Moving Costs???

[theone1979]

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I was curious what everyone who is starting school in August is doing about moving and moving costs.

I will be moving from the east coast to the west coast for school and was originally planning on renting one of those pods to load up to have all of my furniture and stuff moved out to the west coast.

Well...it will cost over 5k to do this!!! I could not believe how much it was. And for this cost you still have to load up the pod yourself. If you want movers to actually come and move your stuff into a truck, it is closer to 7k.

So with these insane moving costs, I dont think it even makes sense to bother moving my stuff out there. I don't even think I have 5k worth of stuff to move so it seems silly to spend that much to get it out there.

So I was just curious what everyone else is doing about this and if anyone knows of any cheaper options. For those of you moving long distances for school, are you bringing your stuff with you, or just getting new stuff when you get out there?

I know the cheapest option would be to rent a U-Haul and drive it out myself, but I REALLY dont want to drive across country.

 

[Superman1978]

I've moved cross-country several times now and it is always an expensive process. If you are single and have a handful of items, try a u-haul. I know you said you don't want to drive cross-country but if you can get someone to drive with you (brother, sister, friend, etc) then it can be really enjoyable. If you have the time you can stop and look at the sites. I've done this and it can be a lot of fun. If you are doing it by yourself, then I can understand your hesitation. If you are single, get rid of everything you can except for the essentials. If you can get rid of enough stuff and put everything you have in a car or tow it, that might be a better option for you. Again, I've done this and it makes the moving venture a lot easier. I have a family now so I can't get rid of a lot of things like I used to. For some reason my wife wants to keep everything we own (even **** we haven't used in four years). I'm not driving all the way across country this time but it still will cost be several thousand dollars for the u-haul, gas, lodging, etc. Unfortunately, unless you plan on getting rid of everything you own, it's going to cost you a good chunk of change.

 

[snulma1]

If you are slightly flexible with the dates of the move, you can ask about consolidation. Some companies will pick up on a certain date, and deliver anywhere from 2-7 days later. But they will be putting your stuff in one truck with at least 1 other person/family that is moving. This keeps the cost down for the movers, and they pass the savings on to you. I was quoted at about 3400-4500 to move from NYC to Erie PA, but if I did the consolidated move, it was only going to be 1800. Ask them about it.

I was curious what everyone who is starting school in August is doing about moving and moving costs.

I will be moving from the east coast to the west coast for school and was originally planning on renting one of those pods to load up to have all of my furniture and stuff moved out to the west coast.

Well...it will cost over 5k to do this!!! I could not believe how much it was. And for this cost you still have to load up the pod yourself. If you want movers to actually come and move your stuff into a truck, it is closer to 7k.

So with these insane moving costs, I dont think it even makes sense to bother moving my stuff out there. I don't even think I have 5k worth of stuff to move so it seems silly to spend that much to get it out there.

So I was just curious what everyone else is doing about this and if anyone knows of any cheaper options. For those of you moving long distances for school, are you bringing your stuff with you, or just getting new stuff when you get out there?

I know the cheapest option would be to rent a U-Haul and drive it out myself, but I REALLY dont want to drive across country.

 

[Tallion]

I got a rental truck from Budget with unlimited miles and car dolly to tow my car for $560. A friend of mine is helping me move so I bought his plane ticket back home which cost $130. Figure in gas, food, and lodging and it should all come out around $1000. Way cheaper than paying professional movers. Another option if you don't have much stuff is just to fly yourself out there, and ship your stuff in a couple big UPS boxes. A friend of mine did that when he went to dental school and ended up paying about $150 to ship 3 big boxes of clothes and books. And tell your folks/friends to bring some of your stuff with them when they come visit!

 

[SLC]

I rented a trailer from ABF. It's similar to consolidation but you share the space with commercial freight. I payed $900 or so for about 13 feet (enough for a 3 bedroom house full of my stuff.

They drive it for you, you just pack it on one end and unpack it on the other. It took 3 business days to go from SLC to Phoenix so I spent the time showing my kids the Utah and AZ national parks.

Look into it, it's a good option!

 

[Kevin Baker]

A lot depends on your current and future living situation.

If you're coming from college, or simply renting a room (or furnishing a small 1br apartment) it might be cheaper to simply leave your big stuff behind/sell it on craigslist, pack what you can in a car, and hit up Ikea and garage sales when you get down there.

