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Cost Moving Tips

Budgeting for Your NJ Move

Budgeting for Your NJ Move

One of the biggest concerns many people have when hiring NJ movers is managing all the costs involved. When budgeting for a move, it can easily be overwhelming as there are so many different costs associated with it from moving supplies to additional moving services. Plus, many NJ movers might not be upfront on additional fees you may need to pay when providing their quote. Even when working with reputable NJ moving companies, it can still be difficult to understand all the costs associated with a move. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Below are some tips and tricks on how to understand how much money to set aside for your NJ move.

Factors That Affect NJ Moving Cost

The cost of hiring NJ movers varies widely depending on what you need for your move. For example, a local move tends to be cheaper than a long distance move and they also tend to have different pricing structures. Most professional movers will charge you an hourly rate for local moves and a flat rate based on a few factors for your long distance move. In general, local moves range between $500 to $1,500 depending on the size of your move versus $2,000 to $5,000 and above for long distance.

So how do movers come up with these figures? It’s based on a few things including:

  • Distance – the further away your new house is from your current home the more expensive it will be. Speaking of distance, the clock starts on the move when they leave their warehouse and stops when their truck is back at their HQ, not when they finished unloading their truck!
  • Volume – The more you have, the larger the truck and the more time movers will need. This directly impacts cost especially for flat-rate moves as costs are calculated by combining distance and volume.
  • Services – If you need anything else besides the basic loading and unloading, expect to pay more! Packing, unpacking, storage, etc. are all services moving companies provide at an additional cost.
  • Time of year – while most companies won’t charge you more when moving during the summer or holiday season, you likely won’t be able to find as many discounts or negotiate a better deal as you might be able to during off peak season.
  • Accessibility – Does your home have stairs? Will the movers need to park far away from your old or new home? All of these could incur an extra charge.

And don’t forget about other moving expenses like buying moving supplies, getting a hotel if your home is not move-in ready, renting a car, etc. All of these things add up! 

Common Hidden Fees

Before you sign the contract for the movers, it’s important to understand any potential hidden or extra fees you can expect. Remember, the initial quote you get from the company is their best guess based on information you provide. If you realize you need extra services or forget to mention something like stairs, the final bill will likely be higher than the initial estimate. That’s why it is important to give as much information as possible for an accurate quote. A few things that can add on extra charges to your bill include:

  • Stairs – many moving companies will charge extra money for each flight of stairs. So if you are moving out from a third floor walkup, expect to pay at least $30 more.
  • Long carry – not all companies utilize this charge, but you should always ask if you don’t think the company will be able to park directly in front of your house or apartment. These fees are charged for carrying items a long distance from your home to the truck. The distance varies between companies and could be as short as 100 feet from doorstep to truck.
  • Shuttle service – if you’re moving somewhere with narrow streets that can’t fit a full size moving truck, the company may charge you a shutter service fee that provides a smaller vehicle to move your belongings from the truck to your home.
  • Packing materials – you’ll be charged extra for packing supplies like boxes, tape, bubble wrap, etc.
  • COI – if you are moving into an apartment that requires a certificate of insurance, some moving companies might tack on a fee to produce the COI to building management.
  • Travel time – in addition to the hourly rate for the move, many companies will also add a travel surcharge to your bill if your home is outside of a certain radius from their headquarters.

If you don’t see any of these fees listed out in the quote or contract, make sure to communicate potential issues clearly and ask questions about other additional charges.

Deposits and Cancellation/Rescheduling Fees

Once you have found the company for you, you will probably need to pay a deposit. This amount is usually $50-$100 depending on the cost of your move and will be credited against your final bill. However, since you will have to put this payment a month or more in advance, you’ll want to make sure you have it available. This deposit will also be held if you end up canceling or rescheduling outside of the contracted rescheduling time frame, usually up to 2 days before moving day. Some companies will even charge you the full amount of the move for these last minute changes, so make sure the moving date you provide works for you and if anything changes, contact the movers as soon as possible so you don’t get hit with these fees.

