Moving across the country can be very expensive, and it canbe a challengewhen you’re trying to do it on a budget.
I’ve personallyexperienced moving across the country twice: once from Louisiana to Connecticut for graduate school and once from Massachusetts to Texas to relocate after graduate school. Getting there was the easy part, but coming back was the hardest.
Wewanted to make the expensive cross country move as budget friendly as possible, so we considered every option to do so.
I’ve learned some budget friendly moving tips along the way, so today I’m here to share them with you! If you’re planning onmoving across the country, consider these tips and tricks to stay in budget!
HOW TO NAIL MOVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY ON A BUDGET:
1. Sell what you don’t need
Before you pack up to move across the country, go through everything you own and either sell or donate what you don’t need. This can be clothes, furniture, electronics, kitchen gadgets, etc. You won’twant to have to pay to move extra stuff across the country that you have no use for.
2. Consider the value of your furniturevs. the cost to move it
In some cases, it may actually be cheaper to sell your furniture and largeritems you own and buy new stuff than it would to pay to move it, especially if you replace your furniture with items from this affordable collection!
This was actually the case for Chris and I when wemade our first cross country move to New England. Our apartment in Louisiana was still furnished with mostly cheap college furniture, so it didn’t make senseto pay over $2,000 to bring stuffonly worth a couple hundred bucks with us.
3. Ship stuff in boxes through USPS, FedEx, or UPS
If you’re only planning on moving across the country with smaller personal belongings, consider shipping them through a postal service like FedEx rather than renting a moving truck or container- it will be much cheaper this way!
These sturdy moving boxes work great for shipping small items.Justbecautious with fragile items and pack them securely. I recommend wrapping fragile items withthis protective foam.
I loaded my car with kitchen glassware and a few decor pieces I wanted to take, as well as my sentimental items I didn’t want torisk losing, like valuable jewelry, handbags, clothes, and shoes. The rest was packed away into boxes and shipped. This was very convenient!
4. Do a price comparison of all moving services
If selling your furniture is not an option but you’re still trying to move cross country on a budget, I recommend doing a price comparison of all moving services such as moving trucks, containers, and trailers.
We bought all new stuff once we got to New England and it didn’t make sense to resell it all when the time came to move across the country again, so this time we took everything back with us.
From my research, the cheapest option to move a 2 bedroom housewas by far a trailer through U-Pack. This turned out to be the more ideal situation since wedidn’thave to drive the truck- they do it for you. This also meant wedidn’t have to pay to rent an extra trailer to pull one of ourcars behind!
5. Plan your route around a place tostay
Cross country moves are long and tiring. Carefully map out your route to allow breaks in between driving. If you’re moving across the country on a budget, hotel costs can quickly add up and sometimes become an unnecessary expense.
Think of any family or friends you may have on or near your route that will offeryou a free place to stay for the night. Not only is this a great way tosave some money, it’s also a great opportunity for you to reunite with friends and family you may have not seen in a while, or even better, turn your long cross country road trip into a mini vacation!
We made a pit stop in Gatlinburg along the way and it was a nice little break! We didn’t have to spend money on a hotel room and we got to spend time with family. Win win!
So there you have it, my tips and trips for moving across the country on a budget! I hope this helps you!
Are you planning on movingacross thecountry, or have you ever? What was your experience like?
If you found this helpful, please pin this post for others moving across the country tosee!
Looking for more helpful resources? Check out these road trip tricks and hacks and this post on how to survive a long road tripif you’re planning a big move!
