The Moving Problem

[Bimmerman]

This thread makes me extremely thankful my car is a wagon. I managed to fit all my things inside-- desktop, monitor, 2x tool chests, 2x trombones, many books, supplies, clothes, kitchen stuff, and (on top), my bike.

Definitely would have needed a Uhaul otherwise...subaru wagons can carry an awfully large amount of stuff.

[prettyuff1]

I am moving like 300miles from Chicago to Louisville for a PhD I wanted to get a feel for the city, so I am moving into furnished on-campus graduate housing. I didn't want to have to run around and find a place when i am not 100 % familiar with the area. I will be moving out at the end of this term to find my more permanent digs.

[crazycanuck]

I am moving from Manitoba to California this fall. I will be hauling most of our stuff down there with a trailer (luckily I have family members close that own a trailer and are willing to let us borrow it). Does anyone that has moved from Canada to US have any advice, specifically relating to vehicles? Should I bring my vehicle with me and deal with the importing process and hope it passes California emission regulations, or should I leave the old beater here and buy a car when I am there? How difficult is it to import a vehicle and register it in California?

[K.Ash]

I'm moving about 400 miles... I'm only 23 but have been living on my own for about 2.5 yrs so I have a good amount of furniture. Granted, almost all of it is second hand. However, last year I bought this AWESOME red couch that I am just not willing to part with so it is a big reason I'll need a U-Haul. Although the reality of the cost is certainly setting in, a U-Haul will cost me only slightly more than what the couch did... sigh. I've got a certain attachment to it as it is my first piece of 'adult' furniture. My parents also recently relocated from my hometown (currently 2 hrs away from me) down South (where, conveniently, they will be 2 hrs away from my new home) so I don't have any storage options here. I don't plan on moving back up here so it would have to get down there eventually anyway.

[OldGrad2012]

I am moving from San Jose CA to Riverside CA UCR. I have lots of furniture and will need a U-haul. I am thinking of towing my car too. But my other idea is to drive my car to Riverside and fly back to get a U-haul and hauled all of my stuffs. It will be more economical and safer than to towed my car at the same time.

[Quantumcross]

Has anyone mentioned ABF U-Pack relo-cubes yet? It's smaller and cheaper than PODs. That's what I'm using to move from Louisiana to New York. All my stuff is sitting in New York waiting for me to move this August...

[GreenePony]

This thread makes me extremely thankful my car is a wagon. I managed to fit all my things inside-- desktop, monitor, 2x tool chests, 2x trombones, many books, supplies, clothes, kitchen stuff, and (on top), my bike.

Definitely would have needed a Uhaul otherwise...subaru wagons can carry an awfully large amount of stuff.

I wish we could do that-

Between downsizing to a Civic when DH discovered he cannot stay on the road in the snow last year(still bitter about that one) and having a 2 bedroom with enough stuff for 3 - we need the 20' Uhaul. Thankfully my dad, and possibly my mom are flying down to drive it up- I can't drive long vehicles and after the snow incident... DH is not allowed. The in-laws feel guilty they'll be off drinking wine in California when we move (we didn't plan that at all ) so they're paying for move-in/move-out movers and the Uhaul, nice when we're moving out of a 3rd floor walk up.

While googlemaps says it should take 23 hours, I've done a slightly longer drive in the general area in 22. With puppy potty breaks and time to actually sleep (I'm not doing that straight again) we'll probably do 12 and 10 in two days.

[tetrandra]

I moved from FL to Southern CA in 2008 and when preparing to move I found that U-Haul was much too expensive for the trip (keep in mind the gas costs are often as expensive as the rental itself).

I had a large 1-bedroom apartment in FL. I got rid of all my furniture which left me with about 25 boxes of varying sizes, 5 of them full of books. I shipped the books via USPS media mail. I shipped the rest of the boxes through Greyhound freight services. They basically put your belongings in the underside of the bus to go with the passenger bags. Like Amtrak they go by weight and I believe the price is comparable.

All in all I paid about $700 to move everything cross-country (except for me...that was just a one-way plane ticket) but of course it would depend on what stuff you were moving. Had I used U-Haul the cost would have been about $1K, plus gas and lodging and food for a 4-day trip (easily another $1K). Also, I would have taken much more stuff than would fit in the tiny studio apartment I ended up renting. Moving is such a good opportunity to pare down! I'm preparing for another move--for more grad school--and while it's difficult to let go of so much stuff I'm looking forward to staring fresh with a clearer mind!

