When it comes time to move your home, one of the biggest stress factors tends to be tied to your finances. However; moving doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.  There are several ways to handle your local move or your long distance move strategically so that you are spending the least amount of money possible on moving services.  

• Organization and preparation are both key factors to an affordable move.  Your local professional movers are more than capable of completing every single task necessary to complete your move, but most of the time a full-service move like that is not 100% necessary.  One way to prepare for a much quicker, thus much less expensive moving cost, is to do all of your packing in advance of your moving date.  Pack and label all of your boxes and designate a room in your home where all of your boxes will accumulate as they are sealed.  Moving smaller furniture into your box room is also a smart idea. This makes for a grab-and-go style move in which your moving crew is constantly placing items on the truck.  Having everything packed, and in the same general area makes for a shorter simpler path between the bulk of your belongings and the moving truck.  This speeds up the process and the quicker the process, the less expensive your move will be as most moving companies charge on an hourly basis for their services.
• If you are going to handle the packing portion of your move, purchasing boxes before your move day is another way you can cut down on your moving costs.  Your mover should have moving boxes on hand on the day of your move, but most moving companies sell exclusively new packing material. This packing material tends to be more expensive as opposed to boxes or containers you may have access to elsewhere.  Saving on packing material saves you money on your moving day.
• While organizing your moving boxes, furniture, and other smaller items; be sure to label boxes and containers according to their destination room at your new house.  If your movers know where to place everything, this will speed up your move, and speed is a huge indicator of how expensive your moving services will be when all is said and done.  Color coding will also work well in determining the room to which each box belongs.
• The absolute most important factor in saving money for your upcoming move is hiring the right mover. This is something many people learn the hard way as many people base affordability on how low a moving company's hourly rate is.  Any local mover can hire day laborers off the street who are desperate for work. No temporary workers are near as experienced as actual professionals though, therefore; a random worker that a mover picks up off the street will cost much less to the moving company than actual trained professional employees.  A reputable moving company may charge considerably more per hour for their moving services, but in the long run will cost less overall than a rogue mover who hires anybody willing to work for low wages.  Temporary workers will drag their feet on the job to charge you more, on top of that you are putting your furniture in serious jeopardy if you hire the moving company with the lowest hourly rate.  

Do your part to prepare for your move date by following these steps but don't base your hiring decision on the lowest hourly rate no matter how tempted you may be.  You'll learn the hard way that you should have hired full time professionally certified movers.