You are finally ready to make the big move – but do you hire professionals, or do it yourself? Self-moving can save you money, but may not be worth the other efforts involved. When considering a self move, there are many factors to think about. Each person must evaluate them in light of his own situation.
With a self move, you will probably need a lot of time and a lot of help. A self move means that you do all the packing, unpacking, loading and unloading yourself, in addition to the driving. Will you have extra hands available at both starting and ending points to help you out? Do you have a lot of heavy or valuable items, such as furniture or appliances? If so, helping hands are a must, as you will want to be extra careful. Do have the time required to complete all the tasks?
You will have to purchase all of the packing and moving supplies yourself, besides for actually moving. A successful self move will generally be a smaller move with a close destination, that doesn’t require a tremendous amount of time or assistance. Even when weighing in the financial side, you may end up taking off work in order to put in the time to do the move. And you must also factor in extras, such as food and lodging on the way to the endpoint. Altogether, these additions may subtract significantly from the financial benefit of a self move.
A single person or smaller family is most likely to do well with the self move, as there will be less items to move, and less worry about how to get all the people to the destination.
Another issue to take into account with the self move is actually driving the vehicle. A self move may necessitate the rental of a large truck, which may require a special license. Driving a large truck is different from driving a regular car, with much larger mirrors and longer vehicle to steer. The size of the vehicle poses other problems, as you will not be able to pass through all bridges and underpasses. A truck must be driven slower than an ordinary vehicle, and you will need to make wider turns. One may also need to obtain certain parking permits for loading and unloading that a full service operator would typically negotiate.
Don’t make a decision based solely on cost – think about your circumstances and see what works best for you.