Moving house is already a stressful process, but to add insult to injury, it’s also an expensive one. From packing your stuff to hauling it to the new house, remodeling it, and furnishing it, every single step comes with a price tag that usually stings a bit. However, there are little “cheats” you can use to save a bit of cash when you’re moving house and to help you create a moving checklist.
Ask Your Friends To Give You A Hand
One of the most groan-worthy tasks you’ll have in a new home is painting everything and giving everything that fresh, new feeling. But with both exteriors and interiors needing a fresh coat of paint, as well as every little corner and detail, you could use some help from your friends, so you can save money on painters. This goes for everything, from packing up your things, to getting a moving truck, hauling everything to the new house, cleaning, unpacking, etc.
People typically have “moving parties” where they buy pizza (and occasionally, booze) to reward their loved ones for the effort. You can even make it fun by playing music, assigning colors/rooms, having contests for the best/fastest paintjob, etc. The money you spend on organizing it will be less than the money you save on hired help.
Hire Cheap Movers Online
If you don’t have any friends or family you can bribe into helping, there will always be students or people you can find online who will be willing to give you a hand for a small fee. Craigslist is the place to be when you’re looking for people to do odd jobs for you for below the market price. You probably don’t want them packing your valuables, but if you need man-power to move large items and such, this can really help move for cheap.
The only thing to note here is that you need to be careful about the people you hire; some of these Craigslist people can be sketchy, and you probably don’t want them knowing where you live and what you’ve got in your house. In that case, the money you save isn’t worth it. In this case, it would be best to look at moving companies charlotte nc services, or ones similar to them within your area, so you can be assured that you are getting the best help when you move.
Don’t Shy Away From Second-Hand Furniture (Free Is Even Better!)
You’ll be buying a lot of things brand new for your new home, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t space for something old, as well – or “pre-owned”, if you will. If you do a quick Google search, you’ll see that a lot of people are in the job of selling furniture or household objects as a means of making an income from home. Ebay is the go-to place to trawl for vintage and second-hand treasures, and the price is always right! In fact, you can even flip that around and sell your own stuff, if there’s furniture you no longer need or use.
Another good idea, especially if you’re in a university town, is to pay attention to move-in and move-out dates and go searching for items students are selling, giving away, or otherwise leaving behind. You wouldn’t believe the stuff people throw away, and a lot of the time, it’s all relatively new furniture, because it’s only been used for a year or two. Student discards can be a goldmine.
Of course, there’s always the option of going out searching for things people leave out on the curb. When people are no longer using something that’s usually still perfectly adequate (so not damaged enough to be trashed), they will take it out front and leave it there (sometimes with a sign) for anyone who would like it. It’s not quite dumpster diving – just rehoming things someone else didn’t want, but that you’d have great use for!
DIY Whatever You Can
DIY-ing isn’t as big as it was in Pinterest’s heyday, but it’s still a completely valid option. There will be a lot of little things that will need doing in your new house, from refinishing furniture to buffing scratches, replacing door handles, and any other odd job you can imagine – why pay someone to do these things, when you can take care of them yourself?
Most of these things will be self-explanatory, but if you don’t know how to do something, you can always go online and find a tutorial or a video done by someone. You’ll quickly realize that there are actually very few things you need professionals for, such as electricals – please don’t try to do that yourself, that’s money well spent. For everything else, try your best and save the money you’d pay a handyman.
Hold Off On Purchasing Non-Essentials
Perhaps the most difficult part is prioritizing your expenses. When you get a new home, you want to do everything at once, and you want the best of the best, right now. But that rarely makes financial sense, so in order to save money, you might have to wait for some of the non-essential items.
No one’s saying that you need to sleep on a mattress on the floor or forego chairs for years, but you can skip the expensive glass coffee table for now, as well as artwork, mirrors, or expensive rugs. And if you don’t need the items urgently, you can even play it smart and wait for sales, offers, or even events like Black Friday to get your favorites at a significant discount.
Borrow Or Rent Power Tools If You Can
If you’re going to DIY your way through making this house a home, you’re going to need power tools and a traditional tool kit. Well, while the tool kit will come in handy later, you don’t actually need to own all the power tools or professional equipment you may be using now.
Invest in the ones that you’ll use time and time again (everyone needs a power drill), but for the one-time things, why not check if anyone can lend you what you need, or if you can rent? There are services that allow you to rent power tools to get your work done and then return them when you no longer need them. Even better, some platforms allow you to share tools with others. It beats spending cash you don’t have on expensive equipment!
As you can imagine, moving house comes with a lot of expenses, some of which you can’t really avoid or predict. But you can certainly skip some of them, or at least reduce them, by looking for alternatives in your moving process. You don’t have to go cheap and risk needing to replace things in two months; you just need to be savvy and look for ways to pinch some pennies by asking for help from friends, DIY-ing, or searching for second-hand furniture and household items.