Hi guys, sharing a diary of all my tracked expenses to move my 2 bedroom condo from Boston to an apartment building in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. I also stored my furniture for 3 months in between the moves. I used YNAB to track and considered anything somewhat related to the move as a moving expense.

Financial background:

Household: Me (30F) and my standard poodle (2F)

Income: 160k base salary (recent promotion) and about 25k expected throughout the year in bonuses

Debt: ~11.5k left in student loans (planning to pay these off in 2025) and 353k left on my mortgage

Investment accounts: 57k in brokerage account, 105k in Roth/401k, and about 100k vested in company stock plan

Savings: ~88k in CDs/HYSA

Housing cost changes:

I moved out of my condo in September but didnt move to the DMV until December. In between I lived at my moms house in NY but unfortunately my tenant didnt move in until November so I continued covering the mortgage until then.

Boston Housing costs: $1617 Mortgage and $195 HOA. Small 2 bed/1 bath new build condo. Condo insurance is about $400 a year and free street parking

MD housing costs: $3200 for a well sized 2 bed/2bath apartment in a brand new building and $185 for garage parking. My budget when apartment searching was $3000 but this unit really checked all my boxes and I suck with sticking to a budget.

Maryland also has a local income tax that ends up reducing my pay check around $200 per check. These numbers feel a bit crazy to type out and the increase in expenses has stressed me out quite a bit but the new apartment is an upgrade and I make significantly more money now than when I purchased my condo. I was able to rent out my condo for $2675 and will put the rental income directly into my savings acct.

Moving expense break down:

Moving stuff out of Boston:

Boxes, tape and bubble wrap from Home Depot. Bubble wrap was significantly more expensive than I expected: $67.49

PODs padlock, apple air tag to leave in the pod, and more bubble wrap from amazon: $78.90

Storage/moving: I used PODs to store my belongings for 3 months and also move them from MA to MD

• First month of storage: Discounted rate $385.20
• Two additional months: $843.70
• Actual transportation cost: $1499.99

Movers: Since I live on a busy and narrow city street I had the movers fill up the moving truck and then drive it to the POD warehouse and fill the pod there. I was anxious about finding a spot on my street for the pod space and heard from others that they don't always come to pick up as planned. I think doing it this way cost about $100 extra but was worth it for my peace of mind. Movers cost + tip: $835.50

Caulk, light bulbs, paint and misc things to fix wear and tear on my condo before the renter moved in from Home Depot: $101.08

Pizza for my friends during my goodbye/packing party: $58.62

Cleaners after I was all moved out: $160 incl tip

Total: $4030.48

Moving the stuff into MD:

Movers: I did the same process as last time since the apartment building doesn't let you store PODs on the premises. They loaded the truck at the pods warehouse ~30 min away and then unloaded in my apartment: $580 incl tip

Pizza for my family during the move: $50

I drove from NY/Maryland twice, once with a car full of stuff and my mom and the second time with my dog. The amount of tolls between NY and MD makes me sad. It only costs $4 or so to go from NY to Boston.

Gas: $76.29

Tolls: $89.72

Total: $796.01

New apartment costs:

Application fee: $25

Security deposit: $500

Renters insurance: $128

Amenity fee: $350

Not including any first month rent or prorated parking costs here.

Total: $1003

Grand total: $5829.49

Overall, there aren't too many things I would change about the process. I had budgeted 5k for the move and wish I could have stuck to it but overall I think the cost is within reason. I do wish that I packed more efficiently and spent more time organizing and packing everything up because it was a shit show at the end and some of my stuff was damaged in the move. My goal for next year is to be much more mindful about food/drink/shopping/travel costs to offset my increase in housing expenses. But overall I am happy with the move and really hope that Maryland/DC provides a better quality of life than Boston and I can make it a long term home.