I am currently living in Salt Lake City, UT and will be moving this fall to Eugene, OR and have too much stuff to fit it all in my Toyota Corolla, and also too much stuff to be able to fit it in a trailer behind my car. Does anyone know of any good moving companies, or any good suggestions for a poor graduate student? I will also need to put my stuff in storage for about a month.
Amtrak is your friend. At least it was 20 years ago when I was young.
Pack up your things in moving boxes, and ship them to yourself–or a friend or roomate in Eugene. It may take a while, but who cares, right? And if I remember, it was quite reasonably priced.
If some of these items are large (computer desks, sofas, etc, etc) then you might consider just selling them rather than go to the expense and hassle of moving them.
Once settled in you can replace this stuff pretty easily.
My oldest son went through this as a grad student and he has spent more money and aggravation moving stuff like that and storing it than it was ever worth.
If this stuff is all a must then might consider renting a small (10-14 foot) Budget or U-Haul rental truck and tow your car behind that.
The rental truck fuel economy won’t be that great but then again, a loaded Corolla pulling a loaded trailer is going to suffer quite a bit also.
This also puts the strain on the rental truck instead of your Corolla and even more so if your Corolla has an automatic transmission.
Just something for consideration anyway. Hope it helps in your decision and good luck.
Where to begin? How about listing what you intend to move?
It depends a lot on what you may be shipping. I am planing a move in a few years, but I am already getting rid of much of the George Carlin’s STUFF, that I have around. For shipping, you might want to consider the “PODS” and like option. It is just one possible solution.
Good Luck
If you have a lot of books, check into shipping them by freight. There are good rates to ship books this way. ok4450 is absolutely correct about moving furniture if your furniture is anything like the furniture I had as a poor graduate student. Dump the furniture and purchase similar furniture at your destination. If you have some valuabe pieces, check with a moving company. Some companies will give special rates if they can put together several partial loads. You will have to be flexible about the pickup and arrival times, however.
You’ve never heard of U-Haul? Self moves is their specialty. You can rent a truck and a dolly to tow the car behind the truck. It will cost you, but a bunch less than a “moving company” would charge.
Some trucking companies now will bring a container to your home or apartment. You have a few days to pack and load it yourself. Then they pick up the container locked and sealed and drop it off at your new address. You have a few days to empty it and it is picked up and move is done. Saw this service advertised somewhere but don’t recall the name and particulars. With some research I’m sure you can find such a service in your area.
Pods - Portable On Demand Storage.
I found it much cheaper to just move stuff myself. Load up a u-haul, toss the car on a dolly or trailer, and go. like the last thread we had on a very similar subject (the guy with the Honda Pilot), turn it into a vacation if you can. This trip is only about 800 miles, so a couple tanks of fuel and you’re there.
Chase
This would be a real good opportunity to evaluate what’s important in your life. You need to evaluate each item to determine if it is worth moving. Why spend $5 to move something that can be replaced for $2. Even worse, why spend any money moving something you will never use or touch again.
I’m gonna guess that a lot of what you want to move are books. First consider deleting all books that are not directly related to your field. Next, just get rid of them all. I dragged my college textbooks (major related only) around for many years and guess what, I have never opened a single one of them. I don’t know about your field, but in mine there is always new reference material coming out so the old text books are obsolete. Besides, we have Google today.
I would rent a proper size moving container, which will be droped off in your driveway, you fill it up and they will move it anywhere together with other containers, and you unload it at the destination.
If you just have a few things to move, buy plastic containers at Walmart and ship them by Greyhound. You’ve seen those trailers behind their busses; those have parcels and extra luggae in them. Much cheaper than couriers, since you won’t be in a hurry.
Drive yourself to Oregon and enjoy the trip and the scenery.
You’re heading to school, but I don’t know where you’re at in life…but I echo some other comments above by encouraging you to unload as much as you can and using the portable storage, or renting a u-haul. I was in your situation when I relocated for grad school four years ago, and I got rid of as much furniture, etc., as possible, both for simplicity in moving but also because it’s kind of a law of life that when you stay in one place for a while, you will inevitably accumulate more stuff. I’d been typically furnishing my apartments with hand-me-downs and stuff I could assemble out of a box because I wasn’t settled in anything like a home. From what I hear about Eugene, it’s a pretty progressive college town and you can probably find others willing to sell you or trade you furniture or other stuff. Enjoy the trip, and look forward to starting a new era in your life.