Tired of all the career talk? Me too! That's why I have a guest blogger today talking about moving. Cuz, yanno, eventually you will get a fab job and want to get out of the rents' house...
Although it’s a quote that has been credited to everyone from Buddha to Buckaroo Banzai, Confucius probably said it first: “No matter where you go, there you are.” He might have added: “And you need to bring your stuff with you.”
That’s a task faced by college students and post-grads alike. But during the college years, when you had to move back home at semester’s end, all of your stuff somehow seemed to fit nicely in the trunk of a car, with maybe a bit of back seat overflow. Now, as you move to a new job in a
What do you take with you?
We hate to go all Buddha on you again, but this question is a bit of a koan. The answer is that you take everything and nothing. That is, you take everything that’s irreplaceable to your new life, and nothing that can be replaced for less than it costs to transport it.
For example, you will need at least some furniture. But just like “no matter where you go, there you are” it’s also true that wherever you go, there is bound to be an Ikea or a Sears or certainly a bunch of locals posting items on Craigslist. So your car’s trunk may still hold everything you need to take with you. If so, buy furniture and other large items when you get where you’re going. If not, you may be able to pack everything into boxes and ship it with a freight company, which is the cheapest way to ship boxes whose total weight exceeds 150 lbs. or so. Just make sure you pack the boxes, very, very well, because they will bounce around in the back of the truck like skittles in a clothes dryer.
Should I hire a mover?
If you have furniture or other large items, then yes, you probably need a mover (unless you rent a truck, but we’ll get to that in a moment). As to choosing which mover, understand that movers are kind of like Nickelback songs--even though they all seem the same, you can spot some differences if you look (or listen) closely enough. (We apologize for offending any movers who may be reading this.)
Some movers offer a variety of optional services and some don’t, so decide what you want and then find one who will give you a good price to do exactly what you want done. For example, some movers specialize in the full monty. They’ll pack, load, transport, unload and unpack. Don’t use them until you’re at least sixty and don’t have anything better to do with your considerable wealth than hand it over to a moving company. Right now you’re young and strong, so at the very least you should do the packing and unpacking yourself.
We recommend you do the loading and unloading as well, if you can round up friends or family to help on both ends. (Look into renting moving containers, or sealed-divider service on freight trucks for self-load moving.) If that kind of free labor is not available on either end, then let the mover do it. But make sure your mover is a small move specialist. A small move specialist will put your items on a truck with other loads, thereby saving you money versus a full-load mover.
Should I rent a truck and drive everything there myself?
On the surface, it usually looks cheaper to rent a truck. But beware of those dreaded hidden costs, including insurance, gas, tolls and time. They add up quickly if you’re moving just a few hundred miles, much less across the country.
First, there’s insurance. You’ll be tempted to opt out, but don’t. There are several good reasons why, not the least of which is that you’ll be driving an unfamiliar, somewhat hard-to-handle vehicle over unfamiliar roads during a stressful time--conditions which tend to diminish the skills you so confidently believe place you among the world’s elite drivers. You’ll probably be at your highest accident risk level since you were still on your learner’s permit. And here’s an even better reason for insuring: You can purchase breakdown coverage that obligates the truck rental company to provide a replacement if your rental dies on the way. This happens far more often than you might think.
Next, gas and tolls. The rental company will tell you how many MPG you can expect from the truck. (They’re surprisingly honest and accurate on this.) Check gas prices, do the math, and you’ll know your fuel cost. Tolls are harder to calculate but they’re more than you might think, especially in the toll road loving Northeastern states. You’ll probably incur other non-driving costs, too – meals, lodging and more. Take it all into account.
Finally, time. Think of it this way: Your time is worth whatever someone is willing to pay you for it, plus the value of whatever else you could be doing instead. If you’d rather let a mover haul your stuff while you either prepare for your new life, party away the end of your old life, or just kick back and relax, then by all means do it.
Kevin Hagan is the Marketing Manager of Transit Systems, Inc., a professional moving company and nationwide provider of moving, shipping, and freight services for consumers and small businesses. TSI specializes in furniture shipping, and can provide long distance as well as local moving assistance. If you’re in need of any of these services, visit TSI’s website for a free shipping quote.
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