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Moving (Flying) from NY to Florida. Best/cheapest way to ship a TV and some things??
A bit of backstory:
I'm 21 and determined it's time to do something about the uneventfulness in my life. I currently live in my mom's house in a small town with no luck finding a job, and no car. The house itself is somewhat messy and in pretty bad shape, with half the lights not working due to a constantly blowing fuse, bathroom tiles falling out of the walls, a broken dryer and other various things. Most of the people I would hang out with live 30-40 minutes away, so it's an occasional thing. I also just got out of a relationship a couple weeks ago.
Some good friends who moved to Florida last year just had a room open up in their 2 bedroom apt and asked If I would come live with them (Fort Myers). I've found a work at home job on the internet that I'm using to save money up for the first month or 2 of rent, as well as any other costs of moving. I'm flying down at the end of February. What is the best/cheapest way to get these things down there?
-xbox
-22" flatscreen tv
-various neat bottles/figurines/other doodads that sit on shelves with the largest of them being the Halo: Reach legendary statue thing.
Bestow upon me your money saving wisdom!
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22" TV, you may almost want to consider just looking around craigslist/etc when you get down there - that's small enough that you might find someone dumping a TV of that size for $25 or so, at which point it's probably not worth the effort to pack it safely enough to pay for shipping (I know I'm going to be getting rid of an old 27" TV for about that much in a few months when I have to move). Otherwise I agree with @mightyjongyo, just surround it with clothes and try to remove any pieces (like a base) that look like they could snap off if the bag gets handled a little rough.
It's also true that, dang, 22" is a tiny TV. I've only transported a big TV via moving van before though, so I don't have any particular advice on moving that. But you should indeed check Craigslist in the area you're moving to, see if it looks like people are dumping TVs. If they are, you can always swap. Unless you're really attached to yours, which I do sympathize on, trust me. :P
UPS ship the Television and any figuring larger than a sizable suitcase (with insurance on them in case they get whacked). Pack the rest in suitcases and check them when you fly. Typically, there are not many cheaper ways to ship things than checking bags when things balance out, having gone from Maine to Florida and back a few times, typically I check everything I can but large, sensitive electronics.
When you get to Fort Meyers, make sure you are either a mile inland, on a second floor, or have flood insurance (renters is fine). My wife lived down there and lost everything twice in two different storm surges. It's with the few bucks a month to get your stuff back.
Welcome!
As to the figures and other knickknacks...I'd probably go through it all and decide what really needs to be brought with, and what can be left behind. But shipping that kind of stuff is easy enough anyway, either UPS or Fedex.
As of now I am planning on mailing my tv down (my mom said she asked an employee at the post office how much it would be to ship a 22" tv down and they said about $20, which I can do). I still have the box and cardboard holders and such for it too. I plan on packing all the clothes I'm taking in a suitcase and only carrying on my laptop and a backpack with my xbox in it surrounded by whatever other clothes I can fit in it. As for the doodads I'll just ship the smaller ones and have the larger ones brought down when someone visits. I may also get a tube to put my many posters in.
This. Also, be sure to compare the checking bags costs to the chipping of your doodads. If you have a spare suitcase and can fit them all (posters included) into a suitcase, it may be cheaper to check the bag than to ship a bunch of individual items (especially if you are checking bags anyhow).