Leaving everything behind?
 

We've not been on the forum long, but have quickly become addicted to the varied and interesting opinions of all you out there! With there being a few posts at the mo concerning removals etc, we are keen to know - is there anyone else out there who is selling up everything lock, stock and barrel to buy new/secondhand when they arrive on the other side? We have initially planned just to take all the childrens stuff and only a few personal/sentimental things of our own i.e my shoe collection :D
Are we completely mad or does it not really matter?

Any comments appreciated, Leigh.:)

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

YOU ARE COMPLETELY MAD! ;)


Take everything you possibly can. Finding you bearings on the otherside and setting up your new life is hard, time consuming and expensive enough. Spend this time settling your family not dragging them round shops looking for everything from sofas to a potato peeler. You will have enough descisions to make areas, schools, cars and houses don't let dining suites and bed linen add to them. In the end it will cost you a fortune as you will get cheesed off and buy the 1st one you see instead of bargin hunting.

Thats my 10c worth anyway, we filled a 20ft container and wished we had brought more.


Paula

Thanks for the honest reply Paula.:)
was there anything in particular that you did leave behind and wish you had taken with you?

Best wishes, Leigh.:)

Ian sold a very good welder and pillar drill which he misses. Garden tools like spades and forks which really wouldn't have taken long to scrub down with disinfectant. Should have defrosted and brought my fridge and freezer, have brought new for the kitchen but would be really useful in the garage for beer and stocking up.

Paula

Hi Paula, thanks for the info - only one other question - I promise!:) You said you used a 20ft container - did you get preety much a house worths in their? I.e 3 bed house furniture?

many thanks, leigh.

Pretty much. We left behind all large whiteware (ie fridge, freezer, cooker, microwave, washing machine, tumble drier & dishwasher). Took our double bed base but left behind matress. Left behind all garden furniture. We also managed to squeeze in hubby's ZRX1100 motorbike.
Took pretty much everything else from our 3 bed house.

It was packed v.tightly with not much spare space.


Paula

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

no your not mad we are doing the same. We have though purposefully not made any major purcahses really for the last 2 years. I think the answer here very much depends on cash, if you have the money to spare and have planned to replace things then fair enough. Our budget is £15 - £20k max to refurb our new house.

I guess it depends whether you have a house full of antiques or new and expensive stuff, or on a very tight budget then I guess shipping is best.

cheers


James

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

Hi James,

now i'm umming and aahing about whats the best thing really. We can afford to buy new when we get out there and plan to rent furnished for a year anyhow, but I wonder if shipping would take the hassle out of shopping for new when we do purchase our new property. WHAT AM I SAYING? I'm a woman - SHOPPING? - Thats heaven!!!:D :D :D

Best wishes, Leigh.

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

Leigh, i can't pretend I have ever understood women so this could be a tricky one for me however...

Renting furnished seems to be the expection not the rule in aus so thats one to consider.

The shopping will be hassle but it depends if you are in love with your stuff or not I guess. Our is crap. good sofa mum wants it though so being genrous TV's all 3 plus years old, beds all 4/5 years old, and most the stuff no longer to taste anyway.

we are in our 30's and if feels like we are living in the set of george and mildred - only kidding - but we now want need and must have new stuff.

My best mates has a furniture biz here. I like these tempur beds. Don't know if you've ever heard of them made out of some space foam type stuff really!! they are very different.

We have a water bed at the moment but its got to go we are drifting apart.

James

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

In the time we have been on the forum, we have gone from taking absolutely nothing, to taking as much as we posibly can, even if we throw it out when we get over to Australia.
When on this subject, people who have gone over, have said that their biggest regret was not taking more of their belongings with them.
If you are paying for a container, you may as well fill it to the maximum.
We weren't going to take garden implements even up till yesterday because we thought that it would be a problem, but having had the removals man out, he said that we should wash them in the disinfectant and give them a lick of paint, and that is what we are going to do.
Even he said that people regret not taking things.

Whisky

Just to add my £0.02 to the debate:

I'm planning to only take personal effects with me, kitchen stuff crockery and so on, not furniture etc. Most of it's old and needs replacing and I can't see the point in paying £000s to take it with me. Not taking white goods either as I don't want to risk things not working at all/efficiently over there.

Part of the new life I'm planning is the new start of furnishing my house from scratch.

No doubt I'll buy some stuff cheaply to get me started and then replace later; that's what I've had to do before when I became a single parent.

I guess it depends on how much a part of you your own belongings have become. Don't get rid of everything that makes you feel comfortable in your home now if you would miss it in your new home in Aus.

Just my thoughts - it depends on how you feel as to what's best for you.

