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I have a budget of $5,000 to move me, my wife, and (what will then be) a newborn baby across the country, from California to Maryland sometime this summer. I've been thinking of my options, and hoped some people could give me some feedback. I've moved across the country twice before, but that was when I was a young kid and simply tossed all my belongings in the car and hit the road. This will be quite different. We have only a one-bedroom currently, but have packed a lot of stuff in here. Some nice family furniture we don't want to give up, and just tons of other household crap.
Option 1: Go the old-fashioned route, rent a Uhaul/Penske/etc. truck, get my brother in law (who has already volunteered) to help me pack it, we drive across the country (towing my car), then unpack at our destination. Meanwhile, my wife and the baby stay with family and fly out later when everything's unpacked. Fly my BIL back to CA.
Costs: $2,000+ truck rental, gas (going to be very high at 2,800 miles, probably 10 miles to the gallon = $800-900 for gas), food, lodging (few hundred), plane ticket for wife and baby ($400, assuming no cost for baby), plane ticket back to CA for BIL ($400). Maybe in the range of $4,500-5,000??? Probably exceeding the budget.
Stress: High. I don't relish driving across the country with a moving van and towing a car behind. Driving just a car would be great, but not so with a truck. Also be a target for robberies at night sleeping at motels. My parents were robbed in the same manner, lost many family heirlooms and even old priceless family photos.
Option 2: Get one of the container services. Me and my BIL load it up over a day or two, then drive across the country in the car, unloading at destination. Wife stays with family, flies out later. In theory, this sounds great. In theory.
Costs: Probably comparable to Option A, maybe more expensive due to the container service, but I would be saving big bucks on gas, since our little car gets about 29 MPG, compared to a big truck that would probably get about 10.
Stress: Not bad, although I'm worried about the fact that there are more logistical considerations with the container (would they be able to deliver to my apt complex?), and more things that are out of my control. Would be fun driving across the country with my BIL.
Option 3: Moving company. This is uncharted territory.. never done it before and am intimidated by having to deal with a bunch of shady companies. Don't like the idea of reduced security over my stuff.
Costs: Probably out of my budget range.
Stress: Unknown.
Last edited by grimstuff; 03-29-2010 at 02:48 PM..
Why don't you do option 2 and fly out with your BIL instead of driving. It would save alot of time and cost compared to option 3. With option 1, you'd be miserable with the long road trip. That and everytime you pull over to stay overnight somewhere, you're van is a prime target for thieves.
We have used national moving companies for 2 cross country moves and while it is expensive, if you go with a national company, you should have less worries. Of course, there are always horror stories.
I would suggest getting quotes from moving companies before you rule them out. If you only have a 1br - it maybe cheaper bc less stuff, or it may be outrageous for the amt of stuff you have. Get recommendations from people you know - they aren't all bad I'm sure. Plus you wouldn't have to worry about flying your BIL back if they unload for you.
One thing I've heard with the container route - sometimes there is a delay in getting them to your destination (based on where they have to travel/pick up/drop off). Not quite sure how this works, but it sounds like you may not always be able to have them picked up and meet you there right away. This is speculation and heresay at best, though. Worth looking into.
Personally I wouldn't do option A only because that's quite a trek to make - plus a lot could go wrong with the rented truck (look for horror stories on this site).
Thanks for the tips, everyone. I will check out ABF... although I doubt they could get a big trailer near enough to my apartment.
EDIT: Wow, so the quote from ABF is 8 feet of space for $3,000??? There's no way I could fit everything into an 8 x 8 x 9 space. Can save money by packing at the terminal 250 miles away. But that's for the trailer... I wonder if the Cube thing is cheaper. although I'd need about three of those I think.
Last edited by grimstuff; 03-30-2010 at 10:31 AM..
So the only option for ABF pod containers would be terminal to terminal or terminal to door. The loading terminal is like 250 miles away. And yeah, for about $3,200.
