Moving Cheaply

[Guest L Again]

Hello...just wondering if I'm the only one a bit worried about moving costs. I have multiple pets, so I have decided to rent a car one-way to get across country, but it turns out it is very expense to rent one-way! Anyone have any recommendations? I wasn't planning on taking furniture or other large items, and I thought renting a car would be cheapest. Know any rental companies with discounts for students? How are you moving?

[Guest Cali-Bound]

Moving isn't cheap. I'm moving from the South to California. I've looked at taking my own car (3-day drive) vs. auto transport (10-14 day transport/7 hr flight). I may take the auto transport cause I wont be so dog-tired when I get to school to settle in. You can raise cash from your move by selling your furniture you don't need and have a "going away" party and ask for cash gifts. You could ship your belongings (if they aren't too big) and fly to your destination. I would keep a record of all your moving expenses so you can file them on your taxes.

[tedjj]

Oh yea, I have fishes:\ This won't be trivial to transport, especially if I have to take a plane but I refuse to sell them!

[Sonic]

There is a fairly large thread along similar lines in Officially Grads (entitled Moving Concerns). I actually found it pretty helpful to read through last year, when I was moving from the Northeast to Virginia. People had pretty much done the legwork in terms of figuring out costs of renting a car versus a moving service, among other options. I'm sure I'll be reading it again this year. I've since accumulated a double bed, a desk, a cat, and two semesters worth of books that will need to come with me, along with everything I transported last August. It seriously feels just like yesterday...

[chi0]

Cali Bound, regarding a one-way rental: I've done several of these between Chicago and Buffalo, and the price can vary greatly among rental agencies, so check all the websites. I've found that Avis, Budget, Alamo, and Dollar are more reasonable than Hertz and Enterprise, but that's just from my experience.

Also, when you travel from a large market to a small market (like when I go from CHI to BUF), it's more expensive because there's a smaller chance the rental agency will find a customer to eventually make the return trip. Do you have a friend or two who might want to come along for the road trip, help you move in, and then make the return trip? That way you could get a one-week rate on a rental car and return it in the same location, assuming the cost of gas and lodging doesn't outweigh the savings.

[MDLee]

I heard that those POD things are a great way to get your stuff moved--you pack it, they haul it. That gives you more opportunity to worry about your pets. I don't know about dogs or fish, but for cats I hear there is an herbal remedy that you can give them that won't sedate them but will calm them down considerably. I'm a little nervous to be moving 2,000 miles away from home with two cats...my big concern is how long are cats good for in the car? sigh...this is going to be a much bigger endeavor than I'd originally thought.