How to Reduce Your Moving Cost and Improve Your Health

Think of the move as forced minimalism, a mental cleansing, and a fantastic way to start fresh and clutter free at destination. Moving your home has become a very expensive but necessary cost, as well as being extremely stressful. There are a few ways of reducing the cost and in a roundabout way destress your day-to-day life after the move. It all comes with a prerequisite of time upfront and a different mindset going forward. Taking the time to do this in our time strapped world is the challenge. Time is very precious but if you want to reduce costs and increase your long-term piece of mind you must spend it up front.

People are waiting until the last minute to organize or arrange their move. This results in moving stuff you may never look at in your new home or even unpack in some cases. Worse than that you lose the chance to declutter. Clutter is a very mentally draining condition that will follow you everywhere you go. As Jon Kabat-Zinn said, “wherever you go, there you are”. You must try to leave those old habits behind and start fresh in your new home.

We tend to measure ourselves against the stuff we own. Online shopping, sentimental memories, and a need to monetize our existence leads some of us to have way too much stuff. Moving is the perfect time to take control of your environment. You can reduce your long-term stress by purging some of the unneeded stuff cluttering your home and your mind pre move. Get a game plan, commit to it, and turn your phone off. Designate a “No media” time. We spend an average of 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media a day. Lock your phone down for 1 hour and attack your stuff, it will be time very well spent. If you must, must, must use your phone, use it wisely, take pictures of the items you want to sell and post them for sale.

Start with one hour and one room. Three options 1) chuck out, 2) donate, and 3) take, that is it, period, be ruthless. Perhaps you do just one pantry, you are making progress that is one step forward. Next day 1 hour do the same thing. Pack with a friend, have them hold up the item, and you decide what to do with it. When you handle the item, it makes you nostalgic and tempted to keep the stuff so have someone else hold it up. Have some fun, make the thumbs up keep it, thumbs down trash it, or thumb sideways donate it. If you have not used it or wore it in a year do not move it. No need for heavy lifting either. Pack the box and leave the boxes in that room out of the way, don’t move them around just pack and stack an empty box near or on top and pack the next one. You can also hire a home organizer to help you figure things out.

You are not ordering a pizza, you are moving most everything you own, so pre-plan. Speak to a few professional moving consultants for advice and a price, well ahead of the move. A professional moving consultant will provide a lot of great information, on the cost of moving some undecided items and possibly some alternative shipping methods. They can also provide information on packing, and have the proper boxes for all your goods, as well as paper, tape, and instructions. If you are being relocated, ask about the relocation package, and speak to a mover prior to signing off. Most lump sum programs don’t cover the expense of a move, let alone everything else relating to a relocation. The lump sum is meant to help but does not cover most moves, be aware there is going to be out of pocket expenses and the more you reduce or pack the further your allowance takes you.

Unless you are a secret agent or on the lamb, most of us just don’t kneejerk a move into our lives, so take a little upfront time to get your life in order. The time you spend upfront will follow you into your new home and pay itself forward. Moving can be a very positive adventure and one that can eliminate stress in the long run. It is all in how you approach it.

PS Moving is a perfect time to Go Green and approach your new home with an environmentally sustainable mindset. If you are disposing of chemicals and non-admissible items, please use your local environmental disposal protocol. See our grassroots challenge