Eight Savings You Can Make When Moving House

This is a collaborative post but all thoughts and opinions are my own

Moving to a new house is of course very exciting, but according to research moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do in your life, even more, stressful than getting a divorce. Moving is very expensive, which won’t help your stress levels. Save on the cost of moving with these handy tips. 

1. Factor in all the costs of buying a property to avoid any nasty surprises. It’s not just the price of the house. Allow for closing costs, agent’s fees, surveys, and of course the cost of the move itself, from boxes to removal companies. Shop around for the best prices to save yourself some money.
2. Do the moving yourself. If you’re not moving very far or don’t have much in the way of large furniture, moving yourself can be pretty doable. Hire a large van and ask some friends to help you. However, if you’re moving a long way, or have challenges to deal with like a tight staircase, valuable furniture or an apartment, use a professional moving service. If you damage your furniture, it’ll cost you more to replace than if you’d just used the professionals.
3. If you need to use a storage facility to store your things before your new place is ready, look for flexible options like http://storebox.co.uk/self-storage-manchester/, to avoid paying for more time than you need.
4. Don’t spend a fortune on total redecoration when you move in. Spread the cost out and instead make small, cheap decor changes to make the house more neutral. Cover dingy paint with cheap paint in a light colour. You can even repaint kitchen cabinets to disguise them if they’re outdated.
5. Declutter and sell old items on. A move is a great excuse for a declutter. If you have less stuff to move, you can hire a smaller van and the move won’t take as long, which could save you on removal costs. List some of your old items on eBay to make back some of the moving costs. If the items aren’t possible to sell you can bag it all up for a rubbish removal company to take away.
6. Try to arrange your move for a cheaper time of year. Most removal companies will charge more during the summer, as the longer, drier days make it a more popular time to move. Weekends, especially Saturdays, are busier too. If you can, try and move on a weekday or during the autumn or winter.
7. Save on packing materials. Save any cardboard boxes or other packing you have at home from deliveries, and use them for packing. Old newspapers or magazines are great for wrapping any breakable items. Fragile items could also be wrapped in things like your clothes, towels or bedding to save on buying packing materials.
8. Redirect your mail. If you forget to do this, you could easily end up missing bills and end up owing late payment fees. Stay on top of your finances, by changing your address with any service providers and setting up a redirect with the Post Office to catch anything you missed.