I don't agree with it being cheaper to buy new when you get there. Especially if you do the U-Haul route. Which is the way I'd go if you have help to load and unload the things. Also, it depends on how old the appliances are. If they're not worth the move, donate them to Goodwill and get a receipt for tax reasons.
Good luck on your move.
Leslie

I had a mover move my stuff since I'd never hauled a U-Haul before and didn't trust myself. It works well if you have a big load, but I didn't have much so I had to wait a little over a month before the van was full enough to bring down.

Everyplace I've ever lived came equipped with appliances. Most apartments, houses for sale or modular homes all have them., lots even have a washer/dryer. I'd check into it before paying big bucks to bring them and find you don't need them.

I brought my plants in the trunk of the car (that car was so packed DD and I could hardly move). When we stopped for the evening, I opened the trunk and gave them a drink of water. They did fine.

What area are you moving to, if you don't mind my asking? Maybe you'll be close to me!

i moved from chicago to orlando 10+ yrs ago and i don't care how many thosands of $$ it costs for someone else to do it, i'll pay whatever. never ever will i move myself again, even if it's just down the road LOL. we moved locally 7 yrs ago and did it ourselves also, never again. ~ liz

I rented a U-Haul and paid someone to load it. Then I drove it myself 1200 miles. It was a fun trip with 2 kids and myself. My Parents followed us in their RV.

We made a vacation out of it. LOL!

Gayle

I should add, I suppose it makes a difference if your older and your physical shape. I probably wouldn't do it myself now, but 8 yrs ago I did it, before I retired (and was more active). And I had some strong nephews, BIL & SIL's to help.
Leslie

We moved 6 miles from our old home two years ago. The movers were so professional and had lots of equipment. We have several glass top tables. Nothing was damaged. I don't think any moving company will move plants. Also, they charged extra for large pictures. So we moved them ourselves. I agree with Liz, don't care how much they charge, it's worth every cent. Here is a website, sure there are others.
http://www.homebulletin.net/moving_tip.htm

We've helped move lots of people. It's not that difficult, and you can save a lot of $$$. But I've never participated in that long a move, in that case, it would probably be worth pricing it both ways, just to see.

You shouldn't need to take appliances--most homes and apts come with them, and you're generally supposed to supply them to the person buying your home (at least around here, that's the practice).

One suggestion, though--if you don't mind my sticking my nose into your business. You might want to start tracking down homeowners (or renter's) insurance now. There are some areas in Florida where it's just about impossible to get insurance on your home. The insurance companies are cancelling the policies they do have, and are refusing to write more. If you have trouble finding a company willing to insure your home, maybe you could try calling the Florida Insurance commissioner. Good luck.

Kay, I can't agree more with Ron and Liz. Professional movers are the way to go. You can get a "free" estimate in some cases. I've moved 5 miles away and over 1000 miles away. I wouldn't move again without professional movers.

I also agree that it's not necessarily cheaper to buy new once you arrive here in Florida. But a good mover might assist you with that decision.

Barbara

Kay, we moved from Chicago to central Florida 3 years ago. We used PODS. We hired professional movers to load up the Pods, and another set to unload. It was cheaper and easier than using a moving van. We moved all of our appliances - some were very new and it would have been more expensive to buy new ones here. So it's worth checking out. You need to have a PODS company near your current and future home. One benefit is that we were able to pack in increments. We had a large home and ran out of room storing boxes as we packed. So we had a couple of PODS loaded and they were stored for a couple of weeks near our old home.
Another thing that made our move easy - we used a lot of Rubbermaid or similar brand tubs for packing our heavy and valuable items.
Good luck

Another point to consider - professional movers have insurance. If you move yourself and something happened to your items, could you afford to get them repaired or replaced?
And UHaul has been on our special news reports about not taking care of their vehicles time and time again. Many have hazards that are known to the company and should be off the road but the company does very little to care for them. I'm very cautious when we go for a trip and have to get around a uhaul vehicle. I don't trust them at all.
As your insurance company if they can cover your packed items until you unpack - I always feel better with insurance since I can't affort to replace high ticket items.
That's my 2 cents worth.

