5 Hacks To Making Your Family Move Cheaper

Moving costs can quickly spiral out of control if you are moving across a long distance. While small trips work for close moves, moving across state lines will take much more planning. To keep costs down, consider the tips below to make a thrifty, organized move for your family.

Map What You Can

Don't move anything that doesn't have a space in your new house. If you're down-sizing to a smaller home, you may have a bedroom set that needs to go away. List the one that won't fit on CraigsList; even if you have to donate or discard the mattress, you can make a bit of money on items that won't fit in your new space.

Remember that in the end, it will cost you more to keep items that you

●     Moved unnecessarily

●     Need to sell for cheaper in order to sell faster

●     Will end up being donated instead of sold

Many families with children may be moving to a bigger house. Look for crowded spots in your current home for items you can use in your new space. If the play area incudes shelf units that are hard to keep organized, place oddly shaped toys in plastic tubs and split out the shelves to use as nightstands for older children. Don't buy new furniture or storage containers until you get settled in your new space.

Move What You Use

Enter each space with

●     a plastic tub for what you want to keep

●     a box for items you plan to sell

●     a white bag for donation items

●     a black bag for garbage

Now is your time to purge. Broken furniture can be used to draw attention to your moving sale; just because you didn't get around to fixing that chair, someone else may be drawn to it and happy to buy other things you need to get rid of. Local family shelters can use children's clothing that no longer fits if you don't have time for a moving sale.

Pack nothing that won't have a spot and a purpose in your new home. Do your best to go through each closet, chest of drawers and box in the basement. Book the date for your moving or yard sale. You can use family members and friends when it comes to making sales and answering questions while you go through your purging process.

Don't Try to Move in a Small Vehicle

If you own a minivan or an SUV, you can easily carry your family and some of your belongings in the car. However, with the price of gas and the worry about wear and tear, it may be more effective to use a car shipping company that offers services from Oregon to California and other US states. Multiple family vehicles can be transported this way, and you and your family can drive comfortably in one vehicle, or even travel by air.

If you have a family sized vehicle and a pickup truck, you may have other options. That being said, make sure that parents split the load to share driving stress and children stress; not every child moves well. Do make it an adventure by planning stops for picnics and a bit of running around.

Use the Resources You Have

Friends may offer to help you move. Call them on it. Ask your friends with children to host your children for a day or an overnight so you can do some packing, sorting and cleaning. Ask your photographer friend to take photos of your belongings so you can sell them more quickly.

Take inventory of all your luggage. Put the word out that you are looking for big suitcases and duffel bags with wheels; you can borrow these and ship back via bus or train. Go through all your plastic tubs and make sure everything in there needs to move with you.

Empty out all your linen cabinets and kitchen drawers to collect all the soft goods you can find. Before you pay for bubble wrap, sandwich your breakables between towels, sheets and blankets. Boxes can be collected from local law firms and accounting firms; paper boxes offer terrific uniformity for stacking.

Create a Staging Area in Your Home

As you pack and get rid of things, clear one wall in your bedroom or a room you can make off limits. Label boxes on perpendicular sides and across the top for ease in your new home. Make sure that your children have easy access to their own box or bin so they're less tempted to dig into sealed boxes.

With the right planning and some help from friends and family, you can move without busting the budget. Start selling what you don't need immediately. Stash this cash to cover the cost of the truck and for deposits and repairs at your new place.