Comments on: In Our New House!

By: T'Pol

T'Pol — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:04:03 +0000

So sorry that you had to work so hard to transfer your stuff. Having moved several times in the past, I know it’s a pain in the neck even if everything goes as planned. Hopefully you will not need to move for a long time. I feel blessed to be living in my own apartment since 2004. The only thing good about moving is that you get rid of all the junk and clutter.

Congrats on the new house. I wish you get to spend several healthy and happy years there with all your loved ones.

By: Kay

Kay — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:59:07 +0000

Congratulations!!! So glad you like the new house and you are finally moved into the new house inspite of all the truck mishaps. Can’t wait to hear more about the new house. Would love some pictures, if you feel inclined to sharing some.

We had a tough time with uhaul too, but we were able to cancel it and get another truck from another company. The move still sucked because of the stupid miscalculations about our “stuff” on our part, but the truck was good.

By: FrugalChick

FrugalChick — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:14:34 +0000

Congrats on being in your new home! Can’t wait to hear more about it.

I have also had troubles with UHaul in the past, and I don’t think I’ll ever use them again if I can get away with it. They may be less expensive than other truck companies, but I have been very disappointed in the way the company is run.

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:06:39 +0000

That sucks big time! Uhaul let me down recently, too. Didn’t have my truck there. I called Budget and fortunately, they had a truck.

I also got $50 from Uhaul, but the truck from Budget was bigger and more expensive, so it didn’t totally equal out.

Glad you’re in your new place!

By: FrugalBabe

FrugalBabe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:33:23 +0000

MITBeta – I agree – I thought $200 was a lot for the storage unit too (actually it was $180 now that I checked the receipt to make sure). But we’ve moved to a small town, and there’s only one storage place in town. No competition, and no other options. We tried to get ahold of the sellers who were moving out of the house, to see if they’d let us park our stuff here for a couple days (we’d have paid them too), but couldn’t get ahold of them. So the storage unit was the only other safe option. We have three 10 x 10 units rented, and the total came to $180 for the month. We probably could have crammed everything into two units, but the lady was staying late as it was to get us checked in with our first load of stuff, and we didn’t want to take the chance that we wouldn’t be able to get our stuff into two units and then have no other option at two in the morning if the rest of our stuff didn’t fit. So we opted for three units, and everything fit very comfortably. Happily, they are now almost empty again.

By: MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators

MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:06:14 +0000

I decided a long time ago that the cheaper prices the U-Haul offers are not worth it. Rider or Budget are the way to go. The trucks are nicer (ie well maintained), and the know how to operate a reservation system.

I arrived to pick up a truck for a move once on a Sunday morning and there were about 30 trucks on the lot parked in every haphazard way by the people who dropped them off after hours the night before. It took 2 hours for the employees to sort out the mess and find the truck we had reserved — which, not surprisingly was parked way on the inside, so all the other trucks had to be rented out first.

$200 is A LOT for a storage unit too… I often see 1st month free signs in my area, and $39 a month thereafter…

By: frugalchick

frugalchick — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:46:06 +0000

Between you and Kacie, I’m not liking UHaul anymore. What’s the point of making a reservation then if the truck is not going to be there? But I’m glad to hear you’re in your new house! Congrats!

By: Anianna

Anianna — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:45:28 +0000

Yikes! It sounds like the ones in your area are taking advantage of the outrageous prices set by the POD people. We ran into some pretty nutty prices out this way, too, until we found the A Box, which was far, far more reasonable. Some of the companies charged crazy fees for moving the box and others for renting the box, but A Box was reasonable all around. I’m sorry you weren’t able to find a company like that before you moved.

By: FrugalBabe

FrugalBabe — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:21:37 +0000

Anianna – it sounds like the portable storage unit worked great. I had checked into PODS and Pack Rats before I made our truck reservation, but the lowest price I got from them was $775. That would have included transportation and a month of storage (which we weren’t expecting to need!). I had also checked with Budget and Penske, both of which were much more expensive than UHaul. We loved the idea of PODS or Pack Rats portable storage units, but didn’t want to spend twice as much as UHaul was going to cost. In hindsight, I wish we had gone that route instead – it would have been worth an extra few hundred dollars to not have to deal with the fiasco that UHaul created. At the time, we went with the lowest price… guess we got what we paid for!

By: Anianna

Anianna — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:08:10 +0000

Grats getting your stuff out in time despite Uhaul’s best efforts!

After our similar truck fiasco, we found a better way. You can get a storage box from a variety of companies (like POD, but others are usually less expensive), rent it for a month, and have them move it when you are ready. In our area, the brand was called “A Box” and we rented it and had it moved for less than $200. We didn’t have to rush because it was there in the driveway for a month and we could pay another month if we needed to.

I wish I had found you sooner, I could have made this recommendation and saved you the hassle. The box could have even been moved to one of your family member’s home for the days you couldn’t move in just yet and then moved again to your new home without the extra work of having to load and unload a storage unit. Best of all, if you still need to store things after you move, you can just keep paying for the box and keep your storage unit right there on your own property.

I know it’s too late for you for this move, but I figured I would post this in case it helps you in the future sometime or helps one of your readers. We found it far easier to move our family of six with a box rather than rushing to load a truck and then rushing to return the truck.