Is doing it myself worth it?

Compare the honest total, not the van hire. At 1,272 against an 1,800 quote you are paying yourself roughly 528 for a hard day plus the risk. Some people take that; over long distances or up several flights of stairs, most do not.

What do people forget most often?

The return journey's fuel and the end-of-tenancy cleaning. Together they were 436 here — more than four times the van hire.

Moving Cost Calculator

Estimate the cost of moving to a new home.

Enter values to see the result.

The van hire is about 7% of what moving actually costs

Ask what a move costs and most people quote the van: ninety for the day. That figure is real, and it is also the smallest line on the bill. Fuel, materials, the people who carry things, the cleaning that gets your deposit back and the day of work you did not do together dwarf it.

How it works

Adds every line of a move rather than the one you booked — hire, fuel, materials, labour, cleaning and lost earnings.
Prices the return leg of the van, which is easy to forget and doubles the distance you pay fuel on.
Puts the do-it-yourself total next to a professional quote so the comparison is like for like.

fuel = distance × 2 × (litres per 100 km ÷ 100) × price per litre

total = van hire + fuel + materials + helpers + cleaning + lost earnings

a loaded van burns roughly 11 L/100 km — well above its empty figure

Worked example

A 200 km move: van hired for a day, driven there and back, two friends paid for eight hours, one day of unpaid leave.

van hire: 90
fuel: 400 km × 11 ÷ 100 = 44 L × 6.50 = 286
boxes, tape and wrap: 80
two helpers × 8 h × 20 = 320
end-of-tenancy cleaning: 150
one day of unpaid leave: 346

1,272 in total. The van you thought of as the cost is 7% of it. A professional quote for the same move typically starts near 1,800 — a gap of about 528.

Reading the result

That 528 gap is the real decision, not 90 against 1,800. It buys away a day of heavy lifting, the risk of damaging your own furniture, and the insurance question of who pays when something breaks.
Fuel is the line most often halved by accident. You pay for the return leg whether you drive the van back or a depot charges you for the distance.
Unpaid leave belongs in the total. If you would otherwise have been earning, the day is a cost even though no money leaves your account.
Friends who help for free are not free forever. If you are moving often, paying properly is what keeps people willing.

Common questions

Is doing it myself worth it?: Compare the honest total, not the van hire. At 1,272 against an 1,800 quote you are paying yourself roughly 528 for a hard day plus the risk. Some people take that; over long distances or up several flights of stairs, most do not.
What do people forget most often?: The return journey's fuel and the end-of-tenancy cleaning. Together they were 436 here — more than four times the van hire.