5 Tips for Moving Home on a Budget

Moving into a new home can be an expensive undertaking. Even if you are able to land an incredible deal on the property itself, you still need to get all your stuff there. Below are 5 tips for anyone preparing to move home who needs to keep their costs as low as possible.

Create a Moving Budget

Whenever you are trying to keep your costs low, whatever it is that you are doing, actually setting yourself a proper budget is a great first step. There are some costs involved in moving house that are inevitable, but you might be surprised by just how many of them you can reduce if you try. Setting yourself a budget is a powerful psychological tool, and the simple act of actually writing your budget down makes you much more likely to stick to it.

Without an actual budget written down on paper, you can still try to keep your costs down, but it will be all too easy to tell yourself, "well, it isn't that much money, so it won't make a difference" when you are faced with relatively small costs. Of course, these small costs will ultimately add up.

Working out your budget should also help you to ascertain exactly how much money you have available for your move. If you're lucky, you might discover that you actually have more of a budget available than you initially thought. Using cleaning services las vegas companies can be helpful with your moving and speed up the whole process by ensuring both properties are spotless!

Look for an Affordable Removal Company

You might think that moving all your stuff on your own is a simple and obvious way of reducing the cost of your move. However, for most families, this isn't actually going to be of much help. If you have very few possessions or are going to be traveling light, then it might be worth considering whether you can move everything on your own.

Moving your own furniture also becomes much trickier if you are going to be moving over a long distance. Driving across the country with all your furniture will cost a lot more in gas than driving an unloaded vehicle would.

Hiring a removal company will often be the most economical way of getting all of your possessions from your old place to your new home. If you are willing to take the time to shop around a bit, you should be able to find plenty of affordable removal businesses out there to choose from.

Schedule Your Move for the Off-Peak Season

The off-peak season for removal businesses occurs between the months of September and May. During this time, removal businesses tend to be quieter than normal and so are willing to offer their services for a lower price. This is not a hard and fast rule, and you should still avoid moving on a weekend or during a national holiday if at all possible, as these periods will continue to cost the standard price.

Of course, scheduling your move this precisely is not going to be possible for everyone. If your hands are tied and you are going to have to move at a particular time, you should still try to make your move during the week if possible and avoid holidays.

Look for a Furnished Apartment

An increasingly popular way of keeping costs down when moving house is to move into a property that is already furnished. Moving into a furnished property can mean that you don’t have to take as much stuff with you - you might even be able to sell some of it for some extra funds. If you are going to be moving into your first property of your own, choosing a furnished apartment will eliminate or reduce one of your most significant expenses.

For example, if you are trying to a furnished apartment in NYC, consider choosing a company like Blueground, who rent furnished apartments in NYC and other major cities across the US. The apartments are fully furnished and then leased out to renters and business travelers. Not only do you not have to worry about the costs of furnishing your apartment, but Blueground’s flexible approach to leases, guests are able to manage them online, including extending or terminating them, makes them an ideal choice for the indecisive.

Scavenge Your Packing Materials

Aside from the costs of removal businesses, the cost of packing materials is often one of the most significant that movers face. It’s only natural to want all the furniture that you take with you to remain intact, leading people to go over the top and invest in reinforced boxes, bubble wrap, and other protection that they don’t really need.

Other than your most precious and fragile items, you should be able to pack most things in regular cardboard boxes. If you ask around, you should be able to find what you need without spending a lot of money.

Moving home should be an exciting and happy time, but it can quickly become stressful. If you need to move into your new place as cheaply as possible, follow the advice above and begin planning well in advance of the big day.