I’m sure that I speak for all of us when I say that moving house is both an exciting yet frustrating experience. The excitement of breaking the monotony of living under the same roof mixed in with the apprehensive thought of going through the moving process leaves us with a contrasting set of emotions. Although there is never a perfect time of year for us to move house, there some parts of the year that make it a less troublesome experience. Often the best time of year is dependent on you: your lifestyle, your needs and whether you are moving with a family.
The biggest obstacles in life often require the most preparation, and moving house is certainly not a piece of cake. You will eventually get there but at what cost? A broken leg? Or perhaps a missing box containing all of your most valuable possessions? In hindsight, you may wish that you had booked a removal van in summer instead of winter after realising that it was 20% cheaper.
‘Preparation prevents poor performance.’
Adopting a smarter approach can help to improve the efficiency of moving home whilst even reducing the costs. Below we have outlined a number of factors that you should take into account before you start even looking at removal companies.
Spring and summer
If you are fortunate enough to have control of when you can leave your house, then we would advise you to move sometime in spring or summer. These seasons are the least busy for house removal companies so they will charge lower rates. Take note, weekend rates tend to be higher since the cost of rent some products or services creep up, for example storage space, crates and truck hire.
Even though Scotland isn’t renowned for its sunny days, the weather conditions in summer make it a much easier time of year to move house. Loading and unloading the removal van with furniture reduces the chances of damage and a potential accident from happening. For those that are planning on moving to a destination far away, then the summer conditions make transportation for yourself and the removal van much easier since there will be no icy roads.
Thinking About Your Kids
Moving house is a disruptive process for us all but less so for adults since we can understand why the move is necessary. For our kids, however, everything is a bit more fragile. Moving away from their friends and into a new environment can be a difficult experience and so it is important to give them time to prepare and accept the move. Working around the calendar and the children’s holiday is recommended since it helps to avoid any academic disruption. Ideally, summer is the best time since the holidays last around 6 or 7 weeks, giving your children time to settle in and adapt to their new surroundings prior to the next school term.
Avoid the chaos of Christmas
Whether we embrace the festive season or not, come December most of us have a lot of work to do preparing and buying presents and going on social outings. December is a month where we celebrate together with friends and family, requiring us to invest a lot of time and money into these relationships. The last thing you want to worry about is having to organise the chaos around moving home.
With December being in the heart of winter you can expect temperatures to be close to zero. Common sense would indicate that this isn’t the friendliest time of year to move house since a number of different things can go wrong. An icy and slippery road can further raise the potential for any damage thanks to the rain or snow and just simply travelling from A to B will be a bit more difficult for you and the removal company.
The forecast for January is still dark
If you can, avoid January. As tempting as it may be to begin the New Year with a completely fresh start to go with your New Year’s resolutions, it will only make for a more stressful experience leading up to the move. Firstly, you will have to spend most of your December organising things. Especially if you have kids, this is not ideal since the festive season is supposed to be family-orientated.
Secondly, you will have to celebrate Christmas surrounded by boxes and packing material. Again, not ideal. And let’s not forget to mention the weather that will most likely be icy and cold, making certain procedures, such as loading the removal van with your belongings, more hazardous.
