Moving house soon and looking at ways to save money? I’ve got lots of helpful tips to get you through this costly time.
Hello from my new home. And big news: we have stairs! Yes, after 15+ years living in small London flats, we’ve finally graduated to a family home!
We were so excited to pick up the keys a few weeks ago. If there’s one thing I can say about moving house, it’s that the process isn’t quick. Our first viewing of this house was at the end of June 2024. It’s now January 2025 and we’re finally in. That’s six and a half months later!
Isn’t it crazy that you view a property once or twice, before deciding to spend your life savings on it. Yet, I can easily deliberate for weeks over whether to buy a new dress or not.
If you’re about to take the plunge with a big home move, I’ve got some very savvy tips on how to save money. Everything from how to slash costs on estate agent fees and removal companies, to bagging great deals on furniture and appliances. If you’re moving in the next year, this guide could save you a lot!
12 Ways to Save Money When You Move House
Use an online estate agent
Did you know there are online estate agents? Rather than using a high street estate agent, with a fancy shopfront and branded car, we opted to sell our house with Purple Bricks. This company charges a flat rate which is payable upfront. The cost covers the photography, a video walkthrough, Rightmove listing and support throughout the process. You’ll have access to their online platform to coordinate viewings and liaise with potential buyers. You can choose to pay for someone to carry out the viewings, or host them yourself.
We met with a handful of top-rated local estate agents first. We heard their sales pitches, how they work and the sales spiel of how they had a huge database and could guarantee excellent buyers. Most asked for a commission between 1-1.5%. For our property, that would have been a minimum of £5k.
We chose to go with Purple Bricks, paying a flat rate of £999. So, I make that a saving of £4,001!
We chose to host the viewings ourselves, and actually enjoyed this process! It was fun to be estate agents for the day, showing people around a property we love. We were living in a desirable area and our flat was gorgeous, so we knew it would be popular. Within a few weeks of being on the market, we had two offers at asking price.
Traditional estate agents can be expensive, but online options like Purple Bricks offer competitive rates while still providing all the essential services. This can save you a significant amount of money during the moving process.
Combine viewings
This sounds obvious, but when you’re house hunting and booking property viewings, try to schedule multiple viewings on the same day. You’ll reduce travel costs, days off work and limit disruptions to your life. We tried to do this, rather than zig-zagging back and forth from the town we were looking in.
Shop around for removal companies
Rather like when you’re planning a wedding, tell someone you’re moving house and an extra 0 gets added! I was shocked by the difference in pricing between different removal companies in our area. The top and bottom prices varied by almost £1000! The top prices were for national brands, and the cheapest were small local operations. I’d recommend you take time to gather multiple quotes, read reviews, and ask for recommendations.
The company we used was recommended on our local Facebook group. It wasn’t one with branded vans or a posh HQ. It was a father/son company who had earned a great reputation in West London. I thought they were brilliant – friendly, meticulous with the packing, efficient and careful with the unloading. Plus, the price was extremely reasonable, with no hidden extras. If you’re moving within the London area, feel free to message me and I can share the details.
Do the packing yourself
When you start planning your removals process, you have one big decision: whether to pack everything yourself or ask the removal team to pack for you. There are pros and cons of both options.
If you pack your belongings yourself, you’ll be in control of how everything is done and know where all your items are. However, it’ll take a long time, so you have to be willing to dedicate a lot of hours to the packing (and potentially time off work). You might also find that you’re not as meticulous as professional packers. After all, they do it for a living.
If you hand the job over to the removal team, they’re likely to come to your home the day before the move to box everything up, then load it into vans on the day of your move. There’s an added cost for this service, but you’ll buy back your own time. At the end of the day, it’s a personal and financial decision. If you want to save money, do it yourself. But remember, you’ll still need to buy the materials (boxes, tape), so it’s not free!
We asked the removal team to pack up our flat and looking back, it was 100% worth the money. They were quick and careful with our belongings. The only downside was that some of the boxes weren’t labelled very clearly, so we had to do a lot of rummaging to find certain items when we moved in.
Find amazing deals on appliances
While we would have loved to move into our new house before Christmas, our sellers wanted to spend one last Christmas in their home. This meant we were locked in with a January move date. Well, didn’t this turn out to be a blessing in disguise? Why, I hear you ask? Well, it meant that we moved when the January sales were in full swing.
We needed to purchase a lot of white goods – a washing machine, tumble dryer, fridge and freezer. These are expensive items, but thankfully, there were some great deals on when we were buying.
If you’re moving house and needing to buy some expensive items, keep an eye on the sales. You’ll find reductions on prices in January, towards the summer, on Black Friday and Boxing Day. Brands offer extra incentives throughout the year too, such as free delivery, assembly, fitting, extended guarantees or removal of old appliances. Shop around to check what each company is offering, to avoid pesky extra costs!
