Logistics and expense of moving to another state

[Russell]

We're thinking of moving to another state by Jan/Feb 07. However, the logistics and expense of moving the household and cars are a bit of a worry. We've never had to move so much stuff long distance.

I looked at the biggest U-HAUL and just the truck rental alone is $5k The smaller trucks are not that much cheaper. I'm guessing a transporting company would be about that much but we'll still need a way to move our cars.

We have 3 cars (we can ditch one and probably drive one), 1 garage full of tools, car parts etc and a standard 2 bed house. We also have a 2 yr old and I'd much rather her fly with her mom than be on the hwy for 24+ hrs driving 1500 miles.

Anyone have any suggestions or tips to share ?

[abowers]

Where are you looking to move to?

If you are moving for a job, maybe the new employer will pay for some of the costs. My boyfriend's parents relocated from NY to FL due to my boyfriend's dad's job -- they paid for all expenses for moving (and to have movers do it), for trips to FL to look for a new house, for the realtor expenses, etc.

We moved from Western NY to Central NJ (only 6.5-7 hr drive) by renting our own truck (17'?) from Penske ($500-600 + gas). We crammed everything into the truck, plus into our cars-- My boyfriend drove the truck, I drove his car, my boyfriend's brother drove down in his car to help us move too. We were just combining 2 apartments worth of things into 1 apartment (our apartment is very full though).

So the cost was: $500-600 for renting the truck, Gas for the <10mpg truck, gas for 2 cars, our time, and luckily my boyfriend's brother's time (we gave him money for gas and bought him dinner here... haha).

[DivaJen]

I have some friends who just moved across the country with their almost-six-year-old. They are each driving and hired a truck to deal with the rest of their stuff. They're making a trip out of it, of sorts, with plans to take 6-10 days to get out there and stop to see sights along the way. It does cost a lot of money to hire movers - and I believe they usually charge by the pound.

I'd say write out all of your options and the associated costs, along with pros and cons, and go from there.

[Ima saver]

The first time we moved, we did it ourself, rented a truck which my husband drove. The 2nd time, we decided not to waste money moving all that old furniture. We gave it all away and just moved our personal things. We funished the entire house, over time, for about $7000.

[Snoopy2645]

Wow 5K for the truck alone now wonder why so many people leave stuff behind or sale it all I had no idea it cost that much!! I think the 2 yr old would be ok you just might want to stop alot & maybe stay a night or 2 in a hotel ya know. But maybe considering selling as much as possible before you go. Maybe even a car or 2 because I am sure those arent cheap to have hauled across country. You can always buy another car when you get thier.

[boefixepa]

I don't know the costs and the time frame you are dealing with, put here are some ideas... you will have to price them out and see if they would be better. Generally speaking the UHAUL thing is an easy, but expensive way to move.

Buy a truck like a Uhaul or other big shipping type truck...use it move and then sell it once there to recoup the cost. Check prices at both places to make sure you won't lose money. I've seen people make money (3K) doing this because resale was better where they were going.

Do a PODS thing. They drop a POD at your house and you pack it all up. A POD is basically a enclosed SEMI trailer thingy they pull on and off of flat beds. You could park the cars in first. Tie down good...and then pack everything around it to the ceiling! You can use more than one POD. They then pick the POD up and ship it to the new site. You then have to unpack it. Generally you have to go a little longer without your stuff, so you might have to live out of suit cases for a while.

Find a semi-trucking company that is going your way. They may not have a full load and will give you a good rate to haul your stuff. Make sure to check their insurance and if it won't cover your things, buy some if you want to. There are many small businesses where the semi-driver is the owner and all he does is drive for hire. He will have connections about renting a trailer and that has to be cheeper than 5K, but I really don't know. I'm not sure how big your cars are, but certainly if they aren't trucks two could fit in a full size trailer and you can pack around them. If he can find a job coming back too, (or maybe your job is the one coming back) then you are really looking good.

Have, friends, neighbors, church groups, or other group help you pack if can't or don't want to do it by yourself. If you must pay someone to help the packing guys are the most expensive. Clubs, scouts, half-way houses, generally need a little money. The members will work for free or for a donation to their organization and/or a free meal.

