Thursday, September 07, 2006

NY to LA - the bill from Caesar

We moved everything from NY to Ashland, so we're not really finished yet, but this gives you a rough idea of what it costs to move a one bedroom apartment 3,000 miles - from the banks of the Hudson to the shore of the Pacific Ocean.

By the by, the apartment was "boxed up" and UPSed. How 'bout that?

55 boxes weighing - in total - 1702 lbs, total shipping cost (UPS): $2674.57

1 Dining Room Table top - 145 lbs, total shipping cost (Fedex): $645.00

1 Queen Bed, headboard, footboard, slats (no mattress or box) - 100 lbs (special boxing required)(UPS): $965.00

20 boxes of books, sent book rate via USPS, bookrate: $200 (est)

1 Mini-Cooper, shipped via DAS: $1635.00

Tape, Boxees, Bubble wrap and the annoying styrofoam peanuts that we now find everywhere: $350 (est)

1 Jet blue airline ticket, one way from JFK to Portland: $254.00 (bought on short notice)

U-Haul for getting boxes from my mother-in-law's drive to a storage unit in Medford: $45.00

Back brace, chiropracter, spine specialist: MILLIONS.

TOTAL: $6768.57

It should be noted that the storage unit in Medford costs us $70/month and that we'll need to rent another U-Haul to get everything down to LA once we have a permanent place to live there.

Did it cost a lot?

Sure. But we're both happier already than we were in NY, so, there you are.

Also of note - check out my advertising work website: Ideas from a Platypus

PLUS - a parody I made of the recent timelapse art projects that have been showing up on youtube has made it to the toprated list for comedy on youtube; Take a look. one picture of my cat every second for 16 seconds

5 comments:

D said...

Thank you for posting this info! I've been pondering the furniture, especially my bed/dresser/headboard/nighstand set, which are lovely and cost me only $300 to purchase from a Ukrainian couple who advertised on CL and were moving from the Sunset to Kentucky...but, of course, would cost loads more to ship east.

I've done the UPS box 'n ship thing many times and, after the last time (DC to SF), I promised myself I wouldn't do it again. Many, many things were damaged.

I am definitely keeping my art, my books, one neat, tiny antique chair I bought off ebay, and my lamps (that's going to be a packing challenge), and, I think, my chic and comfy desk chair...but the rest will stay in SF. And, of course, there's my bike.

I want to bring my bike to LA and, then, I think, I'll have to buy a bike rack (not a bad investment) to transport it across country (or I could just ship it from LA to NY). I think the bike will be fun for climbing hills and riding around the Echo Park/Silverlake area...but if I really want nearby biking fun, I'll have to rent a mountain bike and go to Topanga Canyon.

Right - I shouldn't clutter your blog with my moving ramblings...but, really and truly, thanks for this post. Moving is ridiculous.

D said...

And!

The comments on your youtube video are hilarious.

Malachy Walsh said...

I forgot to mention the bikes actually. I shipped them in May or June so they weren't included. But they should be. They were about $100 a piece to ship from NY.

And, yes, those youtube comments are fairly absurd from some fairly literal minded people. But technically, they're right. It's not a picture a second. Yet, who has a 6 years, let alone a whole minute, to put together that stop action stuff?

And finally, no, you're not cluttering up the comments section with rambling. Please, ramble away.

We may be the only people reading this!

D said...

I've shipped bikes before as well...so I may well end up driving my bike down to LA and then shipping it from there to NY - that probably makes the most sense rather than taking it across country with us (but good god, one of these days I want to do a cross-country or cross-country-ish bike tour).

There are loads more LA trips forthcoming. We'll have to make some plans.

D said...

I've shipped bikes before as well...so I may well end up driving my bike down to LA and then shipping it from there to NY - that probably makes the most sense rather than taking it across country with us (but good god, one of these days I want to do a cross-country or cross-country-ish bike tour).

There are loads more LA trips forthcoming. We'll have to make some plans.