Small Solo Moves
Many people hear the word "moving" and think of a big truck with two or three people loading in boxes and furniture, but anyone who's had to arrange a move on a shoestring budget knows that there are a lot of options, especially for small moves. When it's just you moving and you've got maybe a room's worth of stuff to transport, you can create some innovative plans for transporting everything. It helps if you get a storage unit for a short time so that you can really see what you're dealing with.
Rent a Truck Yourself
Those moving only a small amount of stuff often try to rent a box truck themselves. If you've got friends helping you, and none of your furniture is particularly heavy, this is always a good option. But if you are trying to move and no one is helping you, driving a truck yourself won't work. Oh, you may be able to drive the vehicle, but you're not lugging your couch over to the truck and into the new place by yourself. However, there is something you can do if you don't have a lot of money but need movers to help you.
Let Movers Grab the Big Stuff
There are moving and storage companies that specialize in small moves. These are moves where your belongings can fit into a cargo van, for example, and you don't need a huge truck. Some larger moving companies also offer small-move services, which may be priced more reasonably than a full-service move.
What you can do, then, is move the smaller stuff yourself -- this is where the storage unit can come in handy because you can start moving smaller things out before your new place is ready -- and have the small-move service take the big things. Then you can gradually bring in the rest of your items from the storage unit as you get everything organized.
Why not just move all the smaller stuff to one side in your old place and then bring it over once the movers are done with the furniture? Depending on how long you have left at your old place, you may have to move everything out quickly. By bringing it to a storage unit early, you clear out your old place without worrying about how much extra double rent you have to pay on the new place. Plus, you get a chance to place all the furniture first without stumbling over boxes full of your other stuff.
Go for the Full Professional Move
Of course, maybe you're too tired or busy to do a lot yourself. That's when you find a full-service moving company that offers reasonable prices for local moves. Many companies don't charge by weight for local travel; they charge by the hour. For smaller moves, you may end up paying only the minimum cost for the day. You won't have to do any work -- you don't even have to pack up yourself if you want to let the movers do it -- and you won't end up sore for days.
But you should also check about truck clearance and parking because for a full move, you're going to have a much larger truck trying to maneuver around your neighborhood. It won't necessarily be a semi, but if you do go with a full move, ask the company to look at the area around your home and verify that the truck will fit.