Make your kids earn their keep
This idea applies mostly to regional moves, when you're moving within 50 miles or so. When you think of hiring professional movers, you imagine them moving the big items, like your side-by-side refrigerator, the eight foot high bookcase that Grandpa made, your nine drawer dresser, and the washer and dryer. It's true, movers have the appliance dollies and know how to move these big items that intimidate most people. But the reality is, professional movers spend most of their time, and your money, moving small items that anyone can move. When I was a mover, we called this stuff "chowder." Chowder is any loose item that's not in a box, and isn't very heavy. Lamps, lamp shades, brooms, mops, electronics, clothes on hangers, ironing boards, garden tools, trash cans, food from the fridge. All of this stuff, and anything you don't pack in a box is "chowder." If you are moving close by, and can move this stuff yourself, it will save you money, in most cases, quite a bit of money.
Where did the term "chowder" come from? Well, imagine a can of clam chowder. It's easy to move that can, and all the chowder in the can, when it's sealed. But if you open that can of chowder and dump it out on the kitchen counter, it turns into a big mess. It takes a lot more effort to move all that clam chowder when it's loose. When a mover walks into your garage or basement and sees a lot of stuff that's not in boxes, it reminds him of that can of chowder dumped on the counter. It takes a lot of trips to the truck to move all that chowder, and that costs you money. I don't know if the term "chowder" is universal to all movers, but it was well known in Southern California when I was a mover.
The best way to move all the loose items, the "chowder," is to have a bunch of kids make a few trips each. So whether you have the kids take all the stuff to your car, or have them set it outside the door of the moving truck, it makes the process go faster. It's a matter of simple math. If you get five kids to make five trips each carrying something, that's 25 items moved in a few minutes. If you have two movers that cost $70 an hour, they have to make 12 trips each to move the same 25 small items. So it costs you $30 to move the items the kids could move for $3 worth of popsicles.
In my experience, 50% to 60% of the average move is moving the small items that people could easily move themselves. If you actually do move this stuff yourself, you will take a good chunk off of your moving bill.
Remember: Always tip your movers
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Top Ten Ways To Save Money When You Move
It's your money, don't waste it
I have about 43 ways to save money on your move, here are the top ten:
1. Hire the right movers
2. Have a BIG garage sale before you move
3. Tell the moving company you have lots of antiques or an upright piano
4. When you get to the destination, direct the movers
5. Put all the boxes in the garage
6. Flirt with the movers (women), be cool to the movers (men)
7. Move "chowder" yourself
"Chowder" is anything small that won't fit in a box and that anyone can carry, like lampshades, clothes on hangers, plants, garden implements, etc.
8. Tip your movers up front
9. Don't schedule other workers on moving day
10. Unload your refrigerator
How to use this blog: I'll put this top ten saving money ideas list every five posts or so. For more detail on ideas, check the "blog archive" to the left, then go down the blog to individual posts for more detail on the various tips.
Remember: Always tip your movers
I have about 43 ways to save money on your move, here are the top ten:
1. Hire the right movers
2. Have a BIG garage sale before you move
3. Tell the moving company you have lots of antiques or an upright piano
4. When you get to the destination, direct the movers
5. Put all the boxes in the garage
6. Flirt with the movers (women), be cool to the movers (men)
7. Move "chowder" yourself
"Chowder" is anything small that won't fit in a box and that anyone can carry, like lampshades, clothes on hangers, plants, garden implements, etc.
8. Tip your movers up front
9. Don't schedule other workers on moving day
10. Unload your refrigerator
How to use this blog: I'll put this top ten saving money ideas list every five posts or so. For more detail on ideas, check the "blog archive" to the left, then go down the blog to individual posts for more detail on the various tips.
Remember: Always tip your movers
How hard is moving?
Coked out cougars, dead 'possums, and stairs, stairs, and more stairs...
