Article by Joe Cline

Many people hire moving companies to take care of the transportation of their things from one home to another. If you’re trying to save money or just don’t want to deal with the hassle of hiring someone, the do it yourself route is a great option. Moving yourself has a lot of steps involved and if you get them all to work according to your plan, you’ll have as stress-free of a move as possible.

The first thing you need to do is develop a plan. You should start the moving process at least six full weeks ahead of your move date. This will give you enough time to get organized to move your things. It will also allow for any problems you may encounter along the way. You need to start by organizing how you’ll begin packing up your rooms. Obviously, start with the rooms you use less frequently and then work your way toward the other rooms.

Before you start packing, however, you’ll need to take an inventory of what you want to take with you and how much you’ll be selling, throwing out or putting in storage. Make an inventory of all of your mid-sized and larger items. Decide whether you’ll be keeping all of your furniture or buying new when you get there. For your smaller items, take note of the different collections of things that you have (books, clothing, jewelry, toys, etc.) Use this inventory to estimate how many boxes you’ll need to move.

You can buy brand new boxes from your rental truck company. You can also purchase them from office supply stores and shipping companies as well. If you want to cut costs on your moving boxes, ask local grocery stores if you can take left over produce boxes. Make sure to air them out overnight and then they’ll be ready to use to pack your belongings.

One of the biggest expenses involved in moving is the rental truck. Rental truck companies come in many different varieties – the good, the bad and the ugly. Read online reviews of various rental truck companies in your area to get a sense of which are the best. Ask for written quotes for the rentals, including any extra mileage that may be added to your trip. Once you’ve selected the right moving truck company, be sure to reserve your truck so it will be there on the day that you need it.

If you are traveling a long distance in your rental truck and car, you may have to make travel arrangements ahead of time. Figure out where you are going to stop on your route and make any necessary reservations so you can spend the night. You can also investigate rest stops and restaurants along your route by using the Internet. This will make your trip go a lot smoother.

As long as you plan carefully and make sure to give yourself enough time to pack, moving yourself can be easy and low on stress. The steps outlined above will give you a good headstart on your moving journey.

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