How to Plan a Cheap Move

Moving can be expensive. Lets not kid around here. If you add up all your costs it can be anywhere from a few hundred pounds to thousands. Here are a few tips to help you move while on a budget so you don’t burn a hole so big you will be living off tuna cans for the weeks after your move!

These tips are for when you are still planning on using a moving company.

Find a Removals Company who is Reliable

This is by far the most important step. There are a lot of things to consider but generally the internet has the final say in 2018 and beyond. Search out the moving companies you are looking for. Read some reviews. Read about the services they offer. Call them and have a chat about what you are looking for. As you might be looking for movers, packers and van with a van – We Move and Clean or a full service moving company. Or you might even be looking for just van hire. Once you know what you need and have found a few companies. Find out if there are any possible extra charges the could be tagged on or if quotes are final.

Move when it’s Cheaper to Move

Moving companies actually have a moving season believe it or not. It’s cheaper to move during winter or fall. The reason for this is simple. Most people just don’t want to move when it’s snowing outside. Potentially, that is as it’s the UK we are talking about. I it’s not snowing the same applies when it’s cold. No one wants to do it. So moving companies normally drop their rates to sweep up any business they can.

If you plan to move in the middle of summer expect to pay a lot more for your move.

Get Rid of what’s Not Needed!

Just like an office move a house move is no different. You don’t need to move what you don’t need at your new home. Living in a house for years means you’ve collected an endless amount of rubbish that you don’t need. Don’t just pack everything when you move. Spend a day before you move figuring out what can be thrown out or donated.

Those old clothes that have been in boxes for years are doing you no good but they could be doing a lot of good for people in need. You’ll be doing a good thing for the community! For the thins that can’t be donated, just throw it out.

Get Free Moving Boxes

Buying 100+ boxes to move is expensive. It won’t seam like it when you’re on Amazon or the shops looking at the £2 per box. But after you realised you need 50, 70 or 100 of them to move and big house you up for a few hundred quid. And odds are you will thrown the boxes out after anyhow. Such a waste of money!

A few places you can get free moving boxes are:

  • Grocery stores. Ask to get a few for your groceries twice a week when you shop for the two months before your move and you have a good 20 to 30.
  • Large appliance. Keep all your boxes. They can be reused.
  • Family and friends will likely have boxes you can use.
  • The best be is a warehouse. Everyone warehouse on the planet throws out hundreds of boxes each day. They will happily give you 100 boxes especially if you tell they they are needed ‘for charity’. Sneaky but hey it’s you pocket in the end

If you use the above five tips you should keep move money in your pocket when you move compared not using the tips. The last piece of advice is to stick to a budget. Set the budget, use these tips, stick to the basics, and don’t go over that budget. You’ll be happy you did and wot break the bank.

Tips for Moving an Office to a New Location

If you are planning to move a business you have a lot of organising to prepare. Even a small office move can be a huge task. But don’t worry as our short guide on how to tackle this task head on is going to help you plan your move.

1. Initially Planning

First of all you want to make a timeline and hopefully you are in the planning stages months ahead of the move. If you are the boss you don’t just decide to move the office one day. You need to plan all the packing, the moving, the unpacking and getting everything up and running again.

Odds are that you business can’t suffer from down time so you’ll need a second temporary location that staff will work from to keep thins running. That second site will need to be organised and then shut down once the move is complete.

2. Donate What is not Needed

Every office has a collection of things they don’t need. This is a perfect time for you to donate what is not needed to a local charity. If you are donating a lot you might even be able to get some media coverage. This will help you business and get your brand name out there in the community.

This will also save you money. If you are doing a self move or hiring a professional moving company you still need to pay for help to make the move happen. Donating old office equipment reduces the amount of equipment you need to move and it also gives you points for karma!

3. Are you using a Moving Company?

If you are then plan ahead by at least a few months. Be sure to get several quotes and get real hard evidence that the removal company has the right insurance to cover a commercial move. As their insurance policy may only cover domestic moving. If you are going to get the help of the moving company for packing then you need to put some system in place for them to follow so you know what wen’t into what packing crates.

Also be sure to throw out everything that is not needed or being donated. Remember that a moving company is a ‘moving company’ and their job is to not sort though your things. Their job is to pack and move. So they will pack everything even if it should be thrown out.

4. That System… Mark your Boxes/Crates

Create a small system that lets you know what went into which box. It’s very simple to do in fact. Print some sticky labels and number them. Or just write on them. Then stick them on the boxes or packing crates that will be used.

From there use a notebook or crate a excel spreadsheet to keep notes. Use detailed notes for what is in each box or just use a general category like ‘computer cables’ for example.

5. When Moving Computers and Monitors…

Moving blankets are ideal here. A moving blanket is not a fluffy blanket like you sleep in. It’s more like a highly durable outdoor blanket you would take to a picnic in the evening. They are strong and really protect what you wrap inside.

It’s best to bubble wrap the computers first and never just place them into boxes directly. To take things one step further before moving any computer equipment you should speak with your IT team to make sure everything is backed up in case equipment is damaged in the move.

The other option is to use shelf trollies like show in the photo to the right. The best option to move you computer equipment safely is to use a combination of both!

6. Get Commercial Moving Insurance

If you are using a removal company you need to fully vet their insurance. You can go as far as asking for policy numbers and then calling the insurance provide for that policy and ask what is covered and what is not.

If you are self moving then you need to organise moving insurance. Odds are that you business insurance does not cover property taken off the premises unless it’s for a specific reason such as client meetings or prospecting. It’s best to start by just calling you business insurance provider and asking what policy add-ons they offer for moving premises. You need to be sure that a new policy covers business property damaged during transit.

This becomes even more important if you are hiring trucks for a self move. If you hire trucks for the day or a few days they likely wont come with insurance that is adequate.

Fail to Plan and Plan to Fail

Hopefully these tips have helped you understand what is needed to organise a commercial move become seamless. You don’t want to be stuck on the side of the road with a broken down truck not knowing what to do. If you don’t plan then you will fail. So get planning!

VAS is back in Action!

Ready, set, GO!

We are back and live once again. Hold your horses, clip in your seat belts and get ready for the best website in Swindon for local events and news!

We are back baby and we are going to be better than ever!

Stay tuned and we launch properly soon!