I haven't moved very far the times I have moved.
But NW Florida....I live in Panama City Florida. Where abouts are you moving to???

Deb

We moved to FL from NH 6 years ago and hired a moving co. I sold or gave away most of my furniture (did keep my antiques) and appliances for the following reasons. I knew our bedroom set would not fit in this house and it was too New England. I knew that we would be remodeling the kitchen and the appliances would need replacing ie the dishwasher didn't work and I also knew I wanted stainless steel (what was I thinking! I hate it now, it's too hard to keep clean).
Used furniture stores are everywhere here. People come down and buy a house or condo and buy new furniture and don't keep the property. Used furniture is very inexpensive compared to new.
Moving trucks cannot legally move your plants. I brought mine in my car covered with a sheet.

Good luck with your move. Hope you enjoy living here, Florida is a lifestyle change.

First things first. Will you be buying or renting in the new place? I hope you will be going there and spending some time looking around before you make any decisions.

After you decide on a house, apartment, whatever, will be the time to decide what to take and how.

Just something to think about.

Sue

We moved from central FL to NW Arkansas about 20 years ago. We rented the biggest UHaul truck they had and got the towing thing that we drove our vehicle up on. We moved our entire household of furniture, fridge, washer and dryer, all our stuff and a cat and a dog. We left on a Saturday about noon and got to AR on Monday AM, we slept one night in a motel and cat-napped for a few hours the first night at a rest area, that was horrid. But other than that, it worked out fine. We got the truck 2 days before we were leaving so we could take our time packing it and we had a packing party, all our friends came over and helped and they were so efficient, I had no clothes to drive in! I hadn't taken the time to pack a bag and before I knew it, everything was packed on the truck. A friend gave me some jeans and shirts and undies and stuff. lol

If I was rich, I would hire a company, but then again, I don't really trust them to take as much care of our stuff as we do. At least we lost nothing to damage or theft or just accidental misplacement.

I am keeping all this wonderful advice - it will be very helpful, and I thank all of you. Please keep the good advice coming - I need all the help you can give me!

We moved from FL. to NC. 13 yrs. ago. We hired a large reputable company to pack us up, move us in and unpack. It was worth the money and having a reputable company gives you the assurance that if something goes wrong, they will be insured. They were timely and very helpful. I was 8 months pregnant at the time and they were such great help. It was our second move and it was worth it having someone move us. We were present to supervise things... It can be very overwhelming and it took the load off of us having to do one more thing. Like moving isn't stressful enough!

Thank you, everyone - it means so much to me to have you relay advice - I have never done anything like this before - Gary handled everything. Now that I am on my own, I am learning to do some pretty 'heady' things - this is a big one!

Oh...and you will be able to grow some really wonderful roses!!! Here in NW Florida you can grow them own their own roots. Get Noisettes, Chinas and Teas...not Hybrid Teas but the old fashioned Tea roses. I have over 250 roses in the ground...just budding out and covered with new growth. If you can root roses let me know and I can send you cuttings to root.
I just love roses, especially the Tea roses.

Hope you get moved in without any trouble and everything just falls into place for you.

Deb

I packed all of my own boxes. I went to the local newspaper and purchased a couple of newsprint roll ends only $3-4 each. Recycled newspaper leaves ink on dishes etc. I also purchased lots of bubble wrap. I marked exactly what was in each box and which room it belonged in.
If you hire a moving company please be there when they are packing the truck. The supervisor in charge was putting the sticky labels (they are numbered 1-?? to keep count of all of your boxes and pieces of furniture) on the front of my furniture (ACK! you could have heard me in the next town) they go on the back so they don't leave marks.

kay..like any job you want done, get 2-3 bids, with long distance haulers. we've used both allied and mayflower...BUT! we didn't have to pick up the tab. the packers were wonderful and unloading at a new location when you're tired beyond belief, was good-ness at it's best.

there is a 3rd option...you sell everything but the kitchen sink and start fresh.

