Moving long distance on the cheap

[linguistmama]

Suggestions welcome! DH will be looking for out of state jobs since he hasn't found one locally yet. We'll be praying for a moving package, but certainly not counting on it. :lol: I'm thinking that driving will be cheapest. A lot of our furniture we would try to sell or give away before moving since it wouldn't be worth it to move it. Other things like our beds, deep freezer and homeschool books we would want to move with us. I'm not sure it would all fit in the smaller Uhaul trailers that our van could tow.

[The Girls' Mom]

When we moved to TX 2 years ago, we rented the biggest Uhaul they had...and a trailer to pull behind our truck. We managed to squeeze everything in. We had all our furniture, many bookcases, and a wood shop to move. So a smaller truck would probably work for you. It is MUCH cheaper than a moving company (which we have to use for our upcoming move due to dh's health) We had a pretty good experience renting the truck.

[Momof3littles]

Have you considered a hybrid like ABF?

 

When we moved our family for DH to attend graduate school, we used ABF U Pack (I think that's what it was called).

 

You order a trailer, they drop off the trailer for you. You have several days to load it (2 or 3 I think). They pick up and drive to your destination, where you unload it. It worked out pretty well for us. There is a minimum distance IIRC. It made it easier to get our cars to our destination since we didn't have to drive the truck.

 

When we relocated again more recently, we moved to a rental, and that was a paid move (they packed us and moved us). Then we had to move from the rental to the home we purchased. We did a mix. We hired 2 guys that a coworker had used and recommended, and they were very good. We packed most stuff on our own. We used the professionals to move the big stuff like large furniture. Once we got all of that moved, we went back and had them grab some of the smaller stuff with our remaining time (we contracted for a certain # of hours). Then DH and I rented a truck and moved a lot of the boxes and smaller things on our own.

[Myeightkiddies]

Go through everything and get rid of what you don't need. It's a good excuse to purge stuff that you've kept and not used.

 

Moving companies are expensive. My dh got a really nice relocation package, and it still doesn't cover the expense of a professional mover. They quoted us a price of 15-20k (2 popular companies). When the new job received that quote they decided to just set-up an account to reimburse us for moving/relocation expenses.

 

We've gone through and reduced what we have to move. I wanted to do that anyway. DH is going to drive down here to visit periodically (he is already there working, and the children and I are here getting the house ready to sell), and when he goes back up there, he will take a Uhaul of items and put them in storage. On the big moving day, we'll probably use ABF movers. They drop off a trailer. We fill it. Then they return and drive it to the destination where we will remove the items. It is greatly less expensive than a full-blown mover.

 

Also, ABF had decent reviews, and those over-priced popular movers had horrible reviews. In the end, I feel better with this choice.

[staceyobu]

Do you have one car or two? We had to make a low budget move several years ago. We rented the largest uhaul they had. DH drove it and I followed in our car. We were down to one car at the time, so that made it easier. We packed ourselves but paid a couple guys to load the uhaul. They did it way more efficiently than we could have done it. And, the house we were leaving was two story with a lot of furniture upstairs. The loading help was pretty inexpensive.

[MeaganS]

We moved 1.5 years ago and will be moving again soon. We just rented the largest Uhaul or Budget truck and a car trailer. We moved over a thousand miles away and it worked for us. It certainly isn't my favorite thing, but it wasn't the biggest deal either. We got all our boxes from stores like Barnes and Noble or Joanne's. I just asked the manager and they let me take them. We also used trash bags for everything squishy, like clothes. My husband and I did the bulk of the loading, but we did have some people from church come help for a few hours. I provided donuts and OJ for them.

[Momof3littles]

CHeck Craigslist, etc. for boxes too. Wardrobe boxes were handy IMO (and you can toss lighter/smaller things in the bottom-extra pillows, a few pairs of shoes, towels, etc.

[PIE!]

when you know where you're moving - shop around. different locations can make all the difference. Sometimes Uhaul is the cheapest, sometimes it's budget. For one of our moves ABF U pack was cheaper than any of the uhaul type rentals, and so much nicer to have someone else drive the stuff. A friend of ours found that for one of their moves a full service company gave them the best deal - better than uhaul or abf.

 

Make sure you get quotes that include tax and insurance.

[Parrothead]

Really go through everything. Don't take the $1 kitchen utensils that you can pick up at the new location for the same price. If it will cost you $100 to move the beds and the sofa, but $500 to replace them, move the things.

[linguistmama]

Thanks, everyone! We only have 1 vehicle so that will help. DH could drive a truck if needed while I drive the van. We will be going through everything pretty ruthlessly to see what won't be worth it to move. :) I will look into the upack too.

[Samiam]

We've always moved ourselves, across town and across 5 states.

 

Rent a big truck (we go with Budget...nice clean trucks). You can get prices on their site.

 

Get free boxes from anywhere you can think of. Start packing sooner rather than later....all the stuff that you never use. Store all the boxes in one room. By the week of moving day, try to get as much as you can in that one area, to minimize the back and forth you have to do to the truck on moving day.

