Busymum

Hi all,
I am going to be moving back to the UK from Egypt, I have been away for 11 years and can't wait to start a new life "back home". I have come up against a few road blocks on the way during my planning stages, the main one being the new law preventing my husband (of 10 years and father to my two children) moving with us directly, but we are hoping to overcome this eventually.
It's certainly been an experience living in a foreign country but with all the recent and ongoing events out here, I am feeling nervous for my children to be here any longer, and am missing the British way of life. After a lot of discussion we have decided to make the plunge.
Been reading a lot of the posts from other members on this forum and am glad to see so many people resettling happily, gives me a little boost of confidence.
We came on a family holiday to the UK in June this year, the first time my children had been there, and they fell in love with it straightaway, which is a positive for us too.
I am hoping to rent a place in the nearby area of my sister so at least i will have a little bit of a support system.
I was just wondering how other people, when moving back, decided what to bring back with you and what to leave? Obviously we won't be bringing furniture or big items but what about other household things?
Would really appreciate any comments or any other helpful advice anyone can give.
All the best to everyone and back on with my planning lists....

sallysimmons

We brought some furniture - some stuff is more expensive to replace than to move (sofas for example), but didn't keep items that we weren't sure would fit into an English house. We ditched all electronics (they won't work) except the computers (which do work). We ditched all CDs and DVDs as we have all that stuff digitized - we cleared out most books but just kept the ones that have sentimental value (we're bookworms).

We thought we were being stringent, but we still ended up with a garage full of boxes in the new place

J.JsOH

To cut down we got rid of most everything in US and just brought personal memories stuff. I now miss a couple of discarded mementos that were familiar to have sitting around.
We made it an appropriate occasion to renew older crockery and cook pots, and they are cheap enough to buy here www.argos.co.uk
We did bring the new towels and bathmats and cushions that we had bought to brighten the house for selling.
We brought PC and monitor, elec toothbrushes.
We brought photos and paintings of places we had visited abroad.

What I regret not bringing was dry cleaner's wire coat hangers, can't get them anywhere in UK. For hanging clothes?, no, for bending into temporary tools to hook out stuff that falls behind the wash machine etc.

Busymum

Thanks for your replies, it's amazing how much stuff you gather in 10 years and sorting through it all is, i'm sure, going to take a while, but with your suggestions and experiences, it's definately going to help me. Thanks again.

ohwottodo

we moverd to the USA 7 years ago with 3 kids a dog and a box of photographs and keepsakes - moving back to the uk with 3 kids a cat and a box of photographs and keepsakes

Bluegrass Lass

When we moved to the UK last year, we brought books (though we pared them down considerably), dvds/cds (mostly boxed sets), photos & photo albums, a painting, ornaments/keepsakes/pottery pieces we have collected over the years, our really expensive cookware and some other kitchen items, bath towels, and clothing. We then decided to move back to the US in Dec. 2011 and brought all of that stuff back with us.

And now we considering a move back to the UK (yes we're ping-ponging). I think we are going to be super brutal about what we take with us this time. We will probably sell off most of the art work, pottery and ornaments, and probably reduce the number of photo albums, and digitize all the movies and cds and pare down the books even more. Hopefully we can reduce it all by at least 50%.

MrMuffin

I know we'll be very brutal in terms of paring down. Sure there are the things that are really special and mean a lot. But it seems silly to bring things that you can replace easily. The cost of shipping is really high and when you factor that into the replacement cost, or the possible money you can sell stuff for, it begins to make sense to bring the bare essentials only. We'll have an estate sale to get rid of the larger items and furniture then do a garage sale for the rest and donate what's left. Besides it's fun to then go out and choose some new things for the fresh start in the UK. Can't wait!!!

MrMuffin

Perfect!

pompeyblonde

Love it! Thats the way to go! says she with a hundred boxes in the cellar! I guess its always easier to just drag the stuff around with you sometimes rather than go through it?!?

sallysimmons

I couldn't make it work financially not to bring large items of furniture back - for example, we have two large sofas and a nice coffee table - the cost to replace those here would be about £5,000 based on the pricing I've seen. A good dining table would add another £800-£1,000 if you add in chairs. We have a lovely dresser and some antique bits (bench for the hallway etc) - replacing the whole lot would have easily cost more than the shipping home. If we could have brought our 3 beds home (too large) we would have saved over one thousand pounds after shipping costs.

