Making Your Move

Copy our Moving Logistics Checklist - Checklist preview

Things to Consider

1. When moving long distances, it may be much, much cheaper to get new furniture at your destination than to move with all that you have. Things can be sentimental, but paying $1,200 for a bigger truck so you can bring a couch and bed that you could replace for free on Craigslist (or furnish your whole apartment at NW Furniture Bank) is often a bad use of limited funds.

2. Physical moving costs are often the biggest cost in a relocation. Remember when budgeting that you’ll likely still need to cough up first months’ rent + a deposit on a new place to live after covering the move. Travelling light can feel anxiety-inducing but can make your move much more secure.

3. Prices for this also vary a LOT based on a million factors (mostly “where a company needs trucks/containers at the moment”) – methods may be cheaper or more expensive than others unpredictably. Flying will always be cheapest, and bringing your own car is usually smart, but if you’re planning a land move, get quotes from a lot of places before making your decision!

4. Keep in mind how you’re going to move your pets in the van or in your vehicle. If you may need temporary housing or shelter, pets can make it much more difficult to find. When possible, consider having friends or family (or SPOT) care for your pet for a short period, and then reuniting after you’ve got your feet on the ground at your destination. We may be able to help with flights for this purpose.

   1. Same goes for large or fragile items, like desktop computers or sentimental furniture: especially if you’re in a precarious situation and otherwise able to travel light, it may be wise to leave them with a friend or in a storage unit, and then consider getting them later once things are more stable!

Physical Move Options (~cost-ascending)

1. Air travel: This is the cheapest move. If you don’t have a car, and have limited belongings, you may be able to pack a few bags of luggage and relocate with just that. We are often able to help provide flights for this purpose, please reach out for more info.

• Cost: Free-ish
• Benefits: Cheapest option by far. Traveling light makes it much easier to find temporary places to stay if need be.
• Risks: Very dependent on if you have somewhere to go (though still better than that scenario if you have a POD-full but still no car). Having a car can be a useful fallback for the worst-case scenario.

2. Shipping small items. If you’re able to execute on a plane or car move but need a few small- to medium-sized items that you can’t fit, you can ground ship some things. This never makes sense for furniture (always cheaper to re-acquire at your destination) but can work if you have more than what’ll fit in a checked bag or two.

3. Loading up a car: This is often the best option, especially if you have a vehicle already. Pack as much of what’s important to you in your car as you can and drive to your destination, sleeping in your car or at hotels/motels as you go.

• Cost: Gas money, potentially lodging. ~$120-600
• Benefits: Very cheap while still room for a surprisingly large amount of stuff, depending on what you drive. Having a car at your destination is useful.
• Risks: Car breakdown in this situation can be a nightmare. Make sure everything is in working order, and check mountainous routes for snow (WA) ahead of time if you’re traveling in winter.

1. Shipping your car. Got pets you can’t travel with? Can’t do a cross-country drive, but have a car you want at your destination? Consider shipping your vehicle (~$900-1,300 cross-country) and flying. This is often more expensive than offloading your car and shipping stuff, but useful if you need a car at your destination.

   Note: If you ship your car to Washington, you or a designated individual must sign for the vehicle, and it will likely need to be delivered to a place that accepts vehicles (ex: private homes, certain garage services, tow yards, etc), but you must call ahead and verify. Some shipping companies will only release the vehicle to the owner, a spouse, or someone with power of attorney and can prove legally they can sign for it. Check with your shipping company ahead of time.

2. Renting a cargo trailer: If you have a car, but have more stuff than fits in the car, consider renting a trailer to tow behind your car (the rental site will have a place to input your current car to verify its towing capacity). Don’t have a hitch? See the section below!

• Cost: Car move plus $200-$700.
• Benefits: Cheapest way to move more stuff, by far.
• Risks: You likely don’t need a license to tow a trailer, but it is different from regular driving! Car issues are also even more of a risk with a trailer.

1. Towing a 2nd car: If you have 2 cars, you can tow one behind the other for cheap, often a few hundred bucks. Allows you to take both cars but save on gas+mileage and ride together.

2. Renting a van/SUV: This is the next budget option if you don’t have a car. Rent as big a car as you can find from a regular car rental place, drive it to your destination. Cost varies drastically based on time, distance, destination, and journey duration.

• Cost: The most variable of any method. Remember to add gas for most plans and make sure they take mileage into account. Rental can be $220 or $800 from TX to WA, based on how many days you take and where the company needs cars moved to. Good to get quotes based on both airport and non-airport locations in the same cities, can vary.
• Benefits: Cheap. Faster gets you discounts. Holds more than you’d think: look up “{model} storage capacity,” and compare to a container or truck.
• Risks: Lower. Usually their cars are in good shape, and if they break down you can swap to a new one where you are. Nice car may get broken into.

6. Shipping containers: Got a lot of stuff you need to bring and want to cut costs, or don’t drive? Consider shipping containers. They’ll bring a big container to your address, you pack it up, they bring it to your new address.

• Cost: Varies drastically. $1,200? Get quotes. Usually cheaper than renting a moving truck but likely more expensive than renting a trailer or SUV/van.
• Benefits: Easiest large move method without driving. Usually less time-sensitive: depending on the company, they may give you a couple days to pack it up and to unpack, while truck rentals are often by the day.
• Risks: Notorious for showing up late. Don’t put anything in it you can’t live without for a few days or maybe weeks.
  You may need a driveway or somewhere for the container to go. (Don’t have this? Look into terminal-to-terminal shipping. You’ll need to do a local move/1-day U-Haul to bring your stuff to/from a local shipping warehouse. May be cheaper for shipping, though you have to pay for the local aspect.)

