If you’re trying to keep costs down when relocating, then you’ll want to try doing as much of the move yourself as you can. Packing yourself is one way to reduce unnecessary additional costs, and can be done very effectively with minimal financial requirements. Here’s how:
Boxes and containers
If you’re thrifty, then you may have kept some of the boxes you got when you purchased new products in the past. If you do have any of these boxes around, then make use of them! They are the best option for packing the product they came with, as they are specially designed to minimise movement and damage during transit. This is especially applicable in the case of electrical goods or glassware, so if you are planning on purchasing any new items before you move, keep the boxes.
Alternatively, if you don’t have enough of these kinds of boxes, then you can get as many as you need from your local grocery store or supermarket. Simply ask them for any spare delivery boxes, and generally speaking they will give you as many as you need for free. Most of the time the boxes are in pretty good condition too, as they are normally from daily deliveries and will only be thrown out, so most shops are happy to pass them on to someone who needs them.
As you can see, you can get good quality boxes for no additional costs whatsoever, but sometimes buying specialist packing containers may seem like the best option. These can be picked up online for fairly reasonable prices, but if you have to get them , only get the specialist containers for valuables and so on, as normal boxes will be fine for everything else. Alternatively, you can simply use normal boxes and pack them extra securely, but it comes down to personal preference.
Other packing supplies
There is really only a couple of items that you might need to spend money on, but chances are you will have some, if not all of these around the house anyway. Making sure your packing is organized will require some labels of even marker pens, to make sure you can label contents on boxes and so on. Having some good durable packing tape is essential also, as normal household tape won’t be up to the job. Finally, using a Stanley knife for cutting tape and trimming boxes will be much faster than scissors, and you can quickly break down boxes after your move too. If you don’t have some of these items then it’s definitely worthwhile investing in them, as they will be useful for plenty of other tasks around the home, not just your move.
Packing clothes
Getting clothes packed can give you a large amount of additional cases or boxes to deal with, but there is a very cheap and effective way of getting clothes ready for a move with minimal cost and stress. This mainly applies to items in your wardrobe or clothing rack. All you need are some black bags, but any large plastic bags will do. Simply place the bag over the top of the hanger so it covers the clothing. You can then add another bag from the bottom if you like, to make sure the clothing is secure, and tape them together. This takes a couple of minutes at most, and also means that your clothes can be hung up straight away in your new home without any unpacking needed.
