How Much Will Your Move Cost?

Moving requires making decisions and prioritizing, the most important factors including time, cost and convenience. If you’re moving across town moving yourself makes the most sense. With a shorter move, you just need to decide if you want to spread the move out over a week or two or complete it all in one day. The advantage to spreading out your move is you don’t have to formally pack everything and you can reuse boxes.

Longer moves require better planning and more decision making.

Though it goes against logic, it’s not always less expensive to move yourself. You’ll want to calculate the cost before deciding. When crunching numbers, consider the following expenses:

• Boxes, packing materials and tape.

• Truck rental – usually this is based on the number of bedrooms. A 17’ truck is appropriate for 2-3 bedrooms while a 24’ truck accommodates 3-4 bedrooms. One way rentals are usually more expensive. The cost of fuel and the mileage charged should be included in this calculation. The major truck rental companies will calculate fuel and distance for you if you request it.

• Dollies, carts, furniture blankets, etc. for protecting furniture and moving appliances can be rented from most truck companies.

• Hiring help on each end to unload, if necessary.

• Storage, if needed.

If your priorities lead you to a moving company, evaluate the following:

• Who to use? – Depending on the services you need, interview several moving companies before deciding. It’s important to get written quotes because there are many variables in how they choose to charge. Services offered by most include packing, moving, storage and insurance. There are websites like Moving Guru that let you evaluate several movers at once. Most companies charge by weight. A few companies, such as ABU U-Pack, use containers and/or trailers. They drop off the container(s) and give you as specified amount of time, usually several days, to load your boxes and furniture. Then they pick up the containers for moving.

• Should I pack myself? – It is less expensive but more time consuming to pack your own stuff, even considering the cost of boxes and packing material, as moving companies charge by weight and tend to overuse packing material. However, some companies will not insure your move if you pack your own boxes. You need to be completely packed when the movers arrive or they’ll charge you for helping.

• Should I get insurance? – depending on the moving company and who does the packing, insurance is typically a wise choice, especially if you have expensive furniture or other valuables. It is not uncommon for household goods to get damaged over a long move.

• What about my car? If you can’t drive your car, you’ll need to use a moving company or an auto mover. In most cases, an auto mover is your best choice as they don’t charge by weight, like most movers.

• Will the mover provide storage? Most movers do offer storage but charge heavily for it. If you have to store your items, you might want to look into self storage. Either way, make sure the storage is in a safe area and has climate control so your furniture and goods won’t be damaged by humidity.

Moving costs vary depending on geography and the time of year. The worse months for moving companies are June and July, so avoid those if possible. If you have to move during those months, it’s best to plan as far ahead as possible. Whether you use a moving company or move yourself, be sure to prioritize and then calculate.

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