The Mustachian way to move across the country..?

[cbr shadow]

My wife and I are likely moving from Chicago to San Francisco, but we don't have a ton of things to move..  We have ourselves, our bed, small dresser, two rottweilers and their cages, and a few boxes with personal items/clothing etc.

I've looked into renting a Uhaul truck but they're like $1900 to do a 1-way trip across the country (plus gas, etc of course).  I think we could even get by with a cargo van for this amount of stuff.  Any suggestions on how was can go mustachian and save some money on this move?

Before this move we're returning to Chicago from Australia where we've been for a couple of years, so we don't have any vehicles of our own to move.  I'm leaning towards buying craigslist vehicles once we get to the Bay Area.

Thanks,
Ryan

[dailycycle]

You could buy a van on Craigslist, drive across the country with it, then sell it at your destination for about the same amount.

[hyla]

How attached to the furniture are you?  Unless it either has emotional value (handmade, passed down from family etc.) or it's really high quality it might make a lot more sense to sell it on craigslist, move in a smaller vehicle with just you, the dogs, and a few boxes, then buy used furniture when you get to San Francisco.  You can definitely buy a decent quality bed and dresser for less than $1900.

[Mesmoiselle]

How attached to the furniture are you?  Unless it either has emotional value (handmade, passed down from family etc.) or it's really high quality it might make a lot more sense to sell it on craigslist, move in a smaller vehicle with just you, the dogs, and a few boxes, then buy used furniture when you get to San Francisco.  You can definitely buy a decent quality bed and dresser for less than $1900.

What I did. My stuff sold for the same cost as the truck would have got from me so I considered it doubling my money. And it was really nice to minimalize like that.

[Pancake]

Depending on your car you could possibly add a hitch and rent a trailer. It's wayyyy cheaper and if you don't have much stuff it would probably fit everything.

[DaveR]

You might check into PODS or similar mobile storage. I'm not sure the price point, but it will be cheaper than renting a truck. At one point, I moved with a small amount of stuff (a little less than you)...I got a wood pallet, boxed things up, plastic wrapped it, and had a freight company move it. Less than $200 to move it half way across the country, as I recall.

[MicroRN]

Since you don't currently own a vehicle, just buy one locally that will do what you want, whether it's a cargo van, minivan, pickup, SUV.  Plan to sell it on the other end.  If it can tow, renting a small U-haul trailer is not expensive (less than $200 for a 4x8 enclosed trailer coast to coast).

[kimmarg]

Have you considered moving by train? Amtrak goes daily from Chicago to San Fransisco. 2 50lb bags free per person and extra bags are $20. They also take large and odd sized stuff fairly easily. I had a friend move cross country that way. Sold the furniture and put all the boxes on the train, he had like 8 boxes but it was all fine and very cheap!

[Goldielocks]

I moved across several states using ABF. We moved a whole home and saved a lot. I am not sure how small they go, but it is like freight movers that cater to home moves for the person willing to self load.

I checked and your cost would be approx $1400 for a 1 bedroom, on a shared loaded truck. Not bad as you could get away with low insurance, no feul added costs, and just fly yourselves.

Check other freight companies on the shared load, I moved a dresser once like that for $200-you just need to be flexible on you ship dates.

Then again $1500 will buy a new bed and dresser after a move...

[muckety_muck]

ABF Upack. Should be less than $5k for cross-country move in a 27' trailer. Less if you don't need that big of a trailer. They drop it off in yoru driveway. You pack it in 3 days, they drive it and deliver it. You unpack in 3 days. They pick it up. Awesome!

[MicroRN]

Have you considered moving by train? Amtrak goes daily from Chicago to San Fransisco. 2 50lb bags free per person and extra bags are $20. They also take large and odd sized stuff fairly easily. I had a friend move cross country that way. Sold the furniture and put all the boxes on the train, he had like 8 boxes but it was all fine and very cheap!

Amtrak will not take pets, unfortunately, either in the cars or in the baggage area.  We looked at that a few years back.

[cbr shadow]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Looks like I'll be considering two options:

A) Used Ford Transit Connect from Craigslist -  It'd be a tight fit with the things I'm planning on bringing, but I think it could work.
I'd buy a $10k Transit Connect van, use it to drive myself and the dogs and house items (really cram everything in there) and drive to SF before relisting it on craigslist for sale.
Downside: Would need to sell the van once in Cali.  Would lose money in the transaction (taxes, registration, plates?  What's the most efficient way to do this?)

B) Used a civic/corolla/matrix/vibe/Fit in Chicago and bring a few totes of silverware, clothing items, pictures, etc.  In that case the dogs and I would drive together and we wouldn't need to sell the car when we got to SF.
Downside: Can't bring as much stuff.  Would need to purchase: Dog cages, small desk, vacuum, other household items that wouldn't fit

I'm leaning towards option B, and selling/donating anything that wont fit.

This might also kill two birds with one stone since I'll already have a "forever car" once I get to SF.

Thanks for the help so far - Mustachians are the best!