The process of moving can become complicated and even expensive, without proper planning. There are plenty of factors that dictate how much your move will cost. As a renter, you can expect to spend between $1,500 to $3,000 on moving. For homeowners, that figure can go even higher.
For this reason, people tend to create a budget for their move. It helps a lot to have a certain expectation of how much you intend to spend on your move before you do it. You’ll find that small, menial items such as shower curtains and sheets, despite being cheap, collectively, can add up your moving costs.
To make the process a lot less financially overwhelming, here’s a list of tips that might come in handy when creating a moving budget.
1. Record Your Inventory
It would help if you started by deciding what it is that you want in your new house. Basic regular items that you use the most such as kitchen appliances and clothes, should be the first on your list. Check each room in your house to make sure you don’t leave anything behind.
2. Do Some Research
You need to have a clear picture of what you want in your new house and where you want them as this will help the movers a great deal when preparing a final quotation. The quote the moving company will provide will entail a base moving fee, transportation, cost of moving insurance, specialty item fees, if there are any, such as pool tables, artwork, and pianos. You should hire a professional moving company to make sure your move is stress-free and smoother. Get quotes from different moving companies, compare them, and then choose a moving company that is within your budget and reliable.
3. Choose a Date for When You Want to Move
It may be hard to believe, but the time of year you choose to move will impact your moving costs. Expect to cough out more money if you plan to move during the summer. If you’re moving during the winter, you should expect to pay less since not many people move when it is snowing.
4. Save Some Money
As highlighted above, moving can be a costly affair. As such, you need to save accordingly as per your budget. Life will not slow down or stop because you’re moving, and your kids will still need to eat and go to school. Therefore, make sure you put some good money aside every month to finance your move when the time comes.
5. Look for Extra Income
If you want to move sooner than you’ve planned, you might need to cut back on some of your expenses as well as find ways of making some extra money. If you like to eat out, that’s something you might have to sacrifice.
Nowadays, there are lots of jobs online that pay well. You can pick up one to make some extra cash to quicken your moving plans.
6. Consider Extra Costs
These may not apply to everyone, but they’re important all the same. You need to factor in if you have children, pets, artwork, and house plants. Do you want a professional cleaner to clean your old and new home?
7. Set Up An Emergency Fund
Depending on your financial status, it can be difficult or even impossible to set up an emergency fund. However, if you can create one, it would be a great idea to set aside some money for the unexpected. A fund with money that can last you at least three months of expenses should work fine.
8. Leave Some Breathing Room in Your Budget
Creating a moving budget does not mean that you should put every coin you have into the budget. Leave some money for yourself as moving can be extremely stressful, and you could do with a distraction.
The Bottom Line
Whether you’re shopping or traveling, you need to keep track of your financial status, and the same applies when moving.
Creating a budget is one of the most important things you should do to keep your expenses minimum and get the most value out of the entire experience. However, it requires you to be proactive and pay high attention to detail if you’re going to create a working budget.
Hopefully, the tips highlighted above should help you create a budget that works for you so you can move with ease.
