Best [cheapest] way to move your stuff 1000+ miles (and any alternatives) (Nice: rental car, fit in)

[certsevtxert]

Here are the options I have come up with:

1) Drive it down
2) Uhaul
3) Airline extra baggage
4) Ship the items
5) Sell all my stuff and buy new stuff again
6) Sell the big stuff and take the essentials with me using one of the above methods.

1) Well my stuff won't fit in a car, and I really don't feel like driving a loaded van over 1000 miles. Plus the gas price would be really high. And unless I'm planning on doing it in one shot, which would be stupid, then there are hotel costs and worries about stuff getting stolen from car while asleep.



2) Uhaul is not even an option. The cost for Uhaul and similar services is around $1500 - for only one room (I only have one room of stuff). Mainly because they charge $0.50 to $0.75 per mile, which times 1000 adds up really fast. Note that in the images the price starts at $800 but keep in mind that you still have to pay for gas, which for a 10+ foot uhaul truck is really, really expensive. So you're looking at paying many hundreds in gas alone.



3) This is a creative option that I read online. Basically you ship like 5 to 10 things of luggage, all under 50 pounds each. However this wouldn't work for big things, but maybe I could sell part of my things and the big stuff but take the other things with me. But it's upwards of $50 for each extra bag, which could be between $150 for 5 extra bags (first two are free), or $400 for 10 extra bags. Keep in mind this is on top of the cost of the airline tickets and other fees and expenses.



4) Sure it's an option, but with USPS prices I'm better off selling the stuff and buying new stuff. Could easily be $1000 to $2000 to ship all my stuff.



5) It would be a massive pain to sell all my stuff and buy the same stuff again. Plus there will be certain loss of maybe upward of $1000 from my estimates if I did this.



6) Maybe the best option, if I could fit all my stuff into 4 bags and sell the big stuff like bed, mattress, bowflex, etc.. computer and monitors would be difficult though but possible...

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Feel free to post any ideas, creative ideas, elaboration on or modification of these ideas, or just comments.

[taraox]

This is kind of 'out there' but I have a friend who moved from CA to Austin and he split a UHaul with someone else who was heading the same way.. Like he advertised on local sites and found someone trustworthy and they split the costs since they were headed to the same place. I think he's still friends with the guy too. Now the downside to that would be it's kind of up to luck if anyone else would be in the same boat (or anyone trustworthy), but I guess it can be done! You'd obviously have to plan everything out and coordinate. Also, a lot of my friends have moved with those Relocube (Pod?) things, but I think those are fairly pricy to ship too. Personally I've had the best luck with a U-pack type company, where I loaded my stuff onto their truck within a certain amount of space. Then the truck reaches your destination and you unload it, cuts out some of the cost because it's not a moving truck, it's a commercial transport truck. Still pricy though. Just some extra ideas.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Pods, Door to Door or any one of similar services work best. It's amazing wha you can fun in one unit.

[Coldjensens]

Having moved across the country a couple of times, I did all of these things. Sold some stuff and replaced it. Drove some stuff, mailed some stuff, hired movers for some stuff. In addition to moving, we frequently buy large items on E-bay and other online auctions sites. (Big things like a Piano, Antique Armoire, giant restaurant stove from 1927, couches, sideboard and server, car, etc.). We have had to figure out how to move dozens of items from all over the place in addition to moving a household across the country.

Shipping by Greyhound is usually considerably less expensive but: You have to drop it off and pick it up at a Greyhound station; you must wrap it yourself; there are size and weight limitations; and it is not really fast.

We looked at pods and they were super expensive, it was cheaper to hire a moving company.

It was way cheaper to rent a minivan and use that to haul stuff than to rent a small U-haul truck. IN fact it was probably cheaper to rent two minivans than to rent a small u-haul.

If you have your own car to drive and it can tow, buy a small trailer to haul your stuff and sell the trailer after you arrived. If you buy used and shop well, you may even make a profit on the trailer. You cannot put a hitch on a rental car.

It is illegal to sell a used mattress in many (all?) states. Thus if you do not move your mattress you will probably have to throw it away and buy a new one. Sometimes you can find a used mattress being sold illegally, but who would want a used mattress? Ick - - no - - ICK!

Large heavy items like your washer and dryer take a lot of room weigh a lot and are very easy to replace with like kind after you move. (Sell your 4 year old washing machine for market rates (say $400); buy a 4 year old washing machine of the same type upon arrival). It should be a push, but markets vary. The hassle of selling and buying is considerable though.

There is a website where you can post what you need shipped and various truckers bid on it. We have used that with decent results at times.

[ferretkona]

You can always buy a trailer and then sell it when done with it. In many areas a trailer can sell for more than you pay for it.

[wrcousert]

I remember reading about a service where you would drive someone's car across the country in exchange for free use of that car during the trip. They get free delivery of their vehicle and you get a free rental vehicle. Maybe you could find someone who needs to have a large van delivered to wherever it is you are moving to. Try Craigslist.

