Cross country move. Shipping stuff vs u-haul vs buying new things.

Hey guys,
My girlfriend and I are moving from Oakland to Philadelphia for college. We are in a typical dilemma of shipping stuff vs uhaul vs buying new stuff. My mother has volunteered to pay for one of these methods, probably whatever is cheapest. I will also have to ship my car (or drive it) across the US.

Issue 1:
Shipping stuff. Desks, speakers, tvs, mattresses/frame, clothes, etc.
My girlfriend just called and got a quote for POD and it’s $3,600. 8x8 container. Most convenient because they come to/from your exact location
U-haul did an online quote of 1800 for 8x5 and 2500 for 16x10 (2 boxes effectively). For this, you load and unload it at your local u-haul location. They handle all of the driving. However, I’ve heard some bad things about uhaul being bad at meeting deadlines, confusing reservations, etc. It seems, though, that driving the uhaul yourself is more expensive and time consuming.
U-box is is $3,000 for a 6x7x8 box.

Issue 2: Getting a car from CA to Philly. I could drive it, but it’s around 3k miles on the car which means an oil change included in the cost basically, as well as plenty of gas cost.
What services have you guys used to ship cars? How much were they?

If you were to buy new (or new-to-you) stuff, what would you do with the old stuff? If you were planning on keeping it in storage, that would factor into the cost of that method. However, if you were to sell it, that could offset the cost of the new things. Of course, items can often be purchased used at a great discount from people moving away; you can often find these people in groups on Facebook. It sounds like the POD option is one of your less expensive choices (the UHaul quote adds up to more for the two containers), and has the convenience factor.

As for the car, really think about whether you’ll need it in Philly. If you’re going to be living in the city proper, it’s probably not necessary and it will cost a lot to park and maintain it. Many people eschew the car for bikes and public transport, and Philly is quite pedestrian-friendly. Since it’s a big city, it’s also a stop on a lot of passenger rail and bus lines, in case you need to leave the city.

I’m keeping the car no matter what. It is paid off, but has depreciated significantly due to hitting the 10 year old mark a few months after I bought it. Between my girlfriend and I we would like to have one car, and she’s going to buy me a set of winter tires/rims. I’m mostly trying to figure out whether I should drive it across or ship it. Seems like it’s around 1000 to ship it, but then gas would be around 500$, and then there’s at least a few nights of motel rooms, and an oil change.

If I decide not to keep the old stuff, I could try to sell the stuff that has more value (nice speakers, 46 inch HDTV, but in the event it didn’t sell I’d probably have to give it away for free.

If you ship the car, you will need a plane ticket. If you drive, it can be an adventure/vacation, and you will be able to bring a fair amount with you. Do you have any friends along the way? The cost is a part of it, for sure, but it’s a great opportunity to see what’s between the coasts.

My mother said perhaps she would come with me but I don’t know if I could take that much time alone with her. There’s a reason I moved out at 18 lol. Also she can’t drive stickshift.

It’s too bad I have a coupe otherwise I could fit speakers and stuff. Although, I suppose I could bring smaller things like clothes, dj equipment, school supplies, etc. And then maybe I could just ship a few boxes of the larger things?

You might be able to get a roof carrier. And find a friend who would like to take a week dricing with you…

Are you not living in a dorm?
Tell your girlfriend not to buy you tires. It is not her car.

I’m a 23 year old incoming junior, so no I’m not living in a dorm.



And yes, it is my car, but it’s going to be the only car we have for a few years so she wants to contribute towards the running costs

Apparently most car shipping companies have strict rules nowadays about shipping stuff inside of the car.

Question: Are there any recommendations for a good place to get moving insurance? U-Haul offers it for a few extra bucks with their U-box, but there’s a lot of exclusions and it feels like it would be a nightmare to get our money back if something happened.

DD lives in CA, and went to school in Boston. We took three suitcases of electronics and clothes to Boston, along with a 20% off coupon to BBB. We picked everything out at home, didn’t need a car for movein weekend (saved approximately $600 for four days of car and parking. TOok the T to BBB…all new $1000. Took taxi back to VRBO condo. Took taxi to Target and back for a few extra things. She ended up with all new things she is still using 5 years later. I vote to stuff the car, drive it, and buy the rest there. Much cheaper.

If you ship the car, remove the “fast lane” or “ez pass” or whatever you state calls those things that automatically pay tolls while you drive through. If you leave it in the car, you will pay tolls the entire way across the country.

Lol I hadn’t thought of that. Fortunately, I never actually had a thingy, it just ran my license plate against the system anytime I went though.

If it was me, I would leave my stuff behind and pick up some combination of IKEA and thrift store/ yard sale stuff as needed. But that’s just me. It really depends on what you and your girlfriends tolerance level is for such things. If you drive, you can bring the more precious items in the car with you. If you don’t have the time or inclination to drive, I wouldn’t bother shipping run of the mill items.

A lot of our stuff IS ikea/craigslist finds. I’m rather attached to the the speakers/receivers/tv we have.

You can probably just ship your electronics for not much money, just arrange it so that you are there to receive them. Enjoy your time in Philadelphia!

Thanks!

My girlfriend is moving there before me because she has summer session before grad school at UPenn whereas I don’t need to be there until mid september. So she can receive them.

If it is just basics, sell and buy new when you get there.

We just signed a lease for southwest of center city!!! So we will be able to plan what we actually need