jayr

Quite. It is irrelevant whether things are cheaper here or not. If your belongings are worth more than the shipping cost then ship. I'd rather have gone out and bought new stuff that I didn't already own (like a big plasma, surround sound,) than replace beds, sheets, kettles, coathangers, cutlery, wastebins, doormats, sofas etc.

Also because you are replacing so much stuff you tend to have to buy the cheapest of everything, having just given away your good quality stuff in the UK.

walla

I agree

But...... having said all of this it must be real nice to able to afford everything new!!

Our ethos is to make it as cheap as possible, if you can call £3.8k shipping costs cheap ,+ all the money it has cost to emigrate, so that we have as much cash as poss when we get there.

So that we can:

Live virtually debt free apart from a small mortgage, give the kids a better start as they move into adult life and work in less stressful jobs (I work in child protection and can't wait to escape!!). We can also buy our luxeries when we get there ie couple of cars and a couple of new surf boards without taking out loans. A healthy and happy lifestyle

This is our personal preference, I'm sure other members have different ideas.

I never thought one request for ideas could create such a long debate!!

Walla

chippy

Don't want to be argumentative here (me?) jayr, but I don't think that whether things are cheaper or not is "irrelevant".

For example you could sell your stuff in the UK and offset the proceeds against the replacement cost over here. With stuff being cheaper here the overall total cost between shipping verses buying new may not be that huge.

We sold our stuff for about 2500 GBP, and have probably spent about 10 000 GPB setting up here.

How much does it cost for a container shipment?? 6000 GBP ??

Plus you get the benefit of new warranted stuff, without the hassle of shipping. All I'm saying is that this has worked for us.

walla

Oh thought this one would rumble on!!

Hi

OK as I said it's all about personal preferences.

It costs around £3.5k to ship the contents of your average 3 bed house.

If you shipped your stuff and hadn't sold it you would have been quids in by the grand total of £6.5k as you've spent £10k over there.

As I mentioned in a previous posting my house contents would cost £12k to replace, they're not worth that much as they have depreciated in value but you have to remember they do need replacing and it would all have to be bought new.

As I said must be great to buy new, but I have other priorities.

So from my point of view there is absolutely no contest

Walla.

ABCDiamond

I wish I'd brought my book collection, and all my old vinyl Records, I could be transferring them to CD now

And then there's my old wine making equipment, although when you can get reasonable wine at $3.99 a bottle, maybe that's not too important.

Clevs posted "I enjoyed the theraputic time of buying new goods, most women do like that."

You can't beat that argument for leaving the furniture behind, or shipping it, depending if you are the Husband or Wife

darkless

Sorry to bring this old thread up again,.

I think that each and every situation is different.

Yes there will be people with antique furniture and new (but more than one year old of course ;-)) stuff, for whom shipping clearly is the best option.

For those with furniture which is getting old and needs replacing anyway, then what is the point in shipping out some naff old sofa only to ruin the look of your nice house in OZ. Likewise dishwashers, washing machines, TVs, Stereos, video etc - none will have any warranty in OZ, so unless they are pretty new I can't see this as a basis for shipping.

For what it is worth, I shall ship 10 tea chests of personal belongings and many of the items you listed above (cutlery, bedding, etc, etc) as you are right these sort of items add up. This will cost me (according to another thread i read today) between £260 to £500. I will then spend then spend the £3k i have saved, plus the £2K from the stuff I have sold / will sell, along with the extra money we have over and above what we expected (because of the exchange rate), as a good basis for new furniture in a new home in a new country and a new life.

My point here is that this is what after careful though, seems to be right for us. For other people this would not be the best solution and shipping clearly would be better.

To assist in calculating this I produced an inventory of everythign in every room. Put down the price to replace (if possible) in OZ, what we would get if we sold it, what condition it is in, and how important to was to us. From this we came to our decision.

Dave

Pollyana

I got rid of stuff like bookcases and a couple of chests of drawers - we are now so broke that I can't replace them, so I have books and clothes piled in boxes. We have to pay stuff like car rego and electric bills etc, so furniture comes a very long way down the list - we have to make do with the minimum. Wish I'd spent the money in the UK when I had it, and shipped the stuff.

Also, although as someone said I found that the familiarity value of the stuff I did bring made the place feel more like my home straight away.

darkless

Agreed, which is why we decided to ship 10 boxes of personal stuff. I don't think that many people get too sentimental about washing machines and TVs.