Small Woman, Lots of Stuff, Big Country

[gsams]

Okay, I am 5' tall. I am a very small woman. I am looking at moving either 400 or 500 miles to a school this summer from my hometown. SO MANY logistical issues. Here is some background. I am buying a SMALL car - Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Nissan Versa or similar - and am looking to move. I very bad allergies to pets, smoke, and dust mites. I am also terrified of bed bugs, so I would like to not buy used upholstered furniture. I will be living in an apartment and I don't know if there will be a place to ship large parcels (ie mattresses). I am moving ON MY OWN and know no one. Here are my options:

A - buy everything there. Either ship it to my residence or pay for the delivery fee. However, I will have no furniture and I am going to have to ship the rest of my things by post (not very much).

B - Buy things as a find them and ship them in a POD or something. I would rather do this than A because I can write off moving expenses on my taxes. I can't account for expensive furniture purchases.

problem with B is that I have no one to help me move something like a mattress or bed into the house. I am not able to lift things like this. I don't have anything that is particularly heavy, but if I bought it at ikea could reasonably carry it?

Anyone have problems with getting things delivered to apartments? Any small people move themselves? How did you work around it?

[Leafytea]

Okay, I am 5' tall. I am a very small woman. I am looking at moving either 400 or 500 miles to a school this summer from my hometown. SO MANY logistical issues. Here is some background. I am buying a SMALL car - Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Nissan Versa or similar - and am looking to move. I very bad allergies to pets, smoke, and dust mites. I am also terrified of bed bugs, so I would like to not buy used upholstered furniture. I will be living in an apartment and I don't know if there will be a place to ship large parcels (ie mattresses). I am moving ON MY OWN and know no one. Here are my options:

A - buy everything there. Either ship it to my residence or pay for the delivery fee. However, I will have no furniture and I am going to have to ship the rest of my things by post (not very much).

B - Buy things as a find them and ship them in a POD or something. I would rather do this than A because I can write off moving expenses on my taxes. I can't account for expensive furniture purchases.

problem with B is that I have no one to help me move something like a mattress or bed into the house. I am not able to lift things like this. I don't have anything that is particularly heavy, but if I bought it at ikea could reasonably carry it?

Anyone have problems with getting things delivered to apartments? Any small people move themselves? How did you work around it?

I am a small woman, also! I would say definitely A. And definitely save up a wad of cash to get people to help you move/deliver stuff. Usually you can hire a couple of people from the yellow pages, or online, to move. Because it's not worth hurting yourself trying to save money via DIY strategies. What you should do, maybe, is get an air mattress or sleeping bag to sleep on until you get a bed; everything else is going to be less urgent.

[eucalyptus]

Definitely find people to help you move your heavy stuff, and pay them if you have to. You can find people willing to do this on craigslist or just randomly; when we bought a huge TV like 15 years ago before there were flat screens, my dad went to the closest gas station and paid two guys $10 each to help carry it down to our basement.

[Emma2003]

You mention Ikea. My suggestion is to go there and pick out your stuff and then order the heavy items online and have them shipped to your new address. They have a shipping estimate calculator and will call you 24 hours in advance and give you a 4 hour window to receive your furniture. It is probably comparable to what you would pay to have someone move the stuff after you buy it. If they have an Ikea near your new place you can also purchase and have furniture delivered when you get there. What a great problem to have though! Grad school and all new stuff! Generally, with large purchases like furniture most places will require you to be present to receive the delivery and will bring the furniture to your apartment. I would tip the people who bring it up, though.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Emma2003

[pea-jay]

Before you rule out a professional moving company, get a quote. A reputable firm will always do them for free and you might be surprised to find it to be cheaper or at least worth it. I had that happen once to me and saved Buko bucks in the process. Not to mention the relief of not having to load or unload.

[pietjekanarie]

Ikea will deliver and put together all the items for some extra money, or, if you buy a lot, for free.

[gsams]

I guess as a single woman living alone, I would not want strange men or women helping me that I found on Craigslist. Seems like a good way to look for someone to rob.

I will look into a getting a quote from a moving company, I just really don't want them calling my phone all the time. It's annoying enough to have car dealerships calling. Let alone moving places. I would much rather receive an email. How do I find if they are reputable? Is there a review site? Like I said, If I can break even with deductions and moving costs, I would be super happy and wouldn't have to pay tax in April really.