Tipping

The biggest fee many people forget is the tip! While it isn’t a required part of your move, it is still customary to provide a tip to your NJ moving crew if they ticked all the boxes. The standard tip is around $15-20 per hour per person. So for a 2 person crew that worked 4 hours, that would be $160 that you should set aside. Feel free to tip more if you felt the movers did an exceptional job and/or had to move a lot of bulky items. You can also provide the movers with some cold water during the summer or some hot coffee during the winter time. They’ll definitely appreciate it!

If the movers did not do a good job, don’t feel pressured to tip. Some red flags that warrant decreasing the tip amount include:

  • Arriving late with no communication
  • Poor attitude
  • Making excessive noise or using profanity around children and neighbors
  • Disregarding directions on your fragile, marked boxes
  • Damaging belongings
  • Demanding cash for each mover
  • Slow, lazy service

If the movers try to threaten or pressure you, call the office and let them know what happened. You do NOT need to provide a tip if the crew does not do a good job with your move or, at any point, make you feel unsafe.

Reducing Your Moving Costs

While some costs are fixed, there are ways you can save money on your move. The first thing you should do is declutter as much as possible. The less stuff you have, the less you need to move, which means fewer boxes and less time movers need to take loading and unloading your belongings. You can even make some money on the items you decluttered by hosting a garage or yard sale. While you’ll never recoup the original amount you paid for the items, you could earn back a couple hundred dollars depending on what you’re selling, which can give you some extra wiggle room in your moving budget.

Another great way to save money is to shop around. Don’t hire the first movers that show in your search. Take note of a few and call them up to compare services and quotes. If one company offers the services you need but are a little more expensive than a comparable company, try and negotiate the rates down. You can also ask if they have any deals or discounts available.

Finally, pack as much as you can yourself. It’s tedious, but it will save you money in the long run. If you still need some help, see if the moving company provides partial packing service. That way you can have them focus on packing a certain room or area while you pack the rest. For the best value, have the movers pack your fragile items. While the movers do cover your belongings with the released valuation for free, it will usually only cover items the movers packed themselves. If you packed the items and they get damaged, it won’t be covered in released or full valuation unless it can be proved that the damage happened due to negligence by the movers and not poor packing on your part.

Ready to Make a NJ Move In Your Budget

At NJ Movers, we provide excellent service at affordable prices. Our company has become the movers NJ residents trust. So if you’re looking to make your NJ move, reach out to us and we’ll help create a customized moving plan that matches your needs and budget.

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Moving Tips

The Most Useful Guide for NJ Movers

The Essential Tipping Guide for NJ Movers

Moving day is here and you’re all packed up and ready to go. Hopefully, the moving crew has done their job and made the moving process as smooth as possible. While you’ve likely spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on your move, you might be wondering whether you should tip your movers, especially if they did a good job. The fact is, moving companies don’t factor or take gratuities into account in their overall estimate. And while it’s not required, tipping is common in the moving industry and your NJ movers will certainly appreciate the gesture.

Figuring out what’s fair depends on a variety of factors including:

  • Difficulty of move
  • Quality of service
  • Size of move
  • Number of movers

When hiring professional movers, you should set aside some money for tipping that fits comfortably in your overall moving budget. This tipping guide can help you create a ballpark estimate of how much you should tip.

General Tipping Guide: What You Need to Know

You’re probably familiar with tipping at restaurants. There, you tip a portion of the total and increase the tip amount based on the service. If you try to carry over that concept to moving, it will cost hundreds of dollars. An excellent place to start is to tip movers at $4-5 per person for every hour they work. Here’s an easy breakdown of how to tip movers:

  • Half-day move (generally 4 hours) – $20/person
  • Full day (8 hours) – $40/person
  • 12 hours or more – $50-60/person

While this is a baseline, you should also factor in the complexity of the move into the price. For example, if your movers are also packing all your things and moving bulky furniture like a pool table or piano, you might want to increase the rate.

Tipping on Moving Day: Should You Tip?

