Let’s face it. Moving isn’t fun. In fact, it’s one of the most stressful and disruptive things that you can experience. It’s time-consuming and expensive, and it’s that stress that causes many of us to just not do it.
“Nope. No way. I’ll just stay here in this house, that in no way meets the needs of me and my family, rather than go through the stress of that,” you might be saying to yourself.
That stress can cause you to give up opportunities and live uncomfortably.
Most people think F.O.M.O only stands for Fear Of Missing Out. In this case, it can also mean Fear Of Moving Out.
We’re here to help with that. Moving doesn’t have to be the horrible, soul-destroying activity of your imagination. By doing a few simple things, you can turn F.O.M.O to J.O.M.O, where the J stands for Joy!
As stated, there is an instinct toward procrastination when it comes to planning your move. You understand that you should put your head down and get down to the business of ironing out the details, but Season 3 of Ozark just dropped and, well, it isn’t going to watch itself, now, is it?
As tempting as it is to spend the evening bringing your favorite show (or going for a walk, or playing with the kids, or…) the truth is that a little bit of extra work now can help you save a lot of money and, just as importantly, give you much more time to do the things you love.
Even those of us with the most basic understanding of business understand the basic idea behind supply and demand.
If something is scarce and in high demand, it will cost more than if there is ample supply and less demand.
The moving industry is no different. The cost of a move goes up when more people are trying to move at the same time. And, here in Canada, most people prefer to move in the summer, when there is less snow, ice, and cold to deal with.
Sometimes it’s not going to be possible to control exactly when you’re moving. That’s particularly the case where you are renting, but if you can control it, it’s best to wait until the demand has dropped.
That means the winter. With demand lower, movers will typically decrease their rates between September and April, which will provide you with a great opportunity to save money when moving.
Similarly, to the desire to move in the summer, most people also want to do the bulk of their move on a weekend – especially the final weekend of a month.
It’s understandable. Many people are off work on the weekends. If you can’t get time off work during the week, you may need to make the move on a weekend. However, like with the time of year, if you can take a day off mid-week and avoid the final weekend of the month, you can stand to save some significant money.
Maybe even enough money that you can use the next vacation day you use to truly spoil yourself!
Let’s face facts - that treadmill you bought 5 years ago has been a very expensive clothes hanger in the laundry room for the last 4.5 years. No judgment, but moving homes provides a great time to take an inventory of all your belongings and to have an honest evaluation of what you need and what you do not. Once you have done that, you can find those items in a new home by holding a Garage Sale or selling them on an online marketplace like Kijiji or Craig’s List.
That way, someone else gets to enjoy the item, you’re helping the environment by recycling rather than filling a landfill, and you have a little extra money in your pocket to pay for the move (not to mention you’re not spending money to move things you aren’t using).
There can often be a lot of small things that you forgot you paid deposits on that can add up to a big return. When renting, the largest of that might be your security deposit, but make sure you haven’t paid deposits on other items you may have rented, such as a modem or large appliance.
In addition to not leaving money on the table, also make sure that you return anything that you have rented during your stay. You don’t want to get hit with a surprise fee while you are setting up your new home.
There are aspects of a move that might be best left for the pros, but the more you do yourself, the less it will cost you in the end.
One easy way to save some money is to do your own packing. That will take a significant amount of time off of the move. Additionally, you can save yourself time on the other end, by organizing the boxes in such a way as to make unpacking easier.
To learn how to best accomplish that, check out our article on The best order to pack your home. Our ‘Guide to Moving, Packing, and Storage’ article can also help you make this experience the best it can possibly.
Ultimately, there’s no reason to fear moving. In fact, as illustrated, it can offer you an exciting opportunity that should be embraced, not feared!
