Inside: Moving is expensive. Moving across the country can be astronomically expensive—unless you find the cheapest way to move across the country. We’re planning our third cross-country move, and this time we’re doing it debt-free. I’ll show you how we’re saving up for it, and how we’re going to do it cheaply.
Me and Zach currently live in Colorado.
I know what you’re thinking. Endless snowcapped mountains, weed- and craft-beer fueled hippies, and beautiful vistas everywhere, right?
I hate it here.
Mostly because Alaska—where we met—ruined everything for me.
There’s too many goddamn people here, there’s no good forests and big, lush trees for privacy, and it’s drier than Tutankhamun’s tomb. The houses are packed tighter together than a horde lined up for Black Friday at Walmart.
It’s sunny every. single. DAY. Which you think would be nice, but by day 279, all I really want is a dreary, gloomy day so I can pop on a monocle and read some good ol’ Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft by the fire.
But mostly, for the past four years since we’ve been here, it’s felt like I’ve been chugging along, but with one cog in the wheel that’s been out-of-sync, and it’s affecting everything else. That’s why we’re heading out of Colorado to the rainy Pacific Northwest—to Washington state, to be specific.
To be fair, there are other good reasons for moving there. It’s a halfway compromise between here and Alaska (which Zach equally despised). We’ve got family and friends in the area, and Zach has a lot better job prospects as an entry-level code monkey. Plus, I’m all about that seafood, and I can harvest it my own damn grownup self there if I want (and I do!).
This won’t be my first big cross-country move. When I was but a newly-minted 18-year-old, I moved from northern Michigan to Alaska. Then, in 2014, we moved from Alaska to Colorado.
I relied on my parents or my credit card to fund both of those moves. That’s not an option this time. If we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it with cash. We’re at T-minus three months till our move right now, and this week I thought I’d lift the curtain back and show you guys what we’re doing to plan our cross-country move so we won’t take out a single cent of debt.
Contents
Get Your Shit Together: The Pre-Planning Phase
We decided we were going to move in March 2017, after visiting Seattle. To be fair, I also hate the busyness of Seattle. But, luckily for us, I know that there’s a lot of other more peaceful locations we could eventually end up. Like the place we’re looking now: Puyallup (pronounced poo-’yall-up. Just kidding. It’s pronounced “pyew-all-up”).
Once we decided we were going to move, I drafted up an estimate of costs. Here’s what I estimated:
- Deposits and other move-in costs for a new apartment
- U-haul rental
- Gas
- Meals
- Hotel
To get the estimates for apartment deposits, I just googled three different apartment complexes in the area and took an average of the costs. I figured this was a reasonable way to calculate the ridiculous fees that apartments charge (pet rent? WTF?).
Save Dat Money: The Savings Phase
I tallied up each of the individual estimates to get a total ($2,968). Then, I multiplied it by 1.10 to get our target savings goal ($3,265).
Why multiply it by 1.10? That gives us a 10% buffer in moving costs. If there’s anything I’ve ever learned when saving up for a goal, it’s that shit will go wrong, and never in your favor. Just ask me about my last house. Adding in the 10% buffer adds a bit of insurance, and if we don’t need it, then we’ll throw it towards our debt.
Back in March 2017, we thought that June 2018 would be a reasonable timeframe for a move. That gave us 15 months to save, so we divided our target savings goal—$3,265—by 15 to get a monthly savings goal of $217.67. We just decided to round it up to $220 because that’s how we roll.
Related: Need help with budgeting, even if you think you suck at it? Try Adam Hagerman’s Budgeting for Budget Haters e-course.
It’s now one year later, and we’ve saved up a total of $2,860 towards our move. We save it up as a line item in our YNAB program. That line is called the “GTFOCO Fund” because swear words are also how we roll.
Find the least expensive ways to move across the country
The final pillar in our plan to move across the country cheaply rests on finding low-cost ways to move our stuff from Point A to Point B. Here’s what we’re planning on doing:
Hoard boxes
Uhaul charges $75.84 for a set of boxes to pack up an apartment.
Bullshit.
It’s only March in Fort Collins and there’s already plenty of people on Craigslist trying to offload moving boxes for free. It’s another benefit to moving in the warmer months, when everyone else is!
Getting a U-Haul and moving our stuff ourselves
We’re estimating the cost of renting a 6’x12’ Uhaul trailer to be $516 for a week to move from Colorado to Washington. Moving.com estimates that to have professional movers haul our stuff (not even pack) the same distance, it’ll cost between $3,979 and $5,568.
You tell me which one you’d choose.
The benefit of choosing the budget Uhaul option is that it gives you a fanTASTIC excuse to purge your unused shit so that you don’t have to shlep around so much stuff. We’re currently going through everything we own and getting rid of copious amounts of shit, like DVDs, unread books, unworn clothing, and more.
It’s a very liberating feeling, and I look forward to it each time I move across the country.
