Somewhere in the hall closet there's a folded receipt from a gas station with "MOVE!!" written across the top in my handwriting. It's from October 2023, the day Sam and I hauled everything from my old studio across town to this third-floor walk-up. I kept every receipt from that weekend in an envelope, partly out of nerves and partly because I wanted to know what a move actually costs when you do it yourselves. The answer was $640.
It's mid-August now, the window units are running nonstop, and three different friends have texted me in the past month asking how we did it, because apparently everyone is moving this fall. So here's the whole breakdown, plus what I'd change.
Where the $640 went
| Expense | Cost |
|---|---|
| Rented cargo van, one day, including mileage and refilling the tank | $187 |
| Moving boxes, tape, bubble wrap, markers | $118 |
| Pizza, drinks and a thank-you takeout dinner for four friends | $112 |
| First-night supplies: shower curtain, light bulbs, toilet paper, trash bags | $62 |
| Parking ticket (more on this below) | $45 |
| Cleaning supplies for the old studio | $41 |
| Hardware: furniture sliders, felt pads, a new drill bit set we barely used | $40 |
| Rented dolly and moving blankets | $35 |
| Total | $640 |
Not included: the deposit and first month's rent on the new place, which were their own separate mountain. This is just the cost of moving our stuff from point A to point B.
What made it cheap
We had a small amount of stuff
A studio's worth of furniture plus Sam's boxes is not a lot. That's the biggest reason one van and one day worked. If you have more, the math changes quickly, and a second van trip or a moving crew might be worth it.
We moved midweek, mid-month
Our lease start date was the first, but we arranged to get keys a few days early and moved on a Wednesday. Van rental prices on weekends near the end of the month were noticeably higher when I checked. We both took a day off, and the trade felt worth it.
Friends, fed well
Four friends helped, and in exchange they got pizza at lunch and takeout from their favorite place that evening. That $112 was the best money we spent. Nobody wants to carry a dresser up three flights for a slice and a thank-you text.
Free boxes, mostly
About half our boxes came from a liquor store and a friend who had just moved. Liquor boxes are sturdy and perfect for books. We bought the rest, mainly for kitchen stuff and wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes.
What I'd do differently
- Get a temporary parking permit, or at least check the signs. That $45 ticket happened because we parked the van in a loading zone for "just a few minutes" while the friends figured out the stairwell. It was not a few minutes. Many cities offer moving permits; I wish I'd looked.
- Don't buy tools you think you'll need. The drill bit set was optimistic. We're renters with a strong no-drilling approach. It's been used once.
- Measure the stairwell before moving day. Our second-floor landing has a tight turn, and the old bookshelf had to come apart in the hallway while everyone waited. Ten minutes with a tape measure the week before would have saved twenty on the day.
- Pack a first-night box and label it in huge letters. We did this, and it was the smartest thing we did. Sheets, towels, phone chargers, cat food and litter, the coffee maker, and a roll of toilet paper.
About the cat
We actually adopted Olive the following spring, so she wasn't part of this move. I mention her because if I moved again, the first-night box would now contain her bed, food, litter and a carrier, and she'd spend move day shut in the bathroom with a sign on the door. Friends who've moved with cats swear by this.
The part that cost nothing
The cleaning of the old studio took the two of us an entire evening after the van was returned. It wasn't fun. But I got $410 of my $500 deposit back, and some of that, I'm sure, was because the oven and baseboards were spotless. That evening was arguably the highest-paying part of the whole move.
If you're planning a move this fall, my honest advice is to start an envelope today and put every receipt in it. Not because the total will shock you, but because it's satisfying to know, two years later, exactly what it took to get here.
