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Our top 10 ways to save money on your next move.

1 – Save parking spots with your cars.

This simple act can allow you to save hundreds of dollars on your upcoming move. Saving spots with your cars for the moving truck to park in will mean that you don’t have to purchase a parking permit from the City. The average parking permit for a residential move is around $270 from the City of San Francisco, so this is a big saving. Saving spots with your cars will also ensure that your movers do not have to double park therefor also eliminating the risk of a pricy double parking ticket from the City. The average moving trucks needs 3 – 4 spaces to safely park. If you can’t save spots with your car, check out our page on How to secure parking for your move for your other options.

2 – Get used boxes.

Before you start packing, see what used boxes and materials you can get for free from your local community. Moving supplies are not cheap so this is a great way to save some extra dollars on your move. Check out sites like Craigslist, Uhaul box exchange, Nextdoor and even Facebook to see what you can pick up. You can also give our friendly staff at CareMore Moving & Storage a call on 415-822-8547 and ask if they have any used boxes available for your move. Our advice here at CareMore Moving is that when using used boxes, always try and get the standard uniformed size boxes, small, medium and large and also only get boxes that have only been used once. When you use boxes that have been used multiple times, the structure of the box becomes weak and they provide less protection for all your delicate items.

3 – Do the disassembly and reassembly yourself.

Here at CareMore Moving our fully trained staff are always happy and capable of disassembling and reassembling anything that our clients need us to, but if you are trying to make your move go a little faster and keep the costs down, doing this yourself is a great way to do so. A few tips if you decide to do this would be, only take items apart that your know for certain have to be disassembled, most items typically can make it out safely without being taken apart and on most moves it is generally only the beds and table that need to be disassembled. Take pictures of the items before you take them apart, that way it is much easier to remember how to put them back together. Place all hardware in a zip lock bag and tape it securely to the piece, this way the hardware always remains with the piece and nothing ever gets misplaced.

4 – Have the elevators reserved at each location.

When possible always remember to ask your building if you are able to reserve the elevators for your upcoming move. This will mean that your movers will have exclusive access to them and will not have to take turns sharing the elevators with other moving companies, tenants, delivery guys etc. This will mean that your movers will be much more efficient which will make your move quicker and save you them all important dollars.

5 – Move all of the smaller items yourself.

When trying to save yourself some money and reduce the cost of your move, reducing the labor costs is one sure fire way to decrease that final bill. If you have a lot of small items, the movers, no matter how good they are will still need to make multiple trip up and down to their truck to load these smaller items, and that extra time can really add up. Think about making a few trips in your car the week leading up to the move. This will allow your movers to focus on the larger more tricky items which will help to keep the cost of your move lower.

6 – Use any discounts offered by your moving company.

Lets face it, we all love a good discount and there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to receive a discount on your move also. When choosing a moving company take a look and see what discounts they offer that you may be able to take advantage of. A lot of companies will offer Yelp, Facebook or Groupon discounts etc as well as discounts for referrals or for being a repeat customer. At CareMore Moving & Storage you can take advantage of our repeat customer discount, referral discount and also check out our Yelp discount and social media discount.

7 – Be fully packed when your movers arrive.

Sometimes the simple things can make the biggest difference. If you want to reduce the length of your move and keep the costs down, then being fully packed is the thing that will do this. Being fully packed when the movers arrive means that the movers can get straight to work and are able to focus on all the furniture and boxes rather than having to take time packing smaller items or making multiple trips to their truck with loose items. Being packed will also mean your items are more secure and also allow you to focus on other important aspects of the move rather than having to do last minute packing. All of which will speed up your move and keep the costs low.

8 – Clearly make all items with where they are going in your new home.

This may seem obvious but sometime the best ideas are. Clearly marking all boxes and furniture with what room you would like them to go in your new home will speed up your move. In turn this will save you money more than you will believe. Doing this one simple thing will mean that each time your mover makes a trip from their truck to your new home they will not have to stop and ask you where you would like the item to go, allowing the mover to quickly and efficiently move all of your items into their correct place, saving you time, money and also saving your back as you will now not have to move any boxes that may have been placed into the wrong room.

9 – Donate or sell any items you no longer want.

If you are looking to save money on your upcoming move you will certainly want to consider donating any items you no longer want or even selling them before you move. You can always check out our blog post on where to donate your furniture when moving and if you would like to sell some of your items before the move there are a number of great, easy to use sites out there that make it super easy such as Craigslist and Facebook Market Place.

Whether you are moving locally or long distance, the more items you can sell or donate before your move the cheaper your move will be. This is especially true for long distance moves that are typically charged by the weight. For longer distance moves, if you do the math, you’ll find that buying inexpensive furniture at your destination will likely be less money than moving your heavy cheap furniture.

10 – Hire a good moving company.

It may seem like a great idea at the time to hire the moving company that offers you the lowest hourly rate, but be careful, this could end up costing you more money in the long run. If you pay a little extra you will get a fully licensed and insured company. These companies will be much more efficient when moving your items and will also be fully trained. As a result your move will go quicker and your items will stay safe and sound. Cheaper companies may not be insured, hire unskilled workers and may be almost impossible to file a claim with if any of your items are damaged, all of which will end up costing you way more than it would of if you had of hired a top rated company.

November 27, 2020