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Uhaul 2-3000k Hotel during moving 80/night * 6 days = 480 fuel for other vehicle on trip (presumes two cars, and uhaul can haul one) = 350 food on trip = 720 d

by Aloha 9y ago

Uhaul 2-3000k Hotel during moving 80/night * 6 days = 480 fuel for other vehicle on trip (presumes two cars, and uhaul can haul one) = 350 food on trip = 720 dollars (assuming 40/meal (assumes $8/pp) and you eat fast food) 3 nights of hotel upon arrival = 300 (more expensive in city.) 2 months of food on arrival for a family of 5 for two months, assuming you can cook at home 5 (head) * 3 (meals) * 4 (dollars per person) * 60 (days) = 3600 dollars. apartment 800 (first month) +800 (security) +800 (last month) +800 (second month) +200 (key fee, background check) = 3400 Starting up utilities (power/internet) = 300 Cell Phone 100 Total: 11250 Now this is my worst case for a family of 5 - in all likelihood, move in costs could be lower, food on the road might be cheaper, and food at home could be much cheaper - but the 10k number was picked because you need an emergency cushion - my original back of the napkin (literal) showed about 8500 dollars, which would leave you more cushion for the unexpected. So while I agree with you.. that I could move cross country for 5k - I don't think I could move a family of 5 cross country for 5k.

godelski 9y ago
I totally disagree with your numbers. $800 is a lot for rent. We're assuming we're going somewhere cheap. Even that $500 is high if you're moving to the middle of the country. You can find a 2 or 3 bedroom rental at $500 in even "bigger" cities like Oklahoma City or Albuquerque. That's a huge upgrade from a garage. Utilities are going to be nowhere near that. You're also inflating numbers. Like where does this 2 months of food come from? Where are you getting the second month? Who does this? It is first and last (which is your security deposit). Utils are going to be <$100/mo, including basic internet. So for 5 people, on the cheap (because come on, they are living in a garage, we're just looking for an upgrade, not middle class status on arrival). So let's do an even more refined analysis from what I did before. Uhaul = 2-3k with fuel (we aren't doing the 10 days Uhaul estimated. NYC to SF is 44hrs driving). You tow your car, but I'm guessing they don't have one, let alone two. $5/person/meal for lunch and dinner (breakfast at motel or you skip). That's $150 for 3 days (we're on the road ALL day). Motel at $40/night (two nights). You also have a uhaul... (you can trade off driving through the night too...) First and last month is $900 (we're doing 2bd 1ba in not the greatest neighborhood but not out in the boonies. The kids have a room). Utils are $150 for turning on and first month. You buy a cheap cell phone or a prepaid, $100 for two phones (you and wife). You probably already have this, but hey I'm adding a little wiggle room. Nothing about this is glamarous, but that's not what I'm trying to illustrate here. This comes to $3,380-$4,380. Clearly we can do even cheaper. These numbers probably seem low to you because you've never had to do this or never lived in these places. 5k would give you wiggle room, and honestly we're not concerned about that. We're looking bare minimum. Most people don't even have $500 in their savings, so unfortunately we're not going to presume that our imaginary family of 5 does. We can definitely argue over this number but I'll say CAN is in the range 5k+-1k for a good portion of the country. So CAN we move a family of 5 across the country? Yes. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be comfortable? No. Are you going to live in the greatest area? No. Are you going to have an easier time saving money once you move? Yes (on the condition that you did your research. Even a "pay decrease" can be a "raise"). Is it going to be better than a family of 5 in a garage? Hell yeah.
- Aloha 9y ago
  So I've been researching a move to DFW for the last two years. Consider that when starting a new job you may go upwards of a month without a paycheck (to do pay cycle alignment). So beyond that the presumption is that you'll need to pay two months of living expenses if you move without a job - and its near to impossible to find a service job by interviewing remotely - and it will take 2-8 weeks to find one, and then another 2-4 weeks before you see a paycheck. (hence the two months of food, and extra month of rent) 800 a month is reasonable for a decent but not great area in DFW. Also, some places do want first/last/security deposit, plus various other "non-refundable deposits" - but if you're willing to put them in a bad part of town - I'll concede that 550-600 is possible. The 100 dollars for a cell phone - was to pay for their existing services. It's California, so yes they have a car (even odds) also, how do you fit 5 people in the cab of a uhaul? you don't. You can fit three legally, four is pushing it, and five is out of the question. Also 40 bucks/night is unrealistic for hotels, they usually start at 50 and go up from there - some motel 6 properties do still have the 39.99 rate - but they're increasingly rare at this point - even when they do, thats for single occupancy (they charge more with more people) - in addition, no 40 dollar motel has breakfast. As far as your quip that I've not done this? I have, I moved to Seattle with basically no money, and no stuff - which isn't practical when you're raising kids - I'd very much like to get out of the west coast as it is - but my job is here, and they pay me reasonably well for it. I also travel a ton for work - in the last 18 months I've been to: Erie (PA), Pittsburgh, Toronto, Ottawa, Dallas (twice), Phoenix, Palo Alto, Cheyenne (twice), Denver (twice), Newark, Chicago (Elgin), Winnipeg, Washington DC, Portland (OR), Ontario (CA), Vancouver (BC), and Newark. So I do have a good scope of cost of living elsewhere - and most importantly reasonable hotel costs. In addition two years ago I did a cross country road trip, from here to Nashville - some of my hotel data comes from that.

