Comments on: What I’ve Spent to Move Into a New Apartment

By: eemusings@twitter

eemusings@twitter — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 04:24:27 +0000

I’ve moved countless times in the past seven years, and managed to do most of it for free (http://eemusings.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/moving-house-the-cheapskate-way/). Our last move was probably the most expensive – $300 plus for the nonrefundable agency fee, plus we paid for a moving truck (but my BF and a friend did all the actual moving, with help from me).

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:08:42 +0000

This is one of the stupidist and most inaccurate assessments of expenses I could have imagined. You list an expense for an item that you returned (the fans), you add in the cost of lunches and random bar tabs with “friends” who ran up your tab with Coronitas and didn’t contribute?! Add in the added costs of poor planning and gas for borrowing a friend’s car (with no attachment to the move of course). This has got to be among the most uninformative posts I’ve seen….thanks.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:07:25 +0000

By: Chris Tackett@facebook

Chris Tackett@facebook — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:40:12 +0000

Posts like this are always helpful. Thanks!

If I can make a request, could The Billfold please do a post or series on moving to NYC? I’m in the process of moving and it’s daunting. I’m sure it would be a popular post to answer some of the questions that arise.

Broker or no?
Moving truck or UPS/FedEx?
Etc.

By: bibliostitute

bibliostitute — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 06:44:43 +0000

@MuffyStJohn which is why i usually jettison all my stuff!!!!!! get rid of your things seriously the way they hold you down is disgusting!

By: Missmetrodc

Missmetrodc — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 01:53:09 +0000

@stuffisthings I’m going to be moving closer to the city in the next few months (currently in the middle of nowhere VA….ugh commutes), and I need ALL of your apartment finding tips and magic spells. It’s like the Hunger Games out there for apartments.

By: MuffyStJohn

MuffyStJohn — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:41:12 +0000

@Emma Peel That’s not too bad! I mean, subtract what you get back from your old deposit and you’re not doing too awful. Especially since you bought furniture that you’ll theoretically be bringing to your next place.

And I am all too familiar with the “I don’t know what the other $200 was for.”

By: Emma Peel

Emma Peel — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 22:12:52 +0000

I just moved (also in DC!) and was considering doing this myself. My expenses:

$960: Security deposit. More than the deposit at my old place, so I lost money on this from the beginning.

$75: Fee to DC for permits to park my moving truck.

$147.50: U-Haul truck and gas for 2 days. (To be fair, I shared this with my former roommates, who have yet to pay me back.)

$367: IKEA. $150 of this was a dresser. I do not know what the other $200 was for, which is mildly alarming.

$127.50: Various Home Depot improvements, including a new showerhead and a new drill, because I lost the old one in the maw of the old house.

$100: New bedframe for new room.

$22: Snacks and beverages for the lovely friends who helped me move. This was a bargain.

Total: ohgodIdon’twanttothinkaboutit.

By: Vicky Johnson@twitter

Vicky Johnson@twitter — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:13:21 +0000

@beatricks@twitter I feel like, if you’re moving that far, just sell everything and start over. I moved 8000 miles a few years ago and narrowed my possessions down to whatever could fit in two suitcases. It was nerve-wracking at the time but once it was over I felt so free.

By: probs

probs — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:33:43 +0000

Last time I moved the main expense was just the deposit. I was only moving by 5 or 6 blocks, so I just crammed stuff in my Buick and made multiple trips. Only hair-raising part was moving the box spring and mattress, all strapped to the top and such. I also don’t have much furniture (cheapo computer desk, mattress, box spring, bed frame, and drafting table), so that helps. Moving is one of life’s premiere hassles, really just a frontrunner in the field.