The frugal way to move? Do as much as you can yourself or with the help of your network. I think all-in I was at ~$1500 back in 2017 to go from DC to the Midwest. The bins we used to transport the "stuff" are easily stackable and have been re-used many times. Having good moving straps, a hand truck, and a couple dollies were very worth their cost and again, get used all the time.
I did fly out a friend for a week on a one-way ticket to show him around (National Mall, Shenandoah NP, Delaware beach day, etc.) for essentially a 5 day vacation before we loaded furniture and bins into a U-Haul at our own pace over the last two days and drove it west. He drove the U-Haul, wife and I were in our car (though we did switch up arrangements to prevent any one person from being on their own too much) and then we relieved my friend so he could go home (he lived about 20 min away from our destination) after the 14 hour drive while my dad and brother (who lived 30 min away from destination) met us the next day to unload. I think I gave him $300 for the trouble (included in the $1500) in addition to covering all of his meals, excursions, and room & board during that week (excluded in the $1500).
Loading, transport, and unloading weren't the hard parts for me. The hard part is being organized on the front end like determining what goes into which bin (and LABELING that bin!), which stuff you're donating/throwing away, etc. Using muscles and driving is easy. Planning and being organized is hard.
Add in several years of inflation, hiring professionals instead of friends/relatives, add in some kids (it was just wife and I in a 1 BR apt with our one bed, 1 couch, etc.) and the amount of furnishings that more humans typically utilize in larger living spaces and yeah 9k doesn't seem too absurd if you can't or are unwilling to do it mostly yourself.
I don't judge anyone who pays pros to move and would gladly pony up if the circumstances made sense to do so. It all depends on the total utility equation - which will be different for every moving situation. If the benefits of hiring the pros > costs, hire them. If it doesn't, seek alternatives or perhaps re-calculate the costs and benefits after shopping around and thinking about what is involved. This requires you to have ballpark figures for labor and the value of your belongings not to mention the price/value you put on intangibles like convenience. One thing I haven't seen mentioned much is anxiety/stress due to people you don't know being reckless when loading/unloading fragile or easily damaged pieces and if you aren't caravanning directly alongside moving van, the reports of when your stuff will arrive over long distances can be highly variable. I personally placed a high amount of value on being able to load and unload at a reasonable pace and make sure everything was strapped and secure to my liking rather than a paid person who is just trying to get the job over ASAP and you just hope they were as careful as you. Plus, when moving there are some items you need sooner than others and not everything you "need" can fit into your personal vehicle. If you did the move yourself, you should know where to find what you need. I've witnessed several occasions of where people moving across the country couldn't access something they needed or the move took longer than expected and they had no recourse other than to wait. That was a no-go for me at the time as I had already taken a week off of work and needed to be able to establish my new office quickly. YMMV
