Buy Packing Supplies Online, Buy Supply
Preparing for a Self-Move If you’ve ever made a cross-country move, you know how expensive it can be. The lucky ones are people who work for a country that is willing to pay their moving costs. Hiring a moving truck and people to pack, load, and drive your belongings long distance can cost $10,000 or more. For this very reason, many people are opting to negotiate their move on their own. They go out and get boxes, box tape, bubble wrap, and moving blankets, arrange to rent a truck, and start packing.
It’s very important to have good moving boxes. You can buy them from rental places where a “kit” for a 3-4 bedroom house can cost almost $400. While it’s harder to find boxes behind stores these days, because most large stores crush their boxes, if you keep your eye open, you can find what you need. Empty liquor boxes are nice, because they have individual slots where you can put glasses, vases, and other breakable objects. You can often find boxes in the dumpsters of dollar stores, and they’ll work just fine. There’s no reason to pay for moving boxes if you’re moving on a shoestring budget.
Box tape can be an expensive item, but it’s very necessary. For instance, your boxes need to be securely taped shut. You don’t want to end up at your destination to find your boxes open and your possessions tossed all over the truck. You should also use small pieces of tape to make sure protective wrappings remain on breakables. Free cardboard boxes can be taken apart and taped together in different configurations to make custom cartons for items that won’t fit into regular boxes. So buy plenty of a good-quality box tape when you buy your packing supplies, because you’ll need it.
There are a lot of packing materials available commercially. You will find a huge array of bubble wrap, foam, packing peanuts, stretch wrap, and wrapping paper. These items can run into a lot of money, especially if you have a lot of items that will need special, protective packaging. With this in mind, start saving newspapers several weeks before you start packing. You can easily protect many fragile items with layers of newspaper and tape. Your bath towels and washcloths can also be used to wrap breakables and protect them. Taking a little time can keep your belongings safe and unbroken.
A final consideration is moving blankets for appliances and furniture. It is really important to cover wood furniture pieces so that they don’t get scratched in transit. There are several different options you can use to protect your furniture. The most obvious is to use blankets you already own. They aren’t like quilted moving pads, but they will help protect furniture. You can buy padded paper pads relatively inexpensively and use them to wrap pictures and mirrors. Heavy duty moving pads cost upwards of $20.00 each, but they can be found for about half on online auction sites. You might also ask someone who you know has moved recently. It could be they have some they’d sell inexpensively or even give you just to get rid of them. Moving is always a big expense and a hassle; however, as you’ve seen, there are ways to cut corners and do the job yourself. Doing the work yourself can save you thousands of dollars.