Cost factors when relocating to a different state (Phoenix: rental car, apartment complexes)

[KLR87]

I am trying to figure out how much we need to save up to move across the country. At this point, I'm looking at what we'll need money for, not how much it will be yet. We are planning on coming out and renting an apartment. No kids, just my husband and I and our two animals.

So far, I have:

1. Expenses for moving into an apartment (security deposit, 1st months rent, admin fee, pet deposit, application fee, etc)
2. The cost to rent an SUV to bring our minimal belongings (our furniture isn't worth the cost of renting a moving truck, so we will not be bringing that with us)
3. Gas to bring the rented SUV out
4. Gas to bring our personal vehicles out
5. Cost to fly my mother back home (she will drive one of our cars coming out so that one of us can drive the SUV)
6. Costs for hotels during the journey out to AZ.
7. The cost to change my professional license from PA to AZ (I'm in the healthcare field)
8. The costs to fill our apartment with some basic furniture (couch, TV Stand, bedroom suite, etc). We'll just buy the necessities and worry about decor and other stuff later on once we are settled in.
9. The costs for my husband to come out to go through the hiring process with the police department (plan ticket, hotel, rental car, food, etc)
10. 3 months salary in savings


Anything I'm missing? I've never done this and I'm sure there are a ton of things I'm not thinking of.

Thanks!

[Ponderosa]

AZ vehicle registration. It can be costly unless you have an older (more than about 5 years) car.

Deposits for utilities. If you can, get a letter of credit from your current utilities and they will waive deposits.

[Jkgourmet]

Cost to register and retitle your cars.

Have you priced health insurance and car insurance yet? Both tend to be pricey in Phoenix.

Two animals? What type and, if dogs, what breed?

I'll also add that it would probably be cheaper to rent a uhaul trailer and hitch on the back of one of your cars instead of the one way SUV and mom's expenses.

Would be much better to have 6 months expenses rather than 3.

Keep receipts! Many of these expenses may be tax deductible.

[KLR87]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

AZ vehicle registration. It can be costly unless you have an older (more than about 5 years) car.

Deposits for utilities. If you can, get a letter of credit from your current utilities and they will waive deposits.

Thanks! Didn't even think of that. My vehicle is a 2017 and my husband's is a 2012 so his car should be fine. In PA, it's $36 for registration. How much is it in AZ?

[Jkgourmet]

Depends on the value of the vehicle. It won't make you happy. For each $100 of the vehicle's value, you will be assessed: New vehicles: $2.80. Used vehicles: $2.89. Alternative Fuel Vehicle: $4.

So, if that 2017 has an assessed value of $25k, you're looking at a registration fee of over $700,

Arizona Car Registration Requirements & Steps | DMV.org

[KLR87]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Cost to register and retitle your cars.

Have you priced health insurance and car insurance yet? Both tend to be pricey in Phoenix.

Two animals? What type and, if dogs, what breed?

I'll also add that it would probably be cheaper to rent a uhaul trailer and hitch on the back of one of your cars instead of the one way SUV and mom's expenses.

Would be much better to have 6 months expenses rather than 3.

Keep receipts! Many of these expenses may be tax deductible.

Thank you for all of the tips!

I wasn't aware that you have to retitle a car. What does that normally run?

My dog is a dachshund/beagle mix. We've called some apartment complexes already to find out how much pet rent we'd have per month including the deposit we need to put down. So, I am kind of factoring that into "apartment costs."

That's a good idea about hitching one of our cars to the back. My husband thinks if we rent a minivan and flatten the back seats that we'd be able to fit everything in there. I'll have to find out if you can hitch a car to a minivan (which would be cheaper to rent than an SUV). Either way, it would save us money by not having to purchase a return flight for my mom.

[Jkgourmet]

Make sure you ate getting the cost of a ONE WAY car rental - SUV or minivan. I STILL think renting a uhaulot trailer and towing it behind your vehicle would be cheaper. Heck, ups those boxes might even be cheap.

Glad to hear the dog is smaller and not a dangerous breed.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Make sure you ate getting the cost of a ONE WAY car rental - SUV or minivan. I STILL think renting a uhaulot trailer and towing it behind your vehicle would be cheaper. Heck, ups those boxes might even be cheap.

Glad to hear the dog is smaller and not a dangerous breed.

"Dangerous breed"? Come on. She's not bringing a hyena.

[KLR87]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Depends on the value of the vehicle. It won't make you happy. For each $100 of the vehicle's value, you will be assessed: New vehicles: $2.80. Used vehicles: $2.89. Alternative Fuel Vehicle: $4.

So, if that 2017 has an assessed value of $25k, you're looking at a registration fee of over $700,

Arizona Car Registration Requirements & Steps | DMV.org

Wow! That's insane. Is that a one time thing? I was thinking that was vehicle taxes. We don't have that in PA.

[KLR87]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

AZ vehicle registration. It can be costly unless you have an older (more than about 5 years) car.

Deposits for utilities. If you can, get a letter of credit from your current utilities and they will waive deposits.

Sounds good. We have good credit and have never been late on any payments so we should be able to get that letter.