[Snort]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Having moved across the country a couple of times, I did all of these things. Sold some stuff and replaced it. Drove some stuff, mailed some stuff, hired movers for some stuff. In addition to moving, we frequently buy large items on E-bay and other online auctions sites. (Big things like a Piano, Antique Armoire, giant restaurant stove from 1927, couches, sideboard and server, car, etc.). We have had to figure out how to move dozens of items from all over the place in addition to moving a household across the country.

Shipping by Greyhound is usually considerably less expensive but: You have to drop it off and pick it up at a Greyhound station; you must wrap it yourself; there are size and weight limitations; and it is not really fast.

We looked at pods and they were super expensive, it was cheaper to hire a moving company.

It was way cheaper to rent a minivan and use that to haul stuff than to rent a small U-haul truck. IN fact it was probably cheaper to rent two minivans than to rent a small u-haul.

If you have your own car to drive and it can tow, buy a small trailer to haul your stuff and sell the trailer after you arrived. If you buy used and shop well, you may even make a profit on the trailer. You cannot put a hitch on a rental car.

It is illegal to sell a used mattress in many (all?) states. Thus if you do not move your mattress you will probably have to throw it away and buy a new one. Sometimes you can find a used mattress being sold illegally, but who would want a used mattress? Ick - - no - - ICK!

Large heavy items like your washer and dryer take a lot of room weigh a lot and are very easy to replace with like kind after you move. (Sell your 4 year old washing machine for market rates (say $400); buy a 4 year old washing machine of the same type upon arrival). It should be a push, but markets vary. The hassle of selling and buying is considerable though.

There is a website where you can post what you need shipped and various truckers bid on it. We have used that with decent results at times.

Good advice! May you win another five grand!

[tstwahine]

I'm not sure if this is an option but I bought a used older Ford F150 long bed V6 5 speed and used that to move cross country. Then sold the truck for what I paid for it. Worked out quite well for me. Got about 16-18mpg fully loaded down (200cc scooter, piano, all my clothes, bed etc)... I just didn't see the point in spending about $1300 (van + gas costs) when I could spend $1600 on a truck and $350 on gas (1300 miles) then sell the truck when i got to my new home. Because it's an older used truck I paid very little in registration fees and because the state that I moved to valued the truck higher I got what I paid for it back. Total cost of move: $350. And I used a tarp on top along with tie downs. It was completely fine overnight.

Good luck!

[certsevtxert]

Originally Posted by tstwahine

I'm not sure if this is an option but I bought a used older Ford F150 long bed V6 5 speed and used that to move cross country. Then sold the truck for what I paid for it. Worked out quite well for me. Got about 16-18mpg fully loaded down (200cc scooter, piano, all my clothes, bed etc)... I just didn't see the point in spending about $1300 (van + gas costs) when I could spend $1600 on a truck and $350 on gas (1300 miles) then sell the truck when i got to my new home. Because it's an older used truck I paid very little in registration fees and because the state that I moved to valued the truck higher I got what I paid for it back. Total cost of move: $350. And I used a tarp on top along with tie downs. It was completely fine overnight.

Good luck!

Nice! Great to hear a full result with numbers.

Truck is more expensive than minivan though due to lower gas mileage. Should be around $200-$250 total for about 1200 miles with a minivan by my estimates.

[certsevtxert]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Having moved across the country a couple of times, I did all of these things. Sold some stuff and replaced it. Drove some stuff, mailed some stuff, hired movers for some stuff. In addition to moving, we frequently buy large items on E-bay and other online auctions sites. (Big things like a Piano, Antique Armoire, giant restaurant stove from 1927, couches, sideboard and server, car, etc.). We have had to figure out how to move dozens of items from all over the place in addition to moving a household across the country.

Shipping by Greyhound is usually considerably less expensive but: You have to drop it off and pick it up at a Greyhound station; you must wrap it yourself; there are size and weight limitations; and it is not really fast.

We looked at pods and they were super expensive, it was cheaper to hire a moving company.

It was way cheaper to rent a minivan and use that to haul stuff than to rent a small U-haul truck. IN fact it was probably cheaper to rent two minivans than to rent a small u-haul.

If you have your own car to drive and it can tow, buy a small trailer to haul your stuff and sell the trailer after you arrived. If you buy used and shop well, you may even make a profit on the trailer. You cannot put a hitch on a rental car.

It is illegal to sell a used mattress in many (all?) states. Thus if you do not move your mattress you will probably have to throw it away and buy a new one. Sometimes you can find a used mattress being sold illegally, but who would want a used mattress? Ick - - no - - ICK!

Large heavy items like your washer and dryer take a lot of room weigh a lot and are very easy to replace with like kind after you move. (Sell your 4 year old washing machine for market rates (say $400); buy a 4 year old washing machine of the same type upon arrival). It should be a push, but markets vary. The hassle of selling and buying is considerable though.

There is a website where you can post what you need shipped and various truckers bid on it. We have used that with decent results at times.

eh, when I said "mattress" I meant "memory foam mattress". Which is completely different and yes I can sell it just fine. But I might not - I might roll it up instead (which will be very hard because it's a very firm memory foam).