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I've moved at least 10 times in the last 15 years and, while I'm not eager to do it again, the apartment complex I moved into two years ago has gone downhill. The recent increase in thefts and domestic disputes mean it's time for me to move.
Planning
I'm getting ready to sign a new lease, and since the problems are more recent, it means I'm not yet prepared to move. That means I'm stuck in this apartment for the next year, but that's not a bad thing. It also means I have a year to plan my move, find the right neighborhood and save money. At a minimum, I usually need six to eight months to plan a move. In this instance, I have 12 months. That's going to work to my advantage assuming I'm not robbed blind between now and then.
New Rental
At this point, I'm looking at moving into a rental house. The cheapest rental house I can move into is $550 a month. I can reasonably assume that I'll be paying the first and last month's rent up front for a total cost of $1100. Since I've fixed my credit, I probably won't have any deposits due on gas or electric, but to be safe, I'll save an additional $200 for miscellaneous deposits.
Moving Truck
When it comes to renting moving trucks, I scour company websites. My top three moving truck companies are U-Haul, Budget, and Penske. Since I have a one bedroom apartment, but I have enough furniture and items to fill a two bedroom, I know I need between a 12 and 14 foot truck.
Penske has 12 and 16 foot trucks for $49.99 per 24 hours plus .85 cents per mile. Since I plan to have the truck for 48 hours and drive about 60 miles, I can reasonably assume that renting a truck from Penske will cost me $150.98. Budget truck rental will cost me $29.99 per day and .99 cents a mile for a total cost of $139.38, and U-Haul will cost me $29.95 every six hours plus .99 a mile. Since I don't think I can get that truck back in any less than 18 hours, the total cost will be $149.27.
What this tells me is that I need to save between $140 and $150 to rent the truck.
December Lease Expiration
Since my lease expires in December and I don't want to move in December, I am going to plan to be out of my apt by the middle of November. Unfortunately, this increases the cost of my move. Not only will I have to pay for the new place, I'll also have to pay an additional $540 to my old apartment complex to buy out the last month on the lease.
Saving Breakdown
My total moving expenses for this move will be $1990. Over the course of 11.5 months, I will need to save $175 a month or $44 a week. Since I work for myself, I need to break that down even further and earn an extra $9 a day.
Saving for this move is entirely possible, but looking at the numbers, I can tell right now that my normal time frame of six to eight months wouldn't work for this move. I'll actually need the entire 11.5 months in order to save for this move.
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