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Keep and move the things that mean the most. Don't drag old furniture or boxes of paperwork. Go through your things and separate what's important and what is replaceable .
Pay for movers or sell your stuff and buy new stuff on Craigslist when you get there. Moving yourself to save $2500 is cra cra.
My fiancee and I were having this very discussion last night. We want to move across country but we figure paying movers would be unaffordable. We're finally old enough to have found out the hard way that paying movers to move you is really worth the money. The problem is, my fiancee has a crapload of heavy furniture and doesn't want to get rid of hardly any of it (but to be fair, it really is nice furniture, solid wood, and we wouldn't be able to replace it for anywhere near the cost of just moving it). When we were discussing what we would get rid of and what we would move, a lot more went on the move list than get rid of list
My fiancee and I were having this very discussion last night. We want to move across country but we figure paying movers would be unaffordable. We're finally old enough to have found out the hard way that paying movers to move you is really worth the money. The problem is, my fiancee has a crapload of heavy furniture and doesn't want to get rid of hardly any of it (but to be fair, it really is nice furniture, solid wood, and we wouldn't be able to replace it for anywhere near the cost of just moving it). When we were discussing what we would get rid of and what we would move, a lot more went on the move list than get rid of list
Keep revising that list. You will find as time goes on you can bring yourself to part with more and more.
When we purchased our house in FL, we walked into an (almost) empty house. One of the items left behind by the owners moving company was a very nice (and expensive) mirror that matched the sellers bedroom set. There were other items as well, but of less value.
I managed to get the phone number of the sellers and told them what we found still at the house (including the beautiful mirror). I told them we would be glad to give it all back to them. They asked me to take it off the wall and they would come and get it. NO WAY! I told them I wasn't taking the responsibility of breaking it.
They were furious with their moving company, but were grateful to get their stuff back. They made the movers come and get it along with a few other things.
I realize people make mistakes. But the contract was signed, the closing papers were signed etc. anything left in the house was now legally mine. (But I'm no thief. If they told me they didn't want it, I would have kept it).
If you hire movers, at least do a final walk through to make sure they got everything.
We moved cross country to Montana. We had a lot of family furniture, most of it heirloom quality. A lot of family antiques that are irreplaceable. What we did was to put everything into three piles:
1. Heirlooms or precious items you can't part with.
2. Useful things we use on a regular basis.
3. Everything else.
Items in category 1 got moved. Period. Items in category 2 we had to make a cost benefit analysis and go from there. Blenders, buckets, mops, general household items got sold. Special kitchen appliances, plates, silverware- that went with us (you get the picture). Items in category 3 were sold at yard sales or sold on Craigslist. Anything left went to the local charities.
Even then we had a lot of stuff (20 years of marriage, a family of 4..) It cost a lot to move it from WV to MT. However it was a HUGE stress reliever to have a top notch moving company with rock solid credentials moving our precious stuff. It all arrived on time, intact, not a scratch and unwrapped and placed in the home. They took care of it all. Huge, huge, huge stress relief.
I can say the process to sort was pretty daunting, especially for my wife. Our opinion of 'useful' was quite different. I was more inclined to throw things into category 3, she was not. That was the hardest part of it all.
We moved ourselves with a Penske truck (wouldn't use any other kind) and shipped both cars. It was far cheaper than the movers quotes. It was a fun drive because we figured how many miles we wanted to cover in a day, picked our hotel for the night, and generally had an enjoyable trip. Plan well, tho, and as they say get rid of as much as is practical. We moved from Virginia to Washington state. We also made sure the roads were interstate and followed the traffic reports. And the weather. It can be an adventure. But know this, if you pack yourselves make sure you follow the tips on the Penske site. They were terrific and they helped us a lot. Good luck to you.
We used ABF to move a 4 BR house from NY to NC. We had movers pack the truck and then unpack in NC. It was very affordable and worked out great for us.
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