What's the best (cheap) way to move your stuff?

[suzukiwookie 1]

Hi Guys,

I'm 4 weeks away from moving from Toronto to Florida to get married and do the whole thing! I have a honda accord with a V6 and was planning on just getting a trailer hitch put on it and renting one of those uhaul trailers. But a lot of people are asking me if I am crazy. So I am starting to wonder... It is believed that I will ruin the transmission on my car. So now I am left sitting here wondering how I am going to do this move.

So my question is - how did you move and what do you recommend for me? Here is some info:

- I only have about one small bedroom worth of stuff to move (one computer desk, a tv and a bunch of boxes and my clothes). It wont' all fit in my car though..

- Not taking my bed.

- Want to do this for under $500 if possible.

Your experiences and suggestions would be much appreciated!

[ozone_1974 1]

Hi Guys,

I'm 4 weeks away from moving from Toronto to Florida to get married and do the whole thing! I have a honda accord with a V6 and was planning on just getting a trailer hitch put on it and renting one of those uhaul trailers. But a lot of people are asking me if I am crazy. So I am starting to wonder... It is believed that I will ruin the transmission on my car. So now I am left sitting here wondering how I am going to do this move.

So my question is - how did you move and what do you recommend for me? Here is some info:

- I only have about one small bedroom worth of stuff to move (one computer desk, a tv and a bunch of boxes and my clothes). It wont' all fit in my car though..

- Not taking my bed.

- Want to do this for under $500 if possible.

Your experiences and suggestions would be much appreciated!

It depends on the year of your vehicle and its overall condition .. but your Honda car dealer could tell you more about what your car can support. They will tell you the weight you car can safely pull .. then you can make your decision based on their answer

[Wis-Can 0]

Uhaul will calculate the size of trailer you can tow on their website. I doubt you'll be able to do it all for $500, but the time you get your hitch put on, the cost of the rental and then your gas. Have you checked into one of those plastic luggage compartments that go on your roof. They hold quite a bit of stuff. I think you can rent those as well at uhaul or maybe purchase on second hand on kijiji. Between that and your car maybe you'd have enough room. I'm not sure what I am doing yet. I am looking into a uhaul truck with a trailer to haul my car. Remember your going to need a letter stating that your car meets emission standards before they will allow it in, unless this has changed and you won't be able to sell it for two years without having to pay duty on it. Again this may have changed as well. I checked into the blue book value of my car here and where I am moving to in the US its actually 4 thousand dollars less in the US. Something to think about. GOOD LUCK!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

We had a 16' or 18' Uhaul truck and went from Kitchener ON to Virginia (around half your trip distance?) in total the rental cost around $500-$650 (not including gas) one way- we got it the day before and started loading it up and we took 2 days to drive the usual 9 hr drive. Mostly because the truck was just slower and we had to stop for the border stuff. We stopped at Pittsburgh at a hotel and then continued for 4 more hours to Virginia the next day.

You could drive a smaller truck and pull your car on a trailer too.

[Old Dominion 26]

You can also rent a small U-Haul truck and tow your car instead. I would say that $500 isn't enough, however.

[Craneman 2]

You can also rent a small U-Haul truck and tow your car instead. I would say that $500 isn't enough, however.

U-Haul

[Sprailenes 47]

You can also rent a small U-Haul truck and tow your car instead. I would say that $500 isn't enough, however.

U-Haul

What? I couldn't hear you.

[SapphireDreams 71]

If you're willing to drop off and pick up your stuff at a UPACK location, that might be your cheapest and easiest option. I did a quote with them and found it pretty reasonable. I actually don't have enough stuff to use them I don't think... although it might end up being the cheapest option...

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I don't have a car and I only really have, clothes, books and things, no furniture... but more than just suitcases worth of stuff.

I think I'm going to fly and just ship 3-4 boxes all my stuff through FedEx or Air Cargo. I'm budgeting around $800 and I'm moving from Toronto - NYC. I figure flying will force me to purge A LOT of stuff.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Sell the desk and tv, and use the cash as "extra" for your trip.

[TayL 0]

There's a cheap way for an international move?

Okay, sorry.

I've been looking into the options for my move and, right now, the cheapest option is for him to drive up, us pack as much of my things as we can into his Honda Civic (with a roof case) and then drive back down. This is also what's best for my cat as I can control how he's treated and handled for the entire trip.