Elaine

Just had another shipping quote for my (3) bed left but 4 bed house contents Taking everything except the kitchen stools and dishwasher. Colins tools are a large parcel but less than we originally thought. We have been tld again that we have a tight full container load but when we got the quote we have two alternatives??????????????????

a 20 ft container of 850 cu ft at one price and
a 20 ft container of 1050 cu ft at another higher price.


I thought a 20 ft container was just that and no other company has mentioned the smaller capacity.

Anyway as they were £800 more than PSS gues who we are going to use.

Yes the container will take a good 3 bed house and lots of crockery and everythings else (we have 45 years worth of things including about 200 books)

On our visits to australia we have felt that the furniture etc there is a littl dated for UK tastes it appears to be in a 15 year back timewarp So we want to t ake our good stuff with us we would not get G Plan replacements of this quality cheap and of course would not get their worth if we sold them here in the UK before we went. It seems silly to pay £2000 for a part container when by taking everything you would spedn £2800 plus insurance and get evberything in - you can always sell what you eventually don't want in australia with nothing lost.:lecture: :lecture:

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

In my opinion, you should take all you can afford to send and rent unfurnished here. When you are waiting for your gear to arrive, buy second hand (very good stuff here, very cheap, easy to have delivered - second hand places very good here) to tide you over, then let the kids wreck it playing WW2 like we used to or sell it back to the 2nd hand places/give it to charity shops. Other than that, you can hire furniture and fridges etc to keep you going.

Like Whisky said, a lot of people kick themselves afterwards for not sending all their gear. It seems a hassle now and expensive, but it saves money and trouble in the end. You can save your shopping trips for flashy stuff then with the money you save.

I must say at present we are taking everything. I have a few penpals who have moved recentely and they regretted not taking everything. So we will take the lot, and what ever doesn`t sell we will give away or bin !!

footie chick

TAKE EVERYTHING

I've moved twice now UK to Auckland and NZ to Brisbane and taken about half a container each time and both times now I've regretted leaving stuff behind. It's a false economy unless the items are falling apart.

The only items not worth taking are wardrobes, old TV and Video. I've still got my dining room set and 3 piece and must be 20 years old now all bought in Blighty and I fully plan to take them back to NZ when I go.

Renting furnished you will pay twice as much per week as renting unfurnished (this will generally be holiday accom unless you are very lucky), so it's only cost effective whilst waiting for your stuff to arrive and your choice will be far more limited.

Unfurnished rental accom is widely available, not so furnished rental accom.

All of our family and friends in Aus have advised us to bring absolutely everything. So we are, right down to the boxes of nuts and bolts from the garage!
O.K. it's costing £4300 but do as we did and have a good look around your house then ask yourself could you replace it all for £4300. We didn't think we could so it's all going.
At the end of the day it's your call but then again I do not want to be searching for furniture when I've got perfectly good stuff that is already paid for!!

Done the move to Oz before without taking anything - big mistake - TAKE EVERYTHING!!! Appliances, furniture, bedding, kitchenware - even down to the curtain rods if they're adjustable.

If you're renting to start with you don't want to go out and buy a whole lot of new stuff that might not suit the house you eventually buy. The cost really adds up too. You can rent furniture/fridge etc short term from a furniture rental company to fill your unfurnished rented place then send it back when your stuff arrives. Plus you get next to nothing selling stuff secondhand before you go. Take even your old whitegoods - if you get another year out of them the freight cost is good value.

Examples: It works out to about £50 to ship a washing machine which might cost you £250 equivalent in Oz. We paid $450 10 years ago for a secondhand fridge freezer in Oz (new $800). We could have shipped one from the UK for $150.

The only things we're leaving this time are the lawnmower (too hard to clean), paddling pool (muddy) and dishwasher (house buyer desperate to have it even though it's ancient).

20' container sounds right for 3 bed house if you take the lot.

Good luck!!!

Lawnmower, definitely.

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

Leaving everthing behind is not a good move.

We came here with just 14 boxes and really regreted it.

We have spent a fortune on buying new furniture when that money would have been better spent going toward the deposit on our house. With the ever increasing house prices you would be far wiser to put your 15-20 thousand pounds into your property here, and spend 4000 pounds bringing what you already have. :)

Another "bring everything" reply. We didn't & regret it. Like someone else has said, we thought we'd replace old & hand me down furniture when we got here - BIG MISTAKE! Wish we'd brought the old junk until we were better established, had time etc. to furniture shop. It's false economy to buy cheap/second furniture when you get here to replace at a later date, bring it from home much cheaper. Here in Perth we have found second hand furniture expensive & would rather save and buy new. Also if you bring everything with you & no longer want it, sell it here and you will probably get more for it!

Things we regret not bringing .... definetly more furniture, lawn mower, wooden mallet, tumble drier, garden tools, clothes, marmite, full length ladder (gave them away - doh!!).

