Knowing how much a move is going to cost you can help you budget properly. While you cannot know the exact cost down to the penny, you can easily estimate how much your self-move is going to cost and then you can compare it to the cost of hiring professional movers. Below, we will go over some things to consider while estimating the cost of your self-move.
- The Moving Truck
You can call and get an estimate for the price of your moving truck, but you will typically pay a flat fee to rent the truck per day then an additional fee for the number of miles you put on the truck.
For example, you may be able to rent a truck for $19.95 per day and then 59 cents for every mile. Therefore, if you are using the truck for one day and you plan to travel round trip 130 miles, your total cost would be around $100 give or take a few bucks.
- Packing Supplies
You will now need to estimate how many packing supplies you will need. You know you will need tape, boxes, bubble wrap, labels, and similar. Shop around for some boxes and then determine how many you think you need.
There are a number of estimators online that you can use to determine how many boxes you need for your entire house.
- Gas
Yep, you cannot forget about gas for your moving truck and your vehicles. Consider how many gallons of gas you think you will need based on how many miles you will be driving and how many miles per gallon your vehicle gets. You can round this number up or down a bit to adjust it for your budget accordingly.
- Moving Equipment
You will also need to consider the price of moving equipment. If you do not want to purchase the dollies needed for your move, consider renting them. You may be able to rent a single dolly for $10 for the day. Get some quotes and shop around to help you estimate the price correctly.
- Hidden Fees
The last thing you need to consider is the cost of your hidden items such as food, any lodging on the way to your new home, drinks, cleaning charges, and similar.
There are quite a few charges when it comes to performing a self-move, but only you can determine if the price works for you. Once you have your self-move price, compare it to the price of hiring movers and then go from there.
Comments are closed.