If you’ve read my other article on why I cancelled my reservation with a moving company and moved myself, you probably understand why it can be questionable to hire movers. However, this doesn’t mean moving yourself is all peaches and creme either. Not only can it be a physical and mental burden, there are hidden costs of moving yourself that you need to be aware of.
Table of Contents
Gas
One of the most important hidden costs of moving yourself that you need to consider is gas! When deciding whether to hire a mover or move yourself, you must add in the total gas cost estimation to see if it makes sense. For example, if hiring a mover is $1000 and a truck rental to move yourself is $800, the mover might be a better option if gas is going to cost you an extra $400. I recommend utilizing a tool like Gas Buddy to help you estimate what the total cost of gas will be. If booking with U-Haul, they provide this vehicle comparison chart that shows the MPGs for each, which range from 10 – 20 MPGs.
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The Cost of Packing Supplies
Believe it or not, boxes and packing tape add up very quickly. Standard boxes cost between $0.75 – $3.50, but when you need a specialized box size, the price can increase over $50. Two box tape rolls and a tape gun will cost about $10, and you’re going to need a lot more than two rolls regardless of how many boxes you’re packing. Please believe me when I say don’t buy the cheapest box tape! I purchased some at the 99 cent store at first and not only would it stick to everything and crinkle (super annoying!), it started peeling off the box. I recommend clear heavy duty Duck tape.
And don’t forget the bubble wrap and padding you’ll need to protect all your fragile items and big furniture pieces. Also, if you plan to move the boxes from your home to the truck and vice versa, you’ll definitely want to buy or rent a furniture dolly.
Standard boxes sizes are as follows:
- Small: 16 in. x 12 in. x 12 in.
- Medium: 18 in. x 16 in. x 16 in.
- Large: 18 in. x 18 in. x 24 in.
- Extra Large: 18 in. x 24 in. x 24 in.
Just to provide some perspective, for my one bedroom apartment move, I had 40 boxes of various sizes:
- (1) 34 x 22 x 25 = 11 cf
- (1) 17 x 14 x 18 = 2.5 cf
- (3) wardrobe boxes 46 x 20 x 20 = 32 cf total
- (1) 24 x 51 x 25 = 18 cf
- (19) large boxes 24 x 18 x 18 = 85.5 cf total
- (9) medium boxes 18 x 18 x 16 = 27 cf total
- (1) 30 x 17 x 15 = 4.5 cf
- (1) 30 x 27 x 27 = 13 cf
- (1) 49 x 69 x 15 = 29 cf
- (1) 12 x 12 x 56 = 5 cf
- (1) 43 x 48 x 5 = 6 cf
- (1) 25 x 13 x 11 = 2 cf
- TOTAL: 40 boxes = 235.5 cf
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Moving Help
If you don’t have the time or ability to pack boxes or carry them to/from the truck, you might want to consider hiring a couple of movers for a few hours. You can find cheap labor on a site like TaskRabbit. If you’ve never heard of Task Rabbit, it’s a fantastic, do-it-all website where you can hire locals to help with everyday tasks like grocery shopping, moving, painting, personal assistant duties, etc. This is a great site to use when you arrive at your new home as well.
Mileage
If your moving in-town, picking up and dropping off at the same location, you will have to pay per mile on top of the daily cost of the moving truck. This will cost around $1/mi, but slightly varies based on various factors.
If you’re doing a long-distance, one-way move, the total cost of the truck will include an allowable mileage amount. If you go over that mileage, you will have to pay per mile at roughly $1/mi as well. The truck rental company will calculate how many miles it takes to get from city to city in order to evaluate the total cost. They’ll usually add on several extra miles to account for short detours. If you plan to take the scenic route instead though, you’ll likely be underwater by the time of your arrival.
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Moving Insurance
I highly recommend you get at least basic insurance for your moving vehicle. A lot of auto insurances will not cover damage to a moving truck, so this will give you the peace of mind needed for a work case scenario situation. Basic insurance will generally cover exterior damage and bodily injury due to a collision. Prices range based on various factors.