Why can't the wife and baby go with you if you rent a truck? Arrange ahead to have some paid help to unload your truck when you reach your destination. Realtors are often excellent sources for finding locals who are trustworthy to help with tasks like labor help.That might be the most cost effective instead of flying people here and there.
Why can't the wife and baby go with you if you rent a truck? Arrange ahead to have some paid help to unload your truck when you reach your destination. Realtors are often excellent sources for finding locals who are trustworthy to help with tasks like labor help.That might be the most cost effective instead of flying people here and there.
Good advice, although I just thought it would be easier on the wife and baby to not go across the country, less stressful on me to have them with family during that time, too.
My family and I are right in the middle of trying to make this same sort of move (Utah to Pennsylvania, so not QUITE as far as you have to go), and we chose similar to your Option 2. We have two adults, two young children (2.5 years and 7 months), two cars, and our household stuff to move, and a budget of $6000 that we would like to not spend all of, if possible. One thing that is different for us, is that we have provided furnished temporary housing for one month, and did not have the time to select permanent housing before the move occurred. We also needed to rent out our newly-purchased home in Utah, so we needed to get our belongings out of it sooner rather than later. So, we needed to include storage costs in PA for our belongings.
I checked into all the same options. For our move (2200 miles) here's what I had:
U-Haul
U-Haul rental: $2000; car dolly: $200; gas: $800+ (by the way, I think you'd likely end up getting less than 10mpg with the truck pulling a car); gas for second car: $215; hotels and meals: $500 or more; storage" misery of week-long trip in UHaul/civic with two babies, and no way to trade off drivers: whatever the opposite of "priceless" is. Plus, the hassle of unpacking the UHaul into storage, then packing and paying for another UHaul for an in-town move in PA from storage to housing.
Moving Company:
Quotes started at $3000 and went up from there. Separate quotes for shipping our cars were around $1000 apiece. Then we would have to add four flights on top of that, plus storage costs for belongings. I would still encourage you to get quotes from movers, however.
Containers
We chose to move our furniture and household stuff in ABF Relocubes. It looked to be the least expensive option for us. We had a three bedroom condo, and managed to pack everything into two Relocubes. They were stuffed to the gills. Our condo was somewhat minimally furnished for its size, though, and we couldn't fit a few things (a cheap dresser and bookshelf, out bbq grill), but we did fit a ton of stuff in those cubes, including two bicycles. My husband disassembled most of our furniture and did a major Tetris-job in those cubes. I would think you could get by with two cubes, if you only have a one-bedroom. The two cubes for a move of 2200 miles was just over $2000. We bought a month of storage for the cubes, at a cost of just under $100 each. They are in storage now in PA.
My husband and I drove his small pickup out to PA last week while my kids stayed with my parents. My husband had to start his job on April 1. We traded off driving through the night, so we did not stay in any hotels. We left after lunch on a Wednesday, and arrived at our destination about 43 hours later on Friday morning. (Google estimated the drive time at 34 hours -- we had to take a huge 4-hour detour on I-80 in Wyoming, so we actually drove for about 38 hours.) Gas cost about $350. Meals were less than $50. The less time you spend on the journey, the less it costs you (food, lodging, etc.)
After a few days of unsuccessful apartment hunting, I flew back to Utah at a cost of $200 including taxes and fees (nonstop flight on Delta -- I did see other one-way one-stop fares as low as $105 when I was booking, but they didn't work with our schedule). Will it really cost your wife $400 for her one-way ticket?
Now, how do we get our kids and other car out there? We can ship it ($1000) and fly out ($400 - $600). My husband can fly out here ($200+ flight, +loss of $ for missed days at work, or take a paid vacation day or two) and drive back again with me ($215 gas, $150 food and lodging for what will likely be a longer and more miserable trip with two kids in tow), or a family member could also do the drive with me, but this would likely end up more expensive than the husband-driving option. We could also try to sell the car, fly out, and buy a new car in PA.
Sorry to go on so long. Best of luck with your decision and your move!
