Moving Mistakes That Can Break the Bank

As a rule of thumb, moving house is an expensive affair. And if you’re facing a residential move yourself, you probably already know this indisputable fact either from previous personal experience or through unfortunate relocation stories that your friends might have shared with you. And in addition to being rather pricey, moving is also a fairly complicated endeavor and one wrong step at the wrong time can easily get you in a lot of trouble, give you a splitting headache… and drain your bank account even further.

With moving day approaching faster than a speeding bullet, that last thing you would want is to commit some perfectly avoidable moving mistakes and end up using all your savings on something that is already too expensive to begin with. So, to help you move to your new home without having to break the bank, here are the most common costly mistakes when moving house and the best ways to avoid them.

Failure to research your mover

It’s as clear as day that some professional moving companies are better than others. There are movers who take pride in what they do and work hard to leave their customers satisfied and keep their reputation spotless. Unfortunately, there are also moving companies whose primary goal is to rob you blind in exchange for low quality services and disgraceful attitude.

And this is exactly why you should never choose your relocation partner on a random principle but research professional movers well before you single out the best one for your move. Read moving reviews and testimonials from past customers, check the quality ratings of their services and ask your friends for recommendations or suggestions. And before you contact the movers you have narrowed down, don’t forget to verify their licensing and insurance information on the website of the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as check out their membership status with the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA).

Failure to obtain multiple moving quotes

The process of finding the best moving company for your relocation is similar to shopping around in a huge shopping center. The tactical move that works best is to tour all the stores you’re interested in, view in person the available goods and compare the various conditions that come with each product (price, warranty, discount, special clauses, etc.).

Make sure you request in-house price estimation from each professional mover you have contacted. Without a doubt, a home survey performed by an experienced moving expert is your best bet to receive an accurate written offer that will reflect the actual moving costs. Don’t make the mistake of hastily accepting the first offer that comes your way but obtain multiple moving quotes from at least 3 (preferably 5) different reputable movers. When comparing the received moving estimates, pay special attention to the additional services offered and their respective charges before you make up your mind to go with a particular moving company.

Failure to set a moving budget

Another moving mistake you should avoid at all costs is to fail to set up your own moving budget. The three major advantages of creating a relocation budget are:

• Your moving budget will clearly show you whether or not you have saved up enough money to successfully complete the residential move in the first place.
• Thanks to your initial calculations, you will be able to monitor the stage-by-stage distribution of your financial resources and respond adequately if a moving task gets too greedy.
• After the move, you can analyze the performance data of your current budget and fine-tune its parameters so that you have a much better working relocation budget to use as a reference tool in the future.

So, take a pen and a piece of paper, or use your preferred electronic device for increased efficiency, and note down the expenses you’re about to incur during the move: moving company expenses, self-moving expenses, immediate post costs, additional and unexpected costs and so on.

Failure to get rid of your excess stuff

One of the golden rules when moving house states that the more household items and personal possessions there are for packing, the more money will go for their actual transportation to the new address. In fact, the actual relocation price is based on the distance (the only constant value), the total weight of the shipment and all the accessorial services requested or needed to complete the moving job.

So, if you want to make sure that you don’t waste your hard earned money on moving useless stuff between your two homes, then sort out your household goods without delay. Go to each room of your current house or apartment and make a detailed list of which items you will be taking with you and which ones you will simply leave behind. Whenever faced with a difficult decision, ask yourself if you will really need and use a specific item in the foreseeable future. Remember that you will not only save money by not moving worthless goods, but you can also pocket additional cash if you decide to sell some of the things you won’t take with you.

Decluttering your home before initiating the packing process is a proven and highly effective method of saving money when moving. Observe the other cost-saving tips as well as a guarantee that the moving budget you have at your disposal, regardless of how limited it may be, will be enough to bring your residential move to a successful end.