Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 18 May 2011 02:00 AM PDT

I have been preaching the enormous benefit of an emergency fund for the better part of two years now. I started a very small one when I was in college, and with the exception of when we purchased our car, it has been steadily growing for a couple of years. There’s an amazing sense of safety and peace that I get whenever things get a little tight, just because I know that the emergency fund is there to cover me. As I’ve always said, things come up, and when they do, it is far better to use cash that you’ve saved rather than dip into your credit line to pay for life’s unexpected emergencies.

So it came to pass that our wonderful landlords sold their house, and the new owners don’t want tenants. Gah! We absolutely love the place that we have, and are devastated that we are going to have to leave it. Adding to the stress and frustration is the fact that we had such a nice deal on a space so large, and finding something equivalent would come with a 50% premium over what we currently pay. Our other option is a dramatic loss of space, but because we have lived at our current residence for over two years, we have accumulated enough things to fill our place, and would have to reduce our possessions or look for some sort of storage space. Thankfully, we have some time to find the correct place for ourselves as we have just over two months to look for a new suite, and we’ve already begun.

Searching For A Place To Live

The first cost that will hit us in our transition to a new abode is one of transportation and time. We’ve done a lot of looking for places to live over the last week, and that has resulted in a lot of driving around. We spent an entire day (6 hours or so) looking at 10 or 11 different suites. That is a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of time wasted. I must repeat “wasted” because some of the places that we looked at were absolutely horrid, including less than legal suites and less than clothed landlords. One can expect to have a higher than average gas bill for the month, as well as extra “eating out” costs as appointments run late and meals are missed.

Packing

This part is probably the most dreaded of the moving process. There’s nothing quite so tedious as collecting and filling box after dusty cardboard box with odds and ends of things that you don’t quite remember how they got into your possession. You can expect a number of costs here, not the least of which will be the time that you spend gently wrapping each individual plate and glass from your kitchen. Don’t forget to label each box where it goes to save time unpacking later, else you’ll be stuck with two dozen boxes of “miscellaneous”. While you can save some money by getting boxes for free off of craigslist or at local businesses, you might need to invest some money in packing tape and packing paper.

Changing Mailing Address

It costs about $30 to have all your mail forwarded for 6 months through Canada Post. That is a convenient one time fee, but realize that you still have to go to each individual website, find the place to change your address, and hope that it goes through sometime in those six months. Also expect to be incredibly frustrated as you can’t find the option to change your address, so you call the customer service number and waste 30-45 minutes on the phone instead. Just off the top of my head, we need to change our address with:

our bank (x2)
our credit card (x3)
our work (x2)
our phone (x2)
our internet
our television provider
our utilities (x2)
my union
our student loans (x4 – 2 federal, 2 provincial)

and probably half a dozen other entities that only mail me once a year (ICBC, BCAA, etc)

Moving Day

For moving day itself, set aside at least a couple hundred dollars. Depending on the size of your move, you may have hired a moving company (please be sure to get a reputable one, and that means paying a little more), or you may have rented a moving truck (please be sure to reserve one far in advance, and show up early to pick it up). Expect lots of last minute purchases (we already packed away the broom! Quick! Buy a new one!), paying for a meal or two (plus enough food for your begrudging friends/family/local college students), and any other unexpected situations that may arise (parking? tickets? getting electricity reconnected?)

Buying New Furniture

Even once you have moved all your precious belongings into your new house, you will inevitably find out that the perfect little table that you built for the perfect little nook in your previous house no longer works. In fact, your couch may not fit, your bed may be too small, and none of your dishtowels will match your new kitchen. Expect that sometime, within six months of moving in, a moderate to large furniture purchase will happen. It may just be new curtains or an area rug, but it is one of those inevitable things that seem to crop up post moving. Plan for it, expect it, and everything will be well.

What other expenses seem to pop up during moving? Any tips for reducing moving expenses?

The Many Costs of Moving originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on May 18, 2011.