Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

DH and I are potentially moving OOS.
I just got off the phone with a reputable moving company and while they sound professional, I do not want to spend thousands of dollars.

Has anyone rented a truck and did this all on your own, the packing, loading and driving OOS?

How did it work for you? was it harder than you thought? What did you have to pay for tolls and gas? How much was it over all? Did you also have another car and if you need to trail a car, do you need a CDL license to do this??

Looking for as much feedback possible.

Thanks!

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

DH and I moved to Va and then back again, both times we did it ourselves. We rented the truck and a trailer, dh towwed his car, I drove mine. You don't need a cdl. With gas and tolls it probably costs about $1,000 (one way)
. My SIL and her dh followed us there and helped us unload. We also only had a one bedroom apartment. So it depends on the amount of stuff you have. You may need a bigger truck.

Message edited 1/11/2014 8:48:44 PM.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

We did it all ourselves. DH and his friend alternated who drove the truck and switched off driving his car. I drove/followed in my own car. No cdl needed. Sure, it was stressful, but we managed just fine. There was no way we were paying 5k+ for movers.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

DH and I moved oursleves from our Manhattan apartment to Virginia in 2010. We had plenty of help but at the end of the move we all looked at each other and agreed we would never do it on our own again. It was way too much work and so not worth it. This past summer we moved again within the state of Virginia but about 2.5 hours away from our original location. We hired movers who did everything and we were so much happier. I don't remember what it cost to rent the truck the first time or for gas but at the time we agreed the money we saved was not worth the hassle. This time around I believe we paid the movers $1350 to move our 2 bed 2 bath apartment which was all inclusive (gas, labor etc)

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

We moved ourselves to NC. My husband and I dh's brother and my best friend to help. We packed the 24 ft u haul, left NJ around 12pm and got to NC at 11:00pm ( we unpacked the next morning). My husband drove the uhaul, his brother drove dh's pick up, and I drove my Prius. It was a lot of work ( my DS who was 6 months at the time, was in the Prius with me) but worth it for us. We saved about 3,000, doing it ourselves.

We were quoted 4,800- 5,700 by several moving companies. Between the Uhaul, tolls, gas for the uhaul and 2 cars, food for all of us, flights for dh's brother and my best friend back to NY and NJ, 100 cash to each of them, we spent less than 1,900.

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

We were childless then, so we didn't have that to worry about. But I'd prob fly, there's no way I could do the drive with my DD

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Call different moving companies for quotes. I just moved from long island to florida and it was considerably cheaper to hire a moving company.

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Only while staying on Long Island. Both times we moved upstate and back home we hired moving men.

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

We moved ourselves to Fl with cats and dogd Dh drove uhaul and I drove our car. When we moved there it was cheaper to move ourselves. When we moved back we did a pod then drove our cars back with the pets.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

This is random but when I was moving I was at uHaul (in Flushing but this may be the case at all these type if places) and there were men looking for work, they told me if I rented a Uhaul they would help us move by loading it up for us. Obviously this would only work one way for since it is OOS but it would be much cheaper.

Message edited 1/12/2014 7:16:09 AM.

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

I think you would be able to drive down with your DH and DS. My parents drove in a car with 5 children to Florida every single year with kids ranging in age from 4 months-25 years.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

I have moved my self up and down the eat coast. I will never bother doing myself again. It's not worth it. The cost difference isn't that much.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

I have driven to fl every year with my growing family. I now have two kids, and two dogs and yes, we have stuffed our dogs in the car on occasion too. My kids have done that car ride at every age, from 5 months and up. It is actually my oldest son's favorite way to travel to Florida! LOL We flew once last year and he was not happy. I wouldn't worry about the drive as much as I would worry about all the lifting and packing you will need to do to move yourselves.

In a car with a two yr old I would be sure to have some of his favorite things in the back seat with him AND a new coloring book, or other little gadgets to keep his attention. My kids have a snack and bottle of water and a whole bag a sticker/coloring/reading books near them so I don't need to reach back there for them. Our portable dvd player is also a life saver.

Good luck

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

We moved from Wisconsin to Georgia in 2012, and then back from Georgia to Wisconsin in 2013...and both times we did it all ourselves. It's also worth mentioning that we have 2 kids--they're 3.5 and 4.5 now.

I can't understand the people that are saying that it's not that much more expensive to hire movers, because for us, we did A LOT of research and it was thousands of dollars cheaper to move ourselves.

What I do understand are the people who are saying it wasn't worth the extra money to do the work themselves. It is A LOT of work to move yourself...but we needed that extra money, so there was no question in the matter for us.

Anyway, we used Budget both times we moved. We rented a 26' truck (...or whatever size their biggest truck is). DH says he thinks it got around 10 miles to the gallon...so you'd have to figure how that would add up with gas prices where they are now. Both times we had a family member switch off driving the truck with DH, and I drove the minivan with the two kids and our dog. And we didn't make the trip together...I was completely on my own (there was no way I was adding on a few hours to our drive since the moving truck can't go faster than 60mph lol).

I have a lot of experience in the exact situation that you're finding yourself in, so feel free to send me a private message if you want to talk more about it.

Good luck!!

Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

About 10 times. Dh would never consder hiring a company.
It sucks for a few days...but I think it always is under 900 with gas

.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Posted by Mere09

We moved from Wisconsin to Georgia in 2012, and then back from Georgia to Wisconsin in 2013...and both times we did it all ourselves. It's also worth mentioning that we have 2 kids--they're 3.5 and 4.5 now.

I can't understand the people that are saying that it's not that much more expensive to hire movers, because for us, we did A LOT of research and it was thousands of dollars cheaper to move ourselves.

What I do understand are the people who are saying it wasn't worth the extra money to do the work themselves. It is A LOT of work to move yourself...but we needed that extra money, so there was no question in the matter for us.

Anyway, we used Budget both times we moved. We rented a 26' truck (...or whatever size their biggest truck is). DH says he thinks it got around 10 miles to the gallon...so you'd have to figure how that would add up with gas prices where they are now. Both times we had a family member switch off driving the truck with DH, and I drove the minivan with the two kids and our dog. And we didn't make the trip together...I was completely on my own (there was no way I was adding on a few hours to our drive since the moving truck can't go faster than 60mph lol).

I have a lot of experience in the exact situation that you're finding yourself in, so feel free to send me a private message if you want to talk more about it.

Good luck!![/QUOTE

Thank you! I probably will pm you :)

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

My dad helped me move my apartment once. I had to pack everything myself and he helped me move it all into the truck. It took me a solid 3 weeks after work including weekends to pack everything up from a 1 bedroom apartment. It was a lot of work. When DH and I got married his company moved us and paid for everything. I would scrimp and save every penny to have the movers do it for me. Of course, my files, jewelry and other precious to me items I would pack and take with me. But everything replaceable I would have them pack and move. I would get a great insurance policy too.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?

We rent a truck but hire labor, usually off CL.

Re: Has anyone rented a moving truck and moved your stuff yourself?