Any tips for moving across country?

[skimo]

My goal is to move from TX to back home in MD by the end of the school year. I have 2 little ones in elementary school, and think this will probably be the least disruptive for them.

My thoughts are to sell / donate the majority of my furniture as most of it is 10 yrs old + and not in such stellar condition that I would want to pay to have it moved! The kids bedroom sets are ~2 years old and I'll probably take those plus a wall unit I got when stationed overseas.

Aside from that...I'm trying not to stockpile much, but at the same time.....hey, what can another box of freebies cost to have moved?

I've thought about hiring someone to drive my vehicle, while I take the kiddos and fly. Yes, probably could do it 'cheaper' by driving myself & the kids, but when I think of hotels, food, and peace of mind........I think this is a must!

Any tips on good moving companies, considerations on hiring someone to transport my vehicle, etc? I have a 2nd vehicle, but will probably give that to dd20 since she needs one.

I've been really spoiled in the past, as the military always moved me except for one other move and it was only 40 minutes away......so this is all new to me, and quite frankly a bit overwhelming so any advice would be appreciated. Can your moving expenses be itemized on your income taxes?

I have a mortgage on this home, so I'll probably opt to rent it out for now since this is not a sellers market at the time. TIA....

[cintinative]

This may not be much help but will at least bump your post. When we were looking at moving locally I was examining how to find a good mover. Most of my friends had moved themselves and not used one so I was starting from scratch. There was a site that I looked at called movingscam dot com that has information based on people's personal experience with different movers, and tips on how to find a good mover. Unfortunately there are fly by night companies out there that will take your stuff and you will never see it again, so you want to be careful. Make sure the company is reputable, they have the appropriate licenses in place (I had one company that quoted for me that could never verify theirs and argued and argued with me about it but I didn't use them), and that they give you a sufficiently detailed quote. There is a debate of time to move versus flat rate based on quantity--you need to decide what is best. I had some friends that got burned by a local group Two Men and a Truck because they had a policy that basically prohibited the two guys from working separately. So while one was in the loo for a long time the other was standing around, and vice versa. My friend fired them and sent them off because his wife was moving more stuff than they were. LOL.

It is likely for them to take several days or more to move your stuff cross country so you want to know if they will be picking other people's stuff up also somewhere else and putting it the truck as that will slow down your delivery. Anyway, other than that, I chose to buy my boxes via Costco because that seemed to be the cheapest local option for me. I also bought moving blankets online. I ended up selling the boxes and blankets via craigslist once we moved for about a third what I paid (but I did recoop some expense which was nice).

Hopefully others can speak from their personal experience. Good luck with your move!!

[JaimeLynn]

I have a recommendation. I have two small kids and we're a military family. We've made (gasp) 8 moves in the past 7 years. I would higluy recommend ABF U pack. You basically pay to rent square footage inside a truck. Someone else drives the truck to your new location, and you un pack it.

[skimo]

thanks everyone........reading and taking notes.....

[foggierbard9]

I want to second the ABF Upack...we used that to move from CA to MD and would use them again in a heartbeat...yeah we loaded the truck, but they drove it and it was actually cheaper than us renting a uhaul and driving it ourselves once we figured in the fuel costs.

[cintinative]

Is a Upack like a PODS?

[foggierbard9]

It is actually a trailer that you load, then you put on a board wall and lock it...they never have access to your stuff because you have the key.

[skimo]

thanks for the tips!