Moving From Ottawa to Calgary For $300

SOLD

This week we sold the moving truck that we bought for our move from Ottawa to Calgary. I posted ads on several web services (kijiji, craigslist, usedcalgary, bargainfinder and autotrader) and sat back to wait for all the calls to come in. The first caller bought the truck. Lucky thing he did, because I didn't have that many other calls coming in (two).

I listed the truck for more than I paid for it, knowing that the Calgary market is pretty strong, and hoping that I could cover some of our moving costs. According to our estimates, the profit that we gained from the sale of the truck (about $2500) covered all of our expenses (truck, inspections, towing, parking ticket, registration, insurance, gas, food, lodging), except for a few hotel rooms. In all, we figure our net cost to move from Ottawa to Calgary was about $300. Not only that, we had the benefit of using the truck for a few months to store our stuff, take loads to the dump, help people move, etc.

Obviously, saving $6000 on our move was a good thing. If I had to do it over again, would I do things differently? Perhaps. I certainly wouldn't leave the thing parked in the church parking lot without a note again. That towing incident was a nightmare that easily could have been avoided. The insurance is the only real deterrent. It's not easy for a private individual to get short-term insurance for a commercial vehicle. If I had to do it over again, I think that is the part I would dread.

It was sad to watch the truck pull away for the last time. I think I will miss it.