Moving & Selling

I have been slowly getting into gear for my big move. After months of procrastinating, I finally bought my plane ticket to California last month. At $156.80, it was amazingly cheap. Then again, this is the first time I’ve bought a one way ticket, so that could explain it.

Since I will be moving cross-country and living in an already furnished room in the fall, I have the pleasure of figuring out what to do with all of my current belongings. Obviously, some things will be coming with me: clothes, new road bike, some books… But that leaves an apartment full of furniture: bed, dresser, nightstand, couch, rug, table, chairs, desk, etc. And that, my friends, is where Craigslist comes in.

Last weekend I did some major organizing and cleaning, and in the process took some photos of furniture items I was ready to sell on Craigslist. As of tonight, my armchair ($20) and desk ($40) are gone. I also toted three canvas bags of books to my local bookstore, which gives cash for 15% of the cover value of books they deem worthy of resale. I left with only two canvas bags full of books, but an extra $46.23 cash in my pocket.

I still have to decide what to do with the rest of the books (put in storage at my parents’ house? donate? sell myself?) and any clothing items I don’t want to take with me. The hassle of selling my larger furniture is that the sooner I post it, the more likely I am to get a decent price for it…yet the longer I’ll have to live in an empty apartment. How many days or weeks can I handle sitting on the floor without a couch? I don’t want to accept yet that today starts my last month in this apartment. Time goes by too quickly!

On the upside, I found a sweet travel bike case that I purchased for $100. After looking into the many options for getting my bicycle out to California, I have decided that investing in a durable bike box that will protect my $1000 road bike from harm during shipping will be worthwhile. The other option would be to pack it into a cardboard bike box, but my own past experiences have told me that’s a bad idea…particularly for a move this far. Last time I shipped a bike, it arrived with a large hole torn in the side of the box and a vital screw missing so that the handlebars could not be re-attached. I’d like to avoid such damage this time around especially given that this bike is my main (read: only) mode of transportation and will continue to save me money on gas, car insurance, and a gym membership while I’m in school. Plus, I can re-sell the bike case for the same amount once I’m out there — thereby keeping me from having to find storage for the damn thing in my new place. Sounds like a good deal all around.

More to come on the finances of the moving process… Stay tuned.