First, is whether my wife joins me on the move, or stays here for the fall. She has her undergrad convocation in November which she absolutely wants to attend. So, if she were to come with me in mid-August, she'd have to fly out for that - ~$1000. If she comes with me, it's unlikely she'd land a decent job immediately, so we might lose at least ~$1000 in income. Also, if she comes out, we'd both be going back for xmas so ~$2000.
So, if she came, it'd be the flight TO ontario during the move...the return flight for convocation, and the return flight for xmas. So, ~2500 in flights. If she doesn't come, then there's only the flight to ontario after the xmas trip ~500...we net ~2000 her staying.
Also, if she stays, she can keep her 18/hr job, stay involved with her prof to continue her research (furthering her career when she goes to grad school in '09), and avoid any jobless or sub-optimal job time during the move to ontario. So, financially it seems best for us to be apart for the 3-3.5months - probably to the tune of at least $3000.
Second, there's the case of our car. It's a 99 Saturn SL1 with 140k km (about 90k miles) in great condition. Looks like it could be sold for between 3000 and 4500 out here. It would cost ~1800 to ship it. It's a 4300km drive, and I'd get about 14km/L at $1.10/L = ~$340 in gas +hotels and food for me to drive it out. It'd take me about 5 days, 4 nights at $70/night = $280, add in about $40 in food/day = $200 + $70 for ferry == ~$900 for me to drive out (and thus no $500 flight). So, to KEEP the car, it looks like driving it out would cost (being conservative) $400-500 (because I wouldn't have to have the flight cost). Shipping it would be 1800+500 (flight) = 2300 = stupid.
So, if I sold it for 3500, at best I could justify buying a car for $4500 on the other side as no net cost....can't buy much for that in Ontario cuz cars wear a lot worse than here.
However, the thing is that I probably wouldn't really need a car for the first 3-3.5months I'd be out there by myself...and my wife would really want to have it here if she remained. But, we'd just face the same problem come December (when it's harder to sell a car), if I were to sell it. And, we wouldn't want to drive out in the winter.
Thirdly, there's the issue of moving/selling stuff. Moving costs run around $1/lb. So, if your couch set weighs around 500lbs, then it'll cost $500 to move it...so we have to decide whether to sell any of our stuff, and buy new over there. We'd be taking somewhat of a hit to sell, save on move, and buy new - but probably not much, and it'd be less hassle.
That's not the big issue though. The big one is that IF she stays here, we'd have to decide whether to move our stuff when I go...move it mid october/november when moving costs are often a bit lower, or move it in december when she joins me in ont after the xmas visit. If it stays here for the fall, it'd likely go in storage and she'd stay with other people (so little to no apt costs, but ~100/month in storage costs). I'd then have to find a furnished apt and rough it without a lot of stuff - basically I'd only take my computer chair (aeron), computer/monitors, and clothes - everything else I'd leave behind...well, okay, I'd take the xbox too
. I'd find a small bachelor/studio/1bdrm apt, and then we'd move into a 3bdrm when she joined me...
However, if the stuff is moved in mid-fall or in the winter, I'd already have to be in a 3bdrm which we'd be living in when she joined me to hold all the stuff. OR, put a bunch of it in storage and then have to hire people (or do it ourselves/friends) to move it a 2nd time (annoying). So I'd be in a ~1200/month apt by myself, vs ~500/month. The nice thing about postponing the move is that it gives us more time to save and pay for the move...which is really important. I mean, if I play enough hands and run decent, it shouldn't be a problem...but who knows, and we kinda have to start planning NOW. You have to book with movers at least 2 months in advance, and it takes about 2 weeks to get everything ready anyway. Also, like I said, if she stays here, we'd likely have to pack shit up anyway and arrange for storage.
So, BTPc: what's my move?
