Among a plethora of things pulling your attention when moving, your expenses are one of the most significant. It can be quite tricky to keep track of your moving day expenses, given the array of provisions you need to make for the move.
Creating and sticking closely to a well-knit budget enable you to keep your finances in check while executing your move. Don’t just jot things down on random pieces of papers. Use a spreadsheet, and keep entries of every expense paid for. Typically, your budget spreadsheet should have entries for the following items:
- Storage Unit
- Removalists
- Moving Materials
- Transportation/Travelling
- Food
- Settling In
Storage units are crucial to your short-term and long-term storage needs. Calculate the cost of the storage unit you need based on the size and the duration of usage, and include it in your budget.
You might want to consider enlisting the help of professional movers to assist you with the heavy lifting. You’ll most likely want their help if you’re moving a fairly large amount of goods, as you wouldn’t want your family and friends ending up with backaches and sore muscles after your moving day.
Better yet, you can share the burden between family and friends and removalists. Just let your moving service providers know the extent to which you want them involved in the moving day, and enter their quotes in your budget.
These are one of the moving-day expenses that can easily get out of hand. Some essential moving materials include furniture covers, cardboard boxes, bubble wraps, dolly, etc. You should also budget for cleaning materials such as brooms, garbage bags, soaps, detergents, etc.
If you’re hiring a moving vehicle, then this part of the budget can be entered along with the company’s quote in your budget spreadsheet. Otherwise, you may have to set aside a different section of your budget for your transportation cost. Get quotes from multiple truck rental services and choose the one that best suits you. You’ll also need to account for petrol costs.
If you’re moving to a different town or city, you need to plan your trip comprehensively in advance. You need to budget for the cost of temporary accommodation, including motel rooms or hotel rooms.
Your moving day will most likely disrupt many aspects of your life, including your eating cycles. You might find yourself spending a lot eating out, especially when you’re travelling. You need to plan and budget for your moving day meals to spend money cost-effectively on nutritious meals.
Finally, the last but not the least category of expenses you want to note in your budget is your settling-in bills. When setting up your new home, you need to see to utilities expenses like gas, water, electricity, new fittings and furniture, and possibly even landscaping. You need to capture every possible expense you might pick up while settling into your new location.
These are the typical items you want to budget for meticulously. Setting aside a budget for all these items will help ensure you spend money prudently during your moving day.