Other great advice when shopping for new appliances:
- Price matching: Many retailers, such as John Lewis, offer to match prices you’ve found elsewhere. John Lewis also offers a 2-year guarantee on all electricals, so it’s worth going back to them with prices you’ve found.
- Perks: Check the fine print for deals like AO’s 5 Star Club, which offers additional perks. We joined this, which has a cost of £39.99, but then instantly saved that on delivery costs and other extras.
See what extras you can get
I’ve been really impressed with the extras that some companies offer. We needed to buy a new mattress for our guest room. I looked at several brands (and tested them out in stores) and decided to order one of these Simba mattresses.
The Simba Hybrid mattress is one of the best on the market right now. I love that it comes with two free pillows. I mean, we were going to buy the mattress anyway, but to have two fancy pillows included is an amazing deal!
If you’re shopping for big ticket items like beds, sofas or mattresses, definitely take a look at whether there are any additional items included.
Buy an older model
There’s a lot of clever marketing out there which makes us feel like we need the newest models or the latest technology. Well, most likely, you don’t! Do you need a washing machine that works via an App on your phone? No! Do you need your fridge to have a smart assistant built in? Errr, I don’t think so!
Looking at older models or options with fewer gimmicks will help you get a better price on your appliances. Personally, I’ve always loved being a subscriber to Which for key moments like house moves. The impartial testers rate items on a number of criteria and compare new and old models, so there’s no need to be seduced by marketing messages.
Go to the shops (yes, actually leave your house!)
I know, online shopping is SO easy. But, how can you be sure about fabrics, colours, quality or designs without seeing and feeling them? Last weekend we visited several stores to look at beds. We tested out headboards, looked at colour options, felt the fabric swatches and spoke to sales advisors before putting our order in.
It’s worth it financially too. By visiting the store directly and building up a rapport with the sales assistant, we ended up with a better deal too! He added a couple of discounts that only he had access to.
Use cashback sites
Have you ever used a cashback site? Well, you should, particularly when purchasing expensive items for your home. I use Quidco, which offers between 0.5 – 10% depending on the brand or item. You’re buying the item anyway, so why not earn a little bit back off the price?
We went via Quidco for all of our white goods, purchasing via John Lewis, AO.com and Mark’s Electrical. They’re all signed up to Quidco, as are many furniture, homeware and general stores. Also, if you want to maximise your earnings, you can withdraw to a supermarket, your favourite clothing store or Amazon, and they’ll boost the % you receive.
It takes a while for the money to appear on your account as it has to be tracked and confirmed by the store, but it’s very little effort to get some pocket money!
If you sign up using this refer a friend link, you’ll get £15 when you sign up and start earning cashback – even better!
Shop second-hand
A few weeks before our move, I updated my Facebook Marketplace settings to our new hometown. The scrolling began! Everything from furniture and lighting, to toys and garden equipment. Did I need any of it? Not really, but it’s nice to see what’s available!
If you’re trying to save money on your house move, buying second-hand is a great way to go. It’s an easy way to get items you need quickly, at reasonable prices. You can always replace them once you can afford to buy new items.
In our old flat, we converted our living room into our child’s bedroom. This meant we needed a new sofa for our kitchen/living space. We didn’t want to spend much, as we weren’t sure how long we’d need it for. So, we set Facebook alerts up and within two weeks we were walking down our street lugging a rather lovely teal velvet sofa, for a bargain £100!
Compare insurance and use this hack
When you buy a property in the UK, you need to insure it from the date of exchange. Unless you’re exchanging and completing on the same day, you’ll need to take out new insurance rather than transfer your previous insurance over.
We shopped around on comparison sites and felt shocked by the high prices. Insurance is expensive! Things improved once we spoke to our car insurance provider. They gave us an excellent quote for being loyal customers.
Take your time
I’m writing this heading, almost as advice to myself! When you move house, it feels so exciting to be in your new space, that you start wanting all your rooms finished immediately. Well, other than the essentials such as a bed, fridge and a washing machine… the rest can probably wait.
Take time to live in the space, get used to how you use it and decide exactly what you need. Otherwise, you might find yourself splurging unnecessarily. We’ve assembled furniture, unpacked, put up a few pictures and now we’re pausing for a moment, so we can decide what’s worth spending money on.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my tips on how to save money when you move house. With so much first-hand knowledge, I couldn’t wait to share this with you guys!
I look forward to sharing more about the move over the next few months, including where we’ve moved to. It’s a big deal to leave London, but I think you’ll understand why we picked this new location!