Plus, I will say that while it is fun to buy all new things (we didn't bring any kitchen stuff, no pots and pans, no plates and cups, no beds, no bedding, no cushions, no ornaments, very few pictures) it is also quite stressful and tiring because you have to get it pretty much all at once. We made a couple of mistakes because we were just in a rush to fill a space in the house and then it was costly to fix those mistakes.

So I guess all I would say is check whether you're actually correct that it's all cheaper to replace, and also bear in mind that you'll be shopping solidly for weeks (it will feel like you do nothing else!). Good luck!

intant

I can't make it work financially to get rid of everything either. It's costing $12,500 with insurance for a door to door full service 40ft container ( Chicago to Cheltenham ). The stuff is valued at $160,000 for replacement insurance purposes. There's no way I can afford to sell everything for pennies on the dollar here and replace it at the other end.

Almo

We aren’t back yet so I can’t give you a final rundown but we expect to take books, clothes, some photos etc, probably cutlery, and a few other personal items (a vintage Melbourne tram scroll amongst them, love it!).

We initially were going to take everything back and I posted here to that effect. However, as we get closer to going, we’re had a rethink. We have a couple of what might be classed as decent items – our bed, which I adore, two sofas and a custom ottoman. I never wanted to give up my bed but it is an Australian king and UK sizes are ever so slightly different. In addition to that, it’s a big bed – not just because it’s a king but it has a big (thick) headboard and footer thingy and takes up a lot of room. Given that we are likely to end up in a Victorian terrace, this began to seem a little optimistic. Coupled with not being able to get replacement linen/mattress that fit perfectly, it doesn’t seem worth it. The sofas are good quality but to be honest I don’t love them. The ottoman is partially shredded courtesy of two cats and just last night one of them was sick on it again.

Most of our other furniture is IKEA. Some bits are in good condition so we can resell for a very decent price, others are sufficiently old and ratty that I don’t know that they would survive another round of being dismantled and moved. We should be able to get good prices for our stuff second hand, IKEA looks cheap for anything we actually want to replace, and the strong aussie dollar means we should have a decent replacement pot just from what we get from selling things. Plus, I am very keen to get my hands on some of the UK auction houses and get some decent but second hand/antique furniture.

I have a book collection (in the sense of collectable books) which we will be taking, plus a selection of well loved ‘normal’ books so I insisted that we would ship some stuff. We haven’t got a clear idea on the volume of what we’ll be taking but I’ve had a couple of quotes for 640kg to go via sea for around $700. That’s more than we need, but it’s given us a working figure. If we end up with space/weight I will probably shove in pillows/cushions/various other small bits and bobs.

I think what people should ship probably depends on the quality of their furniture to begin with.

Busymum

We are now starting the arduous task of sorting out 10 years of "stuff". We decided not to take back any furniture as we are going to be renting a house so its already furnished. We now have to find out shipping costs which will determine how much other stuff we can take back, if it works out too expensive it looks like it will just be me, the hubby, 2 kids and as many cases as we can get away with!!
I swear this is the last time I'm moving!!!!

Mummy in the foothills

Luckily we never bought new expensive furniture, ours was second hand, partly due to finances and partly due to a house of boys. So giving and selling it all isn't hard.
I have now started to stack up boxes of photos and baby books and wedding albums. Also stacking up the memory items I can't leave, baby quilts made by friends for each child, home from the hospital outfits, favorite toys, a few guitars. So the boxes keep mounting.
The hardest thing is getting rid of the boats and collector cars, priced right (low) still no one seems to be buying.
So we'll ship a pile of boxes (including my nice pans) and two tool boxes and tools (Dh's livelihood) I think we'll be spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000 just for those things, as the tool chests are big and weight about 250lb each, empty, good thing they have wheels.
I don't want to ever move again either.
Dh says this is the last time he flys anywhere too.

sile

Wow, that's a lot of money! You must have a large pile of boxes, or perhaps and more likely I have no idea what it costs to ship things.

Is the biggest factor the two tool chests?

When are you moving and where to, if you don't mind my asking?