 

Moving day, we load the truck ourselves....DH, me, and now DS13 is a big help. DS8 and DS5 carry what they can (but mostly they are just in the way, lol). It takes about 6-8 hours of hard work.

 

DH drives the truck, I drive the minivan with children and pets.

 

Arrival, again we unload. This takes less time it seems, guess cuz it's more exciting.

 

It stinks, you'll be exhausted, but it's the only way to do it in a budget. The truck itself is not that pricey...but the gas, for that giant tank, that is what kills ya.

 

P.S. if you have to have help for loading/unloading, look on Craigslist. Lots of little companies and independents offering their services.

[learningmama]

We've always moved ourselves, across town and across 5 states.

 

Rent a big truck (we go with Budget...nice clean trucks). You can get prices on their site.

 

Get free boxes from anywhere you can think of. Start packing sooner rather than later....all the stuff that you never use. Store all the boxes in one room. By the week of moving day, try to get as much as you can in that one area, to minimize the back and forth you have to do to the truck on moving day.

 

Moving day, we load the truck ourselves....DH, me, and now DS13 is a big help. DS8 and DS5 carry what they can (but mostly they are just in the way, lol). It takes about 6-8 hours of hard work.

 

DH drives the truck, I drive the minivan with children and pets.

 

Arrival, again we unload. This takes less time it seems, guess cuz it's more exciting.

 

It stinks, you'll be exhausted, but it's the only way to do it in a budget. The truck itself is not that pricey...but the gas, for that giant tank, that is what kills ya.

 

P.S. if you have to have help for loading/unloading, look on Craigslist. Lots of little companies and independents offering their services.

 

This is what we did when we moved from the North to the South. We actually wanted to rent a slightly smaller truck, but all the place had available was the GIANT one (but they gave it to us for a lower price). True, gas will add up fast. We also had hotel costs because we took 2.5 days to drive to our destination. DH drove the truck and the kids and I took our car. He had to go a little slower on the interstate because the truck started to vibrate/rattle when it hit 60-70 miles. It was a newer truck too with less than 30,000 miles. We had some mountainous terrain to cross too. :tongue_smilie: The whole trip went VERY well though, Praise God!!!!!

[NotSoObvious]

ABF!!! It all depends on how far you will be moving, but when we moved from Utah to VA, the ABF was at least $1,000 cheaper than the biggest Uhaul plus gas, it held more stuff, and it cut down on our driving time. It also let us enjoy our drive/trip.

Upack was quite a bit more than ABF.

 

I've heard Budget is the cheapest, and you can sometimes find good coupons.

 

Definitely down size, too! I thought I had gotten rid of a lot of stuff, but I wish I had gotten rid of more linens, kitchen supplies, and books. They took up a lot of room and are easily replaceable.

[itsheresomewhere]

We bought a nice enclosed trailer. It was the cheapest way to move. We figured out to that if we wanted to sell it afterwords, we would get our money back.

[higginszoo]

We did ABF, too, and they were a whole lot cheaper than renting/driving a truck ourselves from Seattle to Denver. I hired some youth group kids on the Seattle end to help load (they worked for a contribution to their mission trip and pizza), and on the Denver side, we had family.

[linguistmama]

ABF!!! It all depends on how far you will be moving, but when we moved from Utah to VA, the ABF was at least $1,000 cheaper than the biggest Uhaul plus gas, it held more stuff, and it cut down on our driving time. It also let us enjoy our drive/trip.

Upack was quite a bit more than ABF.

 

I've heard Budget is the cheapest, and you can sometimes find good coupons.

 

Definitely down size, too! I thought I had gotten rid of a lot of stuff, but I wish I had gotten rid of more linens, kitchen supplies, and books. They took up a lot of room and are easily replaceable.

 

Did you have to call them? When I google I'm seeing Upack by ABF, not separate companies.

 

I will look into buying a trailer too. It would be nice if we could resell it to recoup some of the cost.

[linguistmama]

We did ABF, too, and they were a whole lot cheaper than renting/driving a truck ourselves from Seattle to Denver. I hired some youth group kids on the Seattle end to help load (they worked for a contribution to their mission trip and pizza), and on the Denver side, we had family.

 

Yeah, it would be really nice to just load the ABF truck and have dh be able to do a lot of van driving since dd3 will be little. My past two post partum periods have been fine, but who knows for this next one. Our church will be able to help dh with loading and probably unloading at our whatever the destination ends up being.

 

Thank you Hive!

Edited December 15, 2011 by linguistmama

[Momling]

When we moved across the country from west to east coast, we sold everything... shipped books media mail... and packed the kids in one car and everything else we owned in our van (with stuff on top).

 

When we moved back across the country, we had more money and more stuff. We had a good experience with PODS. We packed ourselves (get boxes from craigslist or freecycle) and hired some guys to move the heavy stuff. I got a quote from ABF and PODS and then called PODS and told them the ABF quote and they said they could beat it. In fact, they were five hundred cheaper... so don't be afraid to negotiate. When we arrived, we had some high school kids come move us into the new house.