To safely move your household items, you should consider investing in quality moving boxes and shipping supplies. However, if your budget is tight, there are ways to save money. Check out these ideas.
1. Fill Laundry Baskets and Other Containers
To save on packaging supplies, start by using containers you need to move anyway. Instead of putting laundry baskets or other items in a box, use those items as boxes.
Aside from laundry baskets, garbage cans, storage totes, stock pans, and even your dryer can work as makeshift boxes. Stuff these containers with extra blankets, trinkets, toys, or anything that fits. To secure your items, consider using a roll of plastic wrap to seal open sided containers.
2. Move With Full Drawers
If you want your furniture to be as light as possible, you should leave the drawers empty during your move. However, if you want to maximize space and save money on packing supplies, you may want to leave clothing or other items in the drawers.
In these cases, you need to remove the drawers from the furniture. Then, move the furniture and the drawers to the truck separately and replace the drawers in the furniture once in the truck. To ensure the contents don’t jostle out of the drawers, you may want to use cling wrap over the tops of the drawers.
3. Get Boxes From Friends and Family
With the rise in popularity of ordering things online, your neighbors and friends likely receive packages on a regular basis. Send out a text or email asking people in your community to save their boxes for you, and set up a day a few weeks before the move when you can come by and grab all the boxes. You may also want to consider putting up a sign in the breakroom at work, requesting boxes.
4. Ask Area Businesses for Free Boxes
In addition to recycling old shipping boxes from friends and neighbors, you may want to request free boxes from area businesses. Many companies simply recycle their shipping boxes and, as a result, are often willing to share upon request.
Book, liquor, and grocery stores all tend to have sturdy boxes. Designed to hold books, wine bottles, apples, and the like, these boxes tend to be ideal for dishes, clothing, paperwork, and other items.
Using some free boxes is perfectly fine, but for the protection of a few items, you may want to invest in specialty moving boxes. For example, a wardrobe box allows your best clothing to stay on hangers during the move. Typically, you can’t get boxes like that for free, but they’re worth the investment as they can save time and money on dry cleaning or ironing after the move.
Similarly, boxes designed to hold wine glasses or similar types of breakables can also be essential. Ultimately, to balance your budget with the success of your move, you may want a mixture of free or improvised packaging supplies alongside of some professional supplies.
5. Don’t Donate Old Clothes Yet
Finally, most people do a large purge of their clothing or other items before a move. That is a great idea, and it can help you pare down the move. However, you may want to wait a bit before you donate those old clothes, sheets, and blankets — those items can work perfectly as cushioning in your boxes.
Instead of donating these items, use them to wrap around glasses, plates, picture frames, and other fragile items. Then, when you get to your new home, throw those items in a donation pile as you unpack.
At Island Movers, we’ve been helping families and businesses move for over 55 years. Call us today for a quote or check out our home moving timeline to help keep your upcoming moving organized and on track.
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