So, moving is a tough activity! When I was a kid, I always dreamed of moving from one house to the next, of course always with the provision that I was moving to a progressively better house with each move. It never occurred to me then, and it didn’t really hit home until the past two years, that moving is a very involved job. And this becomes even more complicated when you have a very small budget to work with. Plus, if you’re considering moving aborad, you have some extra elements that you have to take into consideration.
Always Start Early
As soon as you have sold your home, perhaps to a cash buyer like https://webuyhousesinatlanta.
Clean and Dispose of Things
I always had three containers when I was packing, one for the stuff I was bringing with me, the other for the stuff I was donating, and the last for the stuff I was throwing away. And, again, I was surprised at how little I was actually considering bringing with me to my new abode. As I packed these now-few items, I always made sure to thoroughly clean them before packing them away. If you know me well, you would know that I HATE packing and unpacking and, in my college days, resorted to just stuffing things in boxes in a haste to get things packed, only to wince in pain at the effort required to unpack. This time, the ‘mature me’ packed carefully making unpacking much, much easier to do. How do you save here? Throwing thing away obviously lessened the amount of things I needed to cart from one location to the next. Donating things even turned out to be a helping hand. Cleaning things before carefully packing them away took away the need to thoroughly crush and clean things when they came out. So, not only was I able to save on cleaning implements, but also time and effort.
Remember, the less you pack, the more you save on moving costs to go overseas!
The Most Expensive is Not Always The Best
I do not know how it is in other countries but in mine, there are two kinds of movers- the pro’s and the amateur haulers. The pro’s will pack your stuff for you in nice, thick boxes, complete with addictive bubble wrap while you sit, watching them, sipping a cup of tea. They will also unpack most of your things for you when you get to your new place. Amateur haulers will physically lift your already-boxed items into a moving truck and then physically bring them down and place them where you want the item. That’s it. No thick box (you have to buy this yourself), and no bubble wrap. You can imagine how much the price difference is between the two. Now, if you have started your packing relatively early, and if you were meticulous with your packing, all you really need is the physically labor to lift things around and then get it to where you’re going. So, do not feel bad if you can only afford the cheapest truck. The point is getting yourself, and your belongings, from point old to point new.
Plan For When You Get There
When you move, you always end up needing to buy new things when you move in. You need to plan ahead, and make sure that you open an offshore bank account. Before you leave home, make sure that you transfer a nice sum of money to your new offshore account, and confirm that it arrived. That way, when you get to your final destination, you have cash available to purchase the new items that you’ll need for your home. Plus, having a bank account in the country you’re going can make it easier to get a cell phone and setup utilities at your new home. Do not forget that moving your money from your home country to your destination can be quite costly. As an alternative, you can use currency services for your international money transfers. Read this expat blog on this topic to learn more.
I found that if you follow these basic things, you will be able to save on so many things. You will keep to a small budget, you will save time and energy, and you will not stress out.
What is moving like in your corner of the world?
