Moving on a Budget

1. Sell Your Unwanted Items

It probably comes as no surprise that the easiest way of saving money on your move is to turn your unwanted stuff into cash —this one’s definitely a no-brainer.

Whether you’re moving locally or long-distance, the distance and volume of your haul will always be a determinant factors of your moving costs. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done about distance, but you can definitely get rid of a few items before carrying out the big move. Remember, the more you want to bring on board, the more expensive your move will be!

Sirelo Tip!: Unsure where to sell your unwanted items? We recommend carrying out a garage sell, or giving online marketplaces a try. 😉

2. Donate What You Can’t Sell

Unless you’re extremely lucky, it’s likely that there might be one or two items which you cannot seem to sell. In this case, donating these items will probably be the best option —with this you won’t only be making your haul lighter, but also helping someone out in the future.

Plus, did you know that if you keep the itemized receipt of your donation, you can write this off on your income taxes? What a way to save on moving!

Sirelo Tip!: Did you know you can donate your non-perishable goods? Move for Hunger and similar NGOs are always accepting these types of donations.

3. Request Multiple Quotes & Compare Smartly

Moving on a budget 101: make sure that you don’t accept the first moving offer you receive, shop around a bit and request quotes from multiple movers.

Be very mindful and critical when assessing each of these movers, you want to make sure you avoid any possible moving scams —sometimes too good to be true is, unfortunately, more than a saying!

4. Find Free Packing Supplies

Packing supplies such as boxes and furniture padding are often quite inexpensive –but when you’re moving more than a few things, the amount of these you will need will add up very quickly, racking up your bill to concerning amounts!

So, another great trick to get creative with your packaging. How, you may ask? Your own blankets, towels, and even socks can serve as replacements for furniture padding –just make sure they’re thick enough to protect your belongings!

As well, don’t be shy to ask for those unused cardboard boxes at your local supermarkets, bookstores, office supply stores, or any other store you can think of. More often than not, these stores recycle cardboard boxes they no longer need –so it’s very likely you’ll end up going home with a huge pile of them.

Sirelo Tip!: Make sure these free boxes are on a good condition and that they’re sturdy enough to carry your items, you don’t want to end up with damaged items!

5. Get On to that DIY Packing

In order to save some money there’s unfortunately a few things that you will have to do yourself, packing being one of them —hey, nobody said that moving on a budget would be an effortless task!

To organize yourself better, at Sirelo we suggest that you put together a packing schedule in which you assign each room of your house a specific number of days –starting off with the smallest and less used rooms of your house might be smart. This will not only make sure that you stay on track with your move, but that you also don’t overwork yourself!

Sirelo Tip!: Don’t forget to label boxes as you go and to make an inventory of the boxes belonging to each room –this will help you check if your belonging arrived safe and sound to their destination.

6. Get Your Strongest Friends on Board

At Sirelo we always advice that you carry out your move with a professional moving company, as even though it will cost you more than a DIY, it will help you guarantee your move goes as smooth as possible.

And, even if you’re moving on a budget, you can still hire the pros! You just need to make sure that you carry out certain tasks yourself, like packing as we mentioned, and even loading up the truck.

Because loading up a truck is certainly not a one-man task, we recommend to gather a few of your strongest (and most reliable!) friends and asking them to help you with load and unload of your belongings. Don’t forget to give them some thank you gifts for their help! 😉

7. Avoid Moving During Peak Season

One of the most important things when planning a move on a budget is to make sure you schedule your move off-season. There’s three main things you should keep in mind:

• Summer is the most expensive time of the year to move;
• Weekends are the most expensive days of the week to move;
• The last days of the month are typically more expensive to move during relative to the beginning or middle days.

8. Transfer Your Utilities On Time

One of the biggest mistakes people make when moving is not transferring their utilities, or cancelling them for that matter, on time.

We doubt that you want to pay an extra month of utilities in a place you no longer will be living in, so try your best to make sure your moving date and utilities transfer align as much as possible!

Moving Cross-Country: Some Extra Tips

Are your planning a cross-country move? If yes, then we have some extra tricks up our sleeves on the cheapest way to move cross-country:

• If your move is work-related, you can ask your company to pay for the move –or at least contribute to some of the moving costs;
• There might be a few items you can ship by post to your new address instead of including them on your moving haul –things like books and clothing can be easily shipped for a low price!

Figuring out how to move cheaply is definitely no easy task, but we hope that after this short read you feel like you can definitely master moving on a budget! In case you might be interested in extra resources, we recommend checking out the articles linked below. 🙂