Man, figuring out how much moving companies charge felt like trying to solve a mystery with missing clues. Started by calling three local movers pretending I had a 2-bedroom apartment to relocate next month. Each one gave me wildly different quotes, like seriously confusing stuff.
Step one: Playing phone detective
First mover guy sounded like he hated his job, just grunted “$100 per hour per guy plus $150 for the truck.” Clicked before I could even ask about my grandma’s piano. Second place bombarded me with options – packing boxes? That’s extra. Stairs? Extra. Living on the 8th floor? Hoo boy, extra extra. Third company gave some flat rate nonsense that felt too good to be true.
The painful spreadsheet phase
Made a dang Excel sheet that looked like alphabet soup after all this. Realized prices depend on:
- How much crap you own (measured in rooms, weirdly)
- Whether you’re moving across town or across the country
- If you want them touching your underwear or not
- Parking nightmares at your building
Budget hacks from my disaster
After nearly throwing my laptop when quotes hit $2000, found some golden tricks:
- Sell half your junk first. That treadmill collecting dust? Bye.
- Rent your own damn boxes instead of buying. Saved $80 like magic.
- Moving yourself on Tuesday is 20% cheaper than Saturday apparently.
- Tell them you’ll disconnect your own damn washer. Saved $85 per hour.
How not to get screwed
Learned this hard lesson: Always make them come see your stuff in person! That dude who quoted $800 over the phone showed up and suddenly it’s $1200. Almost bit his head off. Now I know to get everything in writing with itemized nonsense and a binding estimate.
Final pro tip? Budget for pizza and beer for your broke friends who show up to help. Cheaper than paying pros to move your microwave, trust me.
