Whats the easiest cheapest way to move long distance? (packing, moving company, ABF)

[FreezinIL]

We are planning to move from Il. to Florida in May or June of next yr. Is there anything I should be doing now?

I have 1 husband 5 children, 1 guinea pig, 2 parakeets, 2 small dogs and 2 hermit crabs.


Has anyone made a long distance move like this before and have any helpful advice on what could make our move easier and maybe cheaper?

Thanks for any helpul advice

[daniellefort]

We're moving from FL to NH next summer and right now we are slowly getting rid of stuff we don't need to haul with us. It's easier to do a little over time than all at the last minute and you'd realize just how much stuff you have that you don't really need. We're leaving all our furniture behind with the house too. we're thinking of buying one of those enclosed trailers to pack what stuff we need to bring then we can always sell it when we're done with it. I mean it will probably cost $2000 to rent a Uhaul and your just throwing that money away. If you buy an enclosed trailer, at least you have a chance of selling it and getting some money back out of it or worst case break out even. If your moving to FL, i'd spend a lot of time researching the areas you want to live in. If your buying a home, there's plenty to choose from but be sure to look into taxes and home insurance and remember, what the current owner pays for taxes will NOT be what you pay for taxes. We have a 3% cap here in FL each year but once you make an upgrade on your home or sell it to someone else, that 3% cap no longer exists. They immediately jump up the taxes to the current value on the home and then start the 3% cap for you. Insurance is another issue. It's hard to find someone to insure you. We recently got dropped by Allstate after 6 years and no claims and our premiums doubled so just be aware. FL really is getting tough to make a decent living in.

[FreezinIL]

Thanks for the advise. We are planning to move to Seminole Florida. Is there anyway to find out what people typically pay for home owners insurance in that area?

I like the idea of buying an enclosed trailer. Do you know what they cost?

We just had a garage sale and donated what we did'nt sell.. What a relief to get rid of all that stuff. I started packing some things we wont need to use like extra sheets and comforters and wall decorations/knick knack type things.

[121804]

We are moving out of FL & back to our home state in the midwest.
Renting a 26 ft UHaul. UHaul, gas & tolls should cap out around $2500. We have two cars, so one is being hauled on the back of the UHaul & the other driven. Said & done, we hope to make it in 2 days @ around $3300.

We researched PODS, but it was about $4500 for 2, 16ft containers.

Call your current HOI company & ask about rates in FL. If you don't currently have HOI, just call a company & ask for rates in the area. They should be able to give you a generic rate.

We are also doing what the above poster stated...getting rid of stuff we just don't need or use anymore prior to the move.

We drove from TX to FL w/ a toddler...packed lunches, snacks & juices everyday. Saved $$ from needing to buy at gas stations.

[Ten]

I've found that a 20' truck and a car hauler run at least $3000 from one end of the country to another. Gas adds hundreds and suddenly you're talking the better part of $4000 to spend a few hectic days in a cab hauling stuff you'll invariably question the value of when you unload it.

This next time I'm selling it mostly all off and driving the car.

Does anyone have experience shipping about 10' of household goods?

[DB3]

UPS has a moving service like PODS called HELPUMOVE, where they bring you the trailer, you load it and call them and they come pick it up and deliver it. The difference is that the UPS trailer is 28 feet compared to only 16 feet max for PODS. There's other companies too that you can check out: U-Pack and Door to Door. They all have websites where you can request a quote. (There could be more but these are the ones I've found while researching costs to move.)

We're moving about 10 hours away and both the UPS and PODS trailers were about $1,400 for us.

It might save you some money to go this route, especially if you can find the help to get the trailers loaded and unloaded. If you do need help with heavier pieces, you can always call local movers and check rates for a couple guys to come out and help load and unload once everything's packed or delivered. I know where I live this cost is about $125/hour and they send three guys.

[tamiedearest]

I just moved from Wisconsin to Fort Myers, FL. I did all the research between us moving it and having someone else move it. Believe it or not I found that the moving company I chose would be about the same if not cheaper than moving it ourselves. After you figure, my husband was already down here working. He would have had to take off work for about a week to come up and pack everything into the trailer/truck, then drive 25 (Approx) hours (not including stops), then he would have had to unload everything; the cost of fuel for the truck and the time frame would only be a week unless you wanted to pay for another week. It seemed like a big hassle, when the moving company came to my house disassembled what needed to be taken apart (ie beds, desk) loaded everything into the truck and about a week later arrived here and unloaded everything and reset up the beds.