I could write a book about my adventures as a mover, and maybe some day I will. The company I spent most of my time at doing household moves was owned by a retired Marine. It was in Orange County, California, and at the time there were three Marine bases nearby, Tustin Air Base, MCAS ElToro, and Camp Pendleton. So around the first of the month, when it was really busy, the owner would get Marines to help out on the weekends, so they could earn some extra cash. Now Marines are in excellent physical shape, and they're tough, we all know that. But even Marines have their limits.
One day I had a Marine as a helper, and after finishing our first nine hour moving job, the owner directed us to go help another crew in Laguna Beach. It was a huge move, so we got to work. At about the ten hour mark, the Marine I was working with sat down, exhausted. Keep in mind this guy was only a couple weeks out of boot camp, he was in great shape, but he hadn't learned to pace himself or work through exhaustion yet. So I started making fun of him, and got him so angry, he was about to kick my ass. But the anger also raised his energy level, so he could keep working. Every time he would slow down, I'd give him crap. He was ready to kill be by the end of the night, but we got the job done. The point is, furniture moving is so hard that it can wear down even a young Marine. Just for the record, the guys who'd been in the core for several years were tough as nails, they would keep on going, even on the seventeen hour days.
My co-worker and I walked up to a house in the Spyglass Hill area of Newport Beach one day, and the woman who came to the door was rubbing the cocaine donut from her nostril. We knew we were in for a bad job. You just can't work fast enough to please a coked out Newport cougar. To make things worse, we had to move a twelve foot tall palm tree, in a three hundred pound pot, right through her living room, over her white carpet. People, let me tell you, God gave plants roots and not feet for a reason, they're not supposed to go anywhere.
On a Saturday we called in after our first job, and the owner gave us a second job. I was the helper that day, and the driver walked back to the truck from the pay phone, and said, "This job is going to suck... it's in my neighborhood." He was right. I went to move a tarp that was over some boxes in the garage. Stuck to the tarp was the petrified remains of a young opossum, which had apparently died several months before. I found lots of dead mice and rats as a mover, but that was the only dead opossum.
One Friday, about 6 pm, two of us movers got to our third job that day, at a complex called The Breakers in Huntington Beach. A lot of women who lived there called the complex "The Heartbreakers" because of all the single people and drama there. But as movers, we called it "The Backbreakers," because it's one of the only complexes in Orange County that had third floor apartments with fourth floor bedrooms, AND NO ELEVATOR. For real. Eight flights of stairs for every single piece we moved.
Sure enough, the apartment we were moving was on the third floor, with the bedroom on the fourth. And we had already moved two houses that day, and we knew we'd move at least two the next day. So if your movers seem a little depressed people, this is why, especially around the first of the month, when it's really busy.
But that move got even better. We asked the attractive young woman where she was moving to, and she said, "The third floor on the other side of the complex." Some of you may wonder why I put "Always tip your movers" at the end of each post. Stories like these are why.
Remember: Always tip your movers
I could write a book about my adventures as a mover, and maybe some day I will. The company I spent most of my time at doing household moves was owned by a retired Marine. It was in Orange County, California, and at the time there were three Marine bases nearby, Tustin Air Base, MCAS ElToro, and Camp Pendleton. So around the first of the month, when it was really busy, the owner would get Marines to help out on the weekends, so they could earn some extra cash. Now Marines are in excellent physical shape, and they're tough, we all know that. But even Marines have their limits.
One day I had a Marine as a helper, and after finishing our first nine hour moving job, the owner directed us to go help another crew in Laguna Beach. It was a huge move, so we got to work. At about the ten hour mark, the Marine I was working with sat down, exhausted. Keep in mind this guy was only a couple weeks out of boot camp, he was in great shape, but he hadn't learned to pace himself or work through exhaustion yet. So I started making fun of him, and got him so angry, he was about to kick my ass. But the anger also raised his energy level, so he could keep working. Every time he would slow down, I'd give him crap. He was ready to kill be by the end of the night, but we got the job done. The point is, furniture moving is so hard that it can wear down even a young Marine. Just for the record, the guys who'd been in the core for several years were tough as nails, they would keep on going, even on the seventeen hour days.
