Sep 27
Today we moved into our new home in park Ridge, just four days short of four months from our leaving Evanston on June 1 and a month exactly after we returned to the Chicago area. That last month we spent in hotels, and averaged $39 a night with all taxes and fees. Now comes the chore of unpacking and setting up a new home.
Time to settle down, at least for awhile. It is too complicated to live without a permanent address, even for a short time. So we are starting the search for a place to live. We’d prefer a house to rent, but a quiet apartment in a low density area would be okay. We are wanting to look in the Skokie-Park Ridge-Des Plaines area. Any leads would be appreciated.
Jun 18
Note: I should have done this post a few weeks ago but had some problems with the needed photos.
We put all of our stuff that we weren’t taking with us in storage. I did some research on storage solutions and decided on Smartbox. To use Smartbox you go to http://smartbox.comand request the number of pods you need, select the delivery date and they arrive on that date. You load them tell them when to pick them up and they will either deliver them to a new location or store them at their climate-controlled secure warehouse.
The process was easy for us except for one thing: the company was misleading about the size of the storage pods. The measurements they gave are of the outside of the pods, not the usable space inside. In reality, each pod is 40 square feet smaller than they lead people to believe. So we needed to ask for an additional pod and had to pay an additional delivery fee for that extra pod.
Aside from that the pods are great and I recommend the service. It is much cheaper than renting a truck and renting a “self-storage” garage somewhere. Hopefully they will treat out possessions well; but if everyone at Smartbox is as gracious and efficient as Eddie we will be well served. Eddie was the delivery driver who brought our boxes, gave us great advice, and picked up out boxes again. We apologize to him for getting these photos up much later than we had promised.
Jun 2
One of the truisms of life is that you have to pay to be somewhere. Regardless of all other factors in life you need a place to be and if you don’t bring all your stuff with you, you need a place for your stuff. Though we have freedom of speech and freedom of expression and to an extent freedom to be where we want, to be somewhere is not free. Aside from public libraries and parks, you have to pay somebody to be somewhere. You can sit at a coffee shop or restaurant for awhile but you have to pay to be there by ordering something. You can sit in the library but it will eventually close. When it is time to sleep, you definitely have to pay for the privilege; sleeping is not a right, you do not have the freedom to sleep anywhere. The plight of the homeless, who have to find a combination of libraries and other public spaces by day, and hopefully a spot in an underfunded, overcrowded, only slightly better than the streets, shelter by night, is truly tragic. But that is how our society is structured—you need money to be somewhere.
We will be traveling this summer, which means a hotel room each night and somewhere to be during the day, both of which cost money. But first, because the furniture and most of the books and clothes aren’t coming with us, we need a place for them. That also costs money. So we looked at storage options.
The first thought was a storage facility where they rent you a room or garage. A storage area big enough to take the belongings of our two bedroom apartment comes to between $240 to $280 a month. That is about ten percent of our rent. The problem with the storage rooms is that you have to get your stuff there, which means hiring a truck and some moving people to load and then unload the truck (we’ve moved ourselves enough in life, it is time to hire movers). Then there’s the truck and movers again when it is time to take the stuff out of storage and into the new apartment. So that adds at least $200 each side of the storage move so we figure for three months this option costs at least $1,120.
The second option we considered were the “pod” system. Companies like PODS and 1800Packrat deliver a portable metal container, a small semi-tractor trailer either 12, 16, or 20 feet long, and you load and they haul it off to their storage place. This eliminates the need to rent a truck, and the unloading at the storage place, thus saving about $200 roundtrip. The rent for storing the metal “pod” is about the same as a storage room so this option is about $900.
Even better though are the “mini-pods.” These are smaller portable containers from companies like Door-to-Door and Smart Box. These are wooden crates that measure five feet wide, eight feet deep, and seven feet tall. Because of their size and construction they are cheaper than the large and heavy metal pods, especially storage costs as low as $49 a month per pod. They also have the advantage of being delivered and picked up, thus no need to rent a truck, and no unloading at the storage place. Since they are smaller, we would need two to hold our stuff, but even so three months of storage comes to about $800.
Mentioned:
http://www.pods.com
http://www.1800packrat.com
http://www.doortodoor.com
http://www.smartboxusa.com
Jun 1
So, if it takes four days to pack and three days to move out all of your stuff, does that mean you have too much stuff? Well by Day 6 I was pretty sick of looking at stuff much less owning it.
Anyway, I don’t intend on turning this blog into some narcissitic Twitter-style “this is what I am doing today” thing but I wanted to make an entry since I see many people are checking in. We are finally out of the apartment and are on our way. Heading south – will have more info tomorrow.
Life’s an adventure – grab yours.