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Moving tips? What to take, sell and timings...


Daisy36

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Hi

 

i am moving with my husband and 2 young kids at the end of January 2015. I'm just starting to try to plan in my head what to take and not to take and what to do with the things we don't take.

 

My thoughts are that I will ebay some stuff but I'm also thinking of doing a house clearance sale (like a garage sale except we don't have a garage so be in the house!) a few weeks before we go to try and sell the things in mass eg kitchen stuff, some toys, camping stuff etc. Has anyone done this before and any feedback or tips?

 

When do you recommend to start getting rid of things? I'd like to start clearing now but there's not much I can think of to sell yet!

 

And any any tips on what in hindsight you wish you'd taken or are really glad you did bring? And the opposite- things that should have stated behind.

 

Did people with kids take things like their kids toys and books? They've got loads that we can't bring them all but such a shame to get rid of! My son was 1 last month and was given so much - I don't know what to do with it!

 

Thanks for your feedback. Hopefully this will help with my move

 

daisy.

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Guest The Pom Queen

Are you getting a container or just bringing a few personal belongings. We arrived with 4 suitcases and didn't ship anything. There were pros and cons to this. Our thoughts were that apart from a brand new sofa we had bought two months earlier we had nothing of great value so we decided on a fresh start. Once we arrived we realised our furniture wouldn't have looked right in some of the houses but we didn't realise just how many items you miss when you don't have them, simple things like a mixing bowl, rolling pin, coathangers etc etc so it did end up costing us a fortune over the years building everything back up. When we moved interstate 4 years ago we shipped everything with us. Again the furniture didn't really go in our new house but we made it work until we could afford to replace.

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I'm thinking of doing the large movecube but no idea if be big enough. Things I'm thinking of taking are my double bed ( as it's so comfy!) and maybe the kitchen table as it collapses. But no other furniture. Then clothes, books, various kids toys but I don't know what, paintings, kitchen aid and baking stuff, daughters scooter, golf clubs, dolls house, This is getting boring if I list everything.

 

things i I thought id not take

pots and pans

crockery and glasses and mugs.

knifes and forks

bread maker??? I use it a lot so not sure on this one

all furniture except my bed

rugs and cushions

winter clothes

bike

 

Etc etc Anyone still reading?!?

 

How did you sell what you left behind?

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Take anything you use a lot. And don't forget to pack in some UK extension leads to plug them all in.

 

I'm planning on taking most of my kitchen stuff, in fact just bought new glasses to ship over (if i get my visa) that I know I probably won't get there. I'll be taking all my utensils, all my crock pots and my magimix. Once you're shipping stuff anyway, personally i'd rather take it incase I need it when I start settling in, it saves shelling out a ton of money that side in the beginning and trying to do without it.

 

I'd rather have a clear out 6 months in and replace stuff as I can afford to than be without it personally.

 

I'll be taking my sideboard and maybe my bedroom drawers and side tables and bed, but that would be it furniture wise for me.

 

My friend that moved back took bedding, towels, a ton of Le Crueset stuff, cutlery, glasses cups kettle toaster kitchenaid the works. A lot of it is more expensive that side (relative to earnings of course).

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Hi, We decided to take as much as we could, I like my furniture and the things I had, also would have only got a pittance for it if I sold up here,We booked a 20 foot container and rammed it full to the brim.Aside from the cost of buying all new to the quality of what I had, the shipping cost was worth it.

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Guest The Pom Queen
I'm thinking of doing the large movecube but no idea if be big enough. Things I'm thinking of taking are my double bed ( as it's so comfy!) and maybe the kitchen table as it collapses. But no other furniture. Then clothes, books, various kids toys but I don't know what, paintings, kitchen aid and baking stuff, daughters scooter, golf clubs, dolls house, This is getting boring if I list everything.

