most economical way to move cross country

[suekrag]

Hi- My husband, baby and I are relocating from NYC to Los Angeles and, as we start preparing, I'm finding crazy estimates for the cost of moving. I'm seeing estimates as high as 10k!

Anyone out there done this kind of move on the cheap? What's the cheapest way to do it if we don't care about getting our stuff quickly?
If you have any ideas, suggestions or experiences you want to share, I would love to hear them.
Thanks!

[MDM]

How much stuff do you want to move?  Including car(s) or not?  In other words, can you move everything with a vehicle you have already, or are you looking to rent a trailer or truck to drive, or do you need to have someone else drive a huge truck for you?

With a baby, I'm assuming you want to move together so one can be driving while the other keeps the baby from shrieking (too much)....

[Gin1984]

We hitched the car to the budget truck and camped at KoAs across the country.  But that won't work with a kid (no place for the extra person), so what we were planning next time is one parent and kids in the car and the other driving the truck.  But we plan to cull a lot so we don't have to move much. 

[Rural]

For a move of that magnitude with what I assume is a fairly new household, I'd suggest you seriously consider selling everything except what you can carry in suitcases and a diaper bag if you're flying, or in your vehicle if you own one, and buying secondhand with the sale proceeds on the other end.

[suekrag]

Thanks everyone. We don't have a car.  I think Rural is right.  It's probably not worth the cost to move everything. We'd probably be better off selling most of it and rebuying what we need there.

[Rural]

For a few boxes of treasured items, look into Greyhound freight. They used to be very inexpensive, but I haven't checked for years. Has to be box-sized; they don't ship furniture. You'll need someone on the other end to pick up, but at Greyhound speeds, if you time it right, that someone could be you.

[Thegoblinchief]

ABF does "pack the trailer" semi trailers. They drop it off, give you a set number of days to load it. Repeat at the other end.

My brother used them twice for rather long moves. They were cheaper than even a one-way Uhaul, if I recall, though this was more than 10 years ago now.