How to save money on a long-distance move?

[annaw]

(Apologies if this has already been discussed. I couldn't find anything through searching the forum.)

Hi, I've spent time researching this stuff on the internet but thought that the Mustachians might have solid advice.

I'm a graduate student in Chicago and will be starting a postdoc position in the Bay Area in September. I'll be spending the summer with my family in Europe, but nevertheless need to move my crap from IL to CA somehow.
I don't have furniture. Mostly, I will be moving ten boxes of books, two boxes of papers, some basic kitchen items, two bicycles, and a carryon suitcase. In other words, this could fit into van or truck.

I've looked into renting a car/truck and driving myself (the rental alone is at least $1000).
I've looked into having a moving/shipping service do it (which seems to be coming out somewhat cheaper as in less than $1000!)
And I'm running out of ideas.

Thoughts (other than sell all my things)?

Thanks!
Anna

[ooeei]

(Apologies if this has already been discussed. I couldn't find anything through searching the forum.)

Hi, I've spent time researching this stuff on the internet but thought that the Mustachians might have solid advice.

I'm a graduate student in Chicago and will be starting a postdoc position in the Bay Area in September. I'll be spending the summer with my family in Europe, but nevertheless need to move my crap from IL to CA somehow.
I don't have furniture. Mostly, I will be moving ten boxes of books, two boxes of papers, some basic kitchen items, two bicycles, and a carryon suitcase. In other words, this could fit into van or truck.

I've looked into renting a car/truck and driving myself (the rental alone is at least $1000).
I've looked into having a moving/shipping service do it (which seems to be coming out somewhat cheaper as in less than $1000!)
And I'm running out of ideas.

Thoughts (other than sell all my things)?

Thanks!
Anna

Have you looked into the costs of selling your things, then re-buying them in your new location?  Books especially may cost more to ship than the difference in selling/re-buying them.  You might even find that some of them you don't really care about anymore!  Obviously it depends on the specific books you have. 

Same with the bicycles, look into selling then buying off craigslist when you get there.  Kitchen supplies and papers can probably go on an extra checked bag or two on your flight or bus or whatever you're taking there (make sure to check weights before you go to the airport).  Again, depending on the content, the papers can probably be scanned and re-printed at the new place.

[AZDude]

For a move that far, less than $1,000 is probably as good as it is getting unless you can borrow a truck or something. One thing you could, I guess, is buy a super cheap truck/van and drive it to CA, then sell it, but the transaction costs might be too high.

[Mtngrl]

I would look into the cost of shipping the books. If you only have books in the boxes, you can send them via U.S. mail at the media mail rate, which is much cheaper than first class or even parcel post.

Might price shipping the kitchen items too, unless it's a bunch of cast iron pans.

[Sibley]

First, really revisit if you need all those books and papers. That's a lot (and I have that many books). Even if you can cut it down by a box, that will help.

Do you really need both bikes?

Do you currently have a car? If yes, then pare down til it fits in your car.
If no, can you get friends or family to lend you their car to drive cross country in? Or they visit you and shove a bunch of stuff in the car with them?

Price out shipping as well. Media mail is wonderful.

What's replacement cost? There's a very coldblooded cost-benefit that gets done when you move long distance.

But honestly, that's a lot of books.

[johnny847]

Frugalwoods has some great advice.

Highlights:

• Ship your stuff via Amtrak. I haven’t done this personally, but color me intrigued. Apparently this method can take awhile to reach you, but it’s pretty darn cheap.
• Use media mail to ship books. This I have done and it’s awesome. If you’re sending only books in a box, you can take advantage of the much lower rates for media mail from your local post office.

There's some other stuff listed as well in the post, but it sounds like you don't have that much stuff to ship anyways.


There's other good tips in their post about moving in general.

[purplepear]

Posting to follow.

I'm in a similar situation, moving from TX to OR in September. However I have a decent amount of furniture... but most of it is from IKEA and might be worth selling/replacing. I've been meaning to research shipping costs too.

[zolotiyeruki]

Do you own a car?  If yes, and it's at least a compact sedan, then everything will fit just fine.  How big are your boxes of books?  When we moved a few years ago, we fit 10 boxes (12x12x16--I wouldn't suggest going any bigger when doing boxes of books) in our sedan with plenty of room to spare.  Three riding shotgun, four in the back seat, three in the trunk.  A carry-on suitcase would have fit fine.  Hang the two bikes on a rack, and you're good to go.

That leaves the two boxes of papers, though.

If you don't have a car, I'd sell the bikes.  It's a pretty liquid market.

Have you looked at the cost of Fedex Freight or UPS Freight?  You might be able to stack all your boxes on a pallet and have them ship it.  Or, if you have a friend with access to a commercial UPS account, you could get their dramatically-discounted rates and pay them back.

What books are these that are valuable enough to you to shlep all the way across the country?

[nereo]

Here's what I did when moving cross-country:
I bought a used trailer for $1,000
I drove my car (with trailer) on road trip, then sold the trailer for what I paid for it a few months after I arrived.  IN the meantime, it was a convenient place to store my stuff while we painted our new place.

Obviously this only works if your car has a hitch.  Used trailers hold their value extremely well.

ETA: We also sold and donated a lot of our stuff.  We wound up selling our ikea furniture and buying (used) a few of the items for almost the same cost.

[renata ricotta]

For a move that far, less than $1,000 is probably as good as it is getting unless you can borrow a truck or something. One thing you could, I guess, is buy a super cheap truck/van and drive it to CA, then sell it, but the transaction costs might be too high.

Wha? Disagree. I know it's shorter, but I moved 700 miles eight months ago, and the truck rental was less than $500. I also rented a 16 footer, which was way bigger than I needed, and I was also bringing a couch, large bookshelf, and queen bed.