 

things i I thought id not take

pots and pans

crockery and glasses and mugs.

knifes and forks

bread maker??? I use it a lot so not sure on this one

all furniture except my bed

rugs and cushions

winter clothes

bike

 

Etc etc Anyone still reading?!?

 

How did you sell what you left behind?

Bring bedding and towels as they are expensive here. For a good pan they can be expensive or you can pick up a cheap pan set for $100. Winter clothes it depends where you are moving to, if it was Cairns or Darwin I would say forget it otherwise bring them with you.

I found children's shoes lasted longer from the UK, we now buy Clark's or Colorado but they cost around $129.

Re the toys ask the children (if they are old enough) if they could choose ten items each what would they take, then narrow it down from there. You could do piles of different things, items you are 100% you are taking, items you are unsure and then a pile that you can start selling. When we got down to the last few weeks we sold all the furniture apart from a mattress that we used as a sofa and bed lol and we all camped out in one room, the kids loved it. I know it sounds silly but do pack coat hangers they can be expensive here and prices can go up to $20 for ten.

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Hi, We decided to take as much as we could, I like my furniture and the things I had, also would have only got a pittance for it if I sold up here,We booked a 20 foot container and rammed it full to the brim.Aside from the cost of buying all new to the quality of what I had, the shipping cost was worth it.

 

This is our thought too, though we are getting rid of stuff that we really do not use at all and it is a good excuse for a real good clear out. If you are paying for shipping anyway then take as much as you can of stuff you use as old stuff normally fetches next to nothing and replacing it will be costly. Not bothering with wardrobes as they all have built ins there. If you are taking your bed defo take bedding as beds tend to be bigger in Oz I believe so standard double duvets etc probably rarer. In our case too we expect bigger rooms and a bigger house and our furniture will not fill it anyway but better than starting from scratch IMO.

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We are taking everything. We have found it far cheaper pricing up shipping, compared to replacing everything we own to the same standard. Once we got to big furniture/container level we figured just ship everything, we can always throw it out the other end if we don't need it. Re-buying the silly nic nak stuff that you just don't think about but built up over the years can prove expensive in one hit.

Edited by M1cha3la
Grammar
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We took everything that wasn't nailed down, seriously! All of our bedroom furniture was fitted so obviously that stayed. I took everything from the sofa right down to our garden fairy lights!

 

Had confirmation that it all set sail this morning.

 

We fly out on Tuesday and today I've stuck the car on ebay today and a couple of power tools that my OH couldn't be bothered to clean, (don't underestimate how long it takes to clean everything).

 

We we did a boot fair a month before when we'd emptied the loft.

 

hope that helps x

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Just remembered. Last month I bought a load of new bedding for everyone. I took them out from their packing to make them look used. I also did a massive shop in Lakeland kitchen shop. I stocked up on different baking trays, cake tins of every size/shape and various other baking stuff. When I did a like for like comparison the good quality stuff is a lot more expensive in Oz than it is over here, and not all of it available.

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I would simply advise, DO NOT FOLLOW OUR EXAMPLE IN PACKING ABOUT 80% AND TRYING TO SELL THE OTHER 20%. We have had the week from hell, now sat in Heathrow lounge finally relaxing however have left my dad a list of jobs on our house which is really unfair, decorating for our contractor before tenants move in and running around like a mad thing....absolutely no enjoyment and really took the edge off what should have been a good day.

 

i will now sleep for most of the Singapore flight and likely the Brisbane connection too to compensate for the nights of lost sleep and stress we have put ourselves under.

 

S, now on 3rd free beer and feeling very tired!:SLEEP::SLEEP::SLEEP:

Edited by srg73
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I would simply advise, DO NOT FOLLOW OUR EXAMPLE IN PACKING ABOUT 80% AND TRYING TO SELL THE OTHER 20%. We have had the week from hell, now sat in Heathrow lounge finally relaxing however have left my dad a list of jobs on our house which is really unfair, decorating for our contractor before tenants move in and running around like a mad thing....absolutely no enjoyment and really took the edge off what should have been a good day.

