Moving and relocation planning
Budget the full move, compare provider quotes, estimate packing supplies, and keep the costs after arrival in view. These tools help turn a stressful list of unknowns into a clearer starting plan.
Use this hub when you are deciding how to move, comparing quotes, preparing supplies, or building a budget. Start with the question closest to your next decision, then use the planning guidance to check what the estimate leaves out.
Choose by goal
The tools below are grouped by the decision they support, so you can find a useful starting point without knowing the calculator’s name.
Combine quotes, travel, packing, storage, setup, and a contingency cushion so the headline transportation price does not hide the rest of the move.
Moving
Build an itemized moving budget with transportation, travel, setup costs, and a contingency cushion.
Combine known quotes with your own estimates for fuel, lodging, packing, storage, cleaning, and the costs that appear late in a move.
Open estimatorPut competing estimates into the same format and look for missing services, fees, coverage details, and assumptions.
Moving
Compare up to three moving quotes side by side, including fees, services, coverage, and contingency-adjusted totals.
Put competing estimates into the same format so missing services, extra fees, and different coverage levels are easier to spot.
Compare optionsCreate a starting supply estimate and use it alongside your own room list, inventory, and packing decisions.
Moving
Estimate boxes and packing supplies by room, then add your own prices for a private packing-supply budget.
Choose rooms and packing intensity to create a starting shopping list without sending your inventory or prices to a server.
Open estimatorUnderstand the decisions
Separate transportation, packing, travel, storage, setup, and settling-in costs before you compare totals.
Look beyond the headline price and ask what services, fees, dates, access conditions, and coverage are included.
Record assumptions, keep a contingency cushion, and verify final terms with the provider.
Practical starting points
Combine transportation, fuel, packing, travel, storage, setup, cleaning, and a contingency allowance.
Open the calculatorPlace up to three estimates side by side and identify differences in services, fees, coverage, and assumptions.
Open the calculatorEstimate a starting list by room and packing intensity, then adjust it to fit your inventory.
Open the calculatorReview storage, utility setup, cleaning, meals, replacement basics, and other settling-in expenses.
Read the explanationReview written estimates, registration, insurance, liability coverage, and the provider’s official documents.
Read the explanationBefore you calculate
A moving budget is easier to trust when it separates the costs that happen at different stages. Transportation may be the largest line item, but packing, travel, temporary storage, deposits, utility setup, cleaning, meals, and replacement household basics can create a second wave of expenses after arrival.
DIY truck, container, professional movers, or a combination.
Write down what the price includes, excludes, and assumes.
Include fuel, tolls, lodging, meals, supplies, and help.
Include storage, deposits, setup, cleaning, and overlap between homes.
Reserve room for changes, delays, access fees, and last-minute needs.
Compare the whole offer
Before choosing a provider, put the offers into the same format. A quote can look cheaper because it leaves out packing, stairs, long carries, storage, valuation coverage, fuel, travel, or other services that another provider included.
| Compare | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Services | Is packing, loading, unloading, assembly, or setup included? |
| Access | Are stairs, elevators, long carries, narrow access, parking, or shuttle service priced separately? |
| Timing | Are the pickup and delivery dates guaranteed, estimated, or subject to a delivery window? |
| Protection | What liability or valuation coverage applies, and what exclusions or deductibles should you understand? |
| Changes | What could change the price if the inventory, distance, timing, or access conditions change? |
For an interstate professional move, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Protect Your Move guidance explains registration, written estimates, documents, and liability coverage. Confirm current requirements and terms with the provider and the official source.
Use estimates carefully
A calculator can make your arithmetic consistent, but it cannot know your inventory, access conditions, provider contract, local fees, or last-minute changes. Record the values you used so you can update the estimate when the plan changes.
Moving tools are planning aids. They do not replace a written quote, the mover’s contract, official registration and insurance information, or professional advice about a legal or insurance decision.
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