Related: Decluttr is a great service I recommend where you can sell back all the stuff you’re not using anymore in one fell swoop. If you use my coupon code LindsayVS5, they’ll give you an extra $5 when you send in your old shit! Because who really wants to set up endless appointments to sell all your old DVDs and books for $2 a pop? Better to get all the little stuff done in one go.
Move in the warmer months
We’ve already been contacting apartments to find out which ones will allow us to bring our three pets. Don’t even get me started on apartment pet policies or I will punch you in the throat. BUT, we’ve heard from many of them that the warmer months are more popular moving times, which boosts our chances of finding an apartment that’ll work for us within our price range.
Another benefit of moving across the country in the warmer months is that you can CAMP! We love camping. Even though we’ve budgeted for a hotel, if the weather’s nice we’re planning on taking full advantage of that and camping out. Bonus: Many campgrounds have pull-through sites designed for RVs, which will work perfect for our truck towing a trailer.
Use stuff you already own for padding
You can buy bubble wrap and have a grand ‘ol time popping them all later.
But, a more budget-friendly option for protecting your plates and dishes while you move across the country is to wrap them in soft things you already have. T-shirts, towels, and bedsheets all make fantastic padding for your delicates. We used them when we moved from Alaska to Colorado and didn’t have a single broken item.
What other ways do you use to plan a cross-country move on a budget?
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SORRY I CAN’T STOP TYPING SO THIS COMMENT IS STUPID LONG
Different country but I myself have moved across Canada a couple times (Onterrible to Alberta and then back). The first time was easy. I packed up my car with a few suitcases, my (desktop) computer, a bike and whatever odds and ends I needed to survive two weeks, which was my do-or-die date to find a job before I ran out of money and got kicked to the curb. It sounds more drastic then it actually was… I had a small amount of savings to live off of but also had a credit card (with an obscenely large limit of $3000 for someone who was completely unemployed)… and the bank of Mom or Dad that 1000% would have paid for my gas home. But I was young and proud and didn’t want to accept failure! We’ll ignore the fact that I was moving because I had been sitting unemployed for a year+ in my mom’s house because I thought I was too good to work for McDonalds or the like.
Long story short, I left at 10pm at night after saying goodbye to family (who mostly found out at 6pm that I was leaving), got in my car and drove. The great thing about Michigan and the southern route to the Canadian prairies is their top-tier roadside rest stops. They are perfect for grabbing a quick nap in. I booked 2 hostel stays, in Minneapolis and Regina, arriving in Banff the final day. I drove straight, by myself, and it’s lucky I didn’t fall asleep and kill myself in a fiery car crash. Oh to be young and stupid. I also got to meet the really sweet drug sniffing dog in Estevan SK because Canadian border control really thinks I’m a drug smuggler when I travel on my own (young, upper middle class white blonde girl, can’t say I blame them).
The saving grace to accurate budget planning for this trip was Gas Buddy Trip Cost Calculator (http://www.gasbuddy.com/TripCostCalculator). I underestimated my fuel economy to give myself better margins so I could buy my gas more efficiently… the great thing about this is it looks at the best average prices along the route, and recommends when you fill up to optimize your savings. Sometimes you’re filling up pretty early, at say half a tank, but it averages out awesome. Back then, I printed the map and the recommended stops, since I would’t have internet access on that trip (way back in 2009) and I relied on an old-school GPS my dad regifted to me for the trip. Only really got lost once in Chicago because fuck Chicago.
End moving costs? I think about $200 in gas, $60 in hostel costs plus another $300ish for my initial 2-week hostel stay in Banff. I packed food before I left and ate from a cooler most of the way, and hit up grocery stores when I could, to avoid an extensive food budget. I highly recommend a cooler with easy access while driving and lots of pre-purchased snack foods to avoid gas station prices. I don’t really take this advice myself anymore because I excel at roadtrips and buying overpriced snack foods/energy drinks is now part of it… but that’s a perk of becoming financially independent, you’re allowed to make more stupid decisions and still be on track!
Fast forward now to 2015, my family is getting older, I had lost a grandparent and an aunt, and there was lots of other things going on in my very close family… I loved my life in AB but I was missing a lot and you cannot get time back with elderly parents and grandparents. So I got an opportunity to move with my company back to Ontario, to the heart of where my extended family lives. The advantages of this move was fantastic. I had an actual savings account with real money in it, I could take a week paid vacation to move, I had a job I would be starting right away, and an obvious place to move (my aunt’s house, which gave me a chance to find and buy my house). The downside of this move is… well, I’d been living there for a while, more than 6 years, and had stuff now. Furniture, books, clothes, personal effects, kitchen supplies, gardening supplies… waaay more stuff then I came out with. The only thing I had gotten rid of completely was the bike, which I abandoned at an old apartment and still wonder if it’s still sitting there, lonely and chained up….
