Stages of moving
When I first moved from my parents’ house after college, it took one pick up truck. I had no furniture and minimal belongings. Moving was easy. I got furniture from someone who had bought new couches and bought everything else I needed over the course of several months.
The second time I moved required two pick up trucks and a couple of friends because I accumulated more stuff (namely, the aforementioned couches).
The third time I moved, I rented a small UHAUL as I got even more stuff.
The fourth time, I rented small UHAUL again as I apparently didn’t accumulate significant amounts of stuff.
The fifth time was rather interesting. I’d finished my Masters degree and got a decent-paying public accounting job. I decided that the couches and other furniture (you know, cinder blocks with boards laying across them) that had served me well had to go. It was time to buy nice stuff for my bitchin’ new bachelor pad that I bought. As such, moving required only two pickup trucks. I abandoned my furniture on the curb of the place I was leaving for trash pickup day. Ah, new beginnings.
The sixth was when the Mrs. moved in with me. We only moved her stuff. Another UHAUL (she had more stuff than me).
The seventh move was the first time I hired professional movers. Me and the Mrs. went from my formerly rockin’ bachelor condo to a house in suburbia. I hired them because me and the Mrs. purchased a 60 inch big screen and I wasn’t going to move it. I’m not insured. Me and the Mrs. used Two Men and a Truck and our stuff filled about 3/4th of that truck.
One and a half years later, we bought a bigger place and again hired Two Men and a Truck. This time, we required two trucks and four men. Actually, that’s what we required. What we got was two men and a truck making two trips. We more than doubled our stuff in 1.5 years. Unbelievable.
Lessons learned:
When you arrive at your new pad, assemble your bed first. When you decide you’re exhausted and want to sleep, it sucks to realize your bed hasn’t been put together.
You need to warn your pets. Politically Incorrect Dog is inconsolable. He is still moping about the house. He appears to be suffering some sort of anxiety or depression. It’s not his first move and we took him to the new house at least twice a week while it was being built. He must have left something in the yard that we forgot. He is really pathetic.
Hiring movers is money well spent.
If you buy a bigger residence, you will fill it up. Learn to throw stuff away.
April 12th, 2004 at 2:41 pm
I too, have used Two Men and a Truck when I moved most recently. Very professional and moderate in price.
Do you have a gun safe Uncle? I purchased mine when I moved into my condo and consquently haven’t moved with it. I was wondering if moving services charge extra like they do sometimes with refrigerators and washing machines?
April 12th, 2004 at 2:43 pm
I do not. However, since i have a little one on the way, I will be purchasing one in the next few months. To move my TV, they charged an extra $25. I’d say a safe would be comparable.
There was no charge to move my small safe.
April 12th, 2004 at 3:46 pm
Two Men and a Truck moved me and the fiancee into our house. They did a pretty good job as well they need to pay us for plugging them dont they?)
I forgot about two of my guns being temp stored (due to the move) in my nightstand…they kind of freaked out when they opened it and saw my mini arsenal 🙂
April 12th, 2004 at 4:15 pm
“The second time I moved required two pick up trucks and a couple of friends”
I’ve been customer and employee of Six Pack Moving Service. It works.
I’ve pretty much decided to not get a safe right now, and one reason was moving. A serious safe with fire protection weighs 500-700+ pounds. I’m going to make do with a locked metal gun cabinet until the next house.
April 12th, 2004 at 4:21 pm
6 pack? Your friends are cheap. It takes minimum of a 12er, but mostly a case. And lunch.
April 12th, 2004 at 5:11 pm
If you buy a bigger residence, you will fill it up. Learn to throw stuff away.
Ain’t that the truth? I still have stuff boxed up from when I moved into my current house, mid-January of 2003. I still haven’t unpacked all of the computer stuff.
Obviously, none of it is of earth-shattering importance, or I would have missed it by now. But I can’t bring myself to pitch the stuff, especially without at least looking through it.
April 12th, 2004 at 11:11 pm
My moving experiences have been much the same — progressing from a pick-up truck to professional movers. When we last moved 2 years ago we paid the $300 for Moretz Movers to load and unload our belongings. It took them 3 hours to do a job that my husband and I would have completed in 8 hours (if we were lucky). They even set up our bed for us. I will never move again without the services of professional movers.
I have a very hard time throwing anything away. I am a packrat by nature (got that from my grandmother and mother), but am slowly learning that I don’t need everything I’ve ever bought.
April 13th, 2004 at 12:49 am
It took half a dozen trips with a U-Haul to move into this house, and we have been accumulating systematically for the seven years since. We are now getting started on moving from 4800 square feet to about half the space. There will be a lot of pruning and careful organization, and the two dining tables which each seat eight are not going with.
Some of the stuff will go by truck, maybe even by movers, but I walked the first load over today and we are figuring on taking four to six months to do it all.
April 13th, 2004 at 10:56 am
PS to Uncle: Dick’s Sporting Goods has a clearance sale on their Stack-On 14-gun fire safe for $450. That’s the best price I’ve ever seen on a fire safe.
April 13th, 2004 at 1:54 pm
triticale:
We are now getting started on moving from 4800 square feet to about half the space.
Ouch! That’s not going to be fun.