DS1 is relocating about 1,200 miles away. He is getting $2K from his employer. Any ideas about the most cost-effective way to do so?
He doesn’t know his living situation yet and so is unclear how much of his current furniture he plans to take. Definitely none of the living room furniture and potentially not his 2yo IKEA bedroom furniture. We’ve offered to buy that off of him if he decides not to move it to outfit a guest room. He has some dishes/kitchenware and maybe a TV and then it’s just clothes and assorted junk. And he has a car. If you were doing this, what would you do if you’re trying to not exceed $2K? I’m wondering whether it’s even worth it to relocate a TV; he could sell it here and buy one there.
At this point, it doesn’t seem worth it to rent a POD or even a little UHaul truck and pull the car. Maybe he just drives and spends the money on gas and hotels and then on shipping the rest? We really have no idea what shipping would cost.
We love crowd-sourcing this kind of question on cc. Y’all are so smart. TIA
If this is a generic TV, not a fancy new tech 80 inch, $10,000 TV… Sell and upgrade at the destination point. Same for dishes. Save only the favorite mugs, grandma’s cast iron pan, that kind of stuff. Pack whatever is needed in the car and enjoy the x-country trip. Ship books and maybe some other stuff to a friend’s address or company address.
I’d drive cross country and make an adventure out of it, visiting friends or family along the way if he has some handy, or stay in budget friendly hotels. If he was like my kids, he’d camp along the way in some beautiful parks. Pare his items down to what he really wants and pack up the car. It’ll cost him a lot less than $2K which he can then use to buy some new stuff at his destination.
Maybe you can go with him for some bonding time, or another friend or family member. Decades ago, I did a similar trip and my mom came along and we had a good time.
You brought up something I’ve wondered but don’t know … Is buying new things in the new place generally covered? So that if he decides to sell us his bedroom stuff he could use some of that money to buy new furniture when he gets there? He might know this but is out of pocket all weekend.
It definitely depends on how the company has structured the payment - reimbursing actual expenses or a flat $2000 payment. The other thing to consider is that such relocation expenses are generally taxable, so he needs to set aside a bit for taxes.
Another question is are they covering a flight for him as part of the relocation? If so, and he drives, would they give him the amount they would have paid for the flight?
My understanding is that it’s a reimbursement up to $2k. I would imagine that he can spend it just about any way he wants as long as it’s under their allowable expense. Shipping a car and flying seems reasonable because not everyone would have a car. Flying should be allowable, but I get what you’re saying … can he choose to drive and pocket savings from a flight? I’ll mention that.
If it were Happykid, she’d just load up her car with what she absolutely needs, and hit Goodwill after arrival. How picky is he about his stuff? Is he the kind of person who can happily get everything he’s likely to need at a thrift shop?
Yes. He is not materialistic at all. The couch he’s not taking was free from a friend. The chairs that he’s not taking he got off Nextdoor. Like I said, the bedroom stuff is IKEA. He might be moving in with a house full of women who have a house all set up. He’d need next to nothing. His job will involve a lot of traveling for several weeks out of the year so I don’t think he cares whether his bedroom is more IKEA stuff or hand-me-downs or what. Truthfully, I’m beginning to think he won’t even need to spend the $2K!
If it is reimbursement, he’ll need receipts and they will not reimburse for buying new stuff at the new location (the IRS doesn’t allow that either).
My niece had this same arrangement. She did not take her car (moving to DC), so she just took a few suitcases (the $25 fee was reimbursed) on a flight and her mother shipped the rest of her things after she got to her apartment. She probably had 3-4 boxes of household goods and they just shipped them UPS or USPS and she turned in the receipts. Anything she bought at the new location (bed, table) were her costs. I don’t think she had more than $1000 in reimbursements.
