What’s the cheapest way to move cross-country?

Moving cross-country is so expensive, and I know there has to be a way to do it without completely draining your savings. I've been looking into different options, but would love to hear from people who’ve actually done it.

So far, I’ve seen:

  • Renting a U-Haul and driving yourself (cheaper but kind of a nightmare? how hard/easy is it to drive a truck for the first time?)
  • Moving pods like U-Box (seems hit or miss depending on location)
  • Just selling everything and starting fresh (but does that actually save money?)
  • Shipping boxes through FedEx/UPS, but that adds up fast if you have many

Are there any other budget-friendly options I should be looking at? And were there any sneaky costs that caught you off guard?

Trying to help a friend figure this out without totally breaking the bank, so any frugal-friendly advice would be amazing.

P.S. Thank you for sharing!