relocating advice

[imonfire98]

i'm moving to a whole new state. should i buy new stuff and start afresh? or just bring all my old stuff?

[brightorangesocks]

That's a pretty broad question, and really depends on your individual situation.

Do you have a way to transport your stuff?  If you have a car, you would probably want to bring what fits in it and could consider renting a small uhaul trailer to tow for the rest.  That depends on what you already have (like furniture that is worth keeping) vs what you will need there - if you're living in a furnished dorm or apartment you might not need much, but if you're starting out in an unfurnished apartment you need to consider the cost of bringing your stuff with you vs. replacing it all when you get there.  Money may very well be the deciding factor.

[Nothingtown]

12 hours ago, imonfire98 said:

i'm moving to a whole new state. should i buy new stuff and start afresh? or just bring all my old stuff?

Echoing what @brightorangesocks said, it largely depends on your own situation--finances being a big part of it. Most apartments are unfurnished, but you can definitely find a furnished one if you want. 

If you'd like to take your stuff with you, I'd recommend going with Penske over UHaul. They don't charge by the mile like UHaul does, so it comes out waaaaay cheaper for cross-country trips (I've done this a few times). Also, their pricing changes based on where you're coming from and going to. For instance, it's more expensive to take a Penske TO Austin, TX, than FROM Austin, TX, just because a lot of people live here and they have enough trucks here already. This may work for or against you, but definitely take a look at their site and give them a call. I negotiated the price down a little--definitely be nice to the reps on the phone, as kindness goes a long way in these situations. 

[magnetite]

@Nothingtown do you know how Penske compares to a service like PODS or U-Pack? I'm moving 1500 miles away by myself and I'd rather just drive only my car. It'd be great to not have to drive a huge truck that's towing my car.

[Nothingtown]

4 minutes ago, magnetite said:

@Nothingtown do you know how Penske compares to a service like PODS or U-Pack? I'm moving 1500 miles away by myself and I'd rather just drive only my car. It'd be great to not have to drive a huge truck that's towing my car.

When I was moving my stuff cross-country, I checked into PODS and Penske was more cost-effective than PODS. I didn't check U-Pack. However, I was moving my stuff from Austin to an undisclosed location on the east coast (lol) so, had it been in the other direction, I don't know. I did just run a quote on U-Pack's website and it's about 2x what I paid for my Penske 3 years ago. I hear you on the not wanting to tow your car behind you though. 

You can also look into getting a trailer to attach to your car and tow some of your stuff in, rather than towing your car. I know U-Haul has those; I don't know if they charge by the mile on their trailers though. 

My best advice is to use the website quotes and call these places asking for quotes. Calling is nice because you can usually negotiate a little, but the web quotes will give you a ballpark idea. 

[magnetite]

25 minutes ago, Nothingtown said:

When I was moving my stuff cross-country, I checked into PODS and Penske was more cost-effective than PODS. I didn't check U-Pack. However, I was moving my stuff from Austin to an undisclosed location on the east coast (lol) so, had it been in the other direction, I don't know. I did just run a quote on U-Pack's website and it's about 2x what I paid for my Penske 3 years ago. I hear you on the not wanting to tow your car behind you though. 

You can also look into getting a trailer to attach to your car and tow some of your stuff in, rather than towing your car. I know U-Haul has those; I don't know if they charge by the mile on their trailers though. 

My best advice is to use the website quotes and call these places asking for quotes. Calling is nice because you can usually negotiate a little, but the web quotes will give you a ballpark idea. 

Twice the cost of U-Pack, including gas, too?

This is going to be a hard decision. I've got a one bedroom apartment full of decent furniture, all of which I was planning on moving. Maybe I'll try to downsize enough to fit things into a small trailer.

[Nothingtown]

1 hour ago, magnetite said:

Twice the cost of U-Pack, including gas, too?

This is going to be a hard decision. I've got a one bedroom apartment full of decent furniture, all of which I was planning on moving. Maybe I'll try to downsize enough to fit things into a small trailer.

Not including gas, but iirc gas was a couple hundred.

Honestly, from someone who's moved around a good bit, there's a lot of cost-benefit analysis that goes into this. Furniture, if it's decent, is almost always cheaper to transport than buy again. Moving also gives you a good opportunity to downsize on things like clothes and stuff you've just hung onto for a while but never used, or won't have use for again (ie posters from your dorm room, pots and pans that are in poor condition, all those random free T-shirts and water bottles colleges like to give away, etc). 

Also, check out some local Facebook groups for buying/selling/giving away free stuff. You can usually score free moving boxes. Those can get expensive if you buy them new, but there are always people looking to get rid of their old ones. 

Invest in some packing paper and tape too. Things get jostled around quite a bit, and part of the art of knowing how to move house effectively is knowing how to pack your things efficiently and without breaking them. You can also use clothes as cushioning. Don't give things much room to move around in a box, and wrap anything that could get scratched up or break (which is most things tbh). 

[PsyDuck90]

You could also get free boxes from stores. They usually have tons of boxes after deliveries (I'd avoid food stores, but places like liquor stores or Home Depot or something). Just go in and say you're moving and are hoping if they have any boxes. They may have some or tell you "our next shipment is on x day, come then." I have never paid for moving boxes. Worst case, you drive around back of some malls and grab a bunch of boxes you see out by the dumpsters.