Moving Cheap

Archive for April, 2011

When you’re planning a move a long distance, it can be a bit intimidating.  Do you bite the bullet and pay a moving company to pack and move your stuff, or do you rent a truck and move it yourself.  You might just find that it can be surprisingly cheap to rent a one way moving truck.

When you use a full-service service moving company, you can often get them to pack most everything, inventory it, load it in the truck, and unpack it for you on the other end.  However, this can be a very expensive way to go, especially if you don’t have enough to fill a full truck.  This can be really painful, since you usually pay for the entire truck, even if what you’re moving only fills the truck two-thirds of the way.

A great alternative is to pack and load everything yourself.  While it may not sound fun, having done it myself, it isn’t as bad as you might think.  It is a cheap way to move compared to a full-service moving company, and you can control your schedule more than when you set up a time with a mover.  You’ll also always know exactly where your stuff is.

You can usually choose from several sizes of trucks, from a pickup truck to a 21 foot truck, and can even get something to tow a car behind the larger trucks.  One recommendation I would make is to get the car carrier trailer if you’re towing a car.  On one move, I used the car dolly that only hooks up to two wheels.  Towing that car cross-country by the front wheels actually messed up the alignment of the rear wheels, which added to the cost of the whole move.  The car carrier does cost more, but may end up saving you money at the end of your trip.

Keep in mind that if you use the blankets that usually come in the trucks, you’ll be charged for them, and may even be charged to use the dolly to put your items on the larger trucks.  In most cases, you’re charged by the mile or the number of days you keep the truck.

You may have to park in a strange way to be able to load the truck, which can sometimes cause problems if you’re only allowed to use a certain number of spaces, like at an apartment.  You may want to check with management first to prevent inconveniencing other tenants.

Driving the truck across the country, or even across town, can be an adventure if you have the right attitude, and keep in mind that you’re probably saving a ton of money compared to having someone else do all the work for you.

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