When you need to relocate a household, there are generally three basic price points:

  • Expensive: usually from companies who specialise in overseas moves or long-distance interstate relocations
  • Dirt Cheap: usually a smaller company or one-man-band operation
  • A little more than you wanted to spend but not too bad: a company with experience, a team of movers, and reliable trucks

While moving your home never seems to be cheap, when you are looking for a removalist in London, when you are looking for a Removals Company you should get two or three quotes, consider what each is offering and think about what you really need.

Ultimate Guide to Cheap Moving

Short Moves Done Dirt Cheap

A really cheap quote might actually be great if you have a one-bedroom unit, little furniture, and you’re only moving 3 minutes down the road. While if you have a house lot of exceptionally valuable art and very fragile items, then you might be better looking at the more expensive company.

The Container May Roll but Your Breakables Will Be Fine

The firms that deal primarily with overseas moves and long-distance relocations often won’t even quote for a local move, because they now that they’re going to be more expensive. Part of the reason for this is the level of packing that they do, and most will insist on their crew doing your packing.

The type of packing require for an overseas move is a lot more rigorous than what is required for a short move, making it more expensive. For most people this level will be overkill, but if your house is full of valuable breakables, you may want to think about this option seriously.

The Furniture Moving Level of Service Most People Need

For most people the level of service you need is where your few fragile and precious items are well protected but while everything is, of course, treated with care, you don’t need your mattress or lounge suite bubble wrapped. If you’re in the DMV area (that is, DC, Maryland or Virginia), using a locally based mover that works within your area is more likely to ensure you get the best value. You can have a look here to see if this company can help https://www.alln1stopmoving.com/locations-served/, if not, no matter who you end up using, remember that you’re not moving internationally, so shouldn’t have to pay for international packing.

While having someone who can come arrange your move for you is an amazingly stress free experience, they should be able to also offer you suggestions on how you can save money on your move.

How You Can Decrease Your Moving Costs

Although you can do the packing yourself, and this will often result in a reduction in overall cost, this is often creating a false economy. Unless your day job is logistics or warehousing, then you probably do not have the experience of most movers. While one or two dedicated packers can do a full house lot ready for an international move in two days, most families take weeks to get everything ready.

De Cluttering

However, one way to decrease costs associated with both moving and packing is to get rid of anything that you don’t need. A garage sale before hand can not only reduce your clutter but also help pay for the cost of moving.

One thing to be careful of when decluttering is that you don’t go overboard. Expensive items that you already own but only use occasionally such as certain tools, kitchen equipment, costumes or eveningwear, should be kept. Yes, it’s clutter, true it probably doesn’t bring you joy, and you probably haven’t used it in a year… but these are the types of things that when you need then there are no other options, and having to rebuy will be infuriating.

Clothes are a big one though. Particularly children’s clothing. Get rid of anything that doesn’t fit – if you lose/gain weight you can buy in season clothing at the time, take some pressure off yourself! Anything on the “I’ll fix this and use it” pile should also go. There will always be other projects, particularly once you’re in your new home!

Get Organized

While packing yourself may create a false savings, getting everything organised doesn’t. This also ties in with decluttering. Although local movers will usually give you a flat rate, they will have based that charge on an estimated hourly rate. If you are able to get yourself organised so that the movers know exactly what you’ve got and where it is going to go you can probably save yourself a few hours.

Take some of the stress away by knowing where things will be going in the new house too. If you’re downsizing, you will need to know which rooms you currently have will get combined into their new homes. Also, think about where technology will go and try to have as much of that sorted before you arrive (see here). If the moving firm knows what they’re in for at the other end the whole operation can be so much smoother.

Know What Is Included

While most companies will provide you a complete price, make sure you do read the quote or estimate carefully. You may find that the excellent deal you thought you were getting isn’t quite as good if boxes and packing material hasn’t been included.

You will also want to ask about insurance. Again, most companies will have at least a basic coverage, you will need to find out about exactly what is covered and what sort of excess you may be up for. Also, certain items may not be covered, particularly expensive jewellery, business equipment and some camera equipment are all examples of items you should double check.

Moving Boxes

One note if you are providing your own moving boxes – again, it is a false economy to buy cheap boxes or only large boxes. Books and heavy objects need to be in a smaller box so that they can be moved safely, and so that they don’t fall out the bottom when the box is picked up. Likewise, don’t put all your fragile items into the same large box. Well wrapped in a smaller box will see them more protected.

Generally, it is far better to ask the moving company to provide you with boxes, as they will have a pretty good idea of exactly what you need, including what sizes, and they will have excellent quality boxes. Often you will be able to get pre-used boxes from the company, which is a sign of how good the boxes are!

Trust Your Moving Company

Read the reviews and ask the right questions, but once you have hired a company to move your home, you should trust their advice. If you don’t feel that they are trustworthy, then they are not the moving company for you. Reputable companies do not actually want to rip you off, they want to provide excellent customer service and be known as the best in the business.

They do this all day, every day, so trust their expertise.