Moving costs – what it cost to move to our new home

Moving costs – what it cost to move to our new home

Moving costs – they can be a killer even if you plan for it. I have always tried to plan as much as possible whenever I had to move to a new place. To such a degree that my friends will warmly joke about my lists and planning.

But hey, it works for me!

So this time, moving to a new place with my partner and our toddler it was no different. Tracking what moving expenses and any income we might have related to that has been essential to staying on top of our finances.

Convenience over frugality – for us

We have always had the help of friends and family when we have moved. But this time, we figured it was time to spare everyone some stress and backpain. So we spent the money on hired moving help. We have also had to resolve to a lot (!) of convenience food (take away) this time, since we have been working more. This experience of lack of time is also why we wanted to move in the first place.

Knowing that our move would essentially save us time (and possibly money – more on that in another blogpost!), we opted for convenient. Being frugal during a move, with a toddler and two full time jobs wasn’t going to be very realistic for us. I was also away on worktrips half the time!

Our frugality lies in other areas and I have been trying to not overspend while on work trips. We have saved money on moving boxes and we have decluttered and sold a bunch of items to cover some of the costs of moving.

Let’s get into the numbers!

Moving costs – the breakdown

So as mentioned, when we started packing, we also started decluttering. Decluttering meant that we both found things to throw out and donate, but also things to sell on. Saving us space in the new home and helping us bring the moving costs down.

So, as you can see, we sold for $ 925 which I think is pretty good. Considering what we had to sell we’re happy with it. We still have a few smaller items to sell off, but all the big stuff is gone. Which means we also didn’t have to move it!

I chose to not include other miscellaneous costs like our food as that is its own budget. That just fluctuates with our needs and this was an expensive period. We also got all the boxes and wrapping paper for free from colleagues so no $ spent there!

The details of our moving costs

Something you can’t see in these graphics is this; We had 2 months of prepaid rent which means we didn’t have to pay rent in our old apartment while moving. We will have the same with our new place (part of the deposit/rent cost).

We also borrowed about $ 2,500 from a family member, to help cover the deposit when it had to be paid. We did this as it’s interest free and would keep us from blowing up our sinking funds and savings.

The part of the deposit that isn’t prepaid rent, will most likely be used towards renovating when we move out again.

Make the right moves

Moving to a new home can be a costly affair. Hiring help, new furniture and curtains to fit the new place, convenience and boxes all adds up. Not to talk about the deposits (rented or bought). When we divide it up over the time spent in a given home, it gets cheaper the longer you live there. We plan to live in our current home for at least 3-5 years so it doesn’t feel that overwhelming.

Plus, we are very certain that the benefits of moving to our new location outweighs the costs.

Do what is right for you in the long run – especially if you can find a way to afford it. I’m all about making my life better today as well as tomorrow. This was such a tangible change to our life already after living here for 2 weeks.

Do you track your finances during a move? Do you know what your latest move cost you?