[CageFree]

I am moving from NM to CO, not too far, but at least an 8 hr drive. I live in a 3 bedroom house and will be moving into the same. I have a lot of nice furniture, a lot of which my mother brought over from England, so I don't want get rid of it. That means I will be renting the largest truck possible, 26' and towing one of my cars (which is fine cause it wouldn't be able to make the trip anyways) and my husband will be driving the our truck (probably also loaded with stuff). I found penske to be significantly cheaper. They give a huge discount for AAA, big enough that if you don't have AAA and buy it you would still be saving money.

We're in the same boat. My husband and I are both in our 30s, and have been working professionals for a number of years, so we have "nice" things we worked hard to be able to afford. We're only moving 6 hours away and we also got a Penske truck. We have sold or are selling the things we can easily replace, but certain items HAVE to come.

Had I made this move 10 years ago, however, I would have had clothes and books only.

I definitely recommend looking into AAA discounts for Penske... Uhaul trucks are poorly maintained.

Edited July 23, 2012 by CageFree

[CageFree]

my tricky question isn't so much the method of delivery as it is the logistics of finding a place to live before i actually make the move. i'll be coming fresh off a trip abroad and back in my current city. do i just hop on a plane and show up? i only know one person in this new city who i could stay with for a bit, and even then it's more of an acquaintance. the timing of my stuff arriving comes into question if i don't have a place secured. do i fly there beforehand for a few days, apartment hunt like crazy, fly back and then ship? not ideal to be wasting two plane tickets, and in the middle of summer. do i try my best to find something decent looking online and sign a lease and take a chance? (i'm not at all crazy about this last option, and don't think i will...but still). what to do!

Being so far away makes things more complicated, but what we did (granted, only a few hours away) was a one-day trip... did a lot of searching online, narrowed down choices, and made all of my appointments for the same day, back to back. We rented a car and drove up.

Personally, I would never rent a place sight unseen.

[butterfingers2010]

A couple of co-workers of mine moved from WI to Washington state last summer. They both decided that the cost of moving most of their stuff via u-haul would turn out to be more than what the items were actually worth, so they sold/donated/gave away everything that did not fit in their cars. I assume they bought the major items (bed, TV,etc.) soon after arriving there. I think it really depends on how nice your stuff is, especially your furniture. If you have cheap stuff, it may not be worth a U-haul. On the other hand, if you have a $2,000 bed or something, it would probably be worth it.

[OregonGal]

Hah I'm actually starting to get nervous about my post-grad school move... I've gotten so used to moving with just a couple suitcases every year or so, and now I'm going to be buying a bunch of furniture for my new place that I'll be in for two years. I'm actually having to decide whether to invest in nice furniture or just buy the cheapest thing at Ikea!

[Chande]

We ended up moving for free...because both wheels on the rear driver's side blew out and the person who came out to service it said it was clear it had been improperly put on the vehicle. It had to be towed 3 hours up to our apartment. I just feel lucky that my fiance was able to handle a situation that scary. We were moving from Florida to North Carolina.

[imonedaful]

After using U-hauls to move twice before, I decided to go with the U-Pack ABF relocubes this time around. I actually wrote a cost analysis sheet comparing numerous different options. haha! Paying for the cube seems to be slightly cheaper than getting a U-haul and having to drive it and probably tow my car behind it. It seems like less of a hassle. I went through a long debate whether my stuff was actually worth spending money to move. But when I worked out how much it would cost to buy all new stuff, it is cheaper to move it. I am only moving a little over 600 miles. We will see how it works out.

[GreenePony]

We ended up moving for free...because both wheels on the rear driver's side blew out and the person who came out to service it said it was clear it had been improperly put on the vehicle. It had to be towed 3 hours up to our apartment. I just feel lucky that my fiance was able to handle a situation that scary. We were moving from Florida to North Carolina.

Thank you for reminding me to make sure my AAA subscription is up to date!

[3point14]

I'll be moving about 1200 miles from VA to TX in a few weeks. I think I'll be shipping my car and a couple boxes of clothing. Does anyone else have any car shipping experience?

[Chande]

Thank you for reminding me to make sure my AAA subscription is up to date!

Definitely! We used Penske's Roadside Assistance this time because (luckily!) we had paid for extra insurance on the truck. It was remarkably slow since we moved on a Sunday, but the compensation afterwards was fair. And luckily everything in our truck was undamaged. My fiance decided to waive $100 off the debt of a formerly homeless friend who lived with us for a year (longer story than I want to go into...) because he had been the one who figured out a genius way to secure our television and 55 gallon fish tank...and they survived despite being towed at a 30 degree angle in both directions!

Also, a picture:

Yeah, it was scary...

[GreenePony]

and they survived despite being towed at a 30 degree angle in both directions!

