Moving can be a hectic thing to organize. You need to keep in mind money, time, and other resources, and the cost of making a mistake can come in many forms, from losing a beloved item to wasting hours and hours of your time when you least want to. This is why it is essential to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls of moving. To help you along, here are a few tips for scheduling movers and estimating time/cost!
Tips for scheduling
- Always hire movers in advance. The fact of the matter is, even if you plan to move during the offseason, which is typically from May to August, you might not be able to hire your preferred movers just several days before your move. If you want to hire the best possible company in your area, it is natural that the competition will be fierce! In addition, it is both polite and preferable to give the moving company time to prepare for your move, too, making this one of the most common moving mistakes.
- Schedule your move early in the week. Most people would think that the best time to move is during the weekend. After all, you are off work and can focus on it, right? Wrong! It is because most people think this way that moving companies are at their busiest during the weekend, which means they would not be able to dedicate as many resources to your move as they could during a weekday! If you schedule your relocation at the beginning of the week, they will be able to send several teams to finish your move quickly and efficiently instead of sending a bare-bone crew.
- Try to schedule your move for March or April. The reason for this is simple: weather. During the winter season, starting from May, rain is very frequent and heavy in many places. This poses a serious obstacle to your move since the company won’t work as efficiently and your furniture and other belongings will be in danger of getting soaked! Planning for March or April will let you take advantage of the off-season prices and mover availability. You would also avoid the bad weather.
Tips for estimating time
- Know what you need to do. When moving house, it is imperative to write down your tasks. Knowing exactly what and when you need to do will keep you moving forward. It will also allow you to know how much time it would take you to get everything. For example, you might entirely disregard the time it would take you to move your items into temporary storage on the day of the move, while in reality, it would eat away at least several hours of your day!
- Ask your moving company how much manpower they will employ. Now, this is an important one! It is also the reason why we insisted on picking the right time to schedule your move. If you have followed our advice, chances are you will be getting a sizable crew to help you move. This will help you estimate how quickly the move will progress and how many things you will need to do yourself if you are pressed for time and need to move quickly. If there are enough employees, you won’t even need to move all your furniture into the perfect spots yourself. You can take your time and ask them to do it for you.
- Take packing and unpacking into account. Most people forget to account for the time it would take them to pack up and unpack their things. Everyone who has ever packed knows that to do it properly takes absolute ages! In addition, the reality of the situation is that you will likely be unpacking long after your movers have left. And you really can’t declare a move truly over until you have done it! So, don’t leave your packing for the last minute. And don’t forget to take into account the time it will take you to unpack!
Take kids and pets into account. If you follow our advice, your kids will likely be in school while the move is in progress. Therefore, they won’t be exposed to the chaos of it. However, there’s still taking them to and from school and preparing their meals to think of. It all takes time! In addition, planning a move around a pet can be tricky! They panic very easily and can possibly make a mess of your things. This will waste a lot of your time to fix. That’s why you should probably ask someone to keep an eye on them just for a day or two. Thus, allowing you to avoid the common mistakes of moving with pets.
Tips for estimating the cost of your move
- Ask for a moving estimate. Any good moving company will offer you a realistic estimate of the moving costs. This will allow you to budget appropriately and better keep an eye on your finances!
- Always keep in mind the required supplies. Unfortunately, you have to keep in mind that the cost of the moving company is not the only expense you need to keep an eye on. The cost of boxes, storage containers, storage units, fees, and many others all compound to increase the cost of your move! Do not just take the estimate you got at face value, and remember to write down a list of everything you need to pay.
- Take out insurance. It might seem costly and pointless, but if you take out insurance, you will save a lot of trouble if any of your items, or even your home, are damaged during the chaos that is a move! In such a scenario, you would actually be saving money instead of ‘wasting’ it on precautions!
Final Words
We know there is a lot to keep in mind when moving. However, if you follow our tips for scheduling movers and estimating time/cost, you will be just fine! The important thing is to properly prepare yourself and your family for the tasks ahead so that you can manage them without becoming overwhelmed.