 

i will now sleep for most of the Singapore flight and likely the Brisbane connection too to compensate for the nights of lost sleep and stress we have put ourselves under.

 

S, now on 3rd free beer and feeling very tired!:SLEEP::SLEEP::SLEEP:

 

 

I havn't enjoyed the last two weeks. Tying up loose ends, selling the car, dealing with goodbyes and oh boy....the paperwork! Hope u get some rest xx s**t the hot choccies just boiled over & burnt the blooming hob!!!! (No microwave) arghhhh :mad:

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We had a clear out and sold surplus things on ebay and at car boot sales but otherwise brought everything. Since we have been here we have sold two wardrobes for far more than we would have got in the UK, we have chucked a chest of drawers that was falling apart and we have bought a fair few new bits of furniture. I'm in the bring everything camp, but I have some really nice pieces of furniture that would cost a small fortune to replace here. Have the familiar furniture around them when we moved really helped my kids settle. We sent all our stuff 7 weeks before we left (stayed at my folks afterwards) so it arrived two weeks after we got here, just in time for us to move in to our long term rental.

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We are waiting for our container.

 

In hindsight we probably wouldn't have brought anything. We have set up our new house and a lot of stuff is going to be surplus when it gets here. We needed some stuff sooner.

 

We we have shipped our sofas which we love. Be happy when they arrive. We have kitted house out with a mixture of expensive items and complimented it with ikea and Kmart. Mega cheap.

 

I would add that we did a 'groupage' container. Therefore it will be about 12-14 weeks in total before we get it. That's pretty long. You adapt to life without or simply replace with shiny. Still, it will be nice when some of it gets here. Like my tools!!!! I miss my tools!!!

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We're planning on a 20' container and shoving as much in as possible as the mo. Had some quotes and even with leaving out alot of stuff, we are over the quota by the equivalent of a 'sofa and a half'!

 

I plan to ebay/gumtree/Facebook selling page, as much stuff as possible. My kids are adamant they are taking everything from their room....2 boys (eldest nearly 12) worth of stuff. They have enough cars to fill an NCP carpark!!

......I am secretly sorting it out for them.

As your little one is so young, only take essentials, favourite special toys/books etc.

 

Bedding and towels...duly noted:-) My two could do with new quilts and covers.

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Hello,

 

We came over in June and sold everything via Gumtree and Ebay!

We brought some of our daughters toys but other than that regards household things we came empty handed! We bought everything new, Super A Mart, JB Hi-FI, Good Guys, Ikea etc and to be honest it was cheaper than what we were quoted to ship everything over. Also we were worried that we wouldn't have anything in the mean time until we waited for everything to arrive. We shopped around and got lots of special and just arranged for delivery on the date we moved into our rental.

 

I bought our daughter lots of toys on special from Target, Big W and any offers i saw on Groupon!

 

Each to their own though :-)

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When moved to UK just took a few favourite items of furniture - but too big for english houses; coming back to Oz move was paid for by employer so brought everything - but furniture did not match the Oz style of houses. If we did a move again (which are not going to do!!!) I would sell furniture before coming to Oz as I have found furniture to be quite cheap here in comparison.

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I have the same dilemma , I have a job offer imminent and im trying to work out what is best to do , im seriously thinking about taking my car .. and if so I "think" I should put as much of our possessions in with a container .. we currently live in a 2 up 2 down type house ... so not a massive amount of things

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Thanks for all the replies. Really useful! I've already gone out today and bought some new towels! Bed linen is next!

 

Now im in a dilemma as I think I will have too much stuff for a large movecube but not enough for a container. I've not spoken to any shipping companies but from what I've read they average about £4-5k? Is that right? So I'm thinking 2 move cubes may be the best option as that would be about £2k. What have other people done when they are inbetween a movecube and container size?

 

Thanks

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