Moving Budget Planner: The Costs You Need to Factor in to Your Moving Budget

Are you planning on moving sometime soon?

If so, there is so much you’re going to need to do. From selling your current home and getting everything out of it to finding a new home and bringing your things to it, you’re going to be very busy in the coming weeks and months.

Before you get started, it’s a good idea to come up with a moving budget so that you don’t overspend as you move. The American Moving and Storage Association reports that, on average, people usually spend more than $2,000 moving. Creating a budget could help you stay well under that amount.

Here are some of the costs you’ll need to consider when it comes time to put your moving budget together.

Moving Company

You could try and move all of your things on your own. But there’s a good chance you’ll need help moving at least some of the heavier items in your home.

To do this, you’ll need to call on a reputable moving company for assistance. They’ll be able to send movers to your current home whenever you want to take everything out of it.

Hiring a moving company is likely going to be one of your larger moving expenses. So take the time to look around at how much moving companies in your area are charging.

You don’t necessarily just want to go with the least expensive one. But you do want to price-shop and find one that won’t blow your entire moving budget.

Call on a moving company you can trust to ensure they do a great job while helping you move.

Full Value Protection Insurance

A good moving company will offer you some form of insurance to protect your belongings when they’re moving them.

However, more often than not, moving companies won’t extend full value protection insurance to their customers. As a result, people aren’t always able to collect the full value of any items that are damaged during a move from an insurance company.

If you have things that cost a lot of money that you’re going to be moving, consider obtaining a full value protection insurance policy. It’ll give you the peace of mind that comes along with knowing your possessions are protected.

Just make sure you factor the cost of additional insurance into your moving budget.

Moving Supplies

Before you hand over your personal possessions to a moving company, you’ll need to pack everything up properly. It’ll increase the chances of everything arriving safely at its final destination.

Grab a bunch of moving supplies when you begin to pack. Your moving supplies should include:

• Heavy-duty boxes in a variety of different sizes
• Shipping tape
• Labels
• Box cutters
• Permanent markers
• Bubble wrap
• And more

Moving supplies might not necessarily seem like a big expense. But once you start stacking boxes up in your home, you’ll quickly realize just how many supplies you really need.

It’s easy to spend several hundred dollars on moving supplies without blinking an eye. Account for all of your supplies in your moving budget.

Storage Unit

Do you need to move out of your current home before your new home is ready for you? Or do you have certain items in your current home that aren’t going to fit into your new home?

If you fall into either of these categories, you’re probably going to have to make room in your moving budget for a storage unit. A storage unit will allow you to store all or some of your things for the time being.

Fortunately, a storage unit usually won’t cost a fortune if you only need to use it for a short amount of time. But you will have to worry about getting everything out of your unit at some point and moving it to your home.

That could mean calling on your moving company again and having them move your stuff for a second time. It’s not the worst thing in the world if it means keeping your things safe. But you should, at the very least, make a note of it in your moving budget.

Temporary Housing

Ideally, you’ll move out of your current home and head straight to your new home and start staying there. But in the event that your new home isn’t available yet or is under renovation, you may need to stay somewhere else for a few nights.

If you have friends or family members that will take you in, it won’t cost anything. But if you don’t, you’ll likely need to rent a room at a hotel and eat the cost of it.

Meals

Most people who are moving underestimate how much they’ll spend on food during their move. They forget that they won’t be able to cook and will have to eat out multiple times every day for at least a few days.

If you can, try to plan out a way to keep your food and drink costs to a minimum. That might mean eating at a friend or family member’s house whenever possible. Or it might mean cooking up a bunch of food to eat prior to your move so that you can heat it up in the microwave in your new home.

No matter what you plan to do, just don’t forget about working meals into your moving budget.

Unexpected Expenses

You can spend hours and hours on end planning out your budget and think you have every single dollar accounted for. But chances are, something is going to come up and throw a monkey wrench into your plans at some point.

You’re going to find out that your huge couch doesn’t fit into your new home and be forced to put it into storage. Or you’re going to get to your new home and realize that something you really need got lost or is buried in a bunch of boxes, which will force you to run out and buy a new version of it.

Unexpected expenses are going to pop up on you out of nowhere. Try to budget a little extra money so they’re not such a surprise.

Start Creating Your Moving Budget Today

Coming up with a moving budget is the most effective way to prevent yourself from spending too much during your move.

As long as you factor in everything listed here, you should give yourself more than enough money to make your move a total success. You’ll reduce some of the stress you feel when you’re working with a budget.

Check out our blog for more helpful moving tips.