JessReplanted Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 We are going to be moving from PA to TX. We are excited and also terrified!! We've never moved like this (as a family) and right now both my husband and I are feeling very overwhelmed. He was researching the costs of moving companies last night, and they are way beyond our budget, so we are going to have to just do it ourselves. If your family has ever done a major move, I'd love to hear any suggestions you could offer from your experience. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 When we relocated in order for DH to attend graduate school several states away, we had to move on a budget. We used ABF U-pack. They drop off a trailer, and you have a few days to load it. You pack the truck. They pick up the truck and deliver the trailer at your destination, and then you have a few days to unpack. It made it easier for us to shuffle our personal vehicles to our destination, and it was significantly less expensive than a full moving crew. We moved again 2 years ago when he started a new job, and it was a 10 hour drive. That one was a corporate move though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 We've done this many times on our own. We did ABF once 14 years ago and it worked well. We also rented a truck (we always call around to at least three or four companies because the rates can vary widely) and drove everything ourselves several times. We've never had more than one car to move, so I either drove the car and my husband drove the truck, or we pulled it behind the truck when our family was very small. We're getting ready for a move now and our stuff stored in the US is in a pod thing (I can't remember the real name) where they drop off a container or two or three at your house and you pack it, then they pick it up and deliver it to your new location. It's obviously more expensive than renting a truck, but I thought the container was easier to load than the ABF truck. We'll drive across the country and meet our stuff at our new location. If we can afford that system in the future, I'll do it again. We've pared down considerably and we own nothing that I cannot move myself with the help of my children, but for moves when we had more furniture, we found it worthwhile to hire a company to just come unload the truck. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two, so it wasn't unreasonably expensive, even in an urban area. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Purge, purge, purge! honestly, I'll write some decent info once the coffee kicks in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 We've done it 4 times. 2 were corporate moves. One we moved ourselves, and the last time we hired someone (it was expensive, but we had no choice since my dh was unable at the time to move anything) When we moved ourselves, we rented the biggest U-haul we could find AND a pull behind U-haul trailer. Our church helped us load up. Dh's brother helped us drive down, and we flew him back home after he helped us unload. Dh swore he'd never do it again :lol:. But they drove from TN to TX in a straight shot (16 hours) and there was hairy construction going on in AK. Get rid of as much stuff as you can stand before you move. There are things now that I think I'm nuts for moving across the country! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 We have done it two ways, rental truck and pods. Pods was significantly easier and with gas prices as high as they are might not be much cheaper than a couple of pods. It was nice to just pack it and then get to the new location and call to have it delivered. With the pods you can have them in your driveway as long as you need so you can take time unpacking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 When we relocated in order for DH to attend graduate school several states away, we had to move on a budget. We used ABF U-pack. They drop off a trailer, and you have a few days to load it. You pack the truck. They pick up the truck and deliver the trailer at your destination, and then you have a few days to unpack. It made it easier for us to shuffle our personal vehicles to our destination, and it was significantly less expensive than a full moving crew. This is what we did - exactly, including the graduate school. ;) We loved ABF U-pack. It was hard loading the truck but still easier than having to do the driving as well. The company was super-easy to work with. We've worked with them twice - once for our move and the 2nd time when we had some furniture we'd left behind shipped to us. Next move we're doing that as well. Other things we did: Inventoried all our books via Readerware, and put them in numbered boxes. Made it way easier to find our books when we arrived in our new home. Numbered all of our moving boxes and listed them and their contents on a spreadsheet rather than just writing the location and general contents on the box. While moving in, we had one of the kids sit by the truck with the spreadsheet to tell us what room each box went to. Since we were moving into a much smaller house and had to leave some things boxed in the basement, it makes it easy for me to find something I don't use often. ("Where are the fall decorations? ... "Box 22!") Kept a box of our most important school books with us so the kids could work on something right away. If you use U-pack, don't underestimate the amount of padding you will need to place around furniture. Their website gives great information, but we didn't pay enough attention to that part. Our refrigerator has huge areas of paint rubbed off because we didn't put enough padding between it and the items next to it. So I've been saving worn out towels to use for our next move. Thrift store blankets also work well. Purge as much as you can. Best wishes to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 We moved from a house we lived in for 18 yrs and the key was purging. Amazing the things you keep just because you have kept them so long even though you never used them. Purge , purge, purge. Something else we did was use clothes, sheets, towels and material (I'm a sewer so we had plenty of this) as padding for breakables. This way you kill two birds with one stone, your clothing/bedding (what you wont need right away) gets packed and your breakables get padded. Stuffed animals, yarn balls, and legos in zip lock bags fit perfectly into those awkwardly shaped spaces of a packed box nothing fits in so nothing moves around. We also packed 2 boxes with things we would need right away..for each person:.bedding, towel, cup/plate/fork, shower curtains, soap, and other things we would need for the first few days. We marked these boxes "unpack first" and made sure they were put in an easy to get to location when they came off the truck. This way we were not looking through boxes trying to get things we needed right away. Each box was color coded depending on where it was to be put and the importance of the contents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 One more thing- if you have any flexibility in your moving dates, make sure to get quotes for different weeks/months. There can be huge differences in rates depending on the time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Another vote for ABF! They were awesome! We moved from CA to TN. We had our cars shipped and flew out here, but I don't think driving would have been so bad if we had the time to stop and see some things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 I agree that doing one of the u-pack companies would be easiest. My only other advice is get rid of TONS of stuff before you go! Don't put time and money into packing and moving stuff you don't REALLY need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 ... but I don't think driving would have been so bad if we had the time to stop and see some things. We drove from Oregon to Pennsylvania. It was long! OP, if you are driving, try to build in some time to stop and enjoy the trip. Our move was pretty traumatic for our kids (8 and 10 at the time) and it would have helped if we'd been able to slow down a bit and see something along the way. We did spend every night in a motel with a pool so they could swim and get some energy out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 One more thing- if you have any flexibility in your moving dates, make sure to get quotes for different weeks/months. There can be huge differences in rates depending on the time of year. :iagree: I didn't realize how much you can negotiate with movers. If you are off season or they have some time open they'll drop prices and throw in some packing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 We moved cross country twice. The first was corporate but the second we had to pay ourselves. I called around and found a place with an opening in 2 weeks. They needed it filled, I needed to move and they gave me such a good deal that the truck driver asked who I was to get a better discount that the Ford people they move? :lol: So call those places back and ask if they have someone available different dates, or to put you on a cancellation list and what the discount would be to go short moment with them. Our last big move last summer was only a 4 hour drive doing it ourselves. It took more than one truck and thus, more than one weekend. Our only long move was TX to NC and that led to us dumping a lot of furniture and a car to get back east. If you can't afford a moving company or the boxes or the truck, then sell stuff until you can afford a small truck for your essential must haves. We have to move this summer and if it weren't local I would be selling all our living room furniture cheap and donating tons of stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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