Moving across country w/ furniture and pets cheaply

[BronxBaumer]

Hi All,
I will be moving from the arctic midwest to the beautiful, if not shallow, southern California. I am looking forward to being out there but not to the move. I need to do this as quickly as possible.
What do I have?
I am moving a one bedroom apartment with breakable electronics, a few bookshelves, a nice desk, a full size bed with cheap metal frame, and and a tv-stand. I also have a ton of expensive dishes and glassware which I would like to move as safely as possible

I also have two kitties that I am not willing to put in my car.

I have discovered that using a UHaul is absolutely not cost effective (pods seem to be the way to go), but am not sure if anyone has any better ideas? More specifically, do any of you have any experience with packing and having stuff moved across country? How about getting pets clear across the land. I am really worried about my poor kitties if I have to ship them as cargo. God knows I would hate to have anything happen to them!

Any thoughts?

[TheYankee]

I moved a few months ago... I feel your pain with the UHaul thing.. it isn't cheap, like you mentioned.

Are you moving for a job? Are they giving you a moving allowance?

I was lucky enough to have my mom and dad come down in a pickup truck. Combined with the truck bed and my Ford Taurus, we made it work. I didn't have a desk, like you did, but I did have a mattress, which was the biggest thing.

I honestly can't think of any other way to make it happen outside of a moving company if you have furniture.

[BronxBaumer]

Hey Nic, I am actually moving for graduate school, so while they are compensating me generously after I'm getting there, they are definitely not going to help me move out there. I'm glad that you were able to have your parents help you out in your case.

[penfold]

Everybody I know who moved from the east to California, esp. SoCal, had a hell of a time. I've heard stories about cars going across the desert with no air conditioning to breakdowns in the middle of Oklahoma. And then there's the first year with minimal furniture and minimal money.

I brought a cat with me on an airplane for a cross-country trip several years ago. I also have a pal who drove across country with her cat (but that was even longer ago). Neither is ideal. I can't really suggest 1 method over another.

If you do end up driving, Motel 6 allows pets.

If you don't use u-haul or a professional mover (which is HUGELY expensive), I might suggest selling your stuff and starting over. It's a VERY harsh move to make but sometimes it's the easiest.

[TheYankee]

Everybody I know who moved from the east to California, esp. SoCal, had a hell of a time. I've heard stories about cars going across the desert with no air conditioning to breakdowns in the middle of Oklahoma. And then there's the first year with minimal furniture and minimal money.

I brought a cat with me on an airplane for a cross-country trip several years ago. I also have a pal who drove across country with her cat (but that was even longer ago). Neither is ideal. I can't really suggest 1 method over another.

If you do end up driving, Motel 6 allows pets.

If you don't use u-haul or a professional mover (which is HUGELY expensive), I might suggest selling your stuff and starting over. It's a VERY harsh move to make but sometimes it's the easiest.

Yeah, I've heard that before too. Sometimes it's not a bad idea to sell your bigger items... it may actually save you in the long run.

[Steve Dalkowski]

If you don't use u-haul or a professional mover (which is HUGELY expensive), I might suggest selling your stuff and starting over. It's a VERY harsh move to make but sometimes it's the easiest.

This is what I was going to suggest. Drive yourself out there with whatever will fit in your car, and grab some new furniture once you get there. The experience of driving cross country is an added benefit.

Of course, you've probably considered this option already and have reasons not to do it, but it's what I would probably do.

Congrats on school by the way, great time to be a student again.

[keg411]

Scott, are you moving to SoCal permanently or just for school? I used to make the yearly drive there-and-back from NJ to Miami and back again and while I drove with my dad, we stored everything in our car. One of my friends also just drove it with her brother from NJ to CA, but he had a furnished apartment out there. If you drive, I'd try to find someone willing to make the trip with you just so it isn't lonely.

If it's only a temporary move, I'd try storing most of the large stuff (like the bookshelf and bed) at your parents'/relatives and buying cheap, temporary stuff when you get there. If it's a permanent move, it's probably best to hire someone because if you want to keep those things. If you don't care about the items, sell them and buy new stuff when you get there.

[Trish]

Leave the bed.

[yankeebot]

I don't have any first hand experience with them but I have clients that have used this pet transportation service and I've only heard good things.

http://royalpaws.com/

[BronxBaumer]

Thanks for all the advice. It is a fairly permanent move, as in, I will never come back to Michigan again and I will be in SD for five-to-six years. The only reason why I want the bed is that I just spent over 600 bucks on it about a year and a half ago and I hate to lose a brand new bed that I love. I'm thinking about getting one pod, loading it up with as much furniture as possible and then trashing the rest and rebuying.

The cats worry me. I love them very much, but they'll be hell in a car for three days...

