Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - Moving Tips to Save $$$ (Plus, One Horror Story)

Episode Date: December 16, 2021

Moving can be expensive… and a headache. Our host Nicole Lapin got a big dose of expensive headaches when on the day-of her cross-country move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, she ended up stranded on the sidewalk with all of her earthly possessions, and no movers. Do yourself a favor: listen to this cautionary tale. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Money rehabbers, you get it. When you're trying to have it all, you end up doing a lot of juggling. You have to balance your work, your friends, and everything in between. So when it comes to your finances, the last thing you need is more juggling. That's where Bank of America steps in. With Bank of America, you can manage your banking, borrowing, and even investing all in one place. Their digital tools bring everything together under one roof, giving you a clear view of your finances whenever you need it. Plus, with Bank of America's wealth of expert guidance available at any time, you can feel confident that your

money is working as hard as you do. So why overcomplicate your money? Keep it simple with Bank of America, your one-stop shop for everything you need today and the goals you're working toward tomorrow. To get started, visit bofa.com slash newprosmedia. That's b-o-f-a dot com slash n-e-w pros p-r-o-s media. bfa.com slash newprosmedia. Hey guys, are you ready for some money rehab? Wall Street has been completely upended by an unlikely player, GameStop. And should I have a 401k? You don't do it? No, I never do. You think the whole world revolves around you and your money.

Well, it doesn't. Charge for wasting our time. I will take a check. Like an old school check. You recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. Sometimes when you try to save money, the cheaper alternative ends up sneak attack costing you way more than the pricier one.

And sometimes it doesn't only cost you more money, but it also costs you more time. And I have long said that time is your most valuable asset. You can always get more money. If you lose it, you can't get more time. In the worst cases, you lose both, which is what happened to me during my own move from New York to California during the pandemic. So here's what happened. I tried to use pods. It's a contactless moving and storage service to move all my shit across the country. After all, I am pro-innovation, which is what I thought the company was all about. Having moved 15 times in as many years for jobs in television news and whatnot, I know how stressful moving can be. I always opted for a more full-service version, valuing my

time and mental health over a few extra hundred dollars. This time, I thought I would try to save some money as the chief rich bitch I am and try something new and mobile. The company had marketed itself as being cheaper than traditional moving options and stellar in customer service. That could not have been farther from the case. It was a nightmare from start to finish, and I would have paid double, maybe even triple to save myself from the shitstorm that rained on my life because of this company. And yes, it was really that bad. I will spare you most of the stressful, banging your head on the wall worthy details and opt to quickly get you some helpful resources so that you, my dear listener, never, ever have to experience the maddening nonsense

that I endured. But let's just say they misquoted me the size of the trailer I needed, which led to a cascade of issues which left me literally on the side of the road with my furniture at 6 p.m. and a bucket of tears on a Saturday night with no help until they reopened on Monday. I needed to quickly rebook the entire trip I was making by my lonesome across the country, which is no easy feat in general, but especially during a pandemic, extend a lease because I was supposed to move out that day. Plus, I had to hire tons of extra last minute help to keep me at least somewhat on track. This chaos not only cost me thousands of unexpected dollars, but hours trying

to untangle the mess with their reps and their executive team. Yeah, mama sent it all the way up to the top. And look, I am nothing if not a principled person. I have covered business and companies for nearly two decades. Companies, like people, have bad days, and I am all for giving the benefit of the doubt, especially before deciding to talk publicly about an experience with a company. So, and maybe you've noticed this, this is the first time I've spoken about a dysfunctional company on Money Rehab, but I felt like I could and should talk about this because it wasn't just my one sole personal experience isolated in a vacuum. There are hundreds of complaints against pods on the Better Business Bureau,

including pushed delivery dates and no-show drivers. I also put this out on social media, and I received a ton of DMs from other people experiencing similar issues. So I thought I would tell you my whole story and give you some better alternatives if you're dealing with this too. If you're moving soon, it's my hope that you don't add more stress and turmoil to our already stressful and tumultuous lives these days, I learned some valuable lessons about all of this along the way. So I want to share them with you with these five key takeaways from my horrific experience. Number one, tried and true. Sometimes the best options are the tried and true ones. There's a reason that the best and most popular cookie is and always will be the chocolate

chip. If I had to do this over, I'd go with a company like Paramount Transportation Services or Northstar, which do the moving and unpacking for you. This way, you don't have to hire a different service for each portion of the move. If you've never moved before, lucky you, you're a unicorn. Ask around though and do some research to find what companies have already proven to be effective. There's usually no better way to find the tried and true than by word of mouth. Number two, handle with care. If you decide to go the mobile mover route, be prepared to actually move the boxes yourself. This doesn't have to be a bad thing. I'm sure many of us have hired movers only to cringe as they handle a box incorrectly or flip something valuable upside down. Many movers and even

services like FedEx or UPS will throw packages in the back of the truck just to get her done quickly. Think of your items as precious cargo, because they are, and move them yourself. This way, you can take control and make sure that things arrive in one piece. Number three, living with restrictions. When I moved, both places I was leaving and going, Brooklyn and Santa Monica, had four-hour window moving restrictions. So I'd never heard of this, but this meant that I had to pack and unpack in this four-hour period or endure surcharges. We've, of course, gotten used to being restricted from various activities during COVID and COVID surcharges. But ask about restrictions and surcharges ahead of time, just like you now know you need to do when making haircut appointments or eating out.

You don't want to just hire a service and assume it will be the same as it was B.C. That is, before COVID. Number four. More is less. Did I mention that Pods misquoted me the size of the trailer I needed? Just in case, let me say it one more time. Pods, the moving company that knows about sizes of trailers and things, freaking misquoted me, the person who is not a moving company and has no idea how big trailers are supposed to be to fit certain amount of things inside that I needed. So to save yourself having to hire extra movers or equipment, it is better

in these COVID times to just splurge a little and spring for that larger trailer just in case bigger boxes and extra help. Even though you might be spending more up front, it will save you hours of time and energy spent on the phone trying to fix problems that follow not having enough space or support in the first place. It's better to have too many boxes than not enough, especially now when a trip to the post office is risky. Number five, the long haul. As I did myself, many Americans are foregoing air travel to drive long distances to relocate. Remember that if you go this route, you'll be crossing several state lines and encountering different COVID restrictions. You'll also likely encounter higher quotes for cross-country or similarly long moves. Get ahead of this and

think about other ways to cut costs. Maybe you want to rent a U-Haul yourself and do the drive. It's important to take into consideration the distance of your move. If you can do a 12-hour drive in a day instead of breaking it up into two, you'll save hotel costs altogether. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. You'd think that with so many of us relocating over the course of the pandemic, the moving process during COVID would be way more seamless by now. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. It's better to prepare yourself for every little thing that could go wrong than be surprised. This will likely mean

over-preparing, but it will give you peace of mind, especially if it means saving yourself from spending hours on hold with customer service. And that is Braceless. Money Rehab is a production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoie and Mike Coscarelli. Executive producers are Nikki Etor and Will Pearson. Our mascots are Penny and Mimsy. Huge thanks to OG Money Rehab team Michelle Lanz for her development work,

Catherine Law for her production and writing magic, and Brandon Dickert for his editing, engineering, and sound design. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all.