Last week, I was promoted a level within my organization. As a baseball player, this meant that I had to leave immediately. I was told around 10 pm that I’d be leaving the next morning on a 6 am flight. My wife and I had settled in to our lives in Florida, and now I had to move again. We needed to choose a new place to live, figure out how to get our belongings there, and find someone who could take over our current lease.
Moving Our Lives
My dad happened to be in town when I was promoted, and he kindly offered to drive our new car up the east coast with all of our stuff packed in the back. I couldn’t drive, as I needed to get there as quickly as possible. My dad took only a day and a half to drive up the entire coast, which meant that all of our stuff arrived in our new city quickly.
My wife still has a couple weeks left on her seasonal assignment in Florida, so she’s staying to finish up her work. Once she’s done, she’ll join me in Connecticut. She packed most of her items and kept only the essentials. She’ll fly up with the rest of her belongings soon.
Moving things quickly is difficult. In our case, we were lucky to have my dad around and willing to drive. Usually the only options are to use a moving company or the postal service.
Where Next?
With an outstanding lease in Florida, we don’t want to get another one in Connecticut (unless it’s month-to-month). This limits our options a bit, as does our little puppy that’ll be flying up with my wife. Until my wife arrives, I found a place to stay with a host family. This option won’t work with my wife and dog, however, so we’ll need to find a new home when they arrive.
Our options are some low-level apartment complexes with furniture, or an extended stay hotel. We’re trying to find a host family to take us, but we haven’t gotten any leads yet.
The apartment offers a slightly lower cost, but less convenience. We would have to set up our own internet and cable, along with other utilities. The extended stay hotel is more expensive, but very convenient. Either way, paying a month at a time is going to get fairly expensive.
The Other Place
Luckily, we have friends in Florida that are willing to take over our old lease. This is assuming they stay in the same city for the rest of the summer. Baseball players lead a very transient lifestyle. Our friends will hopefully cover the cost of the lease, as well as any utilities that are incurred. This will leave us a little more wiggle room in the cost of our new place.
This is the first time my wife and I have needed to do this. While it created some headaches, it’s been fun to sort out. Hopefully, we will soon establish where we will live for the rest of the summer.
Have you ever needed to move to a new place quickly?
{ read the comments below or add one }
First off, congrats on the promotion! That must be a very exciting life.
I had to move around quite a bit in the military — some with less warning than I’d like. The benefit we had was that the military paid for the actual move, but there’s still all the other costs of moving like breaking leases, signing onto new ones, packing or getting rid of stuff. It’s lucky you had friends who will take over your contract. What would have been other options? Offering a Craigslist sublet maybe?
I’ve been traveling all my life and always had very little things and furniture, most of it being clothes and similar things. Do not save a lot of merciless things, as it only costs a lot of money to transport them every time you need to move.
AJ,
Congrats on getting called up. You’re working your way to Target Field, eh?
Now I’ve never had to move in a hurry, but I’m kind of doing that to myself very soon. I’ve been liquidating most of my possessions so I can move to Seattle. I’ll be flying and taking next to nothing with me (shipping my commuter bicycle, flying with clothes, toiletries, computer and sleeping necessities).
I’m more than fortunate to have a bunch of friends and acquaintances that will give me places to rest my head while I look for work.
All the best to you, AJ!
-Christian L. @ Smart Military Money