Save time & Money When You Move Cross Country

By Scott Boone

Image courtesy of wikipedia

Being a local mover here in Jacksonville doesn’t mean that I don’t help local families move from state to state, because I do.  But whether you’re moving from Florida to Mississippi, or from coast to coast, there are a number of things you need to take into consideration if you want to keep from wasting time and money on a long-distance move.

      1.      Time is money – Any time you move more than a few hundred miles, you’re going to have to deal with moving expenses that a move across town doesn’t involve.  Just as you and your family have to deal with the added logistics of food, fuel and lodging as the length of a move increases, so too does your mover.  Add to this the fact that some national moving chains will even offload your belongings from one truck to another, or from truck to warehouse to yet another truck, and the added complexities of a multi-truck move can add to your aggravation as well as the expense.  That’s because every time your cargo is loaded, unloaded and reloaded, this takes time.  It also increases the likelihood that something can get lost in transit.  Unless you plan on moving from Florida to the west coast, chances are you can find a reputable local mover who is not only willing to move your belongings from state to state but will do so in the same truck that shows up at your front door.  (Make sure you ask any prospective movers if they are going to offload your belongings at any place other than your intended destination.)

     

Image courtesy of wikimedia

2.      Weed them and reap – When it comes to weeding out the chaff from the wheat in the moving business, beware the low-ball hucksters who try to lure you in with impossibly low prices.  Just as in any industry, there are movers out there who prey on the unwary by failing to mention a number of items that are not included in their initial estimate only to show up when it’s time to pay up.  Particularly companies who charge you by the pound can take advantage of this factor in spades by lowballing the estimated weight of your belongings only to tell you at your destination that you owe them hundreds of dollars more.  Fail to pay up and they will either refuse to unload your goods or could even impound them until you accede to their demands.

Always make sure you thoroughly vet prospective movers by checking out their ratings and video testimonials online.  You’d be surprised at what you can find out about a company with a web search.  Does a mover have any negative reviews?  How long have they been in business?  Failure to weed out underhanded operators can cost you big once they have your stuff in their truck.  Don’t find out after the fact that you’re dealing with a bottom feeder.

      3.      Plan the work and work the plan – As I have pointed out in numerous blogs, packing is not for sissies.  Unless you’re willing to pay your mover to pack your belongings, you need to create and execute a plan that will enable you to gather, sort and box most everything you own.  Unless you want to live in a sea of boxes, you’ll also need to find or rent a space to collect the boxes you pack.  This could be as simple as parking your cars outside to use your garage as a temporary warehouse, or you could consider having a portable moving pod delivered to your driveway to help keep the chaos to a minimum.

When it comes to the amount of time you’ll need to break down and pack up your belongings, it comes down to 2 factors: How big of a home do you own and how much time per day can you devote to packing.  While a 1-bedroom home can be packed is as little as 2-days, a 4-bedroom home could take a week or more to box up.  That doesn’t taking into consideration the effect the packing process will have on your schedule or that of your family.

If you have school aged kids running around and don’t want to interrupt their activities that require you to supervise or transport them, you could well wind up doing your packing late at night or on the weekend.  This will lengthen the number of days it will take you to completely pack up your home.   The most important thing to remember is the closer to the date of your move you get, the more frantic you’ll become in your haste to complete the task before the movers show up.  Take this into consideration when you create a workable plan that will enable you to completely pack up without having a nervous breakdown. 

Image courtesy of flickr

      4.      Don’t forget to write – Another thing that many homeowners save until the last second is to make sure that they turn off the utilities, phone and cable service at their old residence and initiate them at their new one.  You’ll also want to write your credit card companies and any other creditors to give them your new address prior to departing your current address.  If your employer is going to have to mail your final paycheck, you need to make sure they have your new address. Last but not least, make sure you submit a change of address card to the post office. 

While neglecting to contact your creditors may not seem like such a big thing now, as you get closer and closer to moving day, you’ll be surprised at how this can block out the sun.  I suggest you write this item down on your moving checklist, so you can get to it at least one week prior to your move.  Forget this and the people who bought your old house might get an unexpected bonus when you give them a free month of cable TV at your expense.

With over 5,000 moves, Scott's Discount Movers has handled moves of all sizes, including local and cross country. If you are looking to move your home or office, you can depend on Scott's Discount Movers to provide a stress-free relocation.