Real Estate
5 Cost-Saving Tips for Moving Time
Decamp mid month and other ways to save without schlepping it yourself.
By Laura Cohn, Associate Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, May 2010
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This story has been updated since it originally published.
1. You Don't Have to Pay Full Freight. A cross-country move for a three-bedroom home can cost as much as $8,000. Figure $6,000 for the actual move (movers charge about $100 per 100 pounds, and the average room adds up to 1,000 pounds), $1,700 for the packing and $250 for the insurance. Movers are busiest on the last ten days of the month, so a move mid month should get you a better price and better service. If you can wait to move off-season, between October and April, you could save 10%. Get several written estimates with rates per hour (for a local move) or per pound (for an interstate move). Bids should cover every room in your house and should be done in person.
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2. Self-help will save you big bucks. Macho do-it-yourselfers do it all: pack, load and haul. Renting a 17-foot truck to drive your stuff from a three-bedroom house in Washington, D.C., to Phoenix will set you back more than $1,000. But if just thinking about schlepping everything on your own brings on a migraine, you could hire a couple of local teenagers or college students to help pack and stow. Then hire a container company, such as ABF U-Pack Moving or PODS, to make the cross-country drive. Cost: more than twice as much as renting a truck, but only about one-third of the cost of a full-service move. No matter what you decide, move your valuables yourself so that you don't have to worry about them.
3. Don't get boxed in. Before you buy boxes and packing materials, ask your friends for castoffs -- and go to the liquor store, grocer or recycling center to pick up discards. If you need to buy more, online outfits such as BoxesDelivered.com and Boxkits.com tend to have cheaper stuff than office-supply stores. And don't forget incentives from the U.S. Postal Service.
4. Kick the tires. If you're moving across town, ask around for recommendations. Then go to the Better Business Bureau's Web site (www.bbb.org) and make sure that there haven't been any complaints filed against your prospects. If you're moving across state lines, your first pit stop is the Web site of the American Moving & Storage Association (www.promover.org), a trade group. If you have a firm you want to use for an interstate move, you can make sure it's licensed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and view the company's complaint and safety record by clicking the "Search Movers & Complaint History" link at www.protectyourmove.gov.
5. Let Uncle Sam help pay for it. If your move is job-related, you may be able to deduct some of your moving expenses whether or not you itemize your deductions. You must move within a year of your first day at the new job. In addition, your new office has to be at least 50 miles farther from your old house than your old office was. If you qualify, you can deduct the cost of moving your household goods and traveling, but not meals (see IRS Publication 521, Moving Expenses).
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Reader Comments (3)
Posted by: Todd Fernandez at 04/28/2010 11:17:17 PM
I'm sorry but #2 is wrong for almost every situation. As someone who is currently planning a cross country move, we found that when you include all the costs associated with a 'you drive yourself' kind of move and a 'pods' move its nearly a wash. Adding in full service is maybe 30% more on top but not double by any means. Driving yourself adds to expenses in gas hotels and other expenses in ways very few people plan for. You also will inevitably overestimate or understimate the size of your stuff and either get to much or to little. The pros are the pros and have much less of this problem. This is coming from somebody who worked in the self move industry all through college.
Posted by: Josh at 08/06/2010 03:08:47 PM
You might also consider 1-800-PACK-RAT in that mix - we've got a steel container, which can be a factor, depending on the kinds of goods you're considering.
Posted by: David Metcalf at 08/18/2010 04:50:05 PM
I have to disagree with Todd - although prices in the moving business can change dramatically based on supply and demand, on average a long-distance move using PODS is much less expensive than a full-service move, but there are always cases where a "lane" between two particular cities in a given week is different. Our agents are trained to help customers estimate the correct container sizes for their needs. We help tens of thousands of families move each year, and most customers find that the combination of moving and storage in one simple service makes their move more organized and less stressful. That's why our customers tell us that PODS is "The best moving and storage idea ever."