Move Over

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But trust me I've been busy. I leave for Dallas in 31 Days. In those 31 days I have a lot to do and get done. Number one on my list is finding a place to live. At work, I've been spending every free second trolling all the apartment websites I can find. My job is in Richardson about a 1/2 hour (with no traffic) from the Gayborhood. I'd like to live downtown with the gays but it's a nudge out of my price range. Therefore I started to focus my search half way between work and fun. Coincidentally that happens to put me right near the Northpark mall, home to Burberry, Valentino and West Elm! How could a girl go wrong? As it turns out, that's also a very high crime area. Luckily my friend Brendon told that I might want to steer clean of that section of town. After his advise I started to look on ApartmentRatings.com which was both a blessing and a curse. There were so many bad reviews I had to at one point just stop reading and ban myself from the site. It was doing more harm then good.

So my budget is going has to stretch to get something nicer and safer. Even more reason why I want to see these places in person. I was able to find a cheap last minute flight out of Logan on Spirit Airline. Granted the flight home is the red eye which leaves at 1:10 am Sunday morning. It looks like I won't be sleeping Saturday night. *Side Bar: I didn't know the airport was open at 1 am.*  While I'm in town I'm going to try and squeeze in as much as possible. It will also give me a chance to scout out complexes that don't have a strong online presence. So far I taken two tours and done two drive-bys. The first drive by was a shit hole and the second was a beautiful building but not the section of town I wanted. Tomorrow I'm going to drive to my new office and check out the commute and more apartments on the out skirts of town. I'm trying to take a lot of pictures too!

My next big task is to figure out and decide how to actually move. My decision is tricky because I really don't own that much furniture or substantial items. The only large items I own are my mattress, a very large mirror, and tv cabinet. The mirror and cabinet are both from Ikea and can be repurchased for a total of $200. The mattress is the only large item of value. I don't own a sofa so I would have to purchase one once I get to Dallas regardless of which moving option I choose.

Option One: Rent a Uhaul trailer and tow it with my car when I drive to Texas.
Pro- Able to bring more with me including (possibly) my mattress.
Con- Towing a trailer requires a hitch to be installed on my car. Plus the added stress and gas when actually making the drive.
Cost: Approximately $800-$1000 + the cost of a sofa

Option Two: Rent a Uhaul Truck to drive to Texas, have my Dad drive my car.
Pro- Able to bring anything and everything I want
Con- High cost and forcing my Dad to make the cross country drive
Cost- $1700 + the cost of a sofa

Option Three: Only take what can fit in my car and buy the rest when I arrive.
Pro- Less hassle when making the 30+ hour drive. Opportunity to save money. Starting fresh.
Con- Having to buy a lot when I arrive. Having to leave a lot behind.
Cost- $800-$1200 including a sofa. But it can vary greatly depending on which mattress and sofa I choose.



I'm leaning toward option three which offers the best stress vs cost equation.