Moving can be a costly and stressful experience. The moving tips below can help you save money when hiring a moving company as well as make your move go more smoothly.

1.) Get rid of items that you no longer use and have been storing for a long period of time, especially if the items are bulky. Consider having a garage sale or donating these items. Often the cost of packing and moving these items is greater than their value. If you have furniture that is quite old and in poor condition, it may make more sense to apply the money you save by not moving these items towards the purchase of new furniture.

2.) Do a good job of packing. If you have a lot of items that are not packed or are improperly packed, this will significantly increase the amount of time it takes to complete your move as well as risk damage to you property.

3.) Your move will proceed much more quickly if you are organized. Have the path that the movers will use to load your property clear, including the hallways inside of your residence as well as stairways and sidewalks outside of your residence. Having your boxes stacked together roughly 4 ft high can also allow the movers to move more quickly. If you do this, you should place the heavier boxes on the bottom of the stack and place the boxes that are the same size on top of each other.

4.) Check your parking area to see if there is a good spot for the movers to park to load your property more quickly. If ramps are available in the parking area, consider a path where the movers do not have to roll the dollies over a curb. If possible reserve a spot by parking in it and then move your vehicle when the movers arrive. In an apartment complex, if the movers will park along the back of a row of cars, open up a spot so that the movers do not have to move your stuff though a tight space between cars.

5.) Consider disassembling some of your furniture. Check with your moving company to see if your must do this, or if they offer this service. However, even if they offer this service, you can save money by disassembling and reassembling the pieces that are required yourself. If your dresser has a mirror, it will normally have to be removed for your move. You can also disassemble all of the beds, although this does not save much time if the frame uses a hook system to connect to the headboard and footboard. If you have a very large entertainment center, you can disassemble it to break it into sections that will fit through the door. You may also want to disconnect and reconnect any washer and dryer that you own.

6.) Consider whether to remove the cloths from your dresser and chest of drawers and pack them. Check with your moving company to see if this is required. If there are no flights of stairs involved in your move or you have very small furniture, such as a child’s chest or draws, then this is probably not needed. However, if you have large furniture and a lot of flights involved in your move, then the movers may have to pull the drawers out of the furniture to move it.

In this case, it is probably better to pack as least some of the cloths in boxes. Also be aware that the movers may have to place a piece of furniture on its side to move it and the cloths can become somewhat displaced. A part of this decision should be based on how heavy the cloths are. Denim and tightly packed clothing will add a significant amount of weight.