Need some advice on how to do a low-budget move. (friendly, dumped)
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I'd get some estimates from movers to get an idea of what the starting cost would be to move all your stuff.
lol... talk about someone not getting the "haves and have nots" aspect....
Have nots could never, ever, afford to pay someone else to do something they can do, learn to do, or bandage enough to make do. Moving? Anyone can do that.
OP, the biggest expense is moving stuff. The less stuff, the easier and cheaper the move. If you're a Have Not, nothing you own has any value.. if it Does, sell it now. It'll be cheaper, easier and Faster to dump the big stuff and re-buy on the destination.
Declutter... do you really need that thing that's been in a box since before you were married? All that crap on the shelves? Generally speaking, the essentials are clothes, toiletries and legal paperwork. Photos are kinda bottom rung now (easy to scan if they aren't digital already), not that most people look through photo albums with any frequency anyway. Everything else can be replaced. So pair down, rent a trailer if it won't fit in your car, and drive away. Use the trailer on the far end to get the most essential junk (bed, kitchen stuff, chair, tv) before returning it.
Heck, I've moved across the country on a MOTORCYCLE before, and one box I stuck on a Greyhound to be picked up when it got there.
I made a couple of DIY moves when I was working contract - I put the stuff I decided to bring with me into the biggest U-Haul truck they offer, I put my old Audi 4000 on a rented car dolly behind it, and did the pack/unpack myself on both ends. One move from Cedar Rapids, IA area to Vicksburg, MS area, then from Vicksburg to the Raleigh, NC area.
This was in about 1990, I want to say each move cost me about $1000 to $2000. It was a long time ago, I don't keep records on stuff like this.
Being on a fixed income you at least know what you have vs being a working person and maybe not having that information.
Any ideas are welcome. Thanks!
Why do you think that a working person doesn't know what they have? Unless you were self-employed or had your own business as primary income in a rocky market, why wouldn't you know what you have? Am I the only one who had a predictable salary for a given amount of time? The "fixed income" refrain gets old. Someone working still has to make decisions about what they can afford to do and what they can't at some point. You figure what your monthly or annual income is, what your non-negotiable expenses are, what reserves or savings you have, what you are able or willing to pay someone to do and what you are not. Then you budget a move. "Haves" are just as able to be thrifty and economically efficient as "have nots", though I suspect most people consider themselves smack in the middle of the two terms.
Maybe a more important question to ask is why you feel you MUST move. Would it even be a good idea at all? The answer may trump everything else.
If you're moving a good distance or across country, get rid of all your furniture. As someone else mentioned, that can be replaced easily and you don't have to do it all at once. Keep only things you need, some clothes, smaller things that will probably be expensive to replace and personal things that have value to you. If you know someone you can trust, box those up and ship those via USPS, Fed Ex, UPS or who ever and have them mail them to you once you are in your new location. You can ask that they mail them 2-3 boxes at a time so you don't have everything coming at one time.
Don't ship things that can be easily replaced inexpensively by going to Walmart.
Of course some of this depends on how far you are moving and whether or not you are comfortable driving a UHaul. UHauls are not all that cheap either if you are on a tight budget and not everyone is comfortable driving a truck several hundred or thousand miles.
lol... talk about someone not getting the "haves and have nots" aspect....
Have nots could never, ever, afford to pay someone else to do something they can do, learn to do, or bandage enough to make do. Moving? Anyone can do that.
OP, the biggest expense is moving stuff. The less stuff, the easier and cheaper the move. If you're a Have Not, nothing you own has any value.. if it Does, sell it now. It'll be cheaper, easier and Faster to dump the big stuff and re-buy on the destination.
Declutter... do you really need that thing that's been in a box since before you were married? All that crap on the shelves? Generally speaking, the essentials are clothes, toiletries and legal paperwork. Photos are kinda bottom rung now (easy to scan if they aren't digital already), not that most people look through photo albums with any frequency anyway. Everything else can be replaced. So pair down, rent a trailer if it won't fit in your car, and drive away. Use the trailer on the far end to get the most essential junk (bed, kitchen stuff, chair, tv) before returning it.
Heck, I've moved across the country on a MOTORCYCLE before, and one box I stuck on a Greyhound to be picked up when it got there.
I didn't say USE a moving company; I said get estimates so that you have a working cost figure to start with.
How would the OP know how much to get rid of if they didn't have a starting point to work with ?
When I last moved I got 2 estimates..one for furniture and boxes and then another for just furniture.
Big difference in price so I opted for just furniture. And I had them exclude the heavy furniture which went to the Salvation Army.
My move was 2 hours away and I hauled all the boxes myself over 2 weekends.
lol... talk about someone not getting the "haves and have nots" aspect....
