Long Distance Moving...In Need Of Ideas

[RockAndRollBallerina]

I'm working on a move with a distance of 500 miles of my current residency. All of the moving I've ever done has been in town so its been easy to do. This time however I'm faced with some roadblocks...

A: My car is in no shape for anything more than just driving in town, so my car will stay in its current city/town until I figure out what to do with it.

B: I will be flying to my new place of residency due to problem A and will be checking 2 bags worth of clothes.

C: I need to find an inexpensive way to ship the remainder of my stuff to my new place of residency and need to find out if anyone knows of other shipping companies other than USPS, UPS, and FedEx that could ship up to 5 medium sized boxes at a decent price.

D: This is the first time I'm doing a move on my own and I'm completely lost and don't quite know where to start.

E: I need suggestions on what things I should pack first, and what things I should put a little lower on my priority list packing wise.

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[1stluvispooh]

Uhm wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to rent a U-Haul and a trailer for your car???

 

[barkley]

if you have a grayhound depot near you as well as your new home you can check with them. they do some shipping.

 

[abdmom]

I found FedEx ground to be quite inexpensive. Or you could rent a car or van for the move.

 

[dakcp2001]

I found FedEx ground to be quite inexpensive. Or you could rent a car or van for the move.

This is a good idea!Rent a car instead of flying, pack up the car with your stuff and drop the rental off in the new location, they allow this it just costs a bit extra.


We just moved halfway across the country and a fellow dis board member recommended ABF freight. We ended up renting a cube, we packed it and they drove it to the new place it was less expensive than UHAUL.

They had some sort of option where you only pay for the space in the cube that you used, but you have to call them to ask, I didnt get all that info cuz we had more than enough stuff to fill 2 cubes.

 

[TaraLee4]

This is a good idea!Rent a car instead of flying, pack up the car with your stuff and drop the rental off in the new location, they allow this it just costs a bit extra.


We just moved halfway across the country and a fellow dis board member recommended ABF freight. We ended up renting a cube, we packed it and they drove it to the new place it was less expensive than UHAUL.

They had some sort of option where you only pay for the space in the cube that you used, but you have to call them to ask, I didnt get all that info cuz we had more than enough stuff to fill 2 cubes.

We packed our re-load cube TODAY. we're moving to florida on Thursday! Our experience with them has been excellent so far.

Pack whatever you can, as early as you can. It saved us a great deal of hassle not trying to get things together at the last second.

Good luck!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I used ABF Freight last year. Overall, the experience was good. I also found them to be cheaper than Uhaul or Budget. http://www.upack.com/

 

[phorsenuf]

I second the uhaul and towing your car behind it. If you are only going 500 miles it's easily doable and probably not very expensive.

 

[pixiewings71]

Just rent a U-Haul truck, load it up and trailer your car and drive off. You drop the U-Haul off in your destination city and you are good to go. That's how we will do it.

 

[Feralpeg]

Folks, the OP said her car cannot make the trip. How about renting a small UHaul truck to drive your things? I doubt it would be much more than flying. You rent at the start of your trip and just turn it in when you get to the new location.

 

[phorsenuf]

Folks, the OP said her car cannot make the trip. How about renting a small UHaul truck to drive your things? I doubt it would be much more than flying. You rent at the start of your trip and just turn it in when you get to the new location.

Right, which is why people were saying to tow her car behind the uhaul truck.

 

[dakcp2001]

Right, which is why people were saying to tow her car behind the uhaul truck.

If you tow it get one of the trailers that keeps all 4 wheels off the gound, not just the one that keeps 2 off the ground. This is advice I was given.

 

[phorsenuf]

If you tow it get one of the trailers that keeps all 4 wheels off the gound, not just the one that keeps 2 off the ground. This is advice I was given.

Yes, a hauler, not a dolly.

I moved from NH to FL and drove a 24' towing a hauler for me Grand Caravan. Good times.

 

[RockAndRollBallerina]

Thank you for the input, I will certainly be looking into the various shipping options

 

[dyna]

I'm moving 900 miles to FL this is how we doing it....

Oct 15th drive down... had this trip planned before buying our house we'd cancel but get 2 weeks for 250.00 for vacation in the 55+ community we buying in. We will pack summer clothes etc that we don't need in Indiana for the time being leaving car in the RV storage lot in our community. We riding bus home.

The Sun or Mon after Thanksgiving we driving back down with the truck an towing the harley on the trailer we already own. Taking stuff for cleaning house prolly most of the kitchen stuff we moving an will stay till couple days before Christmas. Leave all the vehicles down there either taking bus or renting budget truck which ever is cheaper an comming home for Christmas after christmas load our stuff up in rental truck an making final move.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes, a hauler, not a dolly.

I moved from NH to FL and drove a 24' towing a hauler for me Grand Caravan. Good times.

My dh did it from TX to MO and back again, twice.

After that he towed the 24' boat and I towed our 2 jet ski's with a Pontiac Grand Prix. Yes...good times.

 

[bgirldeb]

We used ABF as well and found it to be cheaper than uhaul. Budget truck rentals are also cheaper than uhaul. We had to move in segments because DH moved for his job before the kids and I.

I'm not sure if Budget truck rental does the towing thing like Uhaul, but that's probably your best bet to get your car down there without driving it.

My dh did it from TX to MO and back again, twice.

After that he towed the 24' boat and I towed our 2 jet ski's with a Pontiac Grand Prix. Yes...good times.

That sounds like a lot of fun

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That sounds like a lot of fun

So much fun, I do not want to repeat that and neither does DH.

Now I will tow the Jet Ski's to Branson but that is it. I use the truck for these trips so no big deal.

 

[phorsenuf]

We used ABF as well and found it to be cheaper than uhaul. Budget truck rentals are also cheaper than uhaul. We had to move in segments because DH moved for his job before the kids and I.

I'm not sure if Budget truck rental does the towing thing like Uhaul, but that's probably your best bet to get your car down there without driving it.

That sounds like a lot of fun

When I did the move I used Budget and yes, they were much cheaper. I use uhual as a catch phrase, like kleenex. I would hope the OP would call around to all the different rental places to find her best deal. I have found Penske though to be the highest.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We usually have the military move us but on the one DITY move from SC to MD we rented a truck from Penske. It was much cheaper than Uhaul or Budget in our case. I think it all depends on what is available where are you are moving to and from.

If you have AAA then check for discounts on any moving service - most offer a 10% discount.