Most movers NJ residents trust should provide a decent baseline level of service. Most companies offer consistent training to ensure all crew members know best practices when it comes to moving things as efficiently as possible. Some factors to consider regarding the success of your move include:

  • Punctuality – did the movers show up on time and communicate their arrival beforehand?
  • Efficient – was your move completed on time or even faster than expected?
  • Helpful – did the movers answer your questions? Did they help with packing, uninstalling, and basic disassembly of furniture?
  • Friendly – while you don’t want your movers to be chatterboxes, you do want them to be friendly and respectful of you, your family, and your neighbors
  • Excellent work ethic – they didn’t dawdle when they go on-site and performed work without any complaints including navigating tight halls and stairs
  • Careful – Did all of your items arrive in the same condition as they left your old home? Did they damage anything including the walls or floors of your new or old place?

Of course, there might be times when you will need to adjust the tip downwards. Some things to look out for include:

  • Poor attitude and tardiness
  • Rude and loud during the move, shouting profanities around children and neighbors
  • Lack of regard for your instructions, especially with fragile items
  • Damaged belongings
  • Threatening or demanding a certain amount of cash as a tip

Since tips are meant to show movers appreciation for their hard work, you can withhold a tip if the crew you had were particularly egregious. In these cases, you should also call the company directly and make a report. In many cases, you might be refunded a portion of your moving fee as an apology.

When and How to Tip Movers

As with any other service provider, you should only tip after the job is done. That way you can pay attention to their attitude, how they treat your belongings, and their professionalism throughout the entire process. The exception to this is for long-distance moves as these are often handled by multiple crews. You should provide a tip to the crew loading your items and to the crew unloading them at the destination.

With that said, you can let the workers know beforehand that you intend to tip them for their hard work. That might motivate them to get the job done faster! When figuring out how much you owe, don’t forget to count non-monetary contributions that you provide during the move such as lunch, water bottles, coffee, etc. Something like a water bottle shouldn’t decrease the tip amount dramatically, but a lunch might replace a tip in its entirety.

Once the relocation is complete, put the cash tip for each mover in a separate envelope and hand them out individually instead of giving out the total amount to the foreman. It will limit confusion and prevent potential dishonesty where some movers take a higher cut than others. Also, by handing out the tip individually, you are showing that you are recognizing everyone’s effort. And while it’s customary to give each mover the same amount, you can give a higher one to someone who went above and beyond.

Other Common Ways to Show Your Appreciation

Yes, cash is king, but there are plenty of other ways you can thank your movers. While not necessary, these can go a long way and help future moves go smoothly if you choose to use the same company. Some ideas include:

  • Leaving a good online review using their names
  • Provide refreshing cold or hot drinks (depending on the time of year). Just make sure these are non-alcoholic drinks!
  • Offer small snacks or food to help keep their energy levels up!
  • Write a thank you letter after they have completed the relocation and include it with their cash tip
  • Offer a meal. This might not work for very busy movers, but you can always offer a quick meal of pizza, sandwich, etc. that they can take to go. Also, make sure to check if they have any dietary restrictions before putting in the order!
  • If you have items like furniture or decor you no longer need, offer it to the movers in case they want it. Many will gladly take it off your hands either to keep in their own home or sell

How to Improve Moving Efficiency

While you’ve hired the NJ movers to load and unload your items, you can make the job go a lot faster by making sure you’ve fully packed everything. Some movers will recommend you leave large and/or expensive items like glass tabletops, TVs, etc. to them as they know how to wrap them up properly.

While they will disassemble and dismount your AC units and furniture, it’s always a good idea to do it yourself. That way, you know exactly where all the screws, brackets, and nails are. Also, make sure to empty all your drawers and shelves. It will reduce the weight of these items and the movers don’t have to worry about your belongings flying out of the shelves during the drive to your new home.

Another step you can take to make your and your mover’s life easy is to label each box appropriately. A well-labeled box includes the room name and a basic inventory of what’s in the box. You should make sure any boxes containing fragile items are labeled accordingly. That way the movers will know to handle them with care.

Moving is a tough job and any action you can take to make it easier helps your assigned crew out alot. Once the NJ movers have completed their job, show your appreciation by giving them a well-deserved tip and great review!