Question about furniture and Internship

[bigdreamer3]

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Hi all!

This is a question for those of you who have completed internship and moved on to bigger and better things! I am moving from the West Coast to the Midwest for internship and I decided to sell all of my craigslist furniture and move with what fits in my car. So I will be buying new stuff when I arrive. However, I am torn as to whether I should buy cheap stuff for just the year...or make the larger investment in more expensive furniture and pay to ship it when it comes time for post-doc. The tricky thing is, I don't currently have plans for post-doc and have no idea where I will end up.

Any advice, stories about what you did, etc.? Thanks in advance!

 

[AbnormalPsych]

I went with cheap stuff. I ended up being somewhat in the same region for postdoc and rented a truck to bring all the used furniture from internship with me to that location. I then got rid of most of it after postdoc. I was glad I did this. It was nice to have a fresh start when I moved back after postdoc. My tastes in some things had changed. It was also nice to make that last long-distance move with almost no furniture.

 

[szymk1sm]

If you decide to buy new stuff and ship it, look into U-pack (specifically their terminal to terminal services).

I had never heard of this before and it's drastically helping reduce the costs of moving cross-country.

 

[foreverbull]

I bought cheap stuff for internship (we're talking very "college student" life for a year). Then I sold it all as a package to the new intern who was coming in...it worked well.

After dumping almost everything after internship, I rented the smallest possible UHaul truck (with a tow add-on for my car) because I had too many belongings for my car, and it was almost $1K to rent to drive it across three states. I looked into everything...even renting a pickup truck from nearby rental car companies. I looked into the pod/U-Pack option, and for me, U-Pack and Pods were still far over the cost of driving my own Uhaul given my start/endpoint (around $2,000).

If you leave internship with just your car full of things and not renting anything at all, you'll save at least $1,000 at the very bottom end, which is no small change for a grad student. Unless, of course, your postdoc is in the same area.

 

[PsychPhDone]

Hi all!

This is a question for those of you who have completed internship and moved on to bigger and better things! I am moving from the West Coast to the Midwest for internship and I decided to sell all of my craigslist furniture and move with what fits in my car. So I will be buying new stuff when I arrive. However, I am torn as to whether I should buy cheap stuff for just the year...or make the larger investment in more expensive furniture and pay to ship it when it comes time for post-doc. The tricky thing is, I don't currently have plans for post-doc and have no idea where I will end up.

Any advice, stories about what you did, etc.? Thanks in advance!

I showed up with no furniture and went to ikea and target on my first day there (to get basic furniture and air mattress). At the end of internship, I sold all my furniture to an incoming intern for cheap. I'd check and see if any outgoing interns are looking to get rid of their stuff!

 

[singasongofjoy]

Go cheap. Live like you're still in undergrad. Buy a new mattress and upholstered stuff if you must, but scavenge as much as you can on craigslist for your internship year as well. Treat yourself to real furniture when you get your first "real" job or at least a good postdoc (with "real paycheck" 😉 ) Moving is expensive and an extra pain in the butt if you have heavy stuff to lift and move. You may end up across the country for postdoc. And though it should go without say, if you've got loans, loans> nice furniture.

 

[WisNeuro]

I didn't buy anything even remotely nice until after I finished postdoc. My postdoc move was across country with only what would fit in my car. No real reason to have good furniture until you know where you're going to be for at least several years, moving costs add up pretty quickly. Craigslist and Ikea are your friend.

 

[bigdreamer3]

Thanks all!

That all makes sense. I am mostly stressing about a mattress and a TV, because those are things one doesn't usually want to skimp on. Any suggestions?

I'm going to an internship where most of the interns stay for post-doc and no one seems to be selling furniture. It's also the midwest...and the Craigslist inventory is pretty darn low!

 

[WisNeuro]

Thanks all!

That all makes sense. I am mostly stressing about a mattress and a TV, because those are things one doesn't usually want to skimp on. Any suggestions?

