Moving into a new home can be a seriously daunting task, but a "divide-and-conquer" approach can make it easier to handle. This concept is pretty simple: you start out by dividing what you own into two categories - what you'll need right away and what you can do without for a while. The urgent items will go into a rental truck, and the less urgent items will go into storage pods.
The big hidden cost of a truck rental is the gas it takes to drive it, and the larger the truck is the worse its gas mileage is going to be. However, a truck has the advantage of allowing you to keep very valuable possessions in your own hands through the moving process, and all the items in the truck arrive at your new home when you do.
All your breakables should go in the truck. There's just a psychological advantage to keeping breakable items in your own hands, so all your delicate decorations, kitchen glassware, and so on should go in the rental truck. Everything else in your kitchen that you use on a regular basis should also go in the truck to ensure that it gets unloaded immediately upon arrival at the new house.
Furniture will end up being split between the two methods, but taking some furniture in the truck is a good idea. First, you'll need some the first night in the new house, and you don't want to have to search through the pod for it. Second, some heavy items help with load balancing in the truck. Keep these items to a minimum, though, and be sure to bring plenty of lamps. It's amazing how easy it is to forget and to end up in a new house with no way to light it.
Personal items go in the truck without a doubt. In addition to the obvious - jewelry and other valuables that you want to keep close - you should move all the clothes that you wear on a regular basis and any linens that you're going to need right away. Shoes can become misshapen if they stay packed for too long, so take your shoes in the truck as well.
Everything else goes in a storage pod, which is basically the back end of a truck that a pod company plops down in front of your house for you to fill. Once it's filled, they pick it up and move it to your new home. Then they leave it in front of that house, where it acts as a storage facility while you move your things into your house at your convenience. It has all the convenience of renting a storage unit, except that this storage unit is right outside, instead of all the way on the other side of town.
When dividing items between these two moving systems, gas mileage is important to keep in mind. Heavy items will cost you gas mileage in the truck, whereas they won't cost any extra to ship in a storage pod.
Combining these two methods, using a truck for the items you'll have an immediate need for and storage pods for everything else, you can simplify the process of moving. You will also simplify the unpacking process on the other end.
