cheap moving?

[dndylfe]

After 3 years of praying and hoping, my husband's finally found a job (YEAH!) so we're moving to Washington!

So your frugal question of the day is: how do you move cheaply?

We're quickly downsizing and starting to pack, but our hearts stopped a little when we saw that a moving company would cost atleast $1100.

Your help is appreciated!

[Valerie in WA]

Are you staying on the dry side or coming to the wet side?

When my mom moved a couple of years ago (from Wisconsin to here), I found a company that just did the actual transport of goods. They didn't pack boxes for you. To save the most money, you load and unload your stuff at the curb. For a little more money, they'll come in the house & haul boxes & furniture for you.

Heck if I can remember their name, but with a search engine, you should be able to find something.

HTH!

[Pepper]

Is using a moving company your only option? You could probably do it all yourself and pay way less!!!

[mrsvargas]

If the move is more than 200 miles, you can contact ABF trucking. They drop off the trailer, you load it, they haul it and take it to your destination and you unpack it. You contract out the trailer by the foot. We used 19 feet of a trailer and moved from Chicago suburbs to Atlanta (700 plus miles) and it was about 1500. (We were lucky that hubbys company paid 3500 moving expenses) You can also use that as a deduction on your taxes. Best wishes and good luck to You!

[dndylfe]

We'll be moving to the wet side/Tacoma area. And we are so EXCITED!! We'll be in an apartment for a while until we can save up for a house, but it's a real job!

If you rent a truck, it doesn't seem to cost that much, but once you factor in gas for both the truck and driving our car (since we can't all fit in the truck), it seems to be about the same as a company like ABF. My bil did a moving company similar to them and the company went bankrupt when their truck was halfway between Idaho and New York. Has anyone had good or bad experiences with certain companies?

And we plan on packing and unloading ourselves, it's the getting there we're unsure about.

[midwestgal]

Rebecca,

We have done a lot of moving in our marriage with moving companies and U-Haul trucks. We had a disaster with North American Van Lines. The driver abandoned the trailer of his rig with all our belongings and those of another family inside it somewhere in Kansas. They had to put an APB out on him! After a month, we finally received our possessions and furniture. After that, we always used U-Haul. We were a lot more careful with our things too. I'm in the process of a move now and we will probably do U-Haul again. I'm speaking in a generic term here. I've heard that Penske is a better company to go with now for moving yourselves. ABF sounds great, but we are off the beaten path here, and they can't deliver a container.

I get my boxes at the local Dollar Store. They have tons, they are sturdy, and they toss them out the back door. I pack linens and pillows in large garbage bags. This makes it easy to tuck them into spaces on the truck. Ask people to save newspapers for packing dishes. It does leave some ink but buying enough packing paper gets pricey. Just be ready to start loading the truck up when you get it so that you are not eating up time. It seems there is really no inexpensive way to move, but you can cut corners. Good luck!

[Pepper]

Allied is a great moving company!!! I too have heard numerous horror stories about North American Van Lines!!! Just a thought, could you get a tow dolly(sp) for a U Haul? We did this once and our move from CA to OK only cost us $650 but of course this was about 2 years ago and gas prices were cheaper!!! Hope you can find something that works for ya'll.

[slowtypinwoman]

We also used a u haul. Actually I think it was Ryder. It was ok but remember to put up your bed first when you get there! lol

[KKCondrey]

good luck with the move. I hope it all goes smoothly. Just remember to save your reciepts from it. The last time we had to move hubby's co. wasn't required to pay for it (they pay for your first one and the others are up to you.) It was a pain but we filed the moving expenses on our taxes. We will be moving again soon (only about 15 miles though) and even in that short of a move we've already been throwing stuff out that we haven't used since the last move....lol

[Telephus44]

DH and I moved from MA to CO as part of his relocation package (paid moving company on their dime) and then from CO to MA that we paid for ourselves.

1. Anything that you don't have to move, don't. Hold a yard sale, Freecycle, give things to co-workers, eBay, eat down your stockpile.

2. Pay extra for good tape (to seal boxes). You don't need the best tape, but don't go for the cheapest either. We ended up buying more tape.

3. Boxes can be found for free in lots of places. Liquor stores, Warehouse Clubs (BJ's or Costco), and you can always put up a sign saying that you're looking for moving boxes. (Of course, I worked for a box company while we were in CO so I just brought home a lot of "samples" -with the company's permission)

4. Use your clothes/towels/blankets to cushion delicate items. Saves space and also saves you from buying bubblewrap.

5. This has already been mentioned, but save your newspaper to wrap dishes. Also start saving bubblewrap or packing peanuts or anything you may get in the mail or UPS.

6. Renting out space in a trailer (like ABF mentioned earlier in this post) can be a lot cheaper than U-Haul, or not. It pays to compare.

7. Somethings you can send separately for less money - like sending boxes of books through the mail via media mail (this only works if someone is there to receive them - DH sent some of his computer equipment back via UPS)

One thing we did was rent a truck plus a car dolly. We towed DH's car on the dolly using the U-Haul truck. Of course, we piled the truck with a bunch of stuff that didn't fit in the U-Haul. We also didn't have to drive the vehicle back and pay for the gas.

[frugalnana]

Don't know of anything frugal company wise, I moved myself back to my hometown for $200 (UHaul) but its alot of work. I only had 198 miles to travel.
Just wanted to say congraulations to hubby for new job and good luck in your new area.

[Mojjo]

I used ABF to move to Oregon and DH and I used Ryder when we moved back here. ABF was great.

[Jenna]

I used Broadway Express to move about 2000 miles. They are a "u-pack it, we drive it company." You pay for space on the semi by the linear foot (as opposed to the weight of the items.) They did a great job.

I hired load help through e-move.com. The company originally accepted the offer, and then cancelled on me 24 hours before moving day. Apparently it was a 2-man operation, and the second guy was out of town. Boy, was I pissed. Moving is stressful enough without having to worry if the hired help is going to show up.

[Sari]

We moved from Maryland to Florida (almost 1000 miles) and we rented a Penske truck and a dolly for the old car AND rented a car for me to drive down (the old car was in bad shape) and for us it STILL worked out cheaper than a moving service.