Some people rent one of those small Uhaul things you attach to your car but imo it isn't worth it. They don't fit big furniture, you often have a speed limit of 55 with them so it slows you down (prolonging the trip, maybe adding an extra motel night), and it eats up gas mileage. Not a ton mind you, but even losing 1 or 2 mpg over a 2000 mile trip adds up.

I'm looking around my room right now and all of the furniture I couldn't fit in the car (bed, mattress, desk, TV stand, overhead desk thing, bookcase) cost less than $500 new. If you're trying to furnish a house, maybe look into trucks, but if your stuff is pretty replaceable, I'd look into ditching it and driving down.

Gas for me (~2000 mile trip, midwest to west coast) was ~$320, so a bit more expensive than a plane ticket. If you don't have access to a car, I'm not sure how you'd go about things. I've used Uhaul for local moves and it isn't bad if you're not going far ($20 for the truck, $1 or $2 per mile) but cross country is a different beast.

 

[plauto]

I rented a trailer from ABF. It's similar to consolidation but you share the space with commercial freight. I payed $900 or so for about 13 feet (enough for a 3 bedroom house full of my stuff.

They drive it for you, you just pack it on one end and unpack it on the other. It took 3 business days to go from SLC to Phoenix so I spent the time showing my kids the Utah and AZ national parks.

Look into it, it's a good option!

hey thanks for the tip, checked out their prices and they seem very good. By the way, going to SLC this summer for a month and hopefully moving there a year from now....

 

[painmd87]

I moved from college in Florida to Maryland after graduation. It cost me $1,900 and was one of the worst experiences of my life. We hired movers to load a big truck, bring it to MD when they had enough people to make it a worthwhile trip, then unloaded. Demanded cash, broke stuff and swore they didn't, etc. None spoke English (and I don't speak Russian), so it was very difficult to direct them where to put my stuff.

When I moved from Maryland to Erie last week, I rented a Budget truck for $252, hired 2 movers @ $45/hr to load the truck, then 3 movers for $55/hr to unload the truck. With materials, gas, truck, labor, etc., it all came out to about $950. I just had to drive the truck (easier said than done, by the way).

Budget rents trucks on a per-day fee. I needed it one day but they have a 3-day minimum. UHaul rents trucks on a per-mile basis and was therefore more expensive.

Be careful, as your car insurance policy most likely will NOT cover truck rental and you'll have to pay the premium for the company's insurance.

 

[ejw5075]

If there is anything in the world that I can say that i HATE its moving. And I avoid it at all costs. Moving from PA to FL in 4 weeks will consist of me bringing my computer, car, and probably 1/3 of my clothing. My wadrobe isn't exactly professional or intense heat ready so I'll replace most of it when I get there. As for furniture, I'll be replacing it all. I can live off IKEA for a few years.

Just a tip for anyone planning on renting vans or pick-up trucks to move, if you have family members who work at car dealerships they usually get deals at companies like enterprise because they give them so much service. Check it out!

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Contact some of the freight hauling companies like North American, etc, they are similar to what SLC described. I would look into options to sell and buy new stuff there imho. Figure you could get 500-600$ for all your current stuff, pay 500$ to drive out there and buy new stuff and it will still probably be cheaper than paying to move it coast to coast. If you have some precious family heirloom, have a family member take them for now, sell the rest, and find a person to road trip with you... Maybe there are others on SDN who are moving as well??? Best of luck!

 

[Colbare]

I'm moving from DFW to Bradenton (near Tampa) in July and have started to realize how expensive it'd be to take most of my stuff with me. I'm going to look for furnished apartments and take what I can pack into my car. It sounds like from the other posters that especially for long distance moving the most efficient thing to do is travel light and buy the stuff you need when you get there. Good luck!

 

[prone2xl]

I'm also moving from Dallas and I called around to truck compaines such as Penske and Budget (who were cheaper than U-haul).
I ended up going with Budget for a 16 foot truck with ramp for around $420 w/unlimited miles.
I'm flying my parents out here and my dad's going to drive the moving truck while my mom and I drive my truck (Tacoma).
I'll take them back to Birmingham from Atlanta to pick up their car.

I was lucky and got a military discount, so that saved me a good bit (20% I think).