Budget Tips for Fall Moving

Our residential movers at All My Sons Moving & Storage know the holidays are incoming and budgets are tightening for all the upcoming fall moves. 

All My Sons Moving & Storage performs roughly 55,000 local moves all over the nation during the autumn months of September through November. While that’s a sharp dropoff from 80,000 local moves during peak moving season of summer, it’s still thousands of businesses, individuals, and families looking to scrape together the cash for their move.

Don’t skip your pumpkin spice latte if it brings you joy, try these five money-saving tips for fall moving instead.

A little preparation goes a long way in relieving moving stress and helping mitigate emergency expenses. As soon as you know you’re moving, get started on your moving checklist. Here are some things you can include in your preparation for your fall move that will help you save some change.

• Reserve Your Movers as Early as Possible: During fall, All My Sons recommends you book with your movers as soon as 4-8 weeks in advance if possible. You might be able to secure movers with less notice, but beware putting it off until the last minute as you could wind up paying a premium to get the only movers available. 

• Make a Fall Move Packing Checklist: Pack your household with unpacking in mind, and start by packing items you’re not likely to miss if they’re in a box for a week or more. Pack items essential to your home’s function like kitchen utensils, bedsheets, and toilet paper LAST to be unloaded at your destination FIRST. Remember to keep items like medications and rental contracts on your person in a bag you carry with you during the move. This will help you get your new home set up quickly, which will save you time, stress, and possibly money too.

• Plan for the Hidden Costs of Moving: Don’t get caught off-guard by cleaning fees, restocking the fridge, or startup costs. Set aside an emergency moving fund for those pesky sudden repairs and internet installation fees, and set aside cleaning supplies to make sure you leave your last home in glistening shape and get your deposit back. If you are moving locally, with less than 1-2 hours of drive-time between destinations, you might be able to move perishable food yourself and save on fridge restocking. 

Put an open call out on social media, drop by your favorite bookstore to talk to the owner, and try to snag as many free or low-cost boxes from your community as possible. You can also save some funds on boxes by using household items as moving-box alternatives or packing your boxes to maximize your box space. 

Some household items like kitchen towels, sheets, and clothes can also make great impromptu (and free) packing materials for all your more delicate items.

The fastest way to save money on your move is to move less stuff. Before you get your moving quote, try to declutter and downsize your moving inventory to only the items that you’re sure you want to take to your next home.

Donate surplus clothes that no longer fit your body or your style, sell furniture that doesn’t fit in your new space, or host a huge decluttering garage sale to offload many items in one go. Once you know everything coming with you has a space in your next chapter you’ll find your whole move much more manageable.

As the vast majority of people want to schedule their moves on weekends, you can score the best rates, deals, and discounts if you’re able to make your move on a weekday.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays typically see the lowest local moving prices.

If possible, avoid end-of-month weekends and holiday weekends like Labor Day Weekend and Columbus Day Weekend, since these weekends will see high demand for movers. 

Even if your professional movers are open for business on Thanksgiving week, it’s in the best interest of your wallet to steer clear of moving that week. 

Thanksgiving is the most-traveled-for holiday on the calendar, and an estimated 73 million people travel for Thanksgiving by car. This means more congestion on the roads and additional travel time on your move. Every second on the clock counts, and fuel charges sting when your truck is only getting about 6 to 12 miles to the gallon.

Save some moving cash and some serious moving stress, and choose All My Sons for your autumn move. We can provide whatever level of support your move needs, whether that’s a fully packed luxury move or just some help with the heavy lifting for a little load. Make your fall move a breeze and get a quote from All My Sons.