If you move by yourself, you'll still need to account for some outside services and additional factors:

Rental Charges

When you're moving from state-to-state, you have to provide exact details to the truck rental agency such as origin, destination, exact dates, etc. Prices can vary depending upon the equipment available to you from the rental agency. Rental Truck rates can vary depending upon the time of year that you're moving. Rates are higher between May and September. Rental agencies also run on a supply and demand theory. If you're moving at the beginning or end of the month, you may find that the supply of trucks available to you is sparse. In most cases, you will be charged a rental deposit that may or may not be refunded depending upon the condition of the vehicle when you return it. There are also charges for additional miles over and above the original estimate (approximately 10% greater than the estimated actual mileage). These charges don't include state taxes. All other charges are additional.

In most cases, your time is the most valuable thing to you. You'll need one or two days to pack and one or two days to unpack in addition to your drive time. Professional moving services are quite adept at maximizing the available space in a moving vehicle. When you move yourself, you have to make sure that you optimize the space or you'll need a larger truck.

Automobiles

Are you looking to tow your vehicles behind the truck or are you going to be driving them to your new destination? Trailer packages from rental agencies can cost an additional $200, plus $50 or so for insurance for the vehicle. If you drive your own vehicle you have to factor in the variables such as wear and tear, gas, mileage, etc.

Insurance Charges

It is possible that insurance charges can be an additional $10 per day on the rental vehicle. Charges include such things as vehicle damage, cargo damage (to a certain dollar value), medical and life insurance. (Cargo damage insurance provides protection for your household goods from damages incurred during a vehicular accident. Any other types of damages are not covered!) If the truck or vehicle you are renting is stolen then it is your responsibility. Most often times moving trucks are targets for thieves.

Pads

In order to protect your belongings, you will need to rent padding. Pads cost around $10 for a dozen. An estimate of a four-bedroom home would be about 2-dozen pads, which equates to $20.

Dollies

An appliance dolly, utility dolly, or furniture dolly is most often needed to move large boxes, furniture, miscellaneous items, etc. Each dolly you rent may cost you and extra $5 - $10.

Your Valuable Time

During a self-move you and your family are responsible for every detail. Some details are more time consuming than others. The major tasks are packing and unpacking. You also have to factor in who will be driving the rental vehicle, who will be driving the family vehicle, etc. The best thing to do in this case is to figure on your hourly wage and multiply that by the number of hours you estimate your move to be. Make sure you add about 10-12 more hours for incidental last minute details. Figure in packing time, move preparation, picking up the moving vehicle, load time, drive time, hotels, food expense, gas, unloading time, etc.

Packing

Most self moves includes the hunt for available boxes. In order to make sure that your valuables are protected properly, you should purchase specialized boxes for your belongings. Wardrobe boxes, dish boxes, boxes for artwork, etc. If you purchase your boxes from a truck rental company, expect to pay about $200 for a 4-bedroom home, plus another $100 or so each for the kitchen and home office. Packing materials such as tape and bubble wrap are also essential elements for securing your belongings.

Mileage Charges

Mileage charges are most often included in your rental agreement. Depending on your agreement, mileage charges may be limited and you may get stuck with additional mileage charges. In most cases, additional mileage charges are .40 cents per mile for each additional mile.

Gasoline Charges

Your rental vehicle will be full of gas when you pick it up. When you return the vehicle you must re-fill the gas tank or you will be charged a price that is higher than the normal price of gasoline. You will need to calculate the cost of the gas you use while driving the rental vehicle. An average 26-foot, 5-speed diesel truck that is fully loaded will average about 10 miles to the gallon. On a 1200-mile trip, you will consume about 120 gallons of gasoline, at an average price for diesel fuel of $1.25 per gallon. (Source: AMC's April 1996 Fuel Survey). Your total gasoline costs will be about $150 for the trip.

Appliance Charges

Large items such as refrigerators, grandfather clocks, washing machines, and ranges all may require special care before you can move them in the proper way. It is possible that you may need to hire trained specialists to make sure your items are handled properly. These specialists will increase the costs of your move significantly.

Destination Considerations

You'll have to rely on your perfect timing to make sure that your new home is available at the time of your arrival. If it is not, you have to find a safe place to store your belongings until you're ready to occupy your new home. This requires you to unpack all your belongings for storage, then load them and unpack them once again when it's time to move into your new home. Most often times, these storage units aren't suitable to protect your belongings properly. There are security issues, no insurance coverage, and no protection from fire or other types of dangers.

Other Considerations

First of all, you have to protect yourself. If you have any physical condition, then a self-move is definitely not the way to go. Back injuries, pulled muscles, leg strain, etc. all can happen easily if you don't lift properly. If you have small children, you may incur childcare expenses during the moving process. You may have to call on good friends to help you with your move or your children, and this will certainly cause them an inconvenience.