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Moving: A Guide to Doing It Yourself

Moving yourself has several advantages over hiring someone to move your things: it is cheaper, you have more flexibility about the timing of the move, and strangers will not be handling your prized possessions.

Be careful, though, because unless you are Arnold Schwarzenegger, a long day of awkward bending and heavy lifting can leave you with a sore (or injured) back.

Here are a few tips that should help make moving yourself easier:

  • Rent a two-wheeled hand-truck and a few moving dollies to make trips back and forth from the truck easier.
  • Wrap your furniture with padded moving blankets (you can rent these, too), taping the blankets closed with tape before you put the piece on one of the dollies.
  • Make sure your truck has a loading ramp. This will enable you to roll your hand truck and dollies right on to the truck without having to lift anything.
  • Don't forget to make arrangements with the management of the place you are leaving as well as your new home. They may have strict rules about move-in times and procedures because of insurance regulations.
  • On the day before the move, do a walk-through of the path you will have to follow with your boxes and furniture so that you will be prepared for navigating narrow doorways, corners or steps.

We have had good luck with Ryder, but have not heard any major complaints about any other name-brand company. Ryder gets about $95 per day for a 15 ft. van with a loading ramp and an automatic transmission. These are not hard to drive, but we recommend you have a friend guide you into parking spaces. A hand truck will run you about $10, each dolly will cost about $10, and mover's blankets will cost about $1 each.

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