My family and I are right in the middle of trying to make this same sort of move (Utah to Pennsylvania, so not QUITE as far as you have to go), and we chose similar to your Option 2. We have two adults, two young children (2.5 years and 7 months), two cars, and our household stuff to move, and a budget of $6000 that we would like to not spend all of, if possible. One thing that is different for us, is that we have provided furnished temporary housing for one month, and did not have the time to select permanent housing before the move occurred. We also needed to rent out our newly-purchased home in Utah, so we needed to get our belongings out of it sooner rather than later. So, we needed to include storage costs in PA for our belongings.
I checked into all the same options. For our move (2200 miles) here's what I had:
U-Haul
U-Haul rental: $2000; car dolly: $200; gas: $800+ (by the way, I think you'd likely end up getting less than 10mpg with the truck pulling a car); gas for second car: $215; hotels and meals: $500 or more; storage" misery of week-long trip in UHaul/civic with two babies, and no way to trade off drivers: whatever the opposite of "priceless" is. Plus, the hassle of unpacking the UHaul into storage, then packing and paying for another UHaul for an in-town move in PA from storage to housing.
Moving Company:
Quotes started at $3000 and went up from there. Separate quotes for shipping our cars were around $1000 apiece. Then we would have to add four flights on top of that, plus storage costs for belongings. I would still encourage you to get quotes from movers, however.
Containers
We chose to move our furniture and household stuff in ABF Relocubes. It looked to be the least expensive option for us. We had a three bedroom condo, and managed to pack everything into two Relocubes. They were stuffed to the gills. Our condo was somewhat minimally furnished for its size, though, and we couldn't fit a few things (a cheap dresser and bookshelf, out bbq grill), but we did fit a ton of stuff in those cubes, including two bicycles. My husband disassembled most of our furniture and did a major Tetris-job in those cubes. I would think you could get by with two cubes, if you only have a one-bedroom. The two cubes for a move of 2200 miles was just over $2000. We bought a month of storage for the cubes, at a cost of just under $100 each. They are in storage now in PA.
My husband and I drove his small pickup out to PA last week while my kids stayed with my parents. My husband had to start his job on April 1. We traded off driving through the night, so we did not stay in any hotels. We left after lunch on a Wednesday, and arrived at our destination about 43 hours later on Friday morning. (Google estimated the drive time at 34 hours -- we had to take a huge 4-hour detour on I-80 in Wyoming, so we actually drove for about 38 hours.) Gas cost about $350. Meals were less than $50. The less time you spend on the journey, the less it costs you (food, lodging, etc.)
After a few days of unsuccessful apartment hunting, I flew back to Utah at a cost of $200 including taxes and fees (nonstop flight on Delta -- I did see other one-way one-stop fares as low as $105 when I was booking, but they didn't work with our schedule). Will it really cost your wife $400 for her one-way ticket?
Now, how do we get our kids and other car out there? We can ship it ($1000) and fly out ($400 - $600). My husband can fly out here ($200+ flight, +loss of $ for missed days at work, or take a paid vacation day or two) and drive back again with me ($215 gas, $150 food and lodging for what will likely be a longer and more miserable trip with two kids in tow), or a family member could also do the drive with me, but this would likely end up more expensive than the husband-driving option. We could also try to sell the car, fly out, and buy a new car in PA.
Sorry to go on so long. Best of luck with your decision and your move!
Hey Venusv, thanks for the info. it helps to compare. Your price on the ReloCubes doesn't sound too bad... I just got off the phone with Penske and had a nice chat. He quoted me at just under $1,400 all inclusive for a 22 ft diesel, including a tow dolly for the car and taxes. It was higher but I talked him down, could probably have gone lower. Diesel fuel would be about $1,000-$1,100, for about $2,500 total for transportation (truck + dolly for car + fuel). Hotel, food, etc, total about $3,000 for getting everything across the country.
PODS are too expensive... I was quoted $3,400 of 2 Relocubes by ABF. That would be on top of gas to drive the car across the country.
So as it looks now driving is the cheapest option. As far as stress goes...
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