I think that we ended up paying less than what it would have cost for the truck and fuel alone.

If you live anywhere close to the Illinois/Wisconsin border I can recommend them if you would like. They were excellent. After I called the rep came to my house and we went through the house room by room and he calculated how much stuff we had and then gave me the estimate right away. Suprisingly he was pretty close weight wise.

It was so much easier and less stressful since they do all the work and they are insured and our stuff if damaged during shipping was also insured, where as if you pack it and it breaks its on you.

If you have other questions you can PM me.

Tamie

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by FreezinIL

Thanks for the advise. We are planning to move to Seminole Florida. Is there anyway to find out what people typically pay for home owners insurance in that area?

I like the idea of buying an enclosed trailer. Do you know what they cost?

We just had a garage sale and donated what we did'nt sell.. What a relief to get rid of all that stuff. I started packing some things we wont need to use like extra sheets and comforters and wall decorations/knick knack type things.

As far as home owners insurance, you might want to start another thread with that question specificially for the area you plan to move in. You'll get more quotes based on different homes because that too makes a difference.

Price of the enclosed trailers depending on what size you need can cost from $2000 and can go as high as you want to spend. You may want to pick up an Auto Trader or Trailer trader in your area. I'm sure buying a used one will save you some money. But either way, at least you can sell it and get something back out of it. I can't see spending $3000 or $4000 to rent something when you can buy it for the same price.

I too started packing stuff we don't currently use like sheets, photo albums and things like that. I hate having yard sales so i usually just donate what i don't need to the thrift shops too.

[12paws42]

We moved from Cleveland Ohio down to the Lakeland area last month. We had a 2000 sq foot home and moved into a 1500 sq foot home. We dwindlede our Ohio home down to a 25 x 10 storage unit in Ohio, then came down to FL to find a place. We drove one vehicle down (our personal pick up truck) with a small load of our most valueable stuff. Hubby stayed in FL, I flew back to Ohio for a month to finish up work. Had a car hauler take the second car, having a professional moving co. take the storage unit down for about 3700.00 - well worth the cost of having to load it ourselves, unload it and DRIVE from Ohio to Fl. I did look into everything from the PODS, to the ABF Upack service. If you are looking for convenience I reccommend the professional movers. We used Wheaton - stuff is due down here the week of Oct 15th.

Good luck with your move.

[FreezinIL]

Originally Posted by DB3

UPS has a moving service like PODS called HELPUMOVE, where they bring you the trailer, you load it and call them and they come pick it up and deliver it. The difference is that the UPS trailer is 28 feet compared to only 16 feet max for PODS. There's other companies too that you can check out: U-Pack and Door to Door. They all have websites where you can request a quote. (There could be more but these are the ones I've found while researching costs to move.)

We're moving about 10 hours away and both the UPS and PODS trailers were about $1,400 for us.

.

I will have to check out the UPS type pods I looked in to PODS a couple of yrs ago on our last move and they were too expensive.

Originally Posted by tamiedearest

I just moved from Wisconsin to Fort Myers, FL. I did all the research between us moving it and having someone else move it. Believe it or not I found that the moving company I chose would be about the same if not cheaper than moving it ourselves. After you figure, my husband was already down here working. He would have had to take off work for about a week to come up and pack everything into the trailer/truck, then drive 25 (Approx) hours (not including stops), then he would have had to unload everything; the cost of fuel for the truck and the time frame would only be a week unless you wanted to pay for another week. It seemed like a big hassle, when the moving company came to my house disassembled what needed to be taken apart (ie beds, desk) loaded everything into the truck and about a week later arrived here and unloaded everything and reset up the beds.

I think that we ended up paying less than what it would have cost for the truck and fuel alone.

If you live anywhere close to the Illinois/Wisconsin border I can recommend them if you would like. They were excellent. After I called the rep came to my house and we went through the house room by room and he calculated how much stuff we had and then gave me the estimate right away. Suprisingly he was pretty close weight wise.

It was so much easier and less stressful since they do all the work and they are insured and our stuff if damaged during shipping was also insured, where as if you pack it and it breaks its on you.

If you have other questions you can PM me.

Tamie

Thanks Tammie I would appreciate the name of the moving company I drive 5 minutes and I am in Wisconsin so yes I would say I am close to the border, lol.