Moving to a new location can be a load of work if you have plenty of belongings to transport. But as long as you have enough friends, especially people with trucks or vans, the job can be accelerated. The key is to give friends plenty of notice.
Here are 10 ways to convince friends to help make your move easier:
1. Pay friends to help you move. Ideally, your friends are close enough to help you out of the goodness of their hearts. Sometimes, however, even close friends can get tied up with their own domestic responsibilities. One of the best ways to get them to break away from their own chores is to offer them something in return. Money usually gets the best response.
2. Donate unwanted items to friends. You will likely want to leave several items behind just to make your move more space-efficient. It’s better to sort through the clutter on your own so that you can determine for yourself what you want to keep and give away. That way you won’t be influenced by friends to give them things you later regret that you didn’t keep. The items that nobody wants can still be sold in a garage sale or given to charity.
3. Fill up each helper’s gas tank. Even when gas prices drop, they still seem to be too high for consumers who would rather spend the money on something less disposable. That’s why offering to pay for gas beyond moving will be tempting even to friends who don’t live on tight budgets.
4. Throw a going away party. Plan a small party for friends who help, which can include free food and entertainment. Food has become so expensive that many people get excited by free meals. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate party with catering. You can prepare simple fun party food while friends watch videos you already own.
5. Take your friends out for pizza. Pizza is the type of food that doesn’t cost too much that feeds several people. You might also decide to stay home and order a few different pizzas. Many pizza parlors offer price deals the more pizzas you buy.
6. Invite friends to go bowling. Bowling is a popular sport because it’s cheap, fun and puts you in a social atmosphere with other activities to do such as video games. You might want to have a competition and offer prizes for the highest scores.
7. Offer to take your friends to see a movie. Going to movie theaters is still exciting because as big as home entertainment screens have gotten, they don’t come close to the the size of big screens in theaters. You can also see the latest films in a theater for a fairly low cost.
8. Give each friend a percentage of garage sale profits. Garage sales are helpful at getting rid of clutter. You can use the opportunity to also sell your friends’ unwanted items to expand potential sales. Offer friends a nice percentage of the profits for the items they provide. The same deal applies to selling items online.
9. Save up unused coupons as rewards for helpers. If you have a drawer full of unused coupons that have not yet expired, create a packet for each mover. It could save them hundreds of dollars.
10. Make a moving video that each helper can share with friends. Some friends are motivated by participating in videos they can share with friends on social media. It can be filled with memorable surprises and represent a time marker in each of your lives.