Moving! to ship/ hire a mover, for my stuff?

[Whispered]

hi, not sure if right forum.. I'm going to moving in July.. so i have 5 months, to pack and clean!! LOL and trust me, i need all that.
I'm moving 3,000 miles from Ca to Nc!

I've done this over 50x.. but thought hmm maybe i could get an innovative
answer! and that was when i had a car/ truck!

I have no car, soo.. these are the options, I've checked so far:

Amtrack.. cats not allowed (will not fly my cats.. noooo way)
I have 2 cats, they're actually really good in the car. Yes, they have carriers and harnesses.

Moving Truck.. smallest...1200 eeek
Thats my TOTAL BUDGET!!.. .. so thats out.

I'd like to rent a Prius, just me, cats and major neccessities (including fabrics, and photos! and clothes and makeup!! lol
The stuff I really treasure!

Ok, so IF I do it that way, how the heck do I get the stuff moved?
I'm going to sell most of the furniture, its no biggie.. but i still have a lot of stuff, , you know the 300 Vcrs', the books.. etc..plus of course "the stockpile"", i think its small, considered to most.
Is it really worth taking the 10 jars of Ragu?? lol
ohhh, furniture is my grandma's cedar chest and i'd really love to take my 6 ft wicker bookcase and wicker chest w/ me.. i can either sell or I'd like to keep it .. its just a nice antique pine dresser,
those tho, i could give up, if i have to... its just a hmmm:hectic1:

Biggest problem, tho is I can't do the 10-14 hrs of driving, I used to and
really could use a companion ... but .. not knowing someone... very tricky ...

I'm also going to look in the smaller cargo vans, but I think that their Mpg isn't much.

So, any ideas, thoughts?
Note : very limited budget.. is it really possible to get a decent motel , for less then 50 a night.. i don't plan where I'm going to stop at, i just flow w/ what my mood is.... so...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The other option, and if anyone knows how this could work.. a friend of mine is moving to Texas, a halfway pt and is renting a HUGE 26 ft truck..
and towing her car...

I really really don't want to be driving 5 days just to get to Texas tho!!
That kind of truck, is going to be slow going.. or i could be wrong..
The motels are what hurt..and i would be having a fun friend to drive half the way w/. Could split some of the gas and hotels.. and possibly take a much needed break and stay at her house, for 2 days, to REST.

(I have RA..rhematoid arthritis, which makes driving long distances and having energy, much much harder, then when i was healthier).

So any suggestions, ideas, much appreciated :) Just trying to figure out the best way to do this. Cheaper and energy wise!~

Thanks and Blessings
Whispered~

[loladooder99]

Well this sounds like you are in a major pickle. First off i don't even see how you can move on 1,200 dollars. Its cost my husband and I 4-5,000 dollars to move from NM to AL. Thats including gas,truck to move stuff, food,hotel,first months rent,etc. Well our cheapiest option was to get a Penske truck which is the cheapiest at about 800. Your best option sound like selling off most of your stuff renting a van or truck at a car rental place and driving the whole way yourself. Gas will probably be atleast 600 or more. Otherwise you would have to sell everything except enough for flights and pay for your cats to go on the plane.

[TheWoman]

Don't try to move your stockpile. no matter how small. The point of a stockpile is to save money but it costs more to move it than the stuff is worth. Only stockpile what you will use before the move.

Since you have ruled out flying and the train because of the cats it looks like you are stuck driving. Could you stay at a campground instead of a hotel? It would save a lot of money.

[Mothernature]

I second that you will need to up your budget. We rented a car for 2 week from Florida to Boston. The cost was $1000 (including insurance) .

Can you sell your stockpile to afford the cost difference?

Will you receive relocation funds?

Will the bus lines allow you to carry pets in the bus?

[vanessamarie]

Use price line to book your hotel rooms. That will save a ton.

[mycouponhunter]

We moved from OH to FL for about 2k two years ago and that was moving a lot of stuff. My dh has an online store and we had to move his inventory and we also had two our second car with a dog and a 2 month old baby. Fun trip!

I would suggest selling as much as possible. Unless there is sentimental value to anything you can always buy over again rather than paying to have it moved. We used Upack (www.upack.com) it's almost like a pod but it's cheaper. You pack a space and they drive it for you. Then you can drive at your own pace without worrying about your stuff. They use to have coupons at the post office inside the change of address info. I have sold most of my stuff many times with all my moves and would again in a second, but my husband has inventory that we have to move each time. We're actually moving next week, but at least it's only 10 miles away. We're not looking forward to the packing.

[Whispered]

hi, guys appreciate all the ideas.. i tried upack. faint, $2,000!!! for ONE room... noooooooo

buses.. not these cats! lol and not these knees!

I know i can probably get a Prius for 15 bucks a day, at 50mpg!
(thats the price i got for 3 days last yr, in the summer)..

but the stuff!! the stuff!!!..
I'm wondering if theres some way to ship it all cheap?
Discount or....

yep in a pickle!

[mycouponhunter]

Wow, upack must have gone up then. It cost us 1,400k to move with upack and that was all my husband's inventory and all our household stuff. This was almost 3 years ago before the economy was terrible and the gas prices were just starting to go up. Good luck and keep us updated.

[tmsmalley]

I also think this is going to be very tight. If you figure that it is (round numbers) a good 3000 miles, even if you had a car that would get 25 mpg, you'd be looking at $300 just in gas. There are plenty of Motel 6 type places at $50 a night out there, but you'll need a couple/few nights, so that's got you up to at least $500. And you haven't paid for meals or the actual move yet.

You could advertise for someone to ride share with you. Perhaps there's a college kid or something that wants a ride cross country and would share some of the expenses. Of course that's going to be a big gamble. They could be great or could be anywhere on the insanity scale (and a gamble for them with you as well).

Since you don't have your own car to work with, I think you're going to have to get yourself the smallest UHaul there is and just make that work. And unless you have extra room in the truck, I wouldn't move Ragu. The 10ft UHaul basic rate on their website from LA to Charlotte (just for an estimate) is going to cost you $2158 (not including gas, hotel, meals, etc.). That includes 10 days of rental (you need time to load and unload too).

If you can get your stuff down to a size to fit in an SUV, you can do the same trip for about $600 rental so that might be an option. That might also really allow for a college kid to chip in with you.

Good luck!
Tess

[tmsmalley]

I know i can probably get a Prius for 15 bucks a day, at 50mpg!
(thats the price i got for 3 days last yr, in the summer)..

Keep in mind that was probably rent and return to the same location. You'd be returning 3000 miles away. That's always a higher cost (unless you want to drive it back) :)

Tess