[utsusemi]

I guess as a single woman living alone, I would not want strange men or women helping me that I found on Craigslist. Seems like a good way to look for someone to rob.

I kind of agree with your paranoia (I'm 5'4" and a wuss), but I think that although you're moving to a completely new place, you might find you're not as much on your own there as you think--other students will be starting at your program too, and dealing with some of the same issues at the same time, and continuing students might be willing to help out a newcomer as well. You're going to meet and make connections with these people as soon as school starts, if not sooner--you might be able to seek them out ahead of time and band together to help put together furniture, or even just to have another person there with you when you let the movers in.

Also, I wonder if your grad school or future colleagues might have some relocation-related information resources available. Depending on the school, it's quite possible that most of their students have gone through this at some point.

Congrats on getting in somewhere that's worth a 500-mile move!

[red_crayons]

Okay, I am 5' tall. I am a very small woman. I am looking at moving either 400 or 500 miles to a school this summer from my hometown. SO MANY logistical issues. Here is some background. I am buying a SMALL car - Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Nissan Versa or similar - and am looking to move. I very bad allergies to pets, smoke, and dust mites. I am also terrified of bed bugs, so I would like to not buy used upholstered furniture.

We sound like TWINS, seriously. I'm going with the Versa - safer from what I've read, and I've driven them through a carshare program and they're quite comfortable.

I agree that saving madly and having it shipped there would be a good idea.

One thing I'm considering is renting a moving van and driving to the nearest Ikea (~3 hrs away) to get a bunch of stuff. It depends on the mileage, but because of my location it might actually be a little less expensive that way. Plus, going to Ikea!

[BonAppetit]

I've done a couple cross-country moves by myself. The first time I rented a U-haul, had a friend drive it while I drove my car, and paid to fly him back home. It was expensive.

Second time, I used a cheap-o moving company that packed my stuff on with other people's stuff (nationwide relocation service). It was a NIGHTMARE. They were very unreliable and the mover himself appeared to be a heroin addict or something.

Fast forward a few years, and my husband and I moved cross country again and found a LOCAL moving company in the Yellow Pages. While they contracted with Mayflower, the fact that they were local meant they were much more concerned about our move, and their prices actually came in below the national company (i think we paid about 1500 to move a large one-bedroom apartment from WI to NY). If you can find a company like this, it will greatly reduce your stress levels in moving and will allow you to keep all your stuff - as well as all the sentimental stuff that might be thrown out if you have to cram everything into a small car.

[pea-jay]

Fast forward a few years, and my husband and I moved cross country again and found a LOCAL moving company in the Yellow Pages. While they contracted with Mayflower, the fact that they were local meant they were much more concerned about our move, and their prices actually came in below the national company (i think we paid about 1500 to move a large one-bedroom apartment from WI to NY). If you can find a company like this, it will greatly reduce your stress levels in moving and will allow you to keep all your stuff - as well as all the sentimental stuff that might be thrown out if you have to cram everything into a small car.

That's exactly the way I did it. Found a local affiliate of a national company and had them do a quote. It was quick and professional. Their reputation checked out so we hired them. They were early on both the pick up (a small problem) and drop off times (not a problem) and their movers were professionals and didnt break anything. Best experience and sooo worth the $100 bucks more than the do-it-yourself U-Haul price I got.

[gsams]

Okay, this is encouraging. I am waiting until next week for the official funding notification to come through (the waiting is killing me, even though I seem to get a grant or scholarship a least once a week!) but then I will start calling. I am going to ask my aunt. She's moved a lot around the country and may have tips.

[rising_star]

I moved across the country a couple years ago. Here's what I did. I mailed about 7 boxes of stuff, mostly books, to myself. I drove out with a car filled with stuff and my mom came out to help me move with two suitcases of stuff I'd packed. Then, I bought furniture (mattress, dresser, etc) once I got here. I didn't go to IKEA, I actually went to various furniture stores and furniture outlets in town because they have good sales and several were offering free delivery as well.

[oldlady]

You might try calling the Student Activities Office. At some schools, enterprising undergrads start all kinds of businesses, including moving students in and out of their student housing...