Budget-minded moving? PODS? Movers? U-Haul?

[lucigo]

We will be moving about 8 hours away later this year and I've started to think about the cost of the move. Has anyone researched this lately? Whats the most economical way to go, and is it worth it to enlist the help of PODS or a moving company?

 

[lorac4disney]

It depends on how much stuff you have to move. I've done Ryders on most of my moves using their largest truck (3 bedroom house), but sometimes hired a small crew to help me load and/or unload the big stuff if I couldn't bribe some friends into helping me with pizza and beer. As to the price of the truck, I couldn't tell you. The company I worked for paid for that part.

 

[lucigo]

It depends on how much stuff you have to move. I've done Ryders on most of my moves using their largest truck (3 bedroom house), but sometimes hired a small crew to help me load and/or unload the big stuff if I couldn't bribe some friends into helping me with pizza and beer. As to the price of the truck, I couldn't tell you. The company I worked for paid for that part.

Thanks we have a 4 bedroom, 1800 sq ft house, so probably the largest truck would do it. I got a quote from PODS, $2500. Going to start researching other options. PODS said we would need 2 of their biggest containers.

 

[funnygarcia]

I found this site and its message boards to be extremely helpful when we moved across the country (MN to CA and back again)

http://www.movingscam.com/

We used ABF U-Pack, renting part of a trailer first round and switched to the Relo-Cube on the way back to MN.
The Relo-cube was worth the extra cost to have it brought to our door, pack it ourselves and they picked it up after we left. Securing our belonging with a padlock and no worries about extra dust or leaking from the trailers.
Cubes were MUCH easier to tightly pack with belongings than the trailer.

For packing materials, check Craigslist. People give away their moving boxes or sell for low fees. We used our bedding, towels, other linens to pad out breakables. No need to pay for fancy packing materials unless it's some treasured heirloom/ antique.

Bought a dolly/ hand truck from a hardware store (Harbor Freight Tools), for the cost of renting one with a moving truck.. might as well own one instead. It gets loaned out to family and friends on a regular basis, it's paid for itself over time.

Good luck!

 

[hopemax]

I also recommend ABF U-Pack. My parents used them first, then we used them to move from AZ to CO. And we're going to use them in Oct to move some stuff from my parent's house to CO. I like the convenience of having someone else do the driving, but it is much cheaper than a traditional moving company.

 

[DisneyLover83]

We used ABF U-Pack for a 700 mile move, it worked out great. Make sure you have a lot of rope to tie off your stuff for every "layer" in the trailer so that it shifts as little as possible.

 

[lucigo]

I found this site and its message boards to be extremely helpful when we moved across the country (MN to CA and back again)

http://www.movingscam.com/

We used ABF U-Pack, renting part of a trailer first round and switched to the Relo-Cube on the way back to MN.
The Relo-cube was worth the extra cost to have it brought to our door, pack it ourselves and they picked it up after we left. Securing our belonging with a padlock and no worries about extra dust or leaking from the trailers.
Cubes were MUCH easier to tightly pack with belongings than the trailer.

For packing materials, check Craigslist. People give away their moving boxes or sell for low fees. We used our bedding, towels, other linens to pad out breakables. No need to pay for fancy packing materials unless it's some treasured heirloom/ antique.

Bought a dolly/ hand truck from a hardware store (Harbor Freight Tools), for the cost of renting one with a moving truck.. might as well own one instead. It gets loaned out to family and friends on a regular basis, it's paid for itself over time.

Good luck!

I also recommend ABF U-Pack. My parents used them first, then we used them to move from AZ to CO. And we're going to use them in Oct to move some stuff from my parent's house to CO. I like the convenience of having someone else do the driving, but it is much cheaper than a traditional moving company.

We used ABF U-Pack for a 700 mile move, it worked out great. Make sure you have a lot of rope to tie off your stuff for every "layer" in the trailer so that it shifts as little as possible.

Thanks for the tips, I will check out ABF U-Pack I have never heard of them, any idea if they are in Florida?

Craigslist for boxes, I hadn't thought of that! We have been bugging the heck out of Publix!

 

[hopemax]

They are a national company. The ABF stands for Arkansas Best Freight. Some western states they don't have many terminals, but they are most definitely available in FL. That's where my parents are.

 

[SandrA9810]

ABF is in florida, i see the trucks all the time and my aunt's old company uses them a lot.
I'd stay away from pods unless you needed good on site storage, like a remodel of a house.

Uhual prices have come out the best for any rental. And they give you an alloted amount of time and mileage for use of the truck, of course you can add more days.

My aunt today used the emove through uhual. It was 185 for the first 3hrs for two guys, and then 55 per additional hr for both.
It took five hours to load and unload a 2bedroom apt, and move it to a house about 3 miles away.
But that doesn't include the fact that the apartment was a mess and there were constant shuffling of stuff. If everything was ready to go in the first place, we could've shaved an hour off.


I've had a pretty decent experience with uhual. Although i'd rather find friends i can trust to move stuff than hire a couple of guys. While they were great at packing the truck and lifting, they weren't that careful with the black laquer bedroom set. My aunt forgot to turn the power on, so she can't see the scratches. I hope they aren't that bad. But they did drop one of the dresser drawers, and the corner is dinged.... Ohh i'm never going to hear the end of it tomorrow. I already took the blame for messing up the headboard, i don't know if it was their packing or my driving that caused the problem, so i took the blame.


