[Trini2685]

Hi All-

I posted here back in October on whether or not FL was better than NC and vide versa, as my husband and I were looking to gtfo NJ lol

Anyway, we dedided to go with FL

We went on vacation in the Orlando area in April (we drove from NJ) and used a few days to go apartment hunting. We found a nice apt complex in Altamonte Springs, so we decided to head there for now.

However, hubby is still looking for a job before we move (as we are NOT moving to FL with him jobless). Hopefully, I can keep my job and work remotely. I say hopefully because you never know with this economy, but in the company I work for, a majority of the employees are home shored.

So, this is our CURRENT dilemma. We have A LOT of stuff- furniture, books, electronics, clothing, shoes (clothing/shoes are mine obviously lol). Most of our stuff are not even 1 yr old- like our living room furniture and some of our 2nd bedroom furniture. Our bd furniture is 7 yrs old, but still looks brand new and I really love it. But, it's just hubby and I. We have 2 cars and neither of em are built for towing (we were thinking to sell some stuff and tow the rest). So how the heck do we move all this stuff w/o busting our wallet?!

I am thinking an option would be to sell most of what we have that isn't recently purchased, but the stuff we will be left with won't be able to fit in our cars to drive down there (or even take the auto train from MD to FL).
Another option would be to suck it up and sell everything that we can . But I know we won't be able to get enough money back to buy replacement furniture, etc when we arrive in FL... and thats not an issue. I just hate the thought of selling my relatively new furniture for next to nothing... and our other issue is if we do have a "moving" yard sale, there's really nowhere for us to have it

For us to rent a UHaul 17' truck would cost less than $1500.00 and we can definitely try to fit as much as we can in that. I was thinking we can do that and tow my husband's car behind the truck (if that's possible). My dad is vacationing with us, so he could go with my hubby in the truck and help him drive to FL. I would store as much as I can in my SUV and drive to MD and take the auto train to FL.

Does anyone have any suggestions, thoughts, opinions? I am pulling my hair out thinking about what the heck we are going to do when the time comes to move, since we may only have like 2 weeks to pack and move. HELP!!!

Thanks in advance!

[kyle19125]

I would recommend using Budget over UHaul as their rates tend to be lower and have unlimited miles with rentals. A 24' foot truck which should be ample for your needs, with a tow rig for one car quotes at $1380 with a five day rental period. You would simply just need to drive the other card down by itself.

[newyorker24]

Penske was the cheapest last time I checked. But really compare the cost to do it yourself to the cost if paying movers. For our last move the cost of a rental truck, fuel, furniture pads, labor for 2 hours at origin and destination to load/unload, and the cost of flying a relative in to help us drive was only $300 less than paying professionals to do everything. For $300 more it was well worth it to me to use the professionals.

[TN Gal now]

If you are financially able, buy an old "moving" type truck big enough to hold what you want to take with you. You won't have to be in a rush to unpack the truck and once you are unpacked, sell the truck and recover most, all, or make a profit on your investment. I did this when I moved to TN and it worked perfectly. It's especially good for someone not sure of where they'll "end up" because it eliminates storage fees and unloading/loading more than once. Just be sure the truck doesn't leak.

Good luck