Seven Hidden Moving Costs
Hidden Moving Cost #1: Extra Boxes
You can usually estimate how many boxes you’ll need for a move but it’s easy to come up short. Have you considered the extra closet in the guest room or the piles of junk in your garage? It might be a good idea to ask the movers if they think you’ll need more boxes as soon as they arrive so that you’re not rushing out to the store when you’re ready to load up the last few pieces of furniture.
Hidden Moving Cost #2: Cleaning
When my wife and I moved the time before last we did a very stupid thing. Rather than leaving our cleaning products out for use after we were ready to move, they were one of the first things we packed. Even if you’re more intelligent than my wife and I, however, you might still need to pick up a few more cleaning products to get your old homestead in tip-top shape. Consider the floors, the walls, the windows, the counters, the showers, toilets and even the gutters.
Hidden Moving Cost #3: Truck Costs
If you’ve decided to forgo the moving van with the movers, you’ll need to rent a moving truck. Be careful, though, because the up-front costs are rarely what you’ll end up paying. If you fail to note damage to the cargo area or truck exterior before you leave, you might be charged for dents and dings. Furthermore, you can also be charged for going over the allotted miles or for additional insurance if your carrier won’t cover you.
Hidden Moving Cost #4: Breakables
Even if your movers are careful they are likely to break something — and that something might be your grandmother’s antique secretary or your wedding china. Make sure that all of your valuables are properly insured before you hire movers and supervise their job as closely as possible to warn about highly breakable objects.
Hidden Moving Cost #5: Refreshments
If you’ve decided to elicit the help of your friends and family rather than movers, you might save a bundle on hourly wages but you’ll need to provide refreshments all day long. Make sure you have plenty to drink for everyone (coolers of Gatorade work well for this purpose) as well as the fixings for sandwiches or other easy-to-prepare meals.
Hidden Moving Cost #6: Damage to Your House
As careful as your movers might be with your larger furniture, they might still strip the paint of your walls or chip the baseboards in your living room. You can prevent some of this damage by using moving blankets and other safeguards, but you can’t prevent every potential calamity.
Hidden Moving Cost #7: Cost of Living
Whether you’re moving across the country or just shimmying across town, it will be a few days before you settle into the domestic routine. This means lots of eating out and spending money where you normally wouldn’t, so plan to have enough money to live as though you were on vacation. Most families take about a week to sufficiently settle in to start cooking dinners and living normally.
