Lots of stuff to move and help has fallen through

Ben84

Hi, some suggestions would be much appreciated on this as my searching so far hasn't turned anything up.

Basically, I'm moving soon (long distance within UK) and my family who were going to come in the car and help have unfortunately had some problems and can't make it. So, I have lots of things and am not sure how to move them. A removal company seems excessive for the couple of car loads, but then couriers are prohibitively costly for such heavy items like computers and books - particularly if insuring them properly. Is there a company who specialise in this kind of type/volume of items for students?

Anyway, today I've got started eBaying a number of items I no longer need to reduce the volume and raise some funds, but I really need an idea for the rest of the stuff.

Thanks for any ideas, Ben

PasturesNew

You need a man and van.

An alternative would be to identify a cheap/small self-storage unit about half way and get all your "won't need this for a few months" stuff into self-storage, so on the day you're just moving your "essential/need this every day" stuff. Then, 1-2 weeks after you've moved, you can do another trip up to the self-storage to complete your move.

For self-storage, you can get some 1 metre square units (11 sq feet) quite cheap - but then you realise that once boxes are stacked about 4 high you're in danger of the bottom ones crushing. So, you need to either use plastic storage boxes, or get a table in there so stuff's under the table and over the table.

Where there's a will.

I'm doing something similar myself shortly, moving alone across country, so have thought through all the possibilities.

Another thing I did a couple of years back was to box up some fairly easy to transport stuff (e.g. linens) and used a cheap parcel delivery service, it ended up costing me £7/box, the weight limit was 25Kg and they picked it up the day before I moved and it arrived where I was moving to the day after I'd moved. That was handy.

Also: vacuum pack bags for anything soft, they really scrunch up small.

Ben84

PasturesNew wrote: »

You need a man and van.

An alternative would be to identify a cheap/small self-storage unit about half way and get all your "won't need this for a few months" stuff into self-storage, so on the day you're just moving your "essential/need this every day" stuff. Then, 1-2 weeks after you've moved, you can do another trip up to the self-storage to complete your move.

For self-storage, you can get some 1 metre square units (11 sq feet) quite cheap - but then you realise that once boxes are stacked about 4 high you're in danger of the bottom ones crushing. So, you need to either use plastic storage boxes, or get a table in there so stuff's under the table and over the table.

Where there's a will.

I'm doing something similar myself shortly, moving alone across country, so have thought through all the possibilities.

Another thing I did a couple of years back was to box up some fairly easy to transport stuff (e.g. linens) and used a cheap parcel delivery service, it ended up costing me £7/box, the weight limit was 25Kg and they picked it up the day before I moved and it arrived where I was moving to the day after I'd moved. That was handy.

Also: vacuum pack bags for anything soft, they really scrunch up small.

Thanks for this PasturesNew. I have looked in to a man with a van, but the miles makes this seem prohibitive so far. The £7 for 25 Kg sounds pretty good though. I had forgotten how couriers do get remarkably cheaper per Kg. Maybe I can do this cheaper than I had thought.

Either way, I'm quite likely moving abroad in about a years time, so I feel like I should just have a big clear out now and get it all down to a volume suitable for a courier. No point spending a fortune on stuff I can't keep for that much longer anyway.

Edit to mention, I should have said in the first post, anything that requires me to drive isn't possible unfortunately.

soba

Could you hire a van, for a friend/family member to drive? You'll probably find that you've got much more than a couple of car loads when you start packing everything up.
I know a guy in the removals industry and he always says that most of his customers 'don't have much, aren't going far and that it won't take long'

Dunroamin

Lots of companies offer part load removals. If you put your requirements on this site

http://www.shiply.com/freight-haulage/?gclid=CIOQ6PyIs7ACFYQMfAodq26BTg

you'll be offered a variety of quotes from different people and you can decide to accept one or not.

I've used them several times and have been very pleased.

Derivative

Not really an answer to the question but I've found the best solution for this is just to own less.

I travel 200 miles to and from University three times a year via train and have to bring most of my belongings (I leave duvets and cookerware on campus, everything else has to go home).

While there I basically have one or two suitcases full of belongings. You come to realise that you're just hoarding stuff when you never think about the items left behind.

V_Chic_Chick

I'm currently clearing out my room, and wondering how on earth I'm going to fit it in the car - Derivative does have a point!

Lots of storage companies will come and pick stuff up from you, and then deposit it at your new address. I had a look, and it came to about £25 a month though. Alternatively, have you got any second year friends who are staying in the same house for third year? Perhaps you could store it at theirs?

The Car Club (https://www.citycarclub.co.uk) does some very reasonably priced car hire, too.