Tips for moving inexpensively

I will be moving this weekend within the same city, and I decided I wanted to list some things that I have done or will be doing in order to cut down the expense of moving.

• Once you are certain that you will be moving, start asking friends and stores you shop at for boxes. Find out what days the store gets their truck, and see if they will save you boxes. Also, use Craigslist in the free section to find boxes.

Paying for boxes is one expense that can cost greatly, using free boxes is the easiest way to cut the cost.

• Before you pack everything you own, go through your clothes, shoes, closets etc. and see what you have that you don't want, need or use anymore. Have a garage sale, sell items on Craigslist, donate to friends, family or Goodwill, use freecycle or throw it away.

Having less stuff to move will lighten the load in the truck, using less gas and eliminating the need of multiple trips.

• Organize your boxes by labeling them. Write what room they belong in and which ones need to be opened first. Your time does equal money, and if your using a rental truck, every hour you have it is costing you also.

Pack things you will need right away into the boxes you open first. Having to go to the store for things you can't find right away adds to the expense. Pack things like toilet paper, your shower curtain AND hooks, toiletries, a change of clothes and pjs. The things you will need first will vary depending on your familys needs.

• Pack breakables the right way. Having to replace dishes and glassware are not inexpensive things to do. Use bubble wrap, packing peanuts or other items to pad breakable things. Greensheets are a good source of paper big enough to wrap fragile items in, and if you are like me, you should have a pretty big stack of newspaper. I buy 2 every week at the dollar store for the coupons and recycle the rest of the newspaper. You can even use clothes to wrap things if you run out of the other materials.

• Do you really need a moving company? See if friends and family can help you move instead of paying movers.

• If you don't have a truck or a friend willing to let you borrow one, you will need to rent a moving truck. There are a few companies to choose from. I have had very good experiences with U-Haul. The deck of the truck is the lowest to the ground vs. the other companies trucks, and have had the lowest rates. Consider moving during the week, the rates are lower and there are more trucks available then. Pack the truck as best as possible, utilizing all the room you have. You have to pay for the gas you use in these trucks so make as few trips as possible and try to rent one from a location close to you, and find out if you have to return it to the same location you rented from (most likely you will have to unless you are going across state lines)

Don't wait until the last minute to reserve a truck, or you might end up paying more than you wanted. Also, if for some reason you need to cancel your reservation, don't wait until the last minute or you will still get charged for something you didn't even use.

• Plan an easy dinner for your first night in your new place. Before you move from your old place to the new one pack a cooler with what you will have for dinner that night. More than likely, you will not want to make a complicated dish that involves a lot of time and need dishes that are still packed in boxes. Sandwiches or frozen pizza are easy and quick ideas for the first night.

You could always order pizza or get take out, but this post is about moving as inexpensively as possible. If your internet is working on the first night, consider ordering pizza online, and looking up coupon codes on Retailmenot.com

If you decide to eat out that night you might want to have a backup plan. As one of my friends found out when she moved into her apartment, the pizza places in that town stop delivering to all apartment complexes after 7pm.

• When setting up your electric, phone, cable etc. try using a website to compare prices. I used movehouston.com and now I will be getting a fantastic rate on my electricity, everything was done over the internet, and I am getting a $25 visa gift card for using that website.

Using a site like this, you can compare the rates of all the companies that serve that area, you can see the contract lenght, if there is one. You can see the cancellation fee, the price per Kwh, the company, and if it is a renewable source of energy all side by side to help you make the best choice.

These are just a few of the things that I do to make moving easier and less expensive.

Your turn: Do you have any tips for moving inexpensively? I want to hear your suggestions and stories from past experiences.