Oh goodness... my dad is a notoriously scary packer, I'm not sure his pack jobs could survive that... I may need to supervise more than I thought. DH was watching The Great Escape with me, the other night, inspiring talk of jerryrigging some sort of protection for the TV/larger frames and canvas, I'm not sure if I should put my foot down for a better system, now.

[butterfingers2010]

Has anybody hired movers for an out-of-state move? If so, how much did it (roughly) cost per hour? My parents have this idea that we should hire movers for my move from Madison to Chicago. Two Men and a Truck quoted us $1400-$1600 total, which, in my opinion, is an ungodly amount to pay for that length of a move, considering its only a 3 hour drive. I don't even have that much stuff-I currently live in a 300 sq footish studio apartment. I fit all my posessions in here, with room leftover! Renting a UHaul would only cost me around $200, plus mileage. My parents have helped me other times that I have moved and it has been very easy, and we have been able to unpack everything in around an hour or so. Why all of a sudden they are willing to pay over $1,000 for something we can do ourselves for a fraction of the price, is really beyond me. Last summer they helped my grandmother move about the same distance using a U-Haul, and never even thought of hiring movers. They are offering to pay for most of it, but just the thought makes me feel horribly guilty. I would honestly be surprised if the value of all my stuff was worth $1,000. With that said I'm not going to part with all of my stuff, but I also dont want them to pay this ridiculous amount of money. They are stressing me out so much more than I already am about this move and while I apprecaite their generous offer, I really wish we could just do this ourselves like we have so many times in the past. I can think of many more better uses for that money. I even offered to drive the U-Haul (which honestly scares the crap out of me, especially driving on the Interstate, but I'm sure it would be fine) and assured them that I would get the proper parking permits, etc. outside of my apartment building. Is this kind of price anywhere near normal? They want to get more quotes but I don't know if its worth it if other movers will be just as expensive.

[TakeruK]

I'm paying ~$1600 for UHaul to move a box of my things from Ontario, Canada to California -- with taxes and fees and everything, it will come to around $1800. It's not really "hiring movers" since we have to load and unload the box ourselves, but they take care of the shipping, so we don't have to make that ungodly drive!

So....I would probably feel the same way as you do if you are looking at the same price tag for just a 3 hour move! But maybe that price isn't unreasonable for full service movers -- my mother-in-law moved last year in-town with about 1 condo's worth of stuff and it cost her ~$800.

[GreenePony]

Has anybody hired movers for an out-of-state move? If so, how much did it (roughly) cost per hour? My parents have this idea that we should hire movers for my move from Madison to Chicago. Two Men and a Truck quoted us $1400-$1600 total, which, in my opinion, is an ungodly amount to pay for that length of a move, considering its only a 3 hour drive.

...

They want to get more quotes but I don't know if its worth it if other movers will be just as expensive.

Are these movers packing, loading, driving, unloading and unpacking or just un/loading and driving?

The 2 loader/unloaders we hired at each end are 60-80 an hour. When we were getting quotes from national companies for load/unload and drive (this is a 1500 mile trip, mind you) it looked like it would be around 2700 if that gives you an idea.

[wheninhell]

I'm only moving from SF to Berkeley, but I had to put my stuff in storage for 2.5 months in the interim. I found a local company called ZipCubes, that's the same idea as PODS but a lot cheaper, safer (rather than leaving your cube on the street overnight, the driver just waits for 2 hours while you load it up) and run by awesome, local people. I managed to fit the full contents of a large bedroom, plus lots of boxes of additional housewares (though no couches) into one cube. I understand they can also contract with trucking companies to do farther moves. Great company if you're in the Bay Area, otherwise it's worth it to search for local PODS-modeled alternatives.

[proteinnn]

Has anybody looked into the price of simply boxing things up and sending them via FedEx (barring any large items of furniture that can't be disassembled) relative to these other moving options?

[3point14]

Has anybody looked into the price of simply boxing things up and sending them via FedEx (barring any large items of furniture that can't be disassembled) relative to these other moving options?

I looked into it. To mail four 25 lb boxes from Virginia to Texas will cost ~$100. Also, you can go onto the UPS or FedEx website if you want to get an estimate for shipping costs.

Edited July 28, 2012 by 3point14

[1Q84]

Reviving this one!

 

I'm moving from Toronto to LA soon. Every shipping rate I've been able to find has been ridiculously expensive for just 20 lbs of material. Obviously I'm thinking of sending my books and what not but now I'm kind of thinking I should just lug those in my suitcases and send lighter things later by mail.

 

Anyone have specific Canadian East --> US West shipping experiences?