If there are things in life that are sure, it would be death, taxes, and house moving costing you a lot of money.
Okay maybe I am being overly dramatic, but the whole house moving process do make your wallet substantially skinny. And if you’re on a tight budget, the cost for you to move from your old house to your new one may make your wallet even skinnier.
What can you do then, to save money on household moving costs? Well, here are 11 of them. Maybe they can help you out a little if not a lot.
1. Plan your move properly
The process of relocating is almost always a big deal for you and your family. And other than relocating because youre running from the law (you arent, I hope), you will probably know when the move is going to be very early on.
Utilize all that time to good use by making a list of all the things you will need to do, and write this list as early as possible. You will have to plan things properly to make sure youre not using your resources on unnecessary things.
By making this list, you will have a rough idea on how much you will have to spend.
Oh and hey, you can use the points highlighted here onwards for your list! Pretty handy no?
2. Lose some (or lots) of your unneeded possessions
Perhaps one of the simplest, yet hardest thing to do in the context of moving out of your home. Beware though, keeping seemingly useless things in your house is a sign that you may be a hoarder.
Before sentimental values and nostalgia starts kicking into high gear, sort out your stuff according to how much you’ll be needing it. Ones without any practical usefulness should be discarded IMMEDIATELY.
Alright alright, maybe not immediately. Perhaps you may stumble upon a nice vase you havent used in forever, or a stack of ’How To’ books youd think would be useful to others.
Find an outlet where you can sell these items, and maybe even gain a little bit of money that you can use for your move!
In a nutshell, More stuff means more cost of transportation, so by doing this, you’ll be cutting down on things to be transported, hence cutting down on cost.
3. Identify the cost of DIY vs professional movers
Nothing is ever absolute in this world we live in, and there are always two sides of the coin when it comes to do-it-yourself moving versus professional moving.
Comparing them could make for another article altogether, so you should instead identify which would be the best one to choose.
Take a look at every aspect of each thing to do and compare them. Depending on the types of things you want to be moved, DIY may mean you would save on packing or disassembling of items. These would otherwise counted as added services (added charges) by professional movers.
On the other hand, you might be saving more on transportation costs (petrol, tolls, vehicle renting, unforeseeable breakdowns) if you hire professional movers, as these are usually included in the price they quote.
The DIY versus professional service debate will usually culminate to ‘it depends’. And in many ways its true.
What you can do is to carefully identify which thing you can do yourself, and which you should hire movers for. And of course, with minimal cost in mind.
4. Get some help
One of the common things you can probably do on your own is packing. And you’ll be needing every help you can to pack and box your dishes, cutleries, clothes, and appliances.
What better way to strengthen the relationship between you and your family and friends than to get them to help you out.
Asking for people to help can be a delicate road to traverse however, but a good rule of thumb is not expect too much from them.
Remember, they are doing you a favour, so the last thing you want to do is to overstep their patience. And as the tradition goes, buy them lunch or dinner as thanks for helping you out.
5. Compare movers prices
If you do feel like it is essential to hire movers to help with the move, it would be best to look for a bunch and compare them as oppose to stick with one you may know previously.
Businesses are filled with competition, and moving companies tend to be competitive with their prices. What you should do as a consumer is to look for the best deal out of them. Plus, you may never know whether the mover you contact is really honest about their prices.
Cheaper doesn’t always translate into better though, even when you are operating on a tight budget.
Many of the professional movers nowadays offer better value for their prices instead of blatantly lowering their prices. This means they would quote their prices with added services included.
You will need to see whether their added services may result in you saving money, or that doing things yourself might instead. Again, it all depends on the heft of the things you want to be moved.
You can also check out this online platform of lorry drivers if you’re living in Malaysia or Singapore, as it provides instant quotations for your house moving with a click of a button.
6. Book them early
Another thing to remember if you do decide to hire professional movers, is that booking early ensures no last-minute charges.
A week before is a good minimum duration to book a lorry driver, while two weeks before is safest.
Additionally, keep in mind of any public holidays that may overlap your moving day, as most drivers will not be accepting jobs then.
7. Don’t pay for boxes for packing
The key to moving with a tight budget is to not waste it on the little things. And some of us tend to waste our resources on buying empty boxes to pack our stuff in.
Boxes are definitely essential when you need to move, but they are actually one of those things you can easily acquire for free in supermarkets and convenience store if you ask nicely.
If you’re lucky, you might even stumble upon a shop that had just finished stocking up on their products, which means fresh boxes!
8. Shirts and bed sheets wraps
As one of the most popular tip in house moving, you might have heard about using your clothes, bed sheets, and towels as wrappers for your fragile goods.
In practicality, it does work well, and you can potentially save a lot in the process.
Yet you might also want to take into account the extra work you have to do when you unpack later on. A lot of fragile goods would mean a lot of clothing and bed sheets. And the clothing and linens may need to be washed or ironed once moving is done.
If you think that keeping your budget tight is worth the extra load of laundry, you can effectively save on buying bubble wraps.
Alternatively, there is a moving hack you can find here which suggests using coffee filters in place of clothing to protect your fragile plates and bowls. Coffee filters are a lot cheaper to buy than bubble wrap, and could make for a better replacement.
9. Plan your meals
Go and have a look at your refrigerator now. If you see a fully stocked fridge, imagine having to move with all those food still in there.
I know, you might have forgotten about the perishable food in your house being a factor in your upcoming relocation. A lot of us did too.
Now that you have remembered it, plan your meals carefully and try to not let things go to waste when youre moving out in a week or two.
10. Don’t overpay your bills
In line with how forgetful us humans can be, we tend to forget important things when we’re dealing with other important things.
As such, please let the concerning parties know that you will be relocating. Because having to pay for water, electricity, or utility bills for your old house after you have already moved is the last thing you want to do on a tight budget.
11. Search for backloading lorries
Maybe at this point you have figured out that some of the tips laid out are not suitable for you, in that the cost exceeds you budget.
Depending on how resourceful you are, there is another way for you to potentially save a large cut of the cost in hiring movers. And it is through backloading.
If you have never heard of the term, backloading (or backhauling to some) is when a lorry is on its way back from completing a delivery and are carrying an empty back load.
As the cost of transportation already been covered before the delivery, there’s a higher potential to hire them for cheaper.
You can have a look at the backloading platform, eLogistik, to potentially find cheaper lorries to hire.
Backloads can be tricky to find though, as you need to find a an empty lorry that can pick-up and drop-off your things while still being on their way back to headquarters.
Which means the availability of a returning truck you can hire for way cheaper than market price will totally be up to luck. So cross all the fingers when searching!
MY – EN
Singapore
Indonesia