MQ#3: How much $$?

Just in case you didn't know....moving costs money. I've moved a few times in my post-college life (including once from Manhattan to CA, then back from CA to Brooklyn), and I can easily say that those few days were the worst of my LIFE. Moving in NYC without the money to hire a moving company makes things about 50x worse. Reserving a U-Haul truck, packing shit into boxes, waiting in line for 2 hours in the early morning to get that truck, trying to find a place to idle the truck in front of my apartment building so I won't get ticketed, guilt tripping friends into helping me move, carrying shit up and down flights of stairs, trying to keep everyone fed and hydrated, maneuvering a large truck in single lane one-way NYC streets, then unloading and doing the whole thing all over again right when you feel like you're gonna collapse...just thinking about it makes me shudder.

Which is why I am DETERMINED to make sure that this move will not be torture. And I will achieve this lofty goal through a combination of endless planning, and, yes, spending money.

We are planning on making the move in April 2009. We chose this month for a couple reasons: first, N's lease on his apartment conveniently ends May 1st (my lease doesn't, but I have more flexibility); second, this will give me enough time at my current job to appropriately phase out and also get the coursework I'd like to get done out of the way; and third, it gives us time to plan and save money. This gives us roughly 6 months to prepare.

We opened a joint savings account (took 5 minutes online with ING) devoted to stockpiling our funds. We've both taken on second jobs, most of which will go straight into the account. By the end of April, we *should* have around $8k saved. But in my mind, $10k is the ideal figure. Time for the nitty gritty breakdown (each of these figures are generously cushioned for my own peace of mind):

Two one-way plane tickets: $600
Rent (1st month + security): $3,000
Furniture, move-in necessities: $2,000
...and the remainder will go towards a car

I am deathly afraid of loans and debt, thus my preference to have this much in cash ready and available for the transition. And, as always, the more the better, right?

This is a very general idea of the breakdown of funds we need without taking into factor important financial unknowns: jobs, crises, other random opportunities. Who knows? These may be numbers we're basically pulling out of our asses, but I always feel more comfortable working with concrete goals and figures, especially with as big of a change as this.