I'm going to an internship where most of the interns stay for post-doc and no one seems to be selling furniture. It's also the midwest...and the Craigslist inventory is pretty darn low!

Mattress, buy cheap, sell when you leave. Also, consider a futon. As for TV, just use your computer to watch stuff. It's only a year, you can get by without a lot of things for a short period of time.

 

[bigdreamer3]

Mattress, buy cheap, sell when you leave. Also, consider a futon. As for TV, just use your computer to watch stuff. It's only a year, you can get by without a lot of things for a short period of time.

WisNeuro, I have a feeling your ability to live cheaply may exceed mine! But everyone did make great point about moving costs...I will try to keep an eye out for mattresses and options that I have for buying cheaper stuff.

Also, everyone points out IKEA but they are pretty expensive, no?

 

[WisNeuro]

Also, everyone points out IKEA but they are pretty expensive, no?

Depends on what for. I'd look on craigslist first, and then just see what you can get by on.

 

[szymk1sm]

Also facebook marketplace and any buy/sell group in your new city can be useful.

If you're in a college town, Aug/Dec/May can be a great time to snag stuff when students are leaving town after graduation.

 

[rdpchgo]

Rented a U-haul with some furniture from grad school (luckily internship was only a couple hours drive from my grad program/hometown) and bought cheap larger items off Craigslist. Sold/donated nearly everything sans clothes & essentials at the end of internship, and made 2 trips home with my car.

 

[MCParent]

a mattress and a TV, because those are things one doesn’t usually want to skimp on

Your income is going to be, what, $30k? Yes, skimp on this. And everything else. Use your laptop or phone to watch whatever (I suggest starting with Dave Ramsey). A half decent mattress will be fine for a year unless you weigh enough to blow it apart.

New things for a year long job placement. No wonder so many grads are in such massive debt.

 

[singasongofjoy]

^what MCparent said.

Mattress: get one of the foam ones online. We got a $200 one and it sleeps better than any other mattress I've had and has held up better too. Plus it shows up shrinkwrapped at your door- no worry about transport expense.

TV: amazon prime and a laptop, and if you want a big screen/to get fancy, buy a used projector and hang a sheet in your living room. Or just find something else to do with your time.

Larger goodwill stores can be great for finding cheap furniture. If get vinyl /fake leather or whatever that stuff is for couch/chair, you can clean it pretty well but sometimes you can even find new upholstered stuff that has been damaged in some way- also look at Habitat for Humanity Restore Store. Then donate back when you leave. They often have bigger items like tables, desks, shelves, wardrobes, pieces of cabinets and if you're at all handy with some paint, hammer, and handsaw you can make it look nice and matchy-matchy if you care to (they even have partially -used or new cans of paint- you'd be amazed what you can find there). Large sizes of carpet samples, lamps, all sorts of stuff.

Seriously, it's just one year. You can do anything for a year. Make it an exercise in frugality and you'll thank yourself later. An intern salary doesn't have much room for house-decorating type of budget and fancy stuff - if you care about how it looks you can channel your inner Martha Stewart or pintrest or whatever.

For moving, those giant plastic bins they sell at costco are easy to stack, lightweight, durable as hell and can double nicely as side tables and coffee tables, on-the-go bed for your dog or toddler... whatever. If you're feeling a little bit spendy, that's my suggestion. They've gotten me through 5 moves now.

 

[boomshakalaka]

Amazon is a great place to find a decent mattress. You might want to also check out Big Lots. They usually have decently priced mattress sets and couches/futons.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

You could also look into renting furniture. It's certainly not the most economical option (buying cheap stuff easily beats it in that regard), but it does save you the costs of moving it in and out, and the hassle of selling it. I don't think it typically includes TVs, and doing so (if it's even an option) may substantially up the price, so either buying used/cheap or using your computer and phone would be a better bet there.

Edit: For one year, it could make sense. If you're in the same place for 2 or 3 years, I'd be strongly in favor of buying cheap.

