Most people will move at least a few times in their adult lives before buying their permanent residence. While settling into a new home may be exciting, high moving costs can make the event much more stressful. Keep your costs low with these five tips for moving on a budget.

Compare

Before choosing a moving company, collect at least three quotes to ensure you are getting the best price. Popular moving companies may charge higher prices due to their branding, so compare prices with smaller businesses too.

Make sure you check the reviews before signing a contract. You may want to automatically choose the cheapest company, but if their customer reviews are largely negative, you’re likely to receive poor customer service.

Use Free Supplies

Stay budget-friendly with your moving supplies by borrowing plastic containers from friends and family instead of buying cardboard boxes. If you can’t borrow enough containers, check your local grocery store. Most leave leftover cardboard boxes out for customers to take, free of charge.

You can also skip expensive bubble wrap by using flyers or newspaper to wrap delicate items. If you need more protection, towels, pillowcases, or other linens work well too. Fill your boxes with plastic shopping bags or bunched-up paper so that your items don’t slip around in transit.

Do-It-Yourself

To keep costs low, you’ll need to handle many of the moving responsibilities on your own. For example, although you can pay a service to pack for you, it is an unnecessary luxury. Start packing as early as possible, doing a little at a time so as not to get overwhelmed.

If you have access to a vehicle, you should try to load and move as many light boxes and small items as you can. That way, the movers can focus on your heavy and hard-to-move items instead of wasting time on the easier things.

Pack Efficiently

You can easily make your move simpler and more cost-efficient by packing well. Take your time when packing; make every inch of space in your boxes count. Maximizing your box space means using fewer supplies and therefore saving money.

A fully packed box will also be sturdier and easier to stack than a half-full one. Half-full boxes may sag and break if something heavy is stacked on top.

Minimize

Moving gives you the perfect opportunity to minimize your possessions and get rid of junk; after all, the less stuff you have, the less you have to pack. Before you put anything into a box, take a second to consider whether it’s truly necessary.

When you’ve collected all of your unwanted items, you’ll have a few choices. If the items are stained or damaged, you can try to fix them or just throw them out. You can donate items that are in good condition, or sell them to make extra money for moving expenses or if you wish to simply keep them you can hire a self-storage company to take care of all the work and store the goods somewhere safe.

Packing and moving requires a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to break your budget too. Before signing a contract, compare different moving quotes to ensure you’re getting the best price. Use free supplies and do things yourself whenever possible.

Finally, make the most of your box space by packing efficiently, and donating or discarding old items. With these five tips, you can easily keep costs low for your next move.