Material girl
 

I'm feeling a bit sad about letting some of my furniture and household stuff go! When we go back to the Uk we will have a suitcase each and that's it.

I just wondered how other people deal with this and if you sold stuff how much did you get? I have some quality traditional pieces and I'm sure I might not get much for them.

I'm going to have a little cry now excuse me----My solid cherry wood dresser and matching rocker, cute as a button whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

My oak bookcase from England whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

My Danish design leather sofa and arm chair whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

My leather buttoned ottoman that serves as a coffee table whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Did you think about an auction ?

What about buying more stuff after your return? Did you do alright, or was it very expensive?

Thank God for Ikea. I hope we end up close to one.

Re: Material girl
 

Once we decided to move back (the first time) It suddenly didn't matter to me so much anymore.
My lovely Solid Oak dining table and chairs, Ds's whole cute bedroom suite.
I sold it all in one day in a yard sale, it was very freeing.
What I couldn't let go of was all the baby pictures, wedding albums etc. Those I had shipped, we shipped 10 boxes. and took two suitcases of clothes and bits each.
Since then non of it has mattered. I only have one decent piece of new furniture in the house, the rest is all second hand, garage sales and Craigslist buys. I'd sell it all in one day all over again without blinking an eye.

Re: Material girl
 

Thanks for that, I need help letting go and that does help a lot. :)

Re: Material girl
 

It's just stuff....you can replace stuff....it's the important things that you can't replace that really matter!! Imo of course!!

LibbyX

Re: Material girl
 

Hi,

Take some pics of favourite pieces of furniture and then let them go ....... think of it as letting go of past life and starting a new life in a new country.

I really miss my old house in UK which we had to sell to move overseas. I often look at the old estate agent's brochure and remember how we loved living there. But we always said at the time that if we only managed to live in such a special place for a short time then at least we had done it. We will never own a house like that again - never have again the kind of jobs to support that kind of mortgage.

Keep all of your personal chattels though, things that you cannot replace like photographs, souvenirs, special gifts and personal things. You can always put them in storage for a while until you have a new address.

Good luck with your new life.

Re: Material girl
 

Thanks Libby, it's always good to be reminded that stuff doesn't matter, but when you really like the stuff somehow it's sad. I'm even fretting about it all going to a good home, just like you would worry about letting a pet go.

Thankyou frequent flyer, Photos are a good idea, then when I have the old car boot sale stuff in England, I can cry my eyes out at what I have lost.:)

I feel sorry about your old house that you miss. I would like to know what made it special? Was it the area or the house. Did you have to sell it? Houses definitely choose people so I'm wondering.

Re: Material girl
 

My work has taken me all over the place and I often think how much is it worth paying for furniture in the first place, unless you are going to be there for a long time, or in your retirement home. Until you are settled, think about buying second hand. Who knows? You may pick up some of the good stuff just like you are leaving behind.

Otherwise, beware. Cars and furniture can be the worst investment you can make.

Re: Material girl
 

Gumtree is your friend. Costs nothing to list, you get to take a sexy photos of your favourite items before you put them up, random people then send you emails offering a fraction of what you think something is worth. You lower the price a bit and finally someone who loves your stuff as much as you do turns up to give it a good home. We've shifted a whole lot of stuff this way and if you are not too precious/unrealistic about values it's quick and easy. We have actually started thinking about listing other stuff to earn precious AUD which will buy lots and lots of cheap UKPs at the moment

Re: Material girl
 

We sold nearly everything we wanted to to on Gumtree even our car....at first it was hard seeing sentimental items go but once the first item was sold it was go..go..go with the other items and it was like having a good life clear out..plus as you say you can buy cheaper items in the UK....

Re: Material girl
 

And this is the time to do it. The exchange rate takes away some of the sting from the cost of moving countries. Too bad for anyone going the other way.

Re: Material girl
 

Thanks for the further information. I wish someone had used an auction though. We don't have Gumtree in Canada, at least I don't think so. We have kijji and Craigs list. I suppose I could try that. I have a guilty admission. Sometimes I look at photos of what's for sale on those sites and the prices wanted and laugh my head off. Talk about Hillbillies.:)

Re: Material girl
 

Hi there when i was looking at returning to the UK i kept saying to myself (making excuses really) i cant leave my gorgeous chesterfield suite behind it cost us 12k (in NZ) about 18yrs ago (was a uk import) and is still as good as new, made from excellent quality leather etc anyhow i did a bit of an exercise after talking to a very good friend of mine from on here (he said its just material stuff) the thing was he was right so onto ebay i went and would you believe it my exact dearly loved lounge suite was for sale in the UK for 600 quid! That moment changed my whole outlook on my own material possessions being that they are just that "material" and can be replaced.

I have been separated over 8yrs now and have carted this chesterfield and loads of other precious items round with me and spent a fortune in removal fees....At the end of the day we all have items that mean a lot to us but i guess we need to ask ourselves the question if we didnt have it would life go on and yes it would...With the exception i guess of family heirlooms but that brings me to another story i have a magnificent cuckoo clock and have carted it round for yrs thinking that one day one of my boys would take it but no apparently they have always hated the thing lol so i have finally let that go...
Thats all just my experience good luck with whatever you decide i know its :)not easy....
Cally

Re: Material girl
 

I really liked Craigslist in Canada, where it's very popular. Doesn't seem to have taken off over here.

It is wise to look at cost of moving and cost of replacement, but there are some things that just make a home for us, and we have to see that, too.

Bev

Re: Material girl
 

We too left a beautiful house in the Uk- we bought an old cottage and spent 9 years doing it up it was a sprawling country house when we left in beautiful gardens overlooking countryside (sob) the thing was we bought it before we were married and had our 3 children there so the house grew with us. It was a complete labour of love and we were vey sad to leave and I too look at the brochure.

We will not be able to afford to get it back or come close but I look at it that it gave us the money to try out our adventure- we loved our house and that was it's gift to us. If/when we get back we will afford a good more modest house but will have a much smaller mortgage to boot which will give us a greater sense of freedom- I don't believe in 'only bricks and mortar' but I do believe in growing and different stages.:fingerscrossed:

Re: Material girl
 

Craigslist here is brilliant, I've sold a few things on their recently.
I listed in our area and again (using different words in title and description or they won't accept it) in the nearest big city. All three times I got local to me sales only they had found it in the big city nearest us ads. No one seems to check the rural ones here.