I wonder if there's an option to reach out to other departments at nearby universities to see if folks there are moving and wanting to get rid of stuff? And like you're doing, keep checking in with the interns. For postdoc, I got an entire apartment's worth of furniture and dishes for something like $800-1000 from an outgoing intern.

 

[MCParent]

Because large amounts of debt clearly come from dropping $1200-1500 on a nice bed and TV.

You might read the consumer debt literature, because this is exactly where staggering consumer debt comes from (ie people thinking they need this or that thing over and over, which even if not “high end,” remains beyond their means).

 

[bigdreamer3]

You might read the consumer debt literature, because this is exactly where staggering consumer debt comes from (ie people thinking they need this or that thing over and over, which even if not “high end,” remains beyond their means).

I get it, and noted. But this post is not about my debt.

 

[PhDToBe]

I also vote to go cheap. I bought most of my stuff from other interns, Craigslist, etc. and was able to re-sell and donate it after postdoc.

One of my fellow interns bought brand new furniture for internship and regretted having to move it one year later. Plus, most people are not in a good financial place to buy good furniture at that point.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

I had to give up my waterbed when I moved for internship 🙁 The thing was a beauty. Straight out of 1982.

 

[WisNeuro]

I had to give up my waterbed when I moved for internship 🙁 The thing was a beauty. Straight out of 1982.

Did you at least keep your Pog collection and IROC-Z and Farrah Fawcett posters?

 

[quickpsych]

You might read the consumer debt literature, because this is exactly where staggering consumer debt comes from (ie people thinking they need this or that thing over and over, which even if not “high end,” remains beyond their means).

Comments like this remind me comments made by the GOP politician who claimed "if only poor people stopped buying iPhones they could instead afford health insurance." Not saying that was your intention here of course but that's the first thing that came to mind reading this. https://gizmodo.com/top-republican-says-poor-people-should-stop-buying-ipho-1793036589

While there are folks that probably buy too much "higher end" stuff with revolving credit, most of consumer debt is linked to health care/medical costs, emergency costs (car repairs, house repairs, unplanned emergencies), and perhaps unique to our fields, the absurdity that is broke students having to travel around the country for interviews for one year positions...not so much linked to someone wanted the $1,000 TV over the $700 TV. And let's not forget student loan debt is now exceeding all other forms of debt totals.

As for OP's question, they could just pack what they need into a UHaul and take it out to their internship. Anything they want to keep but can't bring just leave at their current place (or store it at a relative's or friend's place. Saves money and means you don't have to get rid of stuff you might like but can't take along.

 

[MCParent]

Comments like this remind me comments made by the GOP politician who claimed "if only poor people stopped buying iPhones they could instead afford health insurance." Not saying that was your intention here of course but that's the first thing that came to mind reading this. https://gizmodo.com/top-republican-says-poor-people-should-stop-buying-ipho-1793036589

While there are folks that probably buy too much "higher end" stuff with revolving credit, most of consumer debt is linked to health care/medical costs, emergency costs (car repairs, house repairs, unplanned emergencies), and perhaps unique to our fields, the absurdity that is broke students having to travel around the country for interviews for one year positions...not so much linked to someone wanted the $1,000 TV over the $700 TV. And let's not forget student loan debt is now exceeding all other forms of debt totals.

As for OP's question, they could just pack what they need into a UHaul and take it out to their internship. Anything they want to keep but can't bring just leave at their current place (or store it at a relative's or friend's place. Saves money and means you don't have to get rid of stuff you might like but can't take along.

That was neither the intention nor was it what I said. My reply was specifically in the context of how we move for a single year for internship, and I see purchasing anything substantial (ie not 700 versus 1000, but purchasing a tv at all rather than just living with laptop Netflix) as frivolous. But, people do prefer comforting false assurances to harsh realities, I suppose.

Also, have you priced a one way uhaul lately? With a car carrier if you’re bringing a car? It will typically be cheaper to unload everything, pack what you can into a car, and be Spartan for a year.

 

[LadyHalcyon]

I rented furniture FROM Cort. They had a student package

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