My co-worker and I walked up to a house in the Spyglass Hill area of Newport Beach one day, and the woman who came to the door was rubbing the cocaine donut from her nostril. We knew we were in for a bad job. You just can't work fast enough to please a coked out Newport cougar. To make things worse, we had to move a twelve foot tall palm tree, in a three hundred pound pot, right through her living room, over her white carpet. People, let me tell you, God gave plants roots and not feet for a reason, they're not supposed to go anywhere.
On a Saturday we called in after our first job, and the owner gave us a second job. I was the helper that day, and the driver walked back to the truck from the pay phone, and said, "This job is going to suck... it's in my neighborhood." He was right. I went to move a tarp that was over some boxes in the garage. Stuck to the tarp was the petrified remains of a young opossum, which had apparently died several months before. I found lots of dead mice and rats as a mover, but that was the only dead opossum.
One Friday, about 6 pm, two of us movers got to our third job that day, at a complex called The Breakers in Huntington Beach. A lot of women who lived there called the complex "The Heartbreakers" because of all the single people and drama there. But as movers, we called it "The Backbreakers," because it's one of the only complexes in Orange County that had third floor apartments with fourth floor bedrooms, AND NO ELEVATOR. For real. Eight flights of stairs for every single piece we moved.
Sure enough, the apartment we were moving was on the third floor, with the bedroom on the fourth. And we had already moved two houses that day, and we knew we'd move at least two the next day. So if your movers seem a little depressed people, this is why, especially around the first of the month, when it's really busy.
But that move got even better. We asked the attractive young woman where she was moving to, and she said, "The third floor on the other side of the complex." Some of you may wonder why I put "Always tip your movers" at the end of each post. Stories like these are why.
Remember: Always tip your movers
Put all the boxes in the garage
Make sure you label them on the ends
This blog is about saving money when you move, which means doing a little more work yourself. One great way to cut down the time the movers are on the job, and on the clock charging you, is to have them put all the boxes in one place. The garage usually works best for this, but any ground floor room will do in a pinch. This saves a ton of time, and by doing that, quite a bit of money. If you do this, make sure you label your boxes on the ends, not the top, so you can read the labels when the boxes are stacked.
If you're really on a budget, and moving within the area, having the movers just move the big pieces of furniture and the boxes, and having them stack the boxes in the garage, is a great way to get the most done for the least amount of money.
It may seem that this leaves you a ton of work to do, moving all the boxes into the rooms where they go. But if you grab one box at a time, and go unpack it, it's not that bad. This scenario works best if one or more people in your family stay at home, and can work at unpacking over the course of several days.
How this saves you money: Quite a bit of time on a move is taken up by the movers moving boxes into all the different rooms, and by putting all boxes in one place, you drastically cut down the time the movers are getting paid, which reduces your bill.
Remember: Always tip your movers
This blog is about saving money when you move, which means doing a little more work yourself. One great way to cut down the time the movers are on the job, and on the clock charging you, is to have them put all the boxes in one place. The garage usually works best for this, but any ground floor room will do in a pinch. This saves a ton of time, and by doing that, quite a bit of money. If you do this, make sure you label your boxes on the ends, not the top, so you can read the labels when the boxes are stacked.
If you're really on a budget, and moving within the area, having the movers just move the big pieces of furniture and the boxes, and having them stack the boxes in the garage, is a great way to get the most done for the least amount of money.
It may seem that this leaves you a ton of work to do, moving all the boxes into the rooms where they go. But if you grab one box at a time, and go unpack it, it's not that bad. This scenario works best if one or more people in your family stay at home, and can work at unpacking over the course of several days.
How this saves you money: Quite a bit of time on a move is taken up by the movers moving boxes into all the different rooms, and by putting all boxes in one place, you drastically cut down the time the movers are getting paid, which reduces your bill.
