New Job in a New City!!!

[burbuja0512]

Oh my! Congratulations! You definitely deserve such a fantastic opportunity.

On the moving question, for a long move, have you considered or priced a moving company? When my extended family (three households - father- and mother-in-law, sister-in-law and her family, and husband and our family) relocated from the Chicago area to our current neighborhood, we had movers come. They boxed everything up - so that solved the box dilemma! - and moved it out, loaded it up, and took care of driving that massive truck. All we did was pack up the items we definitely wanted to bring ourselves and a few days of clothes, drive our own cars down, and two days later our stuff showed up and was carried inside. I'd never spend the money for a short distance move, but for cross-country, it was the best way to go. Your new employer may offer relocation benefits that might cover a portion of that.

As far as living in the Chicago area, so happy for you on that front, too! I loved that town because there was so much to do. If it were not for unusual circumstances, we would still be there. Depending on where the office is located, pick your home neighborhood strategically to avoid extra long commutes (ours used to be 2 hours - left house at 5AM, caught 5:15 train that arrived at the station at about 6:15AM, then 1 and 1.5 mile walk or cab ride to our offices downtown to be at work at 7AM).

Well, I do get some relocation money, but it's not a significant amount compared to how much we'll need to spend. I think you make a good point... at the very least it wouldn't hurt to price out professional movers. I was planning on hiring someone to help us get the exercise equipment out of the basement and carry other really heavy stuff, but that was just going to be local. Hmmm.. will need to investigate.

Since you know the Chicagoland area, do you have any specific recommendations for suburbs? I've looked north and northwest, but am still not sure..