Moving on a budget

By Elisabeth

There is nothing worse than paying out the wazoo when it comes from moving from one place to another. In my case, I was moving for the first time as a family of five. We hadn't moved since my 1st child was 5 months old. Back then, we barely had enough furniture to fit into our then two bedroom apartment!

Let's just say the packing process was daunting. Not only was I packing 7 years of our life into a box, I was doing it while caring for my three kids. It took weeks and I still believe I could have done a better job.

No matter how organized I was, no matter how proper and strategic I was, in the end, there were boxes in the garage that just got moved from one place to the next. I just couldn't do it all.

Fortunately, I did put a few things in place to make the move a seamless one, (no matter how many unopened boxes I moved 12 miles across town.)

First up, I went to Craigslist and posted an ad for moving boxes. I initially tried to find others who were selling boxes, but I could never get to the ads in time and the boxes were already sold. I posted my own ad and had several emails that day from people who had some for sale. I think I paid $19 for about 30 boxes. It's a great way to buy boxes for cheap and then sell them again after use.

Unfortunately, I had a lot on my plate and was unable to get all my boxes this way. I also picked a moving boxes set from Costco for $50. It had enough boxes to pack a 2-bedroom apartment. The two of these together, plus a few trips of dropping off items, then using the boxes again and we had enough to move our 4-bedroom, 2 bath household.

As for moving, we rented a 26-foot truck from Uhaul. From their website, we hired a moving company (two dudes) to load and unload our truck. For 4 hours of work, it was $202. For every hour after that, it was $48. We projected we would use the entire 4 hours and might seep into the 5th hour. It took these two dudes 8 hours to move us in 93 degree weather. So, for $400, plus the $150 dollars we spent on the truck for the day, we paid $550 to move us.

(I do have to say, we bought the two guys lunch from In 'N Out. I insisted to feed them since they declined eating an otter pop I offered while cleaning out the refrigerator. It was such a small gesture on my part, but did wonders for the guys and made a huge impact. Just know that when you offer to buy lunch for someone who is doing physical labor for you, they will order a double-double with cheese meal deal. Best $6 we spent!)

Before booking our our truck and going this route to move, I got a quote from a moving company in town that would do about the same thing, but had their own truck. The quote was $1200. I'd say that's such a huge savings that I should now buy something further down on MY "must-haves" for the house, like decorative shutters for the outside windows. I'm DYING to do this. Now, I just need to get my hands on a power washer...

How about you? Any suggestions for someone who is about to move?

 

 {photo credit: app.donji.com}

 

 

Comments

[craftyashley]

We used Warren's Homework, who came with their own truck, didn't charge us for mileage or gas, and they were around $500. I sent my husband to Smith's and they gave us a ton of boxes, as much as would fit into our SUV for free. Some of the boxes were in bad shape and we threw them away, but most worked great- the egg boxes were the perfect size!

[auntie]

I moved last fall out of a second floor apartment and just *thinking* about hauling all my crap down two flights of stairs made me break out in a sweat. I rented a U-Haul truck and also found some movers from their site and it was AWESOME. I've never seen such energetic people, running up the stairs after every trip down to the truck. It was crazy. Also, they drove the truck to my new place, which was a big help because I'm pretty sure I would have crashed it into something. Oh, and it was CHEAP.

I made A LOT of trips to the U-Haul store to buy boxes and packing supplies, mostly because I had no desire to drive all over town to get "free" boxes from grocery stores, liquor stores, etc. and I knew I'd never make it in time to wherever people were posting free boxes on Craigslist.

Aside from using professional movers - which seemed very...decadent at first, but turned out to be the best money I've ever spent - my best advice would be to set a packing goal for yourself each day, i.e. pack 4 boxes today, or one room, etc. Also, at the end of the day, make sure you know where the packing paper, tape, and marking pens are so that you don't have to hunt for it all when you start again tomorrow.

[auntie]

One other thing I just remembered...I thought people who kept a list or spreadsheet of what was inside each box were going a little overboard but in hindsight, it makes a lot of sense. Especially for those boxes that end up being a little of this and a little of that!

[Alice]

another way to shave some $$ off (especially if you don't have very fragile/antique/heirloom furniture) is to hire the movers off of CL as well. when i last moved, i hired two local college guys. the caveat is they aren't insured (so if they damage your stuff, too bad) but HOLY COW, 21 yr old dudes are good at moving heavy stuff quickly (and for cheap)!