Eight tips for calculating your moving budget

How much does it cost to move? If you’re moving on a budget (and that’s reality for most of us), you’ll have a much better experience if you create a moving budget ahead of time.

Moving on a budget doesn’t have to be difficult or overwhelming, but when you create your budget ahead of time, you’ll know where you need to save some money and where you can spend more. You can still work with a NYC trusted moving company when you are moving on a budget. Let’s take a look at eight tips for calculating your moving budget.

1. Look At Your Overall Finances

Going into debt for a move is generally not a good idea, so take a look at your finances and decide the total amount you can spend on your upcoming move. It’s wise to come up with this overall figure before you begin to distribute what needs to be bought and paid for as individual line items.

 

2. Consider Your First Month After Relocation

Don’t forget that your first month after a move can be especially difficult on your budget. If you’ll be renting, make sure you have enough in your bank account for the security deposit and first month’s rent. If you’ll be buying a place, you may need to consider extra fees for closing on a loan or hooking up utilities.

 

3. Make a Moving Budget Checklist

Once you have an overall budget amount for your move, you can create a checklist that should include your moving expenses. Moves can be very different from household to household, so just include the items you will need. Here are some examples to get you started:

• Moving Company Fee
• Additional Insurance
• Piano Moving
• Professional Packing
• Packing Supplies
• Truck Rental
• Mileage/Gas
• Extra Equipment Rental
• Transportation to New Home
• Lodging
• Meals
• Babysitting
• Pet Care
• Temporary Housing
• Storage Fees
• Shipping Fees

4. Shop Around

By shopping around, you may be able to squeeze services into your budget that you didn’t originally think you could afford. For example, people are often surprised that our moving services are so inexpensive, especially considering that we’ve been serving NYC for over 80 years.

 

5. Choose Non-Peak Times

The weekends at the beginning and ending of summer months are by far the busiest moving times, and you may be able to stretch your budget if you’re willing to be flexible with your schedule. If you can get time off during the middle of the week and do your move in the middle of a month, you’ll find that more moving trucks are available and it’s easier to schedule other services with moving companies. Additionally, you may find yourself paying less for being more flexible.

 

6. Consider Your Resources

If you have lots of family and friends available to help with packing and loading the truck, you can probably save money on packing and loading and spend more in other areas of your moving budget. If you have more money than time, you’ll probably want to hire help for as many tasks as possible.

 

 

7. Add Up Expenses

Once you’ve shopped around, considered your resources, and taken stock of what kinds of services you’re going to need, add up your expenses. If your expenses are within your overall budget, congratulations! You can move forward with your moving preparations. If they exceed your overall budget, you’ll still need Tip #8.

 

 

8. Trim Where You Can

The toughest part of moving on a budget is making cuts to stay within your budget. If you find yourself in this position, take heart. With some creativity on your part, you can make it work. For instance, find someone who recently moved and ask if you can use their old boxes. Plenty of people are glad to have you take their used moving boxes off their hands. If you have family in town, offer to buy them pizza if they’ll help you load your truck. By trimming here and there, you will be able to make your move work without getting yourself in financial trouble.

 

To discuss moving on a limited budget, or to talk about any other moving and storage issue, contact us at U.Santini. We’ve worked with all kinds of New Yorkers on their moves for over 80 years. We’ve seen it all, and we’d like to use that experience to help you. Call us at 718-768-6778. Ask for Dan.