Ok, sorry back on track.
I'd go with uhual if you have the time and strength to do it all. Including the driving. And think of how you're going to get your vehicle there too.

 

[mom2d&b]

We used PODs and they were great. It was nice to take our time packing the PODs. We had 2. Once we filled up the first, we had them bring out the second. Along with being able to take our time, we started loading it a few weeks before our move ( with the stuff we could live without), it was great because it is on the gound. With most trucks you need to use a ramp (comes with the truck). We found it very helpful to just walk right into the POD.

 

[Priorityonecb]

We used PODS on our last move. It was the cheapest option, and so convenient!! We really had a great experience with the company.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

We just moved 2 times in 2 months. The first time we went with a national moving company...Allied. They were about 3,000 or so. We moved from NC to OR from an 1800 sq foot house. Then we moved from OR to VA and we rented a Penske truck. Cost us about 1,000 but we also had to rent a car carrier, some furniture pads, a handtruck and got the insurance. Their truck was really ncie. The gave us a brand new truck with less than 2000 miles on it! Ran beautifully.

Good luck!

 

[rbork]

Time saver and $ saver on renting trucks...Pack your stuff ahead of time and move your boxes to the garage. Leaving only furniture in the house. I've hired both tradional movers and done a move by ourselves (literally) Both times this method worked well. Movers said they saved so much time... and for me time was money because they charged by the hour. Cost us about 1500 to hire well recommended movers/moving company and about 400 to rent a truck and do it ourselves.
p.s. pack garden stuff inside of a trash can and use linens to cushion lamps etc.

 

[lucigo]

They are a national company. The ABF stands for Arkansas Best Freight. Some western states they don't have many terminals, but they are most definitely available in FL. That's where my parents are.

I tried to get a quote online and it said you can't do an in-state move and referred me to PODS. Its still 450 miles!

 

[lucigo]

ABF is in florida, i see the trucks all the time and my aunt's old company uses them a lot.
I'd stay away from pods unless you needed good on site storage, like a remodel of a house.

Uhual prices have come out the best for any rental. And they give you an alloted amount of time and mileage for use of the truck, of course you can add more days.

My aunt today used the emove through uhual. It was 185 for the first 3hrs for two guys, and then 55 per additional hr for both.
It took five hours to load and unload a 2bedroom apt, and move it to a house about 3 miles away.
But that doesn't include the fact that the apartment was a mess and there were constant shuffling of stuff. If everything was ready to go in the first place, we could've shaved an hour off.


I've had a pretty decent experience with uhual. Although i'd rather find friends i can trust to move stuff than hire a couple of guys. While they were great at packing the truck and lifting, they weren't that careful with the black laquer bedroom set. My aunt forgot to turn the power on, so she can't see the scratches. I hope they aren't that bad. But they did drop one of the dresser drawers, and the corner is dinged.... Ohh i'm never going to hear the end of it tomorrow. I already took the blame for messing up the headboard, i don't know if it was their packing or my driving that caused the problem, so i took the blame.


Ok, sorry back on track.
I'd go with uhual if you have the time and strength to do it all. Including the driving. And think of how you're going to get your vehicle there too.

Thanks for the reminder of how much fun moving is!

 

[lucigo]

Time saver and $ saver on renting trucks...Pack your stuff ahead of time and move your boxes to the garage. Leaving only furniture in the house. I've hired both tradional movers and done a move by ourselves (literally) Both times this method worked well. Movers said they saved so much time... and for me time was money because they charged by the hour. Cost us about 1500 to hire well recommended movers/moving company and about 400 to rent a truck and do it ourselves.
p.s. pack garden stuff inside of a trash can and use linens to cushion lamps etc.

Thanks for the tips, great ideas

 

[SandrA9810]

Thanks for the reminder of how much fun moving is!

Two move, two weeks. Yeah, never again. I'm banged up, bruised up, and aching in places i didn't know could exsist....

 

[lucigo]

Two move, two weeks. Yeah, never again. I'm banged up, bruised up, and aching in places i didn't know could exsist....

When we move my oldest is moving to an apartment close to UCF and we will be down somewhere closer to the airport/Hunters creek. We will probably be trading boxes for weeks after the move trying to sort it all out!

 

[lucigo]

Two move, two weeks. Yeah, never again. I'm banged up, bruised up, and aching in places i didn't know could exsist....

I really feel for you, moving is hard work! Somehow in packing boxes I did something to an elbow that now aches any time I close my fist, lift a box, open a drawer, etc. I made the mistake of weedeating a few days ago and reinjured it. I hate getting old!!!

 

[lucigo]

We used PODS on our last move. It was the cheapest option, and so convenient!! We really had a great experience with the company.

I'm not finding it to be "cheap" by any means, but still an option. How many pods did you need? The guy who gave me a quote said we would need two large ones. We have an 1800 sq ft house, and 2 of our kids are moving away to college so I'm wondering if we could possibly get by with one???