When you plan on moving it’s important to plan every single part of the process, including the expenses. The last thing you want is a hidden expense ruining your move or putting you in the red financially.
Thankfully, we have a simple checklist you can follow to make sure you’re accounting for every part of the moving process. Read on to discover our moving expenses checklist.
How to Create a Moving Expenses Checklist
Creating a moving expenses checklist may seem overwhelming at first, especially if you don’t know what to put on it. Plus, everyone’s exact checklist will vary based on their needs. To create a moving expenses checklist you want to include all of the associated costs of moving ranging from insurance to tipping your movers.
To start, make sure you write everything down and create a budget. From there, you’ll want to include all of the key services you plan on using for your move to ensure that you stick to that budget.
Why a Moving Expenses Checklist Is Important
Creating a checklist for your expenses is important because it enables you to track your expenses and form a budget. It helps to have an idea of how much money you’ll have to spend on your next move, and having a checklist will help you start the budget creation process.
Otherwise, how would you even know where to start when considering the price of a move? Having a simple checklist helps you keep the process right.
Our Moving Expenses Checklist
There are a lot of factors to consider when you’re moving. You need to factor in additional expenses, the distance of the move, packing supplies, and much more. We’ll take you through our top five items you need to include in your moving expense checklist.
The Moving Services You Need
First and foremost, you need to consider the moving services that you need. We’re referring to additional services like cleaning items, assembling furniture, and even prolonged storage.
These little services can add up, so check with moving companies and make sure you add any additional services you plan on using to your moving expense checklist. Typically, you have to contact the company or visit their website to discover what additional services they have to offer.
Moving Vehicles
One of the biggest expenses you have to account for is the amount of vehicles you’ll need. If you’ll be transporting your things yourself, you may not have to worry about this cost, but if you plan on renting a UHaul or another similar truck you need to consider the cost.
Now, if you’re renting a truck for the day it may only cost you $20 to $50 plus fuel. However, if you’re working with professional movers and a handful of trucks, rates can be as high as $100 per hour.
Packing Supplies
Another cost you have to consider is packing supplies, which is one that a lot of people tend to forget about. You’ll need to have a lot of bubble wrap, plastic wrap, tape, labels, boxes, and much more.
While these items don’t cost a lot on their own, you’ll find that they can add up fast if you’re buying a lot of packing supplies. For this reason, you should add a few hundred bucks to your moving expenses checklist for packing supplies.
Additional Fees
It’s important to note that some moving companies may have fees, so if you’re working with one you need to be aware of any deals you make or contracts you sign. For example, some moving companies may have fees for extra stops and cancellations.
In fact, some moving companies may even charge an additional fee for big and bulky items, so keep a couple of hundred dollars around for any additional fees. Plus, you may even want to tip your movers if you’re working with a company.
Calculate Your Moving Expenses Today
Creating a moving expenses checklist is only the first part of the process because you have to calculate how much everything will cost. While you can toss it all into a spreadsheet and guess, why not be more precise?
If you want to find out exactly how much it will cost to move after you’ve completed your checklist, we always recommend using a moving cost calculator. These tools will help you add everything up and give you an estimate of what the total cost of your move will be. Plus, you can take the items directly from your moving expenses checklist, so most of the work is already done.