Have nots could never, ever, afford to pay someone else to do something they can do, learn to do, or bandage enough to make do. Moving? Anyone can do that.
OP, the biggest expense is moving stuff. The less stuff, the easier and cheaper the move. If you're a Have Not, nothing you own has any value.. if it Does, sell it now. It'll be cheaper, easier and Faster to dump the big stuff and re-buy on the destination.
Declutter... do you really need that thing that's been in a box since before you were married? All that crap on the shelves? Generally speaking, the essentials are clothes, toiletries and legal paperwork. Photos are kinda bottom rung now (easy to scan if they aren't digital already), not that most people look through photo albums with any frequency anyway. Everything else can be replaced. So pair down, rent a trailer if it won't fit in your car, and drive away. Use the trailer on the far end to get the most essential junk (bed, kitchen stuff, chair, tv) before returning it.
Heck, I've moved across the country on a MOTORCYCLE before, and one box I stuck on a Greyhound to be picked up when it got there.
I agree with this. Moving long distance is expensive, period. And unless your stuff is high quality, it is mostly not worth moving. Pack up the essentials, sell everything you can, then donate and give away and dump the rest.
Quote:
finding what they want in a nice area without breaking the bank, so to speak.
Not really sure what this means. Finding a cheap place to live in an expensive area? Not very good odds on that. Part of the calculation needs to be moving to the least expensive area that meets your needs and suits your tastes. So if you are older or already have an ongoing medical condition, minimal needs would include reasonable access to good medical care. But maybe that's a bit more rural area still with decent access to a university hospital system where you still get very good care, rather than a major metropolitan area with a half dozen hospitals.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Need more info...
How much STUFF you have or want to take?... (actual logistics budget... cars, goods, travel)
If you have a site / choice of sites selected? (Search effort can cost some bucks, but can also be CHEAP)
What is the budget for starting out a new place? / need for 'deposits' (utility and apartment)
Time frame - options... (family / jobs / seasonality...)
Downsize - sell as much as possible BEFORE you move (get rid of any animals...) (You can have a fun adventure finding replacement stuff at Thrift Stores) Search - ~$0 to $300
Have your locations defined via spreadsheet (including COL and weighted Must / Wants)
Cheapest to do 'pet / plant / house sitting'. I see hundreds of ads for available house / pet sitting gigs. Since most of them are posted months in advance... you can get a $80 airfare, or a $50 bus ticket.
Logistics - $50 - $5000
Home depot truck ($20)
U-ship.com ($500)
Rental truck / PODS ($1500)
Moving Company ($5000)
Re-establishment fees ($50 - $2000)
utilities ~$200
Apartment ~ $1000
Registrations ~ ($100 - $1000) Some states are REALLY expensive for car registrations / taxes
Time frame -
Do this 'off season'... i.e. rental trucks might need to be relocated, rents may be cheaper (in seasonal places)
I could / have done this DIRT cheap...(my SIL's have done this for last 30 yrs... one to Hawaii!)
Hitch-hike / rideshare to new destination / hop freight
sell EVERYthing... take a suitcase...
House-sit or Live in a home of seniors (shared space / extra living qtrs) no deposit
Pretend / remember when you are going away for college or your first move out of the house...
The U-Haul trucks are quite forgiving and reasonable. We moved from UT to the Gulf Coast and it was around $1,900, including a truck dolly for our Nissan P/U. At the end, we hired 2 laborers through U-Haul for $100 for 2 hours (for both). They did all the heavy stuff, and even all the boxes in that amount of time. It is well worth it. I would not feel at all comfortable asking anyone to help with this at our age.
Get the extra insurance though. My husband dinged the fender at a gas station. But he said they are easy to drive and made for novices. Wait for good weather though!
Boxes aren't bad. A dollar I think, and you can return the ones you don't use to U-Haul. They even have an adjustable flat-screen TV box which was a life-saver.
Many of us- whatever our current finances- did several moves when young, usually putting as much stuff in the car as would fit.
Great questions. I am 75 and after reading some posts, I realize I need to sell all and start over in the new place. My stuff is good but older and truthfully I don't really want to pay what it would cost to move it. I moved to TX from NY in 1993 and price was $1500. Coming back a year later even tho I had given away some things it cost $2000. So I have a really good idea that taking my stuff with me is not a good idea.
I do lift but pay a price later. Carrying a distance would not be good.
I've been looking online at apartments near Spartanburg, SC and see some that are appealing and within my price range. But am realizing my two cats wouldn't be able to come with me which is not a happy thought. Most apartments in SC ask $300 deposit for each cat and monthly rent ($20). No, I don't want that extra cost. But I might get lucky and find an apartment that doesn't charge that much.
This may seem foolish to some but having to leave my cats might keep me here where I am now.
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) (You can have a fun adventure finding replacement stuff at Thrift Stores)