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Broken Items
Regardless of whether you’re moving the boxes yourself or hiring a couple of handymen, there’s always a chance that items can break while being transported. This is definitely a frustrating hidden cost of moving, but it’s better to account for it ahead of time and be pleasantly surprised when everything arrives in one piece. 🤬🤬🤬
Theft
This is one of the hidden costs of moving that I pray you don’t ever encounter, but it’s definitely an important one to consider. First and foremost, you’ll definitely need to buy a lock for your truck’s back door, but not just any lock. You want to buy a strong steel master lock, like this one, that can’t be cut with just some cheap tools. I tried to use our round storage unit lock and it didn’t fit. Locks are not provided for free by the rental company, but you might be able to buy one at the rental office.
Even with a lock though, there is always the chance of an individual breaking in and stealing your goods. And unfortunately, moving insurance probably won’t cover this. I’m not going to lie, I had major anxiety for the couple of nights we stayed in hotels while my belongings were sitting the in truck, but thankfully 🙏 nothing bad happened.
Hotels / Overnight Stays
If you’re not able to move within one day, you’ll have to pay for a hotel or home stay each night. Even cheap stays will still add costs to the overall move price.
Car Tow Dolly
Bringing a car to your new city? Good news – you don’t have to put all those miles on your vehicle. Bad news – you’ll have an additional fee for the tow dolly. This will vary in price based on car and distance. You’ll most likely have the option to choose between a 2-wheel dolly (just front wheels hooked) or 4-wheel dolly with the full car elevated.
Personally, I recommend spending a little bit extra for the 4-wheel dolly as there are less chances for a mechanical issue. To give you some context, I chose a 2-wheel dolly for my move. Upon arriving at my destination, there were 6 dashboard lights turned on that I had never seen before. I had to take my car to a mechanic who informed me that there were issues with my tire alignment, power steering, and brakes. $500 later…
Extra Days
If you’re doing a long-distance move, your rental company will tell you how many days you have to get from point A to point B. If you need extra nights, you’ll have to pay between $30 – $100 per night. Make sure to consider what the move-in hours are if you’re moving into an apartment building or condo as some will have after-hours restrictions and you may not be Abel to move in until the following day adding an extra day to your rental truck bill.
Storage
Many truck rental companies will offer free storage for 30 days to help as you are settling into your new home. Days over that will start costing. However, a lot people are also downsizing when they get to their new home, so a storage unit might be a long-term necessity. One storage unit will likely cost over $100 per month, so this can quickly add up.
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Running out of Space in the Moving Truck
Have you thought about what you’d do if the truck isn’t big enough to hold all your belongings? Even if you measure the cu. ft. of every last box and piece of furniture, I assure you, you’ll take up more space in the truck than you think. Of all hidden costs of moving, this is probably the one you least expect but can end up being the most costly.
At this point, you have a few options. 1. You can throw away or donate extra stuff that you really don’t need. 2. You can try to repack the boxes and truck to be more space-efficient. 3. You can rent a small storage unit until you figure out what to do with them. 4. You can ship those extra boxes. As I’m sure you know, shipping heavy boxes is not cost-effective at all. It can easily cost $50 – $150 per box that needs to be shipped.
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Parking Tickets
Perhaps this seems like a silly one, but don’t say I didn’t warn you! It’s no shocker that finding a place to park your large truck may be very difficult. Sometimes the only option is to park in the red or in front of a fire hydrant. If you keep your emergency flashers on, hopefully you’ll be fine. But isn’t it always our luck that we get that one A-hole officer having a bad day?
Time and Energy
Last but certainly not least, your time and energy are hidden costs of moving. This might not sound like a monetary value, but it definitely is. Consider all the other things you could be doing with your time instead of packing and moving. Do you have to take unpaid time off work? Or are you trying to balance both, and will now have to stay up all night to get everything accomplished? Will you have to pay your nanny overtime to take your child to/from their extracurricular activities? Even if all the other numbers line up, make sure to consider what effect this will have on your mental well-being. That could be the deciding factor as to whether you should just spend a few $100 dollars more to hire movers.
RECAP: Hidden Costs of Moving Yourself
- Gas
- Cost of Packing Supplies
- Moving Help (Hire from Task Rabbit)
- Mileage
- Hotel/Overnight Stays
- Moving Insurance
- Broken Items
- Theft
- Car-Tow Dolly
- Extra Days
- Storage
- Running Out of Space
- Parking Tickets
- Time & Energy
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” just spend a few $100 dollars more to hire movers.”
few hundred? more like few thousand if you are moving more than 1000 miles.