So, planning was key. I looked at the uHaul shipping options and also truck rental options. My faithful car that drove me out there was still around, but now it was 11 years old and isn’t really meant to tow anything (2004 Honda Accord). Shipping my stuff, as you mentioned, would be around $3000. Ouch. Renting a truck and pulling my car would be around $4000. Double ouch. Other choice was to recruit a friend, and drive a truck and the car separate… but that’s double gas/mileage. Still ouch. I ended up getting a trailer hitch on my car ($250) and renting a 1 way 4x8ft trailer ($450). The downside was I would have to liquidate much of my life. And the mass kijiji selloff begun.
Behind the scenes, I calculated how much my replacement cost would be on items, what I thought I could sell them for and compared that against what the moving costs would be for different options. The winner, by far, was the sell all my furniture and start new. Every item I sold, the money went into a special jar to be used to buy new “stuff” when I was settled. I can’t remember how much I got but I think it was around $1500 at the end… and the only pieces I couldn’t sell was a dresser, which I left for my neighbour to sell/trash at his discretion, my gardening supplies which went to my landlord. But I also donated a lot of stuff… and still moved way too much. I’m bad at purging.
I also used GasBuddy for this trip back, however my actual gas costs were a lot more then they could have predicted. That’s because dragging an over-loaded trailer on a car with no technical towing ranking in Canada, through the mountains and plains is a killer on fuel economy. By a lot. The first trip I would fill up in the morning and afternoon… this trip I was stopping every 200 miles to make sure I would always have enough gas to make it to the next town. I believe my gas cost was closer to $400 this time. I also took this trip slower and with a partner… my mother decided to take a week off to help me purge, pack, clean and move. I don’t count her flight against my moving costs though, since it fell in line with her annual visit. We also stayed in real hotels, not hostels… paying an average of $70/night in Swift Current SK, Minto ND, Eau Clair WI, and Kalamazoo MI, which was only picked because Kalamazoo is a fucking hilarious name for a town. We didn’t really book anything in advance but the updates of technology meant I could book from my phone when we decided we were ready to stop for the night.
All in all, the move went much smoother, except getting lost at the border gate and accidentally wandering through the one meant for transport trucks. My mom was driving at this time though, which means we weren’t questioned at the border. The only surprise was travelling on toll roads in Illinois/New York, and being charged twice the rate for pulling a trailer. This unbudgeted item added about an extra $15 onto the trip.
This second trip was a lot more expensive, I think it was around $2500 all together, but I was in a much better position to do it and I had planned for it better. Selling stuff and saving the cash separately was probably the best thing I did, because it made me feel really happy to know I had that emergency cash on hand and didn’t need to stress about buying a new bed when I found a house. Side note, I did not sell my mattress and instead moved that, because the resale value of mattresses suck. Of course, we won’t talk about my first furniture purchase, which was a used wing chair that I didn’t realize was covered in vinyl because I just saw a pretty teal colour chair to read books in… it still lives in shame in my basement, waiting to be recovered.
But also, family support was still key. My aunt didn’t flinch about me moving in for an undetermined amount of time into her basement. It ended up being about 3 months and she didn’t charge me rent. My stuff I stored in my grandparents garage for that time, which put them out but saved me storage costs. When I finally moved into my house, my cousin borrowed a work truck and recruited his young, strong men to help, for the cost of a case of beer. I got donated furniture for my living room, dining room, kitchen, etc, which I’ve slowly replaced over the past 2 years. I am so eternally grateful for that support, things would have been a lot more difficult without it. And of course my mother, who contributed more then I can explain. The crowning glory is she moved to town 6 months after I did, and eventually bought a house 3 blocks away from me.
Okay, I’ve wasted all your time reading this for the simple fact that if you haven’t used GasBuddy trip cost calculator, check it out, because it was the best planning tool I used. But also, consider selling furniture in your downsizing efforts. And good luck!
Thanks for sharing! I’m moving this summer so this post is very timely! Has anyone ever shipped a car and if so, what recommendations do you have when speaking with companies prior to deciding on one? Obviously I would love the company with the cheapest quote, but I’m sure there are things I should be asking, such as insurance coverage, etc. Other than Craigslist, any other ways you recommend to sell furniture you don’t plan on taking during the move?
Hi Alisha! I don’t have any good recommendations for cars, unfortunately. I’ve always just drove to where I was going, even if it was on the other side of the continent.
I think Craigslist is a great way to sell furniture. You can also sell them through consignment shops or list them on Facebook Ads, but I’ve never personally used these so I’m not sure how they work. And, if you end up not being able to sell it, donating it to a thrift shop is also a great way to go.
Good luck with your move!
Great moving tips! I didn’t have any boxes the last time we moved, so I checked on craigslist and found someone who was giving away all of their moving boxes. They were the best boxes I’ve ever had (sturdy with handles!). There are always lots of free tools and help if you just keep a lookout. 🙂
Nice! I love good boxes like that. We recently discovered another good source of boxes too. We live in an apartment complex and people are already starting to move. We found a whole pile of collapsed good boxes near the dumpster the other day – score!