If you are well into the planning of your upcoming move, it is easy to feel like you’re getting nickle and dimed into the poorhouse.  It sure wouldn’t hurt to track down some cheap moving supplies for the big day, would it?  At least then you’d feel like you got a good deal on something when it comes to moving…

Cheap Moving Supplies

When it comes to the word “cheap,” most of us think of one thing: price.  Unfortunately, in the world of moving supplies, cheap also often means poor quality.  Like any other retailer, most moving supply vendors want your money, right?  And they hate losing some of your money by just lowering the prices.  Therefore, they need to sacrifice elsewhere.  Quality of the product is often one of the first things to get cut.  You might not notice it in the store, but you’ll definitely notice when your packing tape rips off and the bottom falls out of a moving box, or when the side of one of your boxes crumples and an entire stack topples over in the back of your moving truck.  These little quality cuts can cause big headaches on your moving day, so be sure to focus on maintaining quality, while increasing affordability.

Finding Cheap Moving Supplies

Ok, so now we know what type of cheap moving supplies we want, but where do we find them?  The best bet might be to simply check with the guys that are renting us the van, right?  Well, you’ll definitely find high quality moving supplies there, but you will not find low prices.  Most of their customers are last minute or impulse shoppers, meaning they can keep their prices high.  What about the department store?  They have good prices on everything.  Actually, department stores don’t typically stock moving supplies in significant enough quantity to allow them to offer low prices.  And even if you were to go the store route, it would likely take several trips before you would have enough for your whole move.

Cheap Moving Supplies Online

Maybe you’ve heard rumors from your friends or family about buying cheap moving supplies online.  Some people can be fairly hesitant to make big purchases online, but more and more retailers are setting up their operations strictly online to avoid the typical overhead costs of having a store.  Customer reviews are very high for the best online moving supply retailers.  Also, these retailers offer the absolute lowest prices on moving supplies anywhere.  These cheap moving supplies are as strong as, or stronger than, those you can find at the store or moving truck rental location.

A lot of people are somewhat confused when it comes to matching up their moving vehicle to their other moving needs.  When so many elements of your move are being provided by so many different sources, it can be difficult to find compatible matches for everything.  Whether you’re renting and driving the truck yourself or it comes with a full moving crew, you need to know certain things about your moving truck to make the day go more smoothly…

Size of Your Moving Truck

Moving trucks come in a very wide variety of lengths and heights, depending on your particular moving needs.  If you’re sending junior off to college and just need a little extra space, a small tow-behind moving vehicle may be most appropriate.  If you’ve lived in a house for 25 years and you’re moving somewhere else, then you’re going to need something quite a bit more sizable.  The size of moving trucks is also important when it comes to compatibility with your moving supplies.  For example, using mostly small moving boxes will be highly inconvenient if you have to fill a large moving truck.  The same can be said about extra large moving boxes in a small moving vehicle.

Moving Truck Features

Some moving trucks come outfitted with little extras that will help improve the efficiency of your move.  These include roll out ramps, such as the one pictured above.  Some moving trucks also come equipped with rails along the side to tie down larger items for extra stability.  This can also be especially helpful if you have some fragile furniture items you don’t want banging around during the drive.  Of course, this adds another indirect moving supply, twine or bungie cords.  These smaller side items are often neglected during a move but can make a huge difference as to whether or not you end up considering the day a success.

Moving Truck Crew

Whether it’s a real moving company or a group of your friends, the best moving trucks in the world won’t save you if they aren’t packed properly.  You want a group of people with experience loading such a vehicle who actually care about whether or not your stuff makes it to your new place safely.  The choice of moving crew is definitely not an issue to be taken lightly, considering how much your value your things.  Take time to consider multiple moving companies before signing up with one.  And if you’re using your own crew, just be at least a little choosy.  After all, who amongst your friends and family would really be bummed out to be missing a move?

Let’s take a break from talking strictly about moving supplies for a moment.  If your moving day is quickly approaching, you may have certain questions you would like to get answered to help make your move a success.  Sure, there are plenty of collections of moving tips out there, but they rarely address a broader range of issues.  Here, we’ve collected a few tips on some moving topics that are often not covered in a typical guide…

Moving With Children

A lot of the difficulty of moving with children actually has to do with the lead up to moving day.  Depending on their age, they may not want to move or even understand why the family has to move at all.  If they are especially young, you may want to arrange for a sitter or a family member to watch them on moving day.  Movers-Edge.com also suggests it can be helpful to have favorite or familiar items ready to be unpacked first at your new place, helping your children get accustomed to their new surroundings.  To see the rest of the Movers-Edge tips, click here.

Selling Your Old Place

One thing that is rarely found in moving tips is any mention of selling your current home.  Unless you’re especially wealthy, you probably don’t have any interest in taking on two mortgages, meaning you’ll have to sell your old place before moving to your new one (hopefully).  How is this a moving tip?  Well, imagine how much lower your stress and anxiety will be if you don’t still have a For Sale sign in your front yard.  Especially in today’s real estate market, it can be tough to stand out.  But you’ll want to have every advantage possible in order to make sure you sell your house in a timely manner.  FlyLady.net says that ordering a dumpster may be an important first step for those of us having difficulty de-cluttering the house for showings.  Check out some other helpful moving tips from FlyLady by clicking here.

Pre-Packing for Your Move

Pre-packing could easily be the most effective way to limit stress on your moving day.  I mean, you’d love to wake up on your moving day and have all your boxes already packed, wouldn’t you?  It’s not quite that easy, but you can certainly start packing some things away weeks before your move.  Some people will even get themselves down to just the bare essentials for the last few days in their house.  Maybe you’re not ready to go to that drastic of a measure, but you’d like some tips on packing up some clothes before your move.  MovingDayBoxes.com suggests an “80/20″ rule for clothes.  They say most people wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time, and will therefore likely need them sometime before their move.  The rest can go into boxes.  Check out more moving tips from Moving Day Boxes by clicking here.

With these and other helpful moving tips available online, you should be well on your way to a more relaxed and stress-free move.