Find boxes, don't buy them. Grocery stores, office supply stores, copy stores all are a good sources. Colleges around move in time...(sept) are a great place to pick up boxes too. I once knew a family that spent over $1,000.00 in packing material....I don't think I have ever paid for any...well okay...tape.

Wrap breakables in clothes, Towels, sheets, etc. If may be cheeper to go a thrift store and buy junk clothes, sheets, ect. than to get the poppy stuff. Some thift store have a pile of clothes unsitable for sale, but great for packing that they will give you. Newpaper is dirty, and get's ink on everything, but you can go that route for free, or go to a newpaper place and buy rolls of newpaper.

A Yard sale my family had with things that either we couldn't take or didn't want to take earned all the money we needed to eat while driving cross country. Sell everything you possibly can and you will still ask yourself while you are unpacking why on earth did I bring this? Since you are moving in the winter time, you'd best have your yard sell just before school in fall. That means you may have to live without some things and do some major, cleaning and prepacking, but you'll make more money than just donating stuff because you can't hold a yard sell in subfreezing weather. Sell EVERYTHING you can...meaning if you can buy it at a yard sell for what you are selling it for...than it's worth selling! It will cost you time and money to move it...remember that.

Since you have time, put an add in a local paper and ask if there is someone who is moving that way too? Together maybe you can find an arrangement that would save both of you money.

No price is set in stone....negociate...negociate...negociate! Sounds like you are good with cars. What if you went to UHAUL place and offered mechical services worth 50% of the cost of rental to be done before you left? Or since you are looking at getting rid of a car...trade it for the truck rental? Be creative, get the lowest they will go and then offer them something then need in trade for part of the lowest price. You may have to speak to a manager or owner, but chances are if you just accept the offered price you are paying more than you really need to. Find out what they need and see if there is anything you can offer them.

When travel time does come you have a few other options to save money. If wife and baby fly (that's pretty expensive, but understandable) you can save money by staying at camp sites rather than hotels. Yes, it's easy to eat at fast food and restraunts while you drive, but it saves money to make your food and bring a cooler along. It's really just up to you.

Okay that's enough for now..

[eisor]

Just a side note, if you do use a moving company, research them!! Those horror stories about the moving company holding people's belongings is so true! My BIL's coworker moved here (GA) from CA and used a moving company. They still have her stuff months later. They want another $8,000. They've bought some stuff, but they want all of their memories. Last I recall, I think they were talking to a lawyer about it.

[PrincessPerky]

Declutter now, looking at the price of the move I bet there are lots of unused toys and knicknacs (many you prolly can't remember whenre they came from) that you could ditch.

The less you have the less you have to take with you..

[sweeps]

Russell, this is a small suggestion, but if you're planning on renting a U-Haul, be sure to use your AAA card to get a discount. 10% off of 5K is a lot. (It would even pay to become a member just for this if you're not already.)

[CRFSaver]

I recently moved from Virginia to California. There are a lot of different options and depending how far you are moving and how much you have it could be cheaper to have a professional mover move for you. I dont mean packing but actually shipping the items for you. For me to rent a truck was 1,500, plus a tow thing for the car, plus gas (through mountaints no less), plus mileage, it would have cost me I figured close to 2,500 bucks. Having a mover do it it cost me 2100 and i didnt have to carry stuff up 3 flights of stairs.

Call the main office of the large national movers and ask them for the name of the franchise in your area that has the best rating. Then check better business bureau to ensure they are members and they are rated highly. My last move was fricken amazing and would have paid an extra 400 bucks to have this guy.

[Sands]

russell,
our family moved about 2 months ago from southern california to dallas, tx. we used abf for our move, check out their website at upack.com for a quote. it is similar to the pods but much cheaper - in fact it was cheaper than uhaul. we paid under $3500. they set up their trailer on your street, you get 2 days to load it and they drive it. then you get 2 days to unload it. its a big national company so we felt pretty good using them - we had also heard the horror stories of using some movers. we had two cars and ended up selling one and driving the truck about 1200 miles with our 3 year old. we made an adventure out of it, made plenty of stops and finally arrived in 2 1/2 days. if you don't already have one, i recommend getting a dvd player for your car, it was our life saver! good luck!