OP, I strongly recommend 1) checking to see if you are a member of any associations that get discounts on truck rentals (pretty common, actually) and then 2) seeing if you can get the companies to beat their competitor's price.

I had potential discounts through my bank, a credit card, and my state bar association. I figured which of the three gave me the best base % off (the bar association). Then I got quotes from Budget, Penske, and ... some third company I forget the name of. Each one of them offered to match the lowest quote, and some of them threw in some other freebies to sweeten the pot, like furniture straps for no extra cost. You will get lower quotes if you move during the week, not on a weekend, and avoid holidays (I hope you're not moving on Labor Day with a September move!).

For how little stuff you have, you could probably fit your stuff in a 5x8 foot trailer (assuming you have a car that can tow one). I just did a search on uhaul's website for that size of a trailer from Chicago to San Francisco during the first week in September - the website quoted me $427.

Another idea: I bet you could fit your stuff in a minivan. I did a quick search for rental cars on Kayak, putting in a pickup point in Chicago and dropoff in San Francisco, for the first week in September (avoiding labor day). It looked like one could be had for $543. This would be a decent option if you don't also have a car you need to take with you (otherwise I'd probably go with a trailer).

Final piece of advice: you need to donate some of your books. I know it's rough; I'm a book lover as well. But the reality is that they are a huge pain in the ass to move, and someone will love your second hand book as much as you ever could.

Final Final piece of advice: remember that ordinary moving costs, including truck rental and mileage, are tax deductible. Keep your receipts!

[annaw]

Thanks for all this great advice and the generosity of your time. I'll be pricing out Amtrak and definitely keeping my receipts!

Re: media mail. I've had not very positive experiences with media mail (read: damaged books!) and thus wouldn't recommend it.

Re: the books. I know they seem like an easy target. Unfortunately, they are all academic titles that are expensive to acquire and important (they are my tools!) for my professional life. I've become very reluctant to acquire hard copies and try to go the PDF route as often as possible.

Hopefully this thread is useful to others looking to move on the cheap as well!

[Primm]

It depends on how flexible you are with dates and times, but we shopped around moving companies for a 2,000km move once. We gave them the dates and times (we had a couple of months of flexible dates, ex-hubby moved by himself with a car full of personal stuff and stayed in cheap accommodation, kids and I followed after) and ended up getting a back-transfer rate. They were moving someone from our destination to our start point and wanted a load to take back to offset costs. Ended up costing us <$1,000 for a full load of furniture, and they took the car as well!

This works best if you talk to moving companies located in the place you're moving to.

[sonjak]

Definitely mail the books.  I've done this for a couple of moves and it was incredibly cheap. 

[fishnfool]

I haven't done it, but have heard from others that shipping boxes through the US Postal service via general delivery is quite reasonable.  They will hold the shipped items for you at the PO to be picked up.

[couponvan]

You could look at a shared truck with Broadway Express out of Effingham, IL.  For 15 linear feet out it was under $1,700....could have been less if I was flexible with the date.  You wouldn't need more than 5 linear feet....And probably only 3, but I doubt they do as little as 3 linear feet.  www.broadwayexpress.net.  We used them for a full truck move too.

Southwest trips - 10 boxes of books, 2 boxes of paperwork, 2 bicycles, and a carry on. I'd scan the boxes of paperwork if I were you and reduce that to a flash drive.  Now if it's pictures, that's another story. Assuming you can stick books in the carryon, I'd be getting the Southwest credit card and making a few trips on Southwest. In September, flights are 15K points round trip or $274 RT in cash, or $137 one way.  You can get 50K points with a credit card, so that's 3 trips almost free from the credit card. 

Fly SWA from Midway to SF and invite 4 friends to join you when you move you? Offer to pay them $75 each towards their airfare in return for their two checked bags.  Take two trips yourself.  One for moving, and one "reunion trip" at the end.

SWA allows 2 checked bags free. 6X2= 12.  Including bikes. If the bikes are oversize they would be $75 each. "Bicycles (defined as nonmotorized and having a single seat), including Bike Friday and Co-Pilot, properly packed in a hard-sided bicycle box that fall within the dimensions and weight limits established for normal Checked Baggage, (i.e., 62 inches or less in overall dimensions and less than 50 pounds in weight). Pedals and handlebars must be removed and packaged in protective materials so as not to be damaged by or cause damage to other Baggage. Bicycles packaged in cardboard or soft-sided cases will be transported as subject to limited release."

[chemistk]

Do you have a friend who owns a car who would be willing to drive out with you (and your stuff)? Even if you're getting 20MPG Highway, the round trip would be under $500 in gas. You could easily get away with spending $100 on food for the trip there, take turns driving, and then give them $100-$200 for the return trip for their trouble. You're still closing in on that $1000 figure, but you'd also have all your stuff there with you and have a blast getting there (as opposed to driving 3 days all alone).

[ooeei]

Wha? Disagree. I know it's shorter, but I moved 700 miles eight months ago, and the truck rental was less than $500. I also rented a 16 footer, which was way bigger than I needed, and I was also bringing a couch, large bookshelf, and queen bed.

Chicago to LA is 2000 miles.  Assuming 12 mpg and $2.00/gal the gas alone will be over $300.  Most moving trucks charge by the mile too, if they charge $0.40/mile that's another $800. 

OP is going almost 3x as far as you did. I think ~$1,000 is a pretty good case scenario without getting quite creative, as some of the posters above have suggested.

[honeybbq]

I didn't see if you had a car?

If it's a large enough vehicle, you can attach a hitch and tow one of those U-haul trailers. We did this on our last move - it was very cheap. Much cheaper than renting a whole U-haul van.