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Comment by prophetjohn | Hacker News Reader

    If you have a car, get rid of it. Do not, under any circumstances, bring it to the city.

Ah, I have a small truck and wanted to drive it there, so I could bring my bed, and then sell it when I get there. I guess I need to decide if I can sell a small truck in the Austin area for enough more than in New York to cover the cost of a new bed.

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I talked to my insurance company; insurance is more than 3x what it was in NC. Ditch the car.

And yeah, it is fairly easy (and fun!) to pick up inexpensive furniture here. And, of course, the size of bed (desk/chair/sofa/etc) will depend on the apartment you get.

(Someone else mentioned $500 bucks for a nice bed. That is some one-percenter bedding right there, if you ask me!)

I had packed six boxes, and my parents shipped them to me when I finally found a place to live. Turns out those boxes are still unpacked (and taking up space in my room!)

It may be obvious, but don't buy a used mattress from someone you don't know in NYC. The bed bug risk means that it isn't worth it.

And I don't think that $500 for mattress + bed frame is ridiculous, given that you spend roughly 1/3 of your life on it.

Some unconventional alternatives to a mattress and bed frame:

- if your floor is warm enough, a sleeping bag on the floor (or perhaps on a foam mat -- the kind used for camping) might work

- try a hammock (some are sold with special suspension intended to be used indoors)

- a couch or futon

Another New Yorker here. Just sell the car in Austin. You can get a bed & mattress at the Ikea in Brooklyn for $500 or less and they'll deliver it. You're not going to want the added hassle of trying to sell a car in a new and huge city while you're trying to get settled. Plus, you will get parking tickets. It's almost unavoidable.

You can also get a bed from somewhere cheaper - all these places deliver. I don't remember how much I paid, but I'm pretty confident it was <$200.

It depends how much stuff you have other than the bed. Renting a vehicle one-way is crazy expensive. So is flying with more than one or two suitcases.

My hunch is, driving the small truck ALMOST all the way with your stuff, then ditching it before you get there would be the most cost-effective approach.

If necessary, get a storage locker (way outside the city) for the first month (Public Storage has "first month free" offers) until you get settled in.

I would recommend looking at rooms/shares and finding a furnished sublet. There are a lot of those at a reasonable price, and that's a much better option when you know you'll be moving in a few months. I tried this and it worked really well for me.

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