No matter how much you have recently decluttered and purged, moving a house can be quite expensive. Bulky and heavy items can add to the cost, especially if you are moving over greater distances. While a move across the country will require careful management of square inches, moving to a place like Hawaii will require you to really watch the weight of your belongings. Here are some tips on how to save money for your family when moving homes, and what to consider.
Get Your Head in Camping Mode
What do you and your family really need to survive and be satisfied? Go through each room of your house and note what you really have to have to be well-nourished and enjoy your life. You’ll have to go through pairing down in a couple of main stages. First, what do you need to survive in the immediate future while you are in the moving phase? Second, what will you like to have at your new home versus what kind of things you’d like to get rid of in order to start over new?
Pare Down Your Household Possessions
* In your kitchen: Can you build a repertoire of one-pot meals that you can cook in a single skillet? Cooking pots are both bulky and heavy. Consider investing in a few straight-sided skillets that you can use to make the majority of your food. Do you need one bowl for mixing muffins and another for tossing a salad, or can you double up? Get enough basic plastic plates, cups, and flatware that everyone can use to eat a basic meal, and start to wean your clan off using every dish in the house every day. If you don’t need things, sell or donate them. On items, you don’t want to give up, box them up and prep them to ship to your new home. The USPS flat-rate boxes can take up to 70 pounds.
* In your family room: Check out your family room for the items you really use. Do you have family game nights? Make room for the games you really love in your biggest suitcases, but be ready to either ship or get rid of rarely used movies and games. A few pieces of technology can wipe out the need for DVDs. If you can wait, order these items for delivery to your new home.
* In your bedrooms: Itemize your bedrooms and look for ways to consolidate your linens. If you have delicate items that need extra padding, wrap them in spare sheets that you can immediately launder and put on your bed when you arrive. Go through your closets and try everything on. If it doesn’t fit well, it doesn’t go with you. Hang it up for the moving sale.
* In your bathrooms: Consolidate your bathroom necessaries into large Ziploc bags. If you are a stock up and save shopper, you may have multiple containers of shampoo, body wash, and lotion. As soon as you know that you’re moving, stop spending on these items and start using them up. You can save money and lighten your load, ounce by ounce.
Every Ounce Counts
When it’s time to go through the garage, you may be dismayed by the weight of your bicycles, tools, and other gear. You may choose to become a one-car household. Be aware that by shipping family cars and motorcycles to places like Hawaii, you will need to send it empty of your belongings and low on gas. If there are tools that you will need in Hawaii, such as tools for renovating, you will want to price out the cost of a small pod, a crate, or simply buy or rent tools at your new location.
Suitcases
Hard-sided suitcases will be extremely helpful on your move to Hawaii. Because duffels can be overstuffed and strapped tight, you will want to use these for clothing and linens. Your more fragile items will need to go in hard-sided suitcases.
Start hitting moving sales, yard sales, and estate sales as soon as you know that you are moving. If you can find hard-sided suitcases without wheels, buy them. A small collapsible trolley can be purchased that will hold your case and travel easily to your new home. Wrap the fragile items that you want with you in towels and blankets.
Finally, make sure that the suitcases contain the necessaries for the first few days for everyone. This includes
* sheets and a pillow
* a towel and toiletries
* pajamas and a change of clothing
Unless you’re going to spend the first night or two in a rental, having the chance to bathe, change and make your bed is critical to a happy move to your new home.
Moving house doesn’t have to break the bank. You may need to sell some things and downsize to get on the road. It will be worth the work to keep moving costs to a minimum.
When I moved I hired a moving van because I knew that I would not be able to pare down to the absolute necessities. However if I was to move to Hawaii perhaps I could make the sacrifices!