My fiancé wants to do what Sapphire Dreams is doing--he claims that we can fit just as much stuff if we pay for me to have one or two extra bags, but I'm worried that my cat could get hurt or his mental health could be damaged by getting tossed about in his cat carrier--he's never been in the carrier for very long.

UHaul seems like a relatively good option, though you'll want to, as someone's said, check with a Honda dealer to get the tow capacity on your car. Otherwise, I second (or is it third, now?) the recommendation of towing your car behind a UHaul.

I will say that, for Toronto to Florida, which is very nearly the same distance as I'm going, I believe (I'd have to get out a map, but I'm going from Owen Sound, ON to Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas), 500 bucks isn't going to cut it, unfortunately. Unless there's some option that I haven't managed to find in the several months I've been looking at our options.

Edited February 18, 2009 by TayL

[JillA 2]

I was originally going to hitch my car on the back of a 17 foot UHAUL truck, but after reading many horror stories and investigations about UHAUL hitches and how easily they get undone from wind or even a bit of speed, (like over 45 MPH) I bagged that idea. I was too nervous. In the end I drove my car packed with stuff, and my fiancee drove the truck and we just followed eachother. Granted we only drove from Toronto-Philadelphia and that was 1 day of driving. It would have been nice to be together in the car or truck and enjoyed the ride together but I didn't want to do the hitch after all. The cost of the truck including gas (2 fillups) was $750 USD.

[Krikit 1,164]

Pack as much as you can into your vehicle and sell the rest. You can buy new/used stuff here in Fla for the money you save in rentals and gas. You have mountains to drive through in order to get here. It's a beautiful drive but I wouldn't want to be hauling a trailer with an Accord. (I'm assuming you're going the scenic route and not the Windsor/Detroit route.) And that doesn't even take into account the fact that you might get hit with a snowstorm on your way through the northern States.

Now for the good stuff!..... I've driven that route a million times. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But at least 40. If you want to know where the cheapest gas and the best places to stay are, let me know.

Have a great trip!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

It's funny - in hindsight, I can't tell you how many things I've given away, thrown out or donated since the BIG MOVE.

I was pretty bent about having to leave anything behind initially since I had carefully accumulated my special belojngings over the years and they were attached to memories and events. I remember the day way I finally got a ' Big girl' dining set. not one which had belonged to a relative or scavenged from Sally Ann! 4 matching chairs that in turn matched the tabl;e too!

My treasured bedroom set is now the spare bedroom furniture and I'm considering pitching it I wouldn't have done the move differently at the time, but in hindsight I was wayyyy too attached to my stuff. The really important stuff like pictures and the like are worth preserving always.

[SonoranSongbird 3]

My husband used UPack to ship his belongings. I can't remember what it cost, but it was pretty reasonable. When you factor in the cost of gas, it was not that much more expensive than renting a U-Haul. If your fiance (or anyone else, for that matter) can make the drive with you, another option is to rent the U-Haul and have one person drive the U-Haul while the other drives your car. Or you can do what Krikit suggested and really just take what you can carry in your car.

I looked into getting a U-Haul with a trailer hitch for a long distance move once a lont time ago, and the smallest truck that had a hitch to tow my car was much bigger than what I needed to move everything in my one-bedroom apartment--which also made it more expensive to rent, harder to drive, and more expensive to buy gas for. I'd recommend against that option.

[bluegreen 0]

We just moved from CO to CA with a Uhaul towing my car on a transporter. Basically it kind of sucks and if there is a way to avoid towing anything I would do it. We did not fill up the entire truck so we "sold" space to someone on Craiglist, which paid for our gas (however, she had boxes that were literally full of rocks, so I suspect we would've spent way less on gas without her stuff. Another story though:). It took forever—we had to drive really slowly over the mountain passes. going downhill is much scarier and more dangerous than going up. I am so glad it was summertime.

One thing I will say, is that the UHaul price is always negotiable! My husband went to a few different Uhaul places until he found someone willing to negotiate. We got the truck for $100 less, including 00 extra miles, and the transporter for the price of a tow dolly. I think we saved about $300. It helped that it was the middle of the month—not "moving" week.