Unusual Ideas that Save Money when Moving

If you’ve ever moved a house full of furniture, accessories and personal belongings, you know how expensive it can be. It’s not like college, when you can just load up and old van with laundry baskets full of jean and sweatshirts and go truckin’ merrily down the road. Moving in the grown up world is more complicated and expensive, but here are a few unusual ideas you can use to save money.

Boxes

There are free boxes out there: You can get them from stores and from friends who work at companies where medium to large items are frequently delivered by carrier service. Some boxes are not worth the ‘free’ price tag, however if they are greasy, dirty or falling apart. For new, clean boxes, you can’t beat the prices and big box stores. They sell them flat and in different sizes. Pick up a dozen or so at a time, fill them up and then buy more as you need them. If you are hiring a moving company, they also will provide boxes but usually charge a fee that is higher than the prices at discount stores. However, some moving companies will let you have used boxes for free. Also ask your mover if they provide garment boxes: These are large upright boxes with a hanging rod; you just hang your clothes on the rod and close the box. They usually just let you ‘borrow’ these for the move. After you arrive at your destination, you unpack them and they take the boxes with them.
Packing Suppliers

In addition to potentially spending a fortune on boxes, you could lay out a lot of cash for packing supplies like bubble wrap, packing peanuts and padded boxes to hold fragile items like vintage glassware or wall art. These items are necessary to keep fragile items from breaking because they provide airspace; this airspace keeps boxed items from banging, shifting and breaking.

• Bubble wrap is cheapest at discount and home improvement stores where it is sold in perforated rolls. Bubble wrap is a must between dishware and china and will keep fragile items safe when boxed.

• If you have a lot of magazines and recyclable paper on hand, skip the peanuts and start shredding whatever paper you have. Store it in garbage bags until you’re ready to use it. This makes great cushioning between fragile items like crystal and glassware and it keeps items from moving inside the box. As you unpack, place the shredded paper inside a previously unpacked box and then set it out to be picked up by your curbside recycling service.

• Other types of paper can also be simply wadded up and used to cushion items in a box: Rip out pages from old phone books or magazines. Wrapping paper is also a great option. Recycling your paper by shredding or wadding it also means you have less ‘stuff’ to move or get rid of and is a great way to keep your move eco-friendly.

• Specialty boxes for wall art work very well but you can save money by purchasing standard boxes and using a box cutter and package tape to reconfigure them as needed. Add padding around your artwork before sliding it into the box by using old towels and sheets; then fill in the dead space with shredded paper.