By Adriana Noton

Packing up all your belongings to move is one of the biggest pains anytime, anywhere. No one enjoys the process of packing and labeling boxes, trying to protect glasses and dishware, emptying drawers and closets, all in the name of relocation. And add to that nightmare with the biggest decision of all: hiring movers or doing it on your own. It is no wonder at all that people get stressed out just thinking about moving. And that stress all starts when trying to come up with answers to your questions to ask before hiring a moving company.

If you are thinking of making a move, you have lots of things to consider. If you have a huge, multi-room home that is packed with stuff, you might want to go the easy route, pay the cash, and hire a moving company. If, on the other hand, your move is relatively small, a tiny studio or just a simple one-bedroom home, it is much easier and maybe more cost-effective to do it all yourself. But if you do actually keep the whole relocation on your plate, remember to first consider that you will need to find and rent a truck, plus drive it! Also make room for expenditures on gas and insurance, plus the time and money to clean, re-fuel, and return the vehicle. And, if you forego the moving company, the cost of all the supplies does too, including a handcart, boxes, moving blankets and packing tape.

Also, consider how far your move will be. Going only a couple blocks increases the likelihood that it will be simpler for you to do it yourself. However, going hundreds of miles, or across the country, and you are looking at what should be a much easier decision to side with hiring a professional relocation company. These guys are used to making the big move, they are happy to drive all those miles in a gigantic truck filled with the things that make up your home.

Certainly, no matter which decision you end up with, any move is going to be costing a lot of money simply for fuel. When you go with a moving company to move long distances, often your things will be stored in a truck with the move of another person or family. Sometimes one moving truck can have three or four different relocations on that one truck. That way, your fuel charges are spread out among everyone. If you do go with your own truck and pay for it by yourself, all those dollars for gas show up directly on your credit card alone.

Also, keep in mind that if you move yourself a long distance, there is usually a pretty harsh extra charge for renting a truck in one place, and dropping it off in another location.

Yet another thing to ponder is your physical well being, and here is where you really need to be honest with yourself. Make certain that you are physically prepared for the beating your body will take. It is going to take a tremendous amount of energy and strength to carry boxes and furniture up and down stairs, down long hallways and sidewalks, to and from the moving truck. The most obvious choice is to draft family and friends. But that in itself gets expensive when you consider how much food and drink everyone will need to get the job done.

And these people you are enlisting to help out, also make sure they also can physically endure the hardships. As well, hopefully they are not going to drop a lamp down a flight of stairs, or drive a chair through the wall, in the process of moving things around. These are your valuables that you are putting in their hands, so make sure it is worth the savings to have these folks do it, rather than people who make a living out of doing it, every day.

Maybe the easiest way to decide is to think honestly about when the move is done. After the moving company leaves, all you have to do is unpack. If you and your friends and family do all the work, you still have to unpack. But you also will probably need some ice bags, heating pads and a good Jacuzzi just to recover from the physical toll the move will have on your body. Not to mention all the relationships probably damaged by the stress of the activity.