If he drives, he should find out how much they allot for hotels and meals. When I moved, I was given the choice of flyng ($150 + baggage) and having my car shipped or driving and taking 5 days (based on miles), with a per diem for meals and hotels. One or the other. If the flight was more than $150, I had to pay but then could take the overage on my taxes as a moving expense. IRS doesn’t really allow that much in expenses.
If they just give him $2000, that would be taxed as income but he could then deduct any moving expenses. If they reimburse for specific fees, that won’t be taxed. I was taxed on a ‘settling in’ allowance but not taxed on any of the per diem amounts for hotels or food, or for airfare, household content move, car shipping, etc.
My one kid moved about 2500 miles away from here. He took clothes, computer, instruments, and some kitchen stuff…but no furniture. It all fit into his car…and he drove to his new destination with his sister.
He bought big stuff there…bed and other furniture.
If your son has a car, maybe he can get a friend to make the drive with him. He can load up the trunk and back seat.
Use the moving allowance for gas, hotels, and food.
S moved 2500 miles away. He was reimbursed for one R/T plane trip to find a place to live (from where he was hired). He was also reimbursed for movers of employer’s choice who moved and stored the items. He also was reimbursed for driving across country (mileage, meals and lodging) but NOT for shipping his car. He and D made an adventure if it and went together. He was also reimbursed to mailing additional personal effects for about a year from the date he started working. I don’t think he had a flat sum for moving expenses but he was satisfied with his reimbursement.
Each employer is different so kiddo needs to get the details on the options of driving cars shipping car and flying vs other options. Have read shipping via bus is reasonable but have no experience of my own or our kids. S has also had a car transported from SF to D.C. Cost was about $1000-1200 on a flatbed.
Shop around for shipping the car–just shipped a car from LA to Wash DC and was $750, a one year old Jetta, with bumper to bumper transport insurance with the transport company. We loaded it with 100 lbs which was allowed (truthfully it was probably 200-250 pounds and the the driver didn’t mind. We were friendly and tipped him upo arrival of the car. Nice goes a long way.
Mine also got rid of the furniture, packed clothes, artwork, kitchen stuff put his golf clubs, skis and other sporting stuff in his ski carrier, bike on the bike carrier and drove over 2 days. We crunched the numbers all different ways and this one made the most sense given the lack of value of the furniture. I think he got paid gas and mileage and credited for the 2 days. He bought a bed when he arrived and filled in the other stuff within a week or two.
One of my kids was offered a long term traveling assignment and moved his stuff out of his apartment to a storage unit. He had to do this in a hurry as his apartment lease was expiring and he wanted to move in with his girlfriend in a different city.
When he moved his stuff to the storage unit, he loaded up his car and drove it to the girlfriends. She flew to his location one way.
He paid for the storage unit for a long time as he never went back to the original city. When he came back to clean it out, he only shipped a few things, tossed most of it and checked a bag for the flight home.
He went to the local ups store and shipped the stuff he wanted to keep.
The moral I guess is that you learn to live with the stuff you have and don’t miss what you don’t.
Yes, our S sold a lot of “stuff” including TVs, IKEA bedframe and more on Craigslist and donated a bunch. He was selective about what he moved because he’s more of a minimalist anyway.
1200 miles is not that far- only 2 or 3 days of driving max. Certainly not across the entire country. Are hotels part of reimbursable expenses? That could determine 400 or 600 mile days.
Regarding the reimbursement- I’ll bet there are strings attached, such as returning the funds if he quits in less than one year (son got his car and all stuff moved plus a rental and apt until he found his own/his stuff arrived under these conditions). Assume he’ll keep the job and it is only a max of $2000.
Now is a good time to get rid of unwanted stuff and buy things on a real world salary. Shipping books et al is also a good idea if he runs out of car space. When we moved we put a 40" and a 50" TV vertical in the foot well of a car. We packed our air mattress and bedding, clothes we needed, computers, other stuff for the two weeks before the moving van arrived.
Notice that stuff placed in storage may just be an ongoing expense- you either like it/need it or should get rid of it without paying to store it.
I think it would be fun.