Bud the Wiser

Apart from items of sentimental value, I don't see the point of paying £££'s to ship furniture and belongings that may not suit or even fit into our new home. The money saved could be used to buy new and more appropriate furniture etc. Although this may cost more as an initial outlay, the fact that it would be new would mean it had a longer life expectancy than the older stuff we shipped.

That's my opinion............Mrs Bud disagrees.

Jerseygirl

Agreed. We were lucky and sold the furniture with our house in the UK...same when we moved from the US 18 months ago.

Bnet36

Agree too Bud - our furniture is most likely too big and spending all that money shipping doesn't make sense.

I've priced out online all the main pieces we would need when we get back and I will end spending less that shipping. I will put the money I get from selling my current furniture towards it too.

brits1

Hi,

We sold most of our items but we did bring one of our settee's as it was fairly new, we sold the others ones and our washing machine and tumble dryer which again were fairly new we also packed one of our coffee tables and some favourite storage draws, all where not massive items, the rest were just personal items, in the end we had a 20ft container. If none of these items had of been fairly new then we would of bought everything here in the UK as you can get excellent quality items with some much choice for great prices. Good luck with everything

Vadio

If the cost of moving items with sentimental value, clothing etc. is roughly equal to a 20' container, you're possibly better off filling it to the hilt and bringing other things that you could replace, but like.

We've done the container thing multiple times now; each time we packed, loaded and unloaded, and the cost was reasonable. Using a moving company or another method would NOT have been cost effective, but again, given that we are OAPs and are attached to a good few things, it made sense for us to ship the lot. I think it's truly an individual decision.

Grayling

We are shipping......my fishing tackle alone would cost more to replace than the container costs

mikelincs

It's 'would have' you were getting too americanised, please rmember for the future.. LOL

holly_1948

Ship hand tools you have come to like (not garden tools obviously). It's not the money value of them, it's that over the years you collect ones that are good quality and you are comfortable with. Replacements just won't be as well liked. But don't ship the ones you wish you had never bought!

Mallory

I thought she moved back from Australia?

mikelincs

Australia is also being infected...

Pipmeister

I'm so glad I did - for when my former (US) wife dropped me like a stone, I had many of my own things to fall back on immediately, think that were familiar to me, which made my transition to apartment living (for the singles) a much easier adjustment.

But I too, am having these thoughts now its my turn to go home. But the way I look at it is, if you have enough sentimental or 'can't buy again' type of things then if that fills up half a container (which you would need) then you might as well fill it up.

In my case, I have a recording studio set up that goes everywhere with me so for me it's an easier decision - but take for instance, after years of bad nights sleep I splash out $4k (yes, extravagant I know) on a Sleep Number bed. I've only had it 16 months... can't really sell a bed, and if I didn't ship it I would still be in need of the same bed in the UK, which by all accounts costs about $5000.

But all my other electrical appliances.. will be going to friends. If it wasn't for the bed and the studio equipment I wouldn't be taking anything back except the clothes in my two suitcases!, and then spend that $8000 saving on having a great shopping treat when I got home.

Mallory

Did you take the TempurPedic with you?

Jerseygirl

No we had already furnished our condo in Toronto...have the same mattress.

Pipmeister

Well I am definitely shipping my Sleep Number.... its going to be hell waiting for it to arrive - I originally had organized my move so that we would ship our stuff a month before we left, seeing as how we are leaving a lot behind - so sleeping on the couch would just be about bearable. But due to circumstances outside of my control, we don't have that luxury of shipping early, so that means I get to sleep in my nice bed up until three days before we leave - but then don't know what I will be sleeping on for the next 6 weeks - probably an airmatress! Yikes

Pulaski

It's common enough sloppy usage in the UK too. It used to drive my mother nuts - she is a retired high school teacher.