Loopy

ANOTHER VOTE - TAKE EVERYTHING

I had a 40ft! 4 bed house. And I only regret the stuff we didn't bring, I bought old tellys and Videos as well - Kids rooms used for watching vids and playing games, Wardrobes - I have a house that not everyroom has built ins. I did not bring white goods and am still pee'd off at cost here for what is my opinion often lesser spec, eg front loader with spin speed of 800 rpm! I brought over a pool table too! All our Garden stuff, regret not bringing my garden pots! I gave away over 1000 books and dumped our cassettes (car we have only uses cassettes!). Honestly after 18 months the number of times I think I thought I had one of those!

TAKE THE LOT

guys,

aside from the monetary aspect - moving to another continent is a pretty daunting thing to do.
speaking from personal experience, the day all our gear turned up from the Uk was a very happy day indeed.
We never moved away to start everything afresh, and it was really pleasant to put some familiar items in our new and unfamiliar house. Just made settling in that bit easier.
Each to his own, but I found it made our new house a home.

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

Bring everything!

There's been a few posts like this in the past.. if you do a search you should find them. Be interesting to know if the people who are now saying "I regret not bringing everything" were the same people in the old posts who said "they are not bringing anything with them". When most of the expats here on this forum did advise them to bring their stuff with them.

I noticed someone said.. I wish I'd brought my fridge... most people advised not to bring y a fridge.. I did say in an old post to bring a fridge for the reason you have just stated.. it comes in handy as a second fridge. I can't see why they don't travel well... you just let the fridge settle for a few days before turning them on.

Anyway If I were you I'd bring your stuff with you. I've done it both ways.. I went to Sing with just a suitcase... I regretted it.. it took me ages to build up a household again. When I came to Aus I didn't make the same mistake again.. I brought everything, bar the beds and fridge (I regretted this too... leaving the fridge! I gave that away).

Even if you have the money to buy everything new... think of the time it takes to buy everything all over again.. from small things such as crockery to the larger things. Plus that money could be spent on better things.. such as holidays for the kids, new car ,boat or something... enjoyment in other words

I wouldn't bother with the lawn mower myself.. it may be hard to get parts for it. I used to own an electric Hover mower (bought it off a pom here in Aus) when it broke down I could not get parts for it.. the repair place said they could order them from overseas.. but it wasn't worth the cost. Same may go for washing machines... check if they have your model here in Aus before you bring yours.. just in case it breaks down and you need spare parts.

Cheers

What's the smallest amount these shipping people do?

I came to OZ for a year with the intention of going back to the UK and sorting stuff then, if I ever got my PR. But I never left. So I have some stuff packed away, but not a huge amount worth bringing out that I haven't already aquired over here in the last 3 years.

I think all I really have that I'd wanna bring back to OZ is my TV (Sony Widescreen - cost a bloody fortune over here), some books, a study desk, some small sentimental crap and my mountain bike.

I think I'm back over in the UK for a few weeks in March 2004, so it'd be nice to grab this stuff then.

Anyone got experiences of taking only a small amount?

Cheers,
brisnick

You should try these people nick. You can move one box or all your house with them. They are a good firm and I and my kids have used them a few times before for bits and pieces and they are a great bunch. They give you quick quotes and do door-to-door, self-packed service to keep costs down.

www.excess-baggage.com

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

One thing I've noticed is that the people who are hesitating about shipping everything are those still in the UK, those out here seem to be unanimous in their replies and that is BRING IT ALL.
So note where the poster is before giving credence to some replies.

Re: Leaving everything behind?
 

I say bring everything unless it's really crap.

We used migration as an opportunity to get rid of an ancient bed and a crappy, second hand suite. There was also loads of miscellaneous rubbish that got thrown out, you know, the sort of crap you tend to accumulate over the years.

Not cars though, too much hassle with compliance etc...

On average it costs 5 times more to buy than to ship. So unless you are minted Bring everything, its not cheap to live here and once you start paying out the cash soon goes. :D

We brought most of our belongings, we left a few completely worn out items behind. It's surprising how all the small things add up, for example tools, spanners, hammers, files, spirit level, drill, jigsaw, tape measures, we worked out my husband owned thousands of pounds worth of tools yet they took up only a small area in the container.

Take the advice of the majority - bring everything!

BRING It ! BRING IT !
you'll get sick of shopping - much as you think you'll enjoy it.
It's really boring walking around the shops replacing potato peelers and tin openers when you could have been having fun on the beach - and, as has been mentioned...it's very expensive to replace the lot.
we wish we'd boght everything and just replaced it if needs be, at our leisure

All the movers we had round to quote this time advised against taking the lawnmower. Much too hard to clean the dirt off to Oz customs & quarantine's satisfaction.

Nick - We used Doree Bonner a few years ago to send a few boxes for a friend who'd already gone back with his suitcases. They were fine. We'd already used them to ship a houseload for us so we didn't check around for quotes though.