Aunt Agatha Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 We (DH, two small children and three cats) are moving back to the UK in 12 months time. It's not a set date whereby I can book flights etc. but we need to wait that long so we can clear some debt and save some money. Trouble is, it feels a LONG way off! Do you have any suggestions please of things I could be doing now (however small) towards the process that would make me to feel like I was doing something to help get us home? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 I'm in the same situation. I've been trying to enjoy my time left here - also been completing some MOOC online free courses as part of getting my brain back in gear and thinking about retraining once I get home. As the time gets nearer I will start shedding 'stuff' I don't want to send/keep to make the move easier and cheaper - Good luck, 12 months will pass in no time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 Thanks Chortlepuss. What I'd really like is to spend our last 12 months in Australia taking trips to see things I have always wanted to see (Uluru, Whitsundays, Great Ocean Road and Margaret River) but unfortunately that doesn't agree with our need to save money - most inconvenient! Good luck with your courses if you decide to do them. We have great plans to do a huge declutter but never seem to get around to it, I must make that a priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasepom Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Why the decision to go back if you don't mind me asking. Just the fact you have children and cats to deal with must be a lot of stress to deal with. Is it just homesickness or are you unhappy in Australia ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 It's a huge deal jasepom, such a lot to organise. But our parents are getting on a bit and two of them are quite unwell and we want to be there for them. It's also really important to us that our children get to spend time with their grandparents. I have been very happy in Australia (been here 10 years) and will miss it terribly but I have always felt like England was home. I don't get massively homesick like I see some people are suffering on the forum but I have continued to miss the culture and the humour (as well as the usual family and friends) and to feel that we'd end up back there some day. We were only supposed to stay here for 4 years (while I did some postgrad study) and somehow we ended up semi-settling. That's the issue I think, we never emigrated in the traditional sense so always had one foot in each country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcorners Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 I feel the same about being torn between saving money and being able to see some more parts of Australia. If we have our sums right we will have saved enough to pay off our UK mortgage by the time I give birth to our fist child next April. However I really want a holiday just the two of use before then, and time is running out! So we've made a deal where any cash from items I sell can go towards a holiday, then it won't feel like we're eating into the mortgage savings. Unfortunately I'm sure any money I do make is rapidly being offset by the increasingly demoralising exchange rate but hey ho. I've already raised $1000 so we could afford a camping holiday no problems somewhere not too far away (e.g. Albany or Margaret River but we've already done these areas). But I'd like to aim a little higher and see some parts I haven't been before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 Great idea fourcorners, I might borrow that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sustain Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Set a budget If you exceed saving/paying off debt by a certain milestone, treat yourself to a trip. Value of trip can be achieved by grouping Expensive, Medium, Budget. So depending on how hard your team do you reward yourself in short term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 Thanks Sustain, that's a good plan to enable some fun alongside the hard grind of saving and clearing debts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcorners Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Great idea fourcorners, I might borrow that one! Kills two birds with one stone! We have found that the best way to sell household stuff if you're not in a rush is to use our local buy/sell group on Facebook. The Kalgoorlie one is very busy and we've sold quite a bit through there. Garage sales are also popular but we haven't done one of those yet, maybe nearer our moving date we may do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Agatha Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 We had a garage sale a year ago and it was a lot of work for a small return. I think I'll try your idea of a local FB group plus Gumtree and eBay. Anything that doesn't sell we'll donate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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