then take into consideration who is going to pack, load u-haul and drive (what about your car?) don't forget current gas prices...

if you have extended family/friends that are willing to help out, probably u-haul ONE WAY is best. i've personally have driven a smaller uhaul truck and it was very tiring, and i only had 3 hour drive, lol...

even if you don't chose the bigger companies, it's almost worth having them come out to get the wonderful how to move booklets...they have list of things to do and time frames....

now we didn't move the stove as they were always considered part of the homes we sold but have moved fridges. you empty out wash down then i used boxes of soda sprinkled all over loose, plus used coffee grounds for odor control! (a tip from a packer) the fridge was fine and after a quick hose down in the yard to get out the soda, we took it in and plugged it in...the only time i'd not take appliances are because of age...

last, congratulations on your move...i hope you enjoy your new home and are close to family...

If you decide to have a moving company move your stuff, check out the reviews at this site:

Here is a link that might be useful: MovingScam.com

Do you have a place picked out?

What appliances are available there, and in what condition? When my kids sold their Mom's house, they arranged with the purchasers to buy some of the appliances - stove, fridge and dishwasher. Washer, dryer, freezer are stored here.

Have you ever driven a truck? For many, driving a truck is no big deal, for others, it is a major undertaking.

Do you know someone who has a cube van that you might be able to rent?

Possibly a local farmer ... who attends your church? Ask around among your friends and acquaintances.

Here's an idea.

Check where you live now or in the area in Fla. to which you are moving, find someone with a school bus for sale, rent it, bring it to your location, fill it, drive it to your new place, return it.

Make sure that your insurance company covers your goods while packing and en route as part of your home contents insurance ... or get a special rider from them - they should offer temp insurance on the stuff for a week or so at fairly low cost - and make sure that the current owner has the vehicle insured ... at the level that you find adequate.

But moving yourself is only viable if you have some helpers - who are careful. Not folks who'll merely shrug if they scrape a piece of furniture on a screen door anchor or a door jamb. And have someone who's meticulous in charge of packing the vehicle, wrapping all fragile stuff and scratchable/rubbable furniture in quilts, bedding, towels, etc. And packed in so tightly that it can't jiggle back and forth.

If you can find some quilts, blankets, etc. at yard sales prior to moving, unless you have a pile of them yourself, I imagine that you'll be glad that you did.

You can rent packing quilts from moving companies, also, I think.

Good wishes as you move forward with your plans.

ole joyful

Two years ago I moved from CA to Iowa. I rented a large moving truck and had a packing party to get it packed. I did not bring any appliances with me. DS drove the moving truck and I drove my little truck. It took us three days to get here. I would never want to do that again but it was the only way I could afford to move. One of my cousins had her two boys waiting for us when we arrived here and they made quick work out of unloading the truck.
Moving isn't cheap no matter how you do it.

I moved from Germany to Oklahoma, and a bit around in Oklahoma. I hate moving.

I don't like moving companies any more than driving the U-Haul myself.

The pods idea sounds perfect.

Nothing was broken or damaged in our do it yourself moves. Several pieces of furniture were damaged by the movers.

Yeah, if I have to move again I think I will do the pods thing.

Moni
PS, just think, even my compost pile moved three times. :)

LOL, Moni - that's something I would do!

I appreciate, more than you can know, all the great advice and experiences each of you has shared with me. I will print out the highlights and use them to guide me. Please feel free to post more. THANK YOU!

Moni,

Re your P.S. ... "No shi!?"

o j

LOL, Joyful - you just have to understand serious gardeners - we'd sooner leave a family member behind, than our precious 'black gold'!

My daughter, about to winnow out more of her stuff prior to a move from Toronto to AZ, said that every pound that she removes will save her about $1.00.

That's $2,000. a ton?

Seems like heck of a high tariff ... using a moving company.

Maybe we should have gone over to MI and bought an old school bus, then brought it over to TO and loaded it up.

I'm sure that it would have been easier to sell an MI-sourced bus in AZ than one from Ontario, Canada.

Have yourselves a lovely (still spring) weekend, everyone.

ole joyful