipts and give them to the person who prepares your taxes (or do some research on your own if you do your own taxes) to determine whether or not you can deduct the cost of your move.

What tips do you have for saving money on a move?

Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by U-Haul. Follow U-Haul on Twitter for more advice on moving on a budget.