General Question about Moving

[CutIt]

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Question about moving: for a single person living alone, how do you guys recommend moving your stuff? What would you guys suggest is the best low-cost option availabe? Anybody use UPS or a similar type of service? What about UHaul, Budget, Ryder trucks, etc?

Thanks

 

[tkim]

My family moved cross-country (Boston to Cali) - two dogs, two cars, tons of crap from a 2 bedroom apt.

First thing you need to do if figure out what you won't be bringing with you.

Then figure out what size truck you need to haul the stuff you *are* bringing with you.

Then figure out whether the cost of renting the truck and driving it from Point A to Point B costs *less* than selling all of you stuff, and buying new stuff when you get to where you're going. Factor in gas, lodging, food, and the ever-present possibility that your truck full of crap will be stolen from the motel when you stop for the night. This happened to two of my friends.

Example: if it costs $1000 to rent a U-Haul, and the stuff I'm hauling is worth less than that, then it would be easier to sell your crap, drive your car to your new place, then buy new crap and pocket the difference in money you've saved from not renting a truck.

I will say, that the most expensive, bulky things are furniture - especially mattresses and sofa/couches.

If the cost of replacing just these things alone is more than renting a truck, then rent a truck.

U-Haul and the other rental truck places are bandits. I hear Penske is decent, though.

 

[beriberi]

Do remember if you will be itemizing your tax return this year (likely if you are buying a home, unlikely otherwise), your moving expenses will be tax deductible. Buying new crap is not tax deductible (but you get new crap)

Just a thought.

 

[tkim]

Do remember if you will be itemizing your tax return this year (likely if you are buying a home, unlikely otherwise), your moving expenses will be tax deductible. Buying new crap is not tax deductible (but you get new crap)

Just a thought.

Good point.

The OP didn't give details of his/her move that would determine if the move would be tax deductable, i.e., the 'time' and 'distance' criteria, so that remains to be seen.

I guess it's up to the individual what's worth more - being able to deduct the cost of moving, or getting newer crap - assuming the cost of moving versus cost of buying new crap being equal, and one does qualify to deduct.

I gotta stop using that word.

 

[InGasWeTrust]

Caution!

Before everyone gets excited about the tax deduction for moving, it is only good if you itemize. Even if you do purchase a home there will only be 6months or so of mortgage interest, therefore prolly not enough to get you over that 4750 threshold if you are single or 9500 if you are married.

 

[margaritaboy]

Caution!

Before everyone gets excited about the tax deduction for moving, it is only good if you itemize. Even if you do purchase a home there will only be 6months or so of mortgage interest, therefore prolly not enough to get you over that 4750 threshold if you are single or 9500 if you are married.

Gas,

What threshold is that? Do you mean that deductions don't count unless they exceed said amount?

 

[Blade28]

Gas,

What threshold is that? Do you mean that deductions don't count unless they exceed said amount?

InGasWeTrust is referring to the standard deduction. For single people, it's $4750, IIRC. So it only makes sense to itemize if your deductions (moving expenses, medical bills, donations, etc.) exceed the standard deduction. And BTW, you usually need receipts for this too. 🙂

 

[axm397]

There's a nice ink on the Scutwork.com webpage (lower right) about tax deduction of moving expenses. Goes into detail about the distance/time/money restrictions discussed above.

 

[Vincristine]

To the OP: my husband and I moved our two bedroom apartment + car from Boston to Illinois by driving the Uhaul ourselves (towing the car behind) -- it was quite scary to pull out of Cambridge realizing that EVERYTHING we owned was currently sitting behind us. Total cost about $1500. A smaller truck, no car trailer, and less gas would make the trip cheaper. However, unless you can find someone to hitch a ride without, I personally wouldn't make the trip alone.
In our experience, the Uhaul people were fantastic, but it seemed dependent on our one-way move. We have dealt with the Uhaul in both cities for other in-town moves, and the service is no where near as good. However, because we were going one way, they had to gaureentee us the truck we ordered, and we were expected on the other end. It was a completely pleasent experience, and we'll likely do the same, but reverse move next year.

A friend from undergrad "moved" via ups upon graduation. With a dorm room full of stuff, it was seemingly prohibitively expensive (Boston to TX) and I don't think it's feasible with any more belongings or ANY furniture. My husband has had several single coworkers recently relocate from as far as California, many of them using professional moving services. Because their belongings were grouped with others' on the truck, the trip seemed to take a rediculous amount of time, and one person even had all of his boxes "mislocated" for a week. I don't think I've ever heard a positive long-distance moving stuff that involved a professional moving company.

 

[Blade28]

After college, I just sold/traded all the bigger items (bed, desk, etc.), and then put the rest in suitcases and boxes. 4 suitcases and 10 large boxes (sent via USPS bulk rate) later, I had moved from California to Hawaii.

 

[ortho2003]

One thing on itemizing the move. I believe the deduction is only good if you are moving from one job to another and the move is greater than 50 miles. If you are a full time student starting your first job, I do not believe the deduction applies.

 

[BassDominator]

I've moved several times with Uhaul. They seem to have the best deals in terms of size of truck for the dollar.

 

[Oftalmologo]

One thing on itemizing the move. I believe the deduction is only good if you are moving from one job to another and the move is greater than 50 miles. If you are a full time student starting your first job, I do not believe the deduction applies.

I believe you can still include moving expenses on your tax returns (as long as you keep receipts) even if you claim the standard deduction and do not itemize deductions. The moving expenses are considered in formulating your adjusted gross income with things like student interest payments and tuition and fees adjustments. Just check the IRS web site for more info, specifically check the instructions for form 1040:

http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/

Best!

 

[beriberi]

A couple of notes:

You can take moving expenses for a first job. (As long as you meet the distance and time requirement--work 10 mos/yr and move 50 miles from your old house). This is different than job interview expenses, which cannot be deducted for a first job.

Also, contrary to the above posts (including my own) moving expenses are an "above the line" deduction. That means that you take them before you take the standard deduction (or your itemized deductions). This is the same category as student loan interest (but different than most other deductions, such as charitible giving).

IRS form 3903 explains what is deductible moving expenses (gas, yes, househunting, no, packing materials yes, food en route, no.)

 

[tkim]

Last year about this time I was trying to figure out how to get my stuff from Point A to Point B.

This site helped me out quite a bit:

http://www.movingscam.com/

There are many moving scams out there that I was not aware of until I visited this site.

Good luck on your move.