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Question For You / Moving On The Cheap

Q. Hi Jordan,

I remember you wrote about NYC apartment hunting on a budget awhile back. I passed on the useful info to my boyfriend and his two friends, who are moving to NYC in July.  I vaguely remember that you also wrote about different cheap moving options, but I can’t seem to find it on your blog. I’d be so grateful if you can let me know how I can find that post or if you have any recommendations.

Thank you so much,

Serena

A. Hey Serena!

I think the apartment-hunting on a budget post you’re referring to is this one – most of my tips were pretty UES-centric, since that’s what I’ve had the most experience with, but there’s lots of great info in the comments if you scroll down.

I don’t recall that I did a post on cheap moving options specifically, unfortunately (“unfortunately” because that’s information I’d really like to have, given that we’re thinking of moving at some point in the next year or so). What I did was hire someone off Craigslist who turned out to be a total rip-off (the Men With A Moving Van turned out to be Man With A Hatchback), so Kendrick and I more or less moved ourselves, with my parents’ help. It was MISERABLE (3 floors down, cross town, then 4 floors up is no fun) – I chatted more about our disastrous moving day (that’s a post-move photo, above) here, if you’re interested.

One thing I did that ended up being a good idea: there were some pieces that simply weren’t going to get up the stairs without help (like a ten zillion pound and highly breakable china cabinet), and at some point I just couldn’t lift one more thing, so towards the end I ended up going into the diner next door and offering a bunch of guys who were just getting off work money to help us. They finished the job in about thirty seconds, which was equal parts embarrassing and fantastic.

In sum: I refuse to move again until I have some extra cash laying around to bribe friends (because pizza doesn’t cut it when you’re talking about that many flights of stairs) and/or hire for-real movers. In NYC, unfortunately, no one has a car and people are so desperate for moving help that those Man With A Van dudes can basically name their price.

But I’m sure that there are some great ideas out there, which is why I’m posting your question here – does anyone have suggestions for how to move in NYC on the cheap?



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April 28th, 2011 | Posted by Jordan | Lifestyle | 12 Comments »
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  • Ali

    College Educated Movers!

    Always cheap and reliable.

  • http://www.guidetomenhattan.com Rachel

    I used Rob the Mover last year (You can find the contact info through my post here: http://www.guidetomenhattan.com/2010/01/situation-of-nyc-movers.html)

    GREAT experience – although Rob did not move me, nor were any of them shirtless. I think it was pretty standard on the low to mid price range, but they finished up w/o charging me the extra hour since they had been a little late. Oh and they do everything by email which I love.

    Moving is the biggest pain so you might as well shell out the money so you don’t break your back while dealing with all the other hassles!!

  • Sarah

    On citymove.com you can get movers to bid on your move. They tend to bargain each other down at the last minute, so if you’re the sort of person who likes to have these details ironed out on the earlier side, you might want to consider saying your move is the week before you actually plan.

    A couple of fyis/tips: Moves become much more expensive once your destination is above the third floor. My move to a fifth floor walkup across the street from my old apartment was quoted as more expensive than my former roommate’s move from NYC to an elevator building in Philly.

    Some stuff really won’t fit through narrow NYC apartment hallways, no matter how much you angle it. You can call a “doctor sofa” who will cut open your couch and reassemble it inside your apartment. Or you can scope out Craigslist couches before the move and buy one while the movers are taking your stuff. You can then send them to go pick up the couch at a new place. Voila–free (or at least already paid for) shipping!

  • http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/ Alejandra Ramos

    I absolutely LOVED the movers I used when I moved to NY from NJ about 4 years ago. Super affordable, responsible, on time, nice guys. They didn’t lose or break or scratch anything and everything went off pleasantly. They also moved a few of my friends and they all had equally awesome experiences. Moving a 2 bedroom apartments worth of furniture from NJ cost me $400 plus bridge tolls (plus tip). The company was called MoveMaster and the guy in charge is named George Marengo. Website is: http://movemaster.us/

  • http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/ Alejandra Ramos

    I should note that the company is NYC based and they’ll do moves all over the city (and brooklyn, queens, etc., too)

  • http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/ Alejandra Ramos

    I should note that the company is NYC based and they’ll do moves all over the city (and brooklyn, queens, etc., too)

  • http://twitter.com/ohthatlaura Laura

    I used Flat Rate movers for my last move and I found them really cheap. The catch is that you have to be very specific with how many boxes/furniture/etc or you can be charged at an exorbitant rate on the day-of. Just over-count boxes, they’ll give you a quote and then you can decide.

    Good luck!!!

  • Anonymous

    over-counting boxes is an EXCELLENT tip. i’ve never had movers arrive and not go “ooh…that’s more than you said/that piece is bigger than you indicated…hmm…so that’ll be an additional [exorbitant amount of money]” even when i’ve given them a dead-on balls-accurate (guess that quote!) number.

  • Anonymous

    what a great price!! thanks.

  • Anonymous

    absolutely true re: above third floor. and be specific re: landings, too – my LA->NYC move was to a third floor walkup, but they tried to convince me that it was on the SIXTH floor (and charge me an extra $200) because the stairs turned between each flight and had mini-landings.

    excellent tip re: buying craigslist stuff mid-move.

  • Sarah Markle

    You HAVE to try Gar Hing Movers! My husband (nee fiance, nee boyfriend) have used them combined over 5x in our several moves throughout the city and they are HANDS down the quickest and cheapest place that ANY of our friends have used. (In fact, word is getting out that if anyone in our circle has to move, we always end up with an email begging for our “shady brooklyn chinese movers”) I’m telling you, we took a chance and they always come through for us. Depending on where you are moving and how much stuff you have, it shouldnt be more than a few hundred. I moved a bed, couch, bedroom furniture, lamps, kitchen appliances and about 4 boxes of clothes for @ $400 from the UES to the EVil in 2008. Good luck from a sympathetic NYC gal:)

  • http://www.nebraskalandmoving.com/ moving companies Lincoln NE

    Many of us dread the thought of moving because of all the packing and moving errands that we need to do. Moving may not come cheap but fortunately, we can still do something about this so that we will have a less expensive and stress-free move. Thanks for the info!