Remember: Always tip your movers
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sit back, relax, direct
What you can do to make the move go quicker
How long your actual move takes depends more on you than on than on the movers. No one ever wants to believe that, mostly because most people want someone to blame. But as a veteran of about 900 household moves, I assure you it's true. How fast and efficient the movers work can make maybe an hour's difference during an eight or ten hour job. But if you direct the movers well, that can take a couple hours off of a large job. Being indecisive and changing your mind on where you want stuff put usually costs people $100 or more on a move.
So here's how you, as the customer, do your job well. When the movers show up, they'll generally ask for a tour to see what all has to be moved. Show them everything that's going, inside and out, and answer their questions. By seeing how much stuff has to go, they decide how high to pack the truck. Then, once they get working, be available to answer their questions. Moves are generally directed by women, so sitting at the dining room table and chatting with a friend works well. Wandering around and looking over the movers' shoulder all day does not work well. Tell them what to do, then let them go at it, and be available when they have a question. Then, make sure the movers know where the destination house (or office) is. If it's a local move, the movers will generally take lunch on the way to the destination.
Where you can really help is at the destination house. Generally, you can give the movers a quick tour of the house, and even putting up signs is good, such as "boy's room," girls room," etcetera. Then it's best if you can get a chair and either sit outside the house, by the front door, or just inside the front door. Your job is easy, but makes all the difference in the world. Just tell them where each load they have goes. You can just sit there, with an nice cold drink, and point. I can't tell you how much of a difference this makes. Being decisive is part of this process. Yes, I know women like to try the furniture in different places to see how it looks, but this costs you a lot of money. If you want to save money, pick an arrangement and have them set the furniture that way. Then let them keep working while you decide if you like it or not. If not, have them do a quick rearrange as they're walking back to the truck.
This is so incredibly simple, and yet hardly anyone does it. Then at the end of a draining, soul crushing fifteen hour job, they blame the movers because it took so long. If you need to go somewhere for a bit, have a friend or kid direct the movers while you're gone.
This is one of the simple ideas that can save you $100 or more on an average move. If you think about this ahead of time, the movers can put your favorite chair on the truck last, so it's the first thing off at the new house. Then you can park in it, get a drink, and talk on the phone or peck at the Blackberry, or talk to a friend, and just look up each time the mover walks in, and tell them or point where the item goes.
How this saves: A big chunk of moving time is spent by the customer deciding where things should go. If you can be decisive and direct the movers during the unload, you cut that time, and your bill, down to the minimum.
Remember: Always tip your movers
How long your actual move takes depends more on you than on than on the movers. No one ever wants to believe that, mostly because most people want someone to blame. But as a veteran of about 900 household moves, I assure you it's true. How fast and efficient the movers work can make maybe an hour's difference during an eight or ten hour job. But if you direct the movers well, that can take a couple hours off of a large job. Being indecisive and changing your mind on where you want stuff put usually costs people $100 or more on a move.
So here's how you, as the customer, do your job well. When the movers show up, they'll generally ask for a tour to see what all has to be moved. Show them everything that's going, inside and out, and answer their questions. By seeing how much stuff has to go, they decide how high to pack the truck. Then, once they get working, be available to answer their questions. Moves are generally directed by women, so sitting at the dining room table and chatting with a friend works well. Wandering around and looking over the movers' shoulder all day does not work well. Tell them what to do, then let them go at it, and be available when they have a question. Then, make sure the movers know where the destination house (or office) is. If it's a local move, the movers will generally take lunch on the way to the destination.
Where you can really help is at the destination house. Generally, you can give the movers a quick tour of the house, and even putting up signs is good, such as "boy's room," girls room," etcetera. Then it's best if you can get a chair and either sit outside the house, by the front door, or just inside the front door. Your job is easy, but makes all the difference in the world. Just tell them where each load they have goes. You can just sit there, with an nice cold drink, and point. I can't tell you how much of a difference this makes. Being decisive is part of this process. Yes, I know women like to try the furniture in different places to see how it looks, but this costs you a lot of money. If you want to save money, pick an arrangement and have them set the furniture that way. Then let them keep working while you decide if you like it or not. If not, have them do a quick rearrange as they're walking back to the truck.
