Moving from one home to another, no matter how long or short the distance of the move is can be very stressful. The whole process of house hunting, packing, unpacking, and settling is very stressful. Moving is on the top ten list of most stressful event s a person goes through.
It is an accepted fact that moving is a stressful event. However, moving is also as expensive as it is stressful. Apart from the new home, you are paying for the many packing supplies you have to buy and that is not even the cost of moving your belongings. A lot of money goes into the whole process of moving. Because you’ll need to spend a lot of money, it is important for you to be on a budget and save cost as much as possible.
Packing is arranging your belongings for a move. Packing is a major aspect of your moving process regardless of where you are moving to. You need to pack properly and keep track of your belongings. Nobody wants to be in a new home and discover that they are missing an important item or that your things were damaged in transit.
Because packing is very stressful, there are a lot of tips on how to pack properly to ensure the safety of your items during the moving process. However, many of these tips will cost you a lot of money. Moving is expensive and an expensive part of moving is packing. There are however a lot of cost-effective ways to pack for your move. These cost-effective ways will save you money that would have been spent on packing while protecting your belongings at the same time. We have outlined a couple of cost-effective ways that you can utilize for your move.
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Declutter
This is the first step you need to take when you are about to move. Before you start packing, it is very important for you to take time out to go through your belongings and declutter. Decide the things you need to move with and the things you do not need. There are different ways of getting rid of the things you do not need to move with. You can have a yard sale; you can donate them to charity or even throw some away. Reducing the things you need to move with automatically reduces the cost of moving especially where you are hiring a moving company. If you do not do this before packing, you will end up moving unnecessary items and spending unnecessary money moving them.
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Make use of plastic boxes
Moving boxes are the major packing item anyone has to buy. The popular moving boxes are cardboard boxes and even though they can be very durable, you might end up throwing them away after your move. Some of them will even get damaged during your move. One way to save you the cost of moving boxes is to rent plastic moving boxes. There are moving companies that rent out plastic boxes to movers. All you need to do is to return the boxes after your move. They might even have an arrangement for picking up the boxes. This is a very cost-effective moving tip and will save you lots of money considering all the boxes you’ll need to pack your moving items.
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Use all your containers
When packing, people tend to pack their containers – hampers, baskets, and boxes – empty. Utilize these containers. Do not pack them empty because they will just occupy space. Fill them with other things you need to move with before you pack them.
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Minimize the moving supplies you need to buy
As stated above, you can decide to rent instead of buying. However, before renting, it is also important for you to make use of items you already have. You can use your suitcases to move your clothes and certain delicate items. In addition to that, you can use your towels and soft clothing to wrap delicate items instead of buying bubble wraps and moving papers.
Make use of balloons in the place of air pillows. This saves you money while doing just what you need it to do – protects your belongings. Balloons even have an advantage – they come in different shapes and you get to control the size to suit the box you need to place it in.
You can also use shredded paper as cushioning material to protect your fragile items. This will replace the need for you to buy packing peanuts or packing papers. Shredded paper works well to fill the spaces in your moving boxes thus protecting your items.
If you own liquor boxes, you can use them to move your delicate items such as plates. These boxes are strong and specially built to carry delicate items. They even come with handles which make it so much easier when you have to carry them. Ensure to go through your things to find if you have supplies from your last move. Also, ask friends and family to get free moving supplies. They might have moving supplies from previous moves.
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Sell large items
Another cost effect tip for packing is for you to sell your large items and electronics. Selling your large items is especially important where the home you are moving to is in another state or another country. When you compare the cost of moving to the cost of purchasing a new one, it is more economical to sell the one you have and buy another one when you get to your new home. It is not a good financial decision to move large items like your refrigerators, gas cooker, and washing machine across the country. There are various apps and websites available for you to sell these items.
All these tips will definitely help you save costs when you are packing. Do whatever you need to avoid buying moving supplies that are not essential for your move.