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TIP STORE: Household: Moving

Plan the Move and the Delivery and Save Hundreds

​Moving house is a lot of work and expensive. Those hours put in by the removalists add up. What I do is go over to the new house a day or two before everything gets moved. I take sheets of paper, some sticky tape and a thick black texta. I give each room a number and put a sign on each room’s door, with the number clearly shown. I then measure up and decide where each piece of furniture goes and use the paper and textas to make a sign. For example, if I am in the lounge room, I write ‘TV unit’ or ‘3 seater sofa’ then place each sign on the floor where I have decided that piece of furniture will go. When I have worked out a room I quickly note all the things that are going into each numbered room. On moving day I stand outside the front door and as the men carry things in, I tell them which number room it goes in. They go to the correct numbered room, look for the furniture signs on the floor and place the furniture on the sign. The furniture goes exactly where I want it. All the decisions were made well before moving in day. Last time we moved house we saved 2.5 hours of removal time. There was no extra shifting of furniture needed. With the saving of 2.5 hours of removal time, we saved about $240.
Contributed by Joanne Jennings 

​Box It Up and Ship It

Many years ago we moved from NSW to WA putting everything in a shipping container and sending it over on a truck. Much cheaper than starting over again. Ring some companies for a price and decide from there.
Contributed by Diane Mills

​Start Over Lightly

​We had a moving dilemma. First off, you don't know if what you take with you (at great expense) is what will fit/suit your new accommodation. If I had the time over again I would definitely sell everything and look forward to starting over with fresh furniture/fittings as and when I find them in my new chapter. No worries about cartage, safe arrival, insurance etc., just offload it all and start over again lightly. Good luck! 
Contributed by Bernadette Collins

Keep the Good Things, Sell the Rest

​I have moved from Tasmania to Queensland and back a few times. It does cost a lot to move your items here. If you have good quality furniture, keep it and ship it over. If not have a garage sale and when you arrive have fun picking out new here. 
Good luck with your move. 
Contributed by Natalie Bennett

Moving from House to Motorhome to House

I moved from a house to my Coaster motorhome, I considered a storage locker, but found the expense overwhelming, so I decided to sell most of my furniture and sundry. The hardest part was the first sale, I wondered if I was going to regret it. Twelve months later I moved back into a house and had to refurnish. I had kept basic items, linen, plates, cups, saucepans etc., but no furniture. I checked Facebook and major department stores (Big W, Kmart) and refurnished my house for around $800. A lot less than the cost of storage and moving fees.
Contributed by Margaret Phillips

​Hire Containers

One of those shipping containers apparently is quite cheap to hire for a limited time. I would ring round for a price!
​Contributed by Margaret, Yagoona, July 27th, 2006

​Backloads Save Money

The best way I think is to see if any of the truck suppliers need someone to bring a truck across to Perth. There may also be some removal people looking to get a hire truck back to Perth. Hope this helps.
​Contributed by Pauline, Petrie, July 27th, 2006

​Pack Your Own Shipping Containers and Save

I live in far north WA that has a very transient population. The most affordable way people move back to Perth (over 3500 km) is to use shipping containers. They are quite large, and would be adequate for an average house, and don't really take that long to arrive. The company delivers and collects the container, however I am unsure if they also pack it for you. Good luck and enjoy Perth!
​Contributed by Sarah, Kununurra, July 27th, 2006

​Cheapest Removalist by Container and Train

​I recently moved from Perth to Melbourne and I found the cheapest option was Miller's Moves. They use shipping containers transported by train and quoted half the price of most other movers. Contributed by Emmalee, St. Kilda East, July 27th, 2006

​Backloads for Cross Country Moves

Bev should contact National Removals firms and find out if any of them are doing a run from Perth to Sydney, they will usually do a much cheaper job on the return journey. I saved a lot of money when I brought by daughter back from Perth to Adelaide.
​Contributed by Lynne, Seaford, July 27th, 2006

​Fill Your Own Shipping Containers

​We have just recently moved from Perth to Mildura and we found the cheapest way was by sea containers. Because we were on the land hubby didn't want to leave too much behind so we bought our containers and took our time filling them. However you can contact companies that lease them out and they go via rail. This is the cheapest way that we found to move. If you have a place to move into when you move, renting or leasing is the best option. www.dialabox.com.au is worth looking into. Contributed by Lois, Merbein South, July 28th, 2006

​Pre-Move Stock-up

​My partner and I are building a house at the moment and thought that it was a great time to start 'stocking up' on non-perishable items such as cleaning products, toilet paper and pasta etc. Every week, we spend roughly $10.00, and only ever buy things when they are on special. When we move into our house we won't have to do that first initial 'big shop' - just fruit, veg and meat. We have saved so much money!! Instead of buying the commercial cleaning products for the bathroom, which can be up to $7.00 for a 750ml bottle, we went to our hardware shop and bought a 5-litre bottle of a similar product for only $12.00!!!! Now I can't wait to get into the house and start using all of this stuff!!! - Contributed by Steph, Salisbury Heights, October 18th 2006

​Moving House for Free

We are moving house soon and I found that we had to pay for boxes and packing materials (even newspapers) so I found someone who was moving and took their boxes off of their hands for free and I have been shredding all our old bills/school papers etc that we no longer need and I am using this for packing all the breakables and small hole fillers etc, I am also filling my bin with all the old stuff that we need to throw away so we will not need to hire a skip so far our move has cost us nothing and no doubt our truck will be paid for by the garage sale we will have so we may get a free move with nothing out of pocket. This has certainly saved us a lot of money!
​Contributed by Kay, Salisbury East, 6th August, 2007

​Free Packing Boxes

The best place for this is a website called Freecycle (www.freecycle.org.au), you post items you want on there as well as items you no longer need, everything is free as long as you are willing to pick up. Offers of packing boxes are one of the most popular items to give away.
Contributed by Sarah, Carrum Downs, 20th March 2009
​ Website: www.freecycle.org.au