[stephsamps]

Thanks for all the advice. It is a fairly permanent move, as in, I will never come back to Michigan again and I will be in SD for five-to-six years. The only reason why I want the bed is that I just spent over 600 bucks on it about a year and a half ago and I hate to lose a brand new bed that I love. I'm thinking about getting one pod, loading it up with as much furniture as possible and then trashing the rest and rebuying.

The cats worry me. I love them very much, but they'll be hell in a car for three days...

I just moved from NYC to FL, so while not quite as far, I had a similar dilemma. I sold most of my stuff since movers/uhauls, etc go by weight/cubic foot. I kept my bed, dresser and TV and wish I would have got rid of the dressers .

I only have one cat and ended up taking her on the plane. She was surprisingly good (when I took her out at security she was so freaked she went back in the case willingly). She was my carry-on and I paid $100 for the pleasure of her being my carry on. Animals are pretty resilient and I think she could have handled the drive too. She just doesn't like to eat while stressed, so I went with the plane because it was quickest.

Good luck with the move!

[ajra21]

pack your stuff and get the pets to carry it.

[spyglass]

Thanks for all the advice. It is a fairly permanent move, as in, I will never come back to Michigan again and I will be in SD for five-to-six years. The only reason why I want the bed is that I just spent over 600 bucks on it about a year and a half ago and I hate to lose a brand new bed that I love. I'm thinking about getting one pod, loading it up with as much furniture as possible and then trashing the rest and rebuying.

The cats worry me. I love them very much, but they'll be hell in a car for three days...

All I have to say is: best of luck. I'm still deciding on grad schools (between Philadelphia and Boston vs. Richmond, which is my hometown) and if I end up picking Boston or Philly, the drive from Richmond with my stuff and my two cats is going to be bad enough...

[Dave Visbeck]

Hi All,
I will be moving from the arctic midwest to the beautiful, if not shallow, southern California. I am looking forward to being out there but not to the move. I need to do this as quickly as possible.
What do I have?
I am moving a one bedroom apartment with breakable electronics, a few bookshelves, a nice desk, a full size bed with cheap metal frame, and and a tv-stand. I also have a ton of expensive dishes and glassware which I would like to move as safely as possible

I also have two kitties that I am not willing to put in my car.

I have discovered that using a UHaul is absolutely not cost effective (pods seem to be the way to go), but am not sure if anyone has any better ideas? More specifically, do any of you have any experience with packing and having stuff moved across country? How about getting pets clear across the land. I am really worried about my poor kitties if I have to ship them as cargo. God knows I would hate to have anything happen to them!

Any thoughts?

Hey there, Scott. Is the place you're moving into gonna allow the kitties for sure? The trip sounds like it will be a nice adventure. When do you have to make the move?

Jenn and I have made the cross-country trip many times. Have also made it with a cat. The kitty actually seemed to enjoy the trip out to Ohio. I've made the trip with a car-carrying enclosed trailer before and had no breakage with any glass items. I took a Neon back to California for my daughter and then brought a final load of furnature and stuff for my home in Ohio. Hauling a trailer isn't tough.

As for a pod to carry out your stuff ... I have no idea what that would cost. What have they told you about cost?

[smr15]

I don't have any first hand experience with them but I have clients that have used this pet transportation service and I've only heard good things.

http://royalpaws.com/

I think I want to travel this way.

But seriously... I wonder how expensive this is?

[BronxBaumer]

I think I want to travel this way.

But seriously... I wonder how expensive this is?

2600 for my two cats...yikes.

[smr15]

wow....... that's a LOT.

You know what?......, ask your vet.
They can probably give you some "tranquilizers", which won't hurt the cats, but will make it easier to travel with them.

[4bronxbombers]

2600 for my two cats...yikes.

That's ridiculous!

[yankeebot]

2600 for my two cats...yikes.

Hahaha. Of course. I should have known. My clients that speak so highly of them are all Greenwich CT residents.

[allybear]

Congratulations on the move! I guess you can save space by not bringing your heavy coats, because you won't need them! San Diego is the most perfect weather - I envy you!

Outside of that, I have no advice, I've never moved more than about 30 miles, so I'm useless, but I wanted to say congratulations.

[BronxBaumer]

Congratulations on the move! I guess you can save space by not bringing your heavy coats, because you won't need them! San Diego is the most perfect weather - I envy you!

Outside of that, I have no advice, I've never moved more than about 30 miles, so I'm useless, but I wanted to say congratulations.

Thanks Ally, I'm excited about UC San Diego and it looks like a nice place to spend the next 5-7 years, even if it is expensive as hell.

I'm going to talk to the vet about the airplane route for the kitties. I seem to get the idea that they will be fine and it should be slightly less traumatic than four days in the car.

The moving is going to suck. UCSD is giving me a nice stipend, but I think there is still going to be some debt this year because of the cross country move. I doubt it will be that big, but I was hoping to do grad school debt free!