Oh the joys of relocation. Yesterday Christi met with JK Moving & Storage to get a moving estimate. When she called me to tell me their cost, I spit my coffee across my desk. Then I drank some more, and spit that across the desk, too. To pack us, load a truck, store our stuff for 60 days, deliver it, and unload, they wanted almost $11,000. ELEVEN GRAND! Funk that.

So last night we started working on a plan. We’re still weighing our options, but I think our plan will be to pack our stuff ourselves and rent an 8x8x16 portable storage container and a 14′ Budget Truck. Unless we go with a 6×12 trailer, I have no intention of using U-haul after the awful experiences some of my friends have suffered at their hands.

Packing ourselves will save us about $2,000, and the PODS container and self-service moving truck will save at least $3,500 (possibly more if we take more than 60 days to find a house, since their storage cost is 40% of what JK Moving charges). I’ve tentatively set up Beltway Movers to load our stuff in Virginia, and All Star Movers in Chicago (Note: there are a number of companies in various states DBA “All Star Movers”, but I don’t believe this company is related to any of them), at a cost of about $600 and $300, respectively. All told I expect this move to run us under $4,000 including packing materials – not insignificant, but not nearly the $10,700 JK Moving & Storage was talking either.

Our next step is to sign a lease on an apartment, which we hope to do on January 3rd. And of course, start packing.