7. Moving truck: The classic option, but expensive. You rent a moving van and drive it to your destination.

• Cost: ~$1,600-4,000. Varies by time, direction, size. Remember to add in gas depending on company, and ensure the quote accounts for both mileage and days.
• Benefits: You get a lot of stuff. Also includes transportation for you, and you arrive at the same time as your stuff and have it on you.
• Risks: Mostly cost. Driving a big truck can be intimidating, though you don’t need a special license. You need to have somewhere to bring your stuff upon arrival, whether that’s an apartment or a storage unit, or extra day costs may add up fast.

8. Moving truck, towing your car: Need a lot of stuff, but also your car at the destination? You can rent a moving truck, pack it and your car full, and tow the car. Don’t have a hitch? See the section below!

• Cost: Truck rental + $150-350.
• Benefits: Good if your car is unreliable or can’t tow, but you need a lot of stuff and to have your car at your destination.
• Risks: Towing is annoying and can be anxiety-inducing. Double-novelty of both driving a huge truck and also towing can be a lot.

9. Paid movers: This is the luxury option. They load up, drive it, unload. You can fly or drive separately. Companies vary by location and destination.

• Cost: $$$$$. Get a couple quotes.

More tips and info about considering options!

Process

1. Start saving/raising money, ASAP. Moving is expensive and every little bit helps.

2. Figure out what you can get rid of, or grab later. Travelling as light as possible helps.

3. If you want to move more than a carload: get quotes from everyone. Prices fluctuate significantly between companies and based on which direction you’re going and when. This is annoying. You will have to call most of them on the phone, and it takes a few minutes each – but could save thousands of dollars, or could find that one method ends up cheaper than the other.
   Go past the vibe-check on space: some trucks are bigger, shipping containers vary in size: compare actual storage space vs price of each option.

   REMEMBER: Always check mileage limits + rates!

   *: Doesn’t have online quotes. Note that these may often have better deals.

   They may ask for a phone # or email – if possible, I’d give one that you can check throughout the move, but isn’t your main one, as some companies may inundate you.

   Companies to Get Quotes From

   1. Shipping small items
      1. PirateShip (usually cheaper)
      2. Shipping books, CDs, or other media: USPS Media
      3. USPS
      4. FedEx
      5. UPS
   2. One-way car/SUV rental (for smaller moves):
      1. Budget
      2. Hertz
      3. Enterprise
      4. Costco (members only)

   Aggregators (sometimes have discount prices, even via companies above):

   5. Kayak

   6. Autoslash - reportedly good deals but unclear about getting a quote

   7. Shipping containers / freight shipping:

      1. U-Ship* – it’s a marketplace. Bidders send you quotes or you offer, takes a few days. Wider date ranges may give you better prices.
      2. PODS* – often cheapest, but you have to call 855-706-4758 for quote
      3. U-Haul U-Box
      4. JB Hunt (freight)
      5. U-Pack
      6. Packrats* – might be cheap, I couldn’t get a quote while writing this.

   8. Cargo trailers or moving truck rental:

      1. Budget
      2. U-Haul
      3. Penske

   9. Full-service moves:

      1. American Van Lines*
      2. Two Men and a Truck*
      3. IVL

   10. Help for a day

       1. TaskRabbit - if you just need a hand for a day, you can use TaskRabbit or other gig apps to find someone locally who can work on unloading, moving items, assembling furniture etc. Rates vary by person.

4. Work out your budget. Remember you will likely have to have twice your rent in the bank to move into an apartment. It is a common mistake to overspend on the physical move to try and bring everything: and then run into trouble on move-in or because of an unexpected expense, and have to now pay way more to store all of this stuff or lose it.

5. Book it! If booking a rental, remember to book your reservation ahead of time. Prices may fluctuate, and may go up or down closer to your departure date, but you don’t want to be left in the lurch because you can’t get a truck or box before your departure date at your current housing.

Traveling with Cats (or Small Dogs)

(not comprehensive, just slapped this together)

Visit Vet

Help you manage anxiety - get anti-anxiety meds for cat (ex: gabapentin)
Get health certificates for your cat - may be required for your airline

Check Airline Policies

You should be able to bring your cat in a carrier as a carry-on, underneath the seat in front of you.
Exact fees, in-cabin pet, carrier size, pet documentation required varies based on the airline.
You may need to make a pet reservation when you buy your plane ticket.

Contact TSA Cares to alleviate security check stress

Call 1-855-787-2227 a few days before your flight, to request a Passenger Support Specialist (PSS). You can request assistance with the screening process, get a private screening room. Source.

PetFlight also has a list of popular airports and information on if they have pet relief stations; for many airports it also includes direct links to their specific pet policies/resources page.

Help Available

Keshet

Keshet is a queer Jewish group that offers interest-free loans for queer people relocating to supportive states via its “Move to Thrive” program. You need income that would allow for repayment, and may need a cosigner/guarantor, but they can offer loans up to $10,000, interest-free.

For a list of more resources, please view the Relocation Funding Sources guide!

Installing a Hitch

Would a cargo trailer make sense, but you don’t have a hitch? Even with purchasing the parts, installation, and renting the cargo trailer, it could still be much cheaper than renting a van and towing a car; plus you’d have the hitch available moving forward.

See this AutoZone article – if your car doesn’t have a hitch, you can typically buy the parts for between $150 - $400. Installation is estimated around $75 - $100.

Many UHaul locations offer free towing inspections to let you know how much weight your vehicle can tow and what type of hitch you’d need.

U-Haul can also install a hitch on your car for you. You can get a quote here!