Geeks on a Budget: Moving
Okay, readers, let me tell you something that life wants to keep irregularly reminding me: MOVING SUCKS. There, I said it, and it’s something we all know, but we don’t think about until the move is upon us. Hiring movers is expensive. Renting a U-haul may be just as expensive, considering. There are things to keep in mind when moving that can save you money and time.
1. Judge your distance and use the right vehicle.
If you’re moving three blocks away (like I just did), you don’t need a U-haul or a moving company to assist you. If you’re moving from California to Wyoming, then you could probably use the assistance. Here’s options to consider:
- Moving truck – You drive it, you tow your cars. Perfect for long distance relocation.
- PODS – You load it, they move it, all at your own pace. You pay a fee for rental and the relocation. Again, good if you’re moving a long distance and possibly need to store your stuff for a bit.
- U-Haul (or similar small truck rentals) – Good if you have to move quickly and across town.
- Friends with trucks – Potentially free and your friends might help you with moving stuff. (Buy them lunch!) Perfect for short distances and in-town moving.
- Cars – Not recommended for the big furniture, but perfect for moving the little things and the cat.
Now with my current move, since we were only going three blocks away, we borrowed my husband’s mother’s truck, my good friend came with her husband’s truck, we had my husband’s cousin and his truck, we used my Pontiac Vibe and another friend’s Vibe (fold down seats are a winner!), and we got everything moved within a week.
2. Enlist aid from family and friends.
As I said above, we had family and friends to help us. With two trucks each day and my Vibe, we were able to move a lot of things quickly and efficiently. I have issues with my right hand which means I can’t carry heavy things for very long, but I had friends around to help me move baskets of items after I loaded them. Stronger friends and relatives helped Dan (my husband) move items like the bed and refrigerator quickly.
3. Have the right tools for the job.
You need to have tools for taking apart bed frames (if necessary), taking the doors off of the house to get larger items inside, even taking off the refrigerator doors (which was a pain!). Always have a full screwdriver set, hex wrenches (for that IKEA furniture), and even a socket set. If you don’t own them, borrow them. Hammers can help (or as we learned, a very heavy Maglight). Have an appliance hand truck on hand to move the big things like the refrigerator, washer, and dryer. They can be rented for relatively inexpensive, or better yet, find a friend who owns one (our landlord loaned us his). These will save you time, effort, pain, and trouble.
Along with this is your storage options. Do you use cardboard boxes or something you might already have? If you need boxes, ask around and business that receive regular shipments. My husband is a store manager and could get long boxes after inventory was done. We also have an abundance of laundry baskets, so we loaded the baskets with stuff, put them in my car, and moved them to the new place. They got emptied and then the baskets were ready for reloading.
4. Budget your personal energy.
Don’t work yourself to the point where you’re going to drop things and fall over. If your feet are killing you or if that twitch in your lower back feels dangerously close to a seizure, STOP. Sit down and rest, no matter what other people are doing. Have acetaminophen/paracetamol or ibuprofen on hand to relieve swelling and discomfort. Pushing your body past its tolerance level is absolutely no good for you or anyone else. Pushing it can put you in a position to need medical care, and without proper pacing, you may completely remove yourself from the moving game. Start early in your day, stop when the sun goes down. Take breaks to eat and refuel. SLEEP. If it’s a multiple-day moving process, take a day or half-day off in the middle. You have one body. Don’t destroy it.
5. Organize while you move.
What really helped with my move was getting certain rooms in order at the new house. In this case, it was the kitchen. By putting away all the small kitchen goodies, we were in a position to cook meals and prepare beverages right away, and the counter space could be used for putting fragile things on. We moved room-by-room as well, so that we had an almost immediate mental inventory of what was where. We could move objects into the room they’d be going in, which saved a crazy amount of sorting out later.
So yes, moving is a huge pain in the butt, but it doesn’t have to be as bad as one expects. Remember that it’s a process, and that with careful management and budgeting, you won’t need to break the bank to do it. My last move only cost time, gasoline, and a few cheap pizzas from Little Ceaser’s.
Geeks on a Budget is a weekly column about saving money without sacrificing the geek lifestyle.
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