Planning ahead is essential for keeping your moving expenses low. Avoid running into financial surprises during your move by considering the following budget items. Once you’ve created your pre-move expenses, you’ll be ready to compare moving quotes and book all of the moving services you need.
Moving Supplies
Getting your belongings safely from point A to point B requires purchasing the proper packing materials. Use Unpakt’s box guide to determine how many boxes you’ll need to buy and in which sizes. In addition, the budget for buying bubble wrap and packing paper to secure smaller items; moving pads and bungee cords to keep larger items like mattresses, and fragile furniture protected; and tape to close your boxes. You may also need to rent a hand truck or dolly to help with moving heavier objects.
Labor
The cost of moving labor is determined by the weight and number of items that need to be moved, special packing or handling instructions, and the time it will take to pack and unpack your moving truck. Moving companies calculate costs differently, so always compare local movers to get the best price. In addition to your base labor budget, set aside some cash on moving day to tip your movers; most tip 10% to 20% of their moving costs*. If you recruit friends to help you with the manual labor, don’t forget to include pizza and soda for the crew in your budget!
Transportation
To total transportation costs, a moving company takes into account the size truck you’ll need to hold your belongings and how far you are moving. Unpakt offers an easy way to inventory the items you need to move, calculate the equipment and labor you’ll need, and book moving services online for a guaranteed price.
If you rent a truck to drive yourself, the budget for added insurance, gas, and mileage costs not included in the base price. You may also need to buy a lock if you are planning to leave your items in the truck unsupervised.
Storage Costs
If you’re unable to unpack your moving truck immediately, you may need to temporarily place your belongings into storage. If this is part of your moving plan, figure in monthly costs for the storage unit, any deposits the unit requires additional packing/unpacking costs, and a lock to put on your storage unit. Some moving companies will temporarily store items for an additional fee, saving you the hassle of coordinating these extra costs.
Now that you’ve got your pre-move expenses all set, for help budgeting after your move, check out Unpakt Blog’s Post-Move Expenses to Plan for.