This is so incredibly simple, and yet hardly anyone does it. Then at the end of a draining, soul crushing fifteen hour job, they blame the movers because it took so long. If you need to go somewhere for a bit, have a friend or kid direct the movers while you're gone.
This is one of the simple ideas that can save you $100 or more on an average move. If you think about this ahead of time, the movers can put your favorite chair on the truck last, so it's the first thing off at the new house. Then you can park in it, get a drink, and talk on the phone or peck at the Blackberry, or talk to a friend, and just look up each time the mover walks in, and tell them or point where the item goes.
How this saves: A big chunk of moving time is spent by the customer deciding where things should go. If you can be decisive and direct the movers during the unload, you cut that time, and your bill, down to the minimum.
Remember: Always tip your movers
Get the best movers on moving day
Tell the moving company you have either a lot of antiques or an upright piano
How well your move goes depends on the guys who show up at your door the day of the move. You want the best two or three movers on your moving day. The reality is, most moving companies have a few seasoned, veteran movers who drive the trucks. Then they have a bunch of guys who work with those drivers, which is basically any guy who walks in the door looking for a job. I've had to work with homeless guys as helpers, and also with a 340 pound guy who spent a couple hours of each move in the bathroom. Believe me, when you move, you don't want that type of guy on the job. So here's a simple trick to get the best two guys available for your move. Tell the moving company you have lots of antiques, or an upright piano. Pick one. I prefer the antiques, but the upright piano also works well.
Why does this make a difference? Because the owner of the moving company wants his guys to do your move, he wants to get paid, and then he never wants to hear from you again. If his guys break your stuff, he's going to be getting angry phone calls from you for weeks, maybe months, and he doesn't want that. So if you specifically mention antiques or an upright piano, he'll send the best helper he has to make sure they take care of your pricey items. This is a totally simple trick, and it works great.
You may be wondering why not tell him you have a baby grand piano. If you say that, the company will want to send you a third man for the job, because you should have three guys for a baby grand, and four if it's going up steps. But two guys can handle an upright piano. So what happens if the movers show up and there's no piano or antiques? Nothing. They don't care. From my experience, this is the simplest way to insure you get the best movers the company has to offer for your move.
How this saves you money: Experienced movers are more efficient, create less damage, and usually get the job done a little quicker.
Remember: Always Tip Your Movers
How well your move goes depends on the guys who show up at your door the day of the move. You want the best two or three movers on your moving day. The reality is, most moving companies have a few seasoned, veteran movers who drive the trucks. Then they have a bunch of guys who work with those drivers, which is basically any guy who walks in the door looking for a job. I've had to work with homeless guys as helpers, and also with a 340 pound guy who spent a couple hours of each move in the bathroom. Believe me, when you move, you don't want that type of guy on the job. So here's a simple trick to get the best two guys available for your move. Tell the moving company you have lots of antiques, or an upright piano. Pick one. I prefer the antiques, but the upright piano also works well.
Why does this make a difference? Because the owner of the moving company wants his guys to do your move, he wants to get paid, and then he never wants to hear from you again. If his guys break your stuff, he's going to be getting angry phone calls from you for weeks, maybe months, and he doesn't want that. So if you specifically mention antiques or an upright piano, he'll send the best helper he has to make sure they take care of your pricey items. This is a totally simple trick, and it works great.
You may be wondering why not tell him you have a baby grand piano. If you say that, the company will want to send you a third man for the job, because you should have three guys for a baby grand, and four if it's going up steps. But two guys can handle an upright piano. So what happens if the movers show up and there's no piano or antiques? Nothing. They don't care. From my experience, this is the simplest way to insure you get the best movers the company has to offer for your move.
How this saves you money: Experienced movers are more efficient, create less damage, and usually get the job done a little quicker.
Remember: Always Tip Your Movers
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