by Aloha 9y ago

godelski 9y ago

I totally disagree with your numbers. $800 is a lot for rent. We're assuming we're going somewhere cheap. Even that $500 is high if you're moving to the middle of the country. You can find a 2 or 3 bedroom rental at $500 in even "bigger" cities like Oklahoma City or Albuquerque. That's a huge upgrade from a garage. Utilities are going to be nowhere near that. You're also inflating numbers. Like where does this 2 months of food come from? Where are you getting the second month? Who does this? It is first and last (which is your security deposit). Utils are going to be <$100/mo, including basic internet. So for 5 people, on the cheap (because come on, they are living in a garage, we're just looking for an upgrade, not middle class status on arrival). So let's do an even more refined analysis from what I did before. Uhaul = 2-3k with fuel (we aren't doing the 10 days Uhaul estimated. NYC to SF is 44hrs driving). You tow your car, but I'm guessing they don't have one, let alone two. $5/person/meal for lunch and dinner (breakfast at motel or you skip). That's $150 for 3 days (we're on the road ALL day). Motel at $40/night (two nights). You also have a uhaul... (you can trade off driving through the night too...) First and last month is $900 (we're doing 2bd 1ba in not the greatest neighborhood but not out in the boonies. The kids have a room). Utils are $150 for turning on and first month. You buy a cheap cell phone or a prepaid, $100 for two phones (you and wife). You probably already have this, but hey I'm adding a little wiggle room. Nothing about this is glamarous, but that's not what I'm trying to illustrate here. This comes to $3,380-$4,380. Clearly we can do even cheaper. These numbers probably seem low to you because you've never had to do this or never lived in these places. 5k would give you wiggle room, and honestly we're not concerned about that. We're looking bare minimum. Most people don't even have $500 in their savings, so unfortunately we're not going to presume that our imaginary family of 5 does. We can definitely argue over this number but I'll say CAN is in the range 5k+-1k for a good portion of the country. So CAN we move a family of 5 across the country? Yes. Is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be comfortable? No. Are you going to live in the greatest area? No. Are you going to have an easier time saving money once you move? Yes (on the condition that you did your research. Even a "pay decrease" can be a "raise"). Is it going to be better than a family of 5 in a garage? Hell yeah.

Aloha 9y ago
So I've been researching a move to DFW for the last two years. Consider that when starting a new job you may go upwards of a month without a paycheck (to do pay cycle alignment). So beyond that the presumption is that you'll need to pay two months of living expenses if you move without a job - and its near to impossible to find a service job by interviewing remotely - and it will take 2-8 weeks to find one, and then another 2-4 weeks before you see a paycheck. (hence the two months of food, and extra month of rent) 800 a month is reasonable for a decent but not great area in DFW. Also, some places do want first/last/security deposit, plus various other "non-refundable deposits" - but if you're willing to put them in a bad part of town - I'll concede that 550-600 is possible. The 100 dollars for a cell phone - was to pay for their existing services. It's California, so yes they have a car (even odds) also, how do you fit 5 people in the cab of a uhaul? you don't. You can fit three legally, four is pushing it, and five is out of the question. Also 40 bucks/night is unrealistic for hotels, they usually start at 50 and go up from there - some motel 6 properties do still have the 39.99 rate - but they're increasingly rare at this point - even when they do, thats for single occupancy (they charge more with more people) - in addition, no 40 dollar motel has breakfast. As far as your quip that I've not done this? I have, I moved to Seattle with basically no money, and no stuff - which isn't practical when you're raising kids - I'd very much like to get out of the west coast as it is - but my job is here, and they pay me reasonably well for it. I also travel a ton for work - in the last 18 months I've been to: Erie (PA), Pittsburgh, Toronto, Ottawa, Dallas (twice), Phoenix, Palo Alto, Cheyenne (twice), Denver (twice), Newark, Chicago (Elgin), Winnipeg, Washington DC, Portland (OR), Ontario (CA), Vancouver (BC), and Newark. So I do have a good scope of cost of living elsewhere - and most importantly reasonable hotel costs. In addition two years ago I did a cross country road trip, from here to Nashville - some of my hotel data comes from that.