There are moves and then there are moves, but nothing comes close to the infamous cross-country move (CCM). Why? There are several reasons, such as:
- It’s more complicated than moving a few miles. A regular move is fairly simple: professional movers carefully pack your personal effects into a truck, drive a few miles and unpack them. Voilà, it’s done. Going from Los Angeles to Orlando or New Orleans to Seattle takes a lot of extra planning.
- Moving, even when using professionals, can be stressful. CCMs take it a up a few notches, especially if you have kids. While there’s a sense of a “new beginning,” there’s also the worry about uprooting everything. New state, city, job, school and friends. Yeah, that’s a lot to think about.
- Plain and simple, if not handled correctly, CCMs can get very costly and time-consuming.
So how do you tackle a cross-country move so it won’t cost a lot, both mentally and financially? Here are few tips Starving Students Movers suggest:
- Once you know you’re moving cross-country, you’ll need to go into action quickly. Start setting up a timeline of when you’d like your belongings picked-up by a mover and when they should be delivered.
- Start taking inventory of what you have. Decision time: what’s going with you and what going to Goodwill? Make a list of how many rooms of items are being moved. Is there stuff in the garage, basement or attic? Do you have a refrigerator? Stove? Piano? How will you get your vehicles across country – does one have to be towed to the moving van?
- As with any move, once you get a good gauge on what’s being moved, the next step is to contact a few professional moving companies to get an idea of costs and timing. Here’s where having an inventory list and moving schedule are critical to ensuring the movers can give you an accurate quote.Your moving company will ask more questions, go over your plan and help you get everything ready.
- By the time the moving van arrives for your CCM, have everything ready to go. You and your moving company will be in sync as too when they will reach your new home.