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| How much did you bring? | |
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| Topic Started: May 13 2008, 12:29:07 AM (955 Views) | |
| Matt | May 13 2008, 12:29:07 AM Post #1 |
Moderator and driving cat
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What did everyone do with all their stuff? Primarily, those who had houses full of furniture and electronics? I figure you do one of two things: 1. Pay through the nose and get an international mover to bring some/most of it over for you. 2. Sell/give away/throw out everything but the clothes you're wearing and buy all new stuff. For those (if any) who went with option #1, how much did you bring and what did it cost you? |
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| NY'ker | May 13 2008, 12:39:18 AM Post #2 |
True Blue Mate
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We are bringing a liftvan (between 150-200 cubic feet) and it is going to cost us about $4000 when all is said and told. We packed things like books, photos, the kids toys, and all the little nic nacs that personalize it to be our home. We have been selling, donating or chucking everything else we own and will start from scratch. I have been looking at sites like fantastic furniture, Ikea, target, K-mart to get ideas of what it would cost to buy new. I figured it was going to be cheaper than shipping a full container which I was quoted at over $10,000. It is really a personal decision, can you live without the things you have now and start again or are there some things that you just can't part with and will need to ship over. So much to think about!! |
 Natalie (Aussie) and Greg (American) and our two kiddos - Mackenzie (5) and Jack (2) | |
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| SanDiablo | May 13 2008, 01:37:30 AM Post #3 |
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True Blue Mate
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We brought 4 duffel bags. The house full of furniture and electronics is just sitting there... |
| "I'll try anything twice." | |
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| anater | May 13 2008, 01:59:14 AM Post #4 |
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True Blue Mate
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We've have a three bedroom house and have sold / given away about half our furniture. We're having a huge garage sale and probably going to get pennies on the dollar for the electronics, etc. We were going to put everything into storage since we're on a 457 Visa. But now we're looking at this move as permanent, so we don't to pay monthly storage then deal with having to get rid of things later. We are taking over a 20' container that will also have my husband motorcycle - for full packing and moving it's going to cost close to $10K for everything. My husband has a lot of historical collectibles so he wants to bring those over, and we have toys and books that we think would be rather expensive to replace. Totally a personal decision. If it was my decision I'd have sold almost everything and start over, but with the motorcycle I guess a container makes more sense. A 40' container would have cost an additional $4K. |
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| canaussie | May 13 2008, 04:09:32 AM Post #5 |
True Blue Mate
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When we moved from OZ back to Canada we had a 20' container, it cost approx $6500. We had a garage sale and sold quite a bit. We had most of the furniture sent. All books, toys, kitchen stuff (except the electric appliances) were brought over. We brought our TV because hubby could convert it and we have a transformer. We also brought our brand new washing machine, which has been sitting in the box since we came back here...5.5yrs ago! We also brought 1 computer. Now that there are thoughts of moving back to OZ. I'm thinking about the stuff that is *absolutely necessary*. I want my leather couch and loveseat, I'm not prepared to sell it and buy again in OZ because I think it'll cost way more to replace. I would take my diningroom table/chairs/hutch...I've had it a long time, I don't want to part with it. These are just a couple of things, but I find this time around I'm prepared to part with more stuff but there are a 'few' things that I won't part with. In which case they'll be shipped. I told hubby last night that we need to start purging, there is too much stuff that needs to be tossed and I would like to get started on it. |
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Paula (dual Canadian/Australian) married to an Aussie since 1999 and mummy to an Aussie since 2000 | |
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| bobntpa | May 13 2008, 04:57:47 AM Post #6 |
Chinwagger
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We are planning on bringing personal belongings, clothes,2 bicycles, kitchen items and things like that. Trying to keep it to as little as possible. Planning our first yards sale in 2 weeks, also selling stuff on e-bay and craigslist. We are signing a contract for 3 years and are pretty sure we will be moving back to Tampa after that so will rent a storage unit for some furniture that we can not get rid of, tools and other items that we do not want to replace. |
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Bob, Craig, Apollo & Elfie St Peters, NSW | |
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| SuperMindy | May 13 2008, 07:30:56 AM Post #7 |
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True Blue Mate
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I gave all my stuff away and only brought what i could fit into suitcases |
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Maine to Sydney since August 1st 2007 SuperMindy***Blog  | |
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| natasha_alena | May 13 2008, 08:58:28 AM Post #8 |
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True Blue Mate
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I brought way too much stuff. I look around my apartment now and think if I ever HAD to return at a moment's notice, it would be impossible to quickly pack up everything and go. That being said, before I left I sold a bunch of stuff on ebay, donated some clothes, and left a crapload of stuff in my mom's basement. Then I shipped 18 boxes- but all small and medium sized boxes. Mostly clothes, shoes and kitchen stuff- because, you know, they don't have any of that here. Or so I stupidly thought when I was packing. And I brought a ton of books and knickknacks and picture frames- those were also probably unnecessary, but I don't regret those. They make me feel less homesick, more at home. Oh, and I paid around $1000 to ship the boxes (plus the $75 I paid quartentine to bury my bag of popcorn, a story I've already told a few times on this board). All up, probably not worth it. I should have brought the books/knickknacks/pictures and been done with it. Good luck! |
| "You can plan a pretty picnic but you can't predict the weather" | |
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| CatoWa | May 13 2008, 09:42:25 AM Post #9 |
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Chinwagger
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We are now looking into self-packing and loading the the 20' container although we haven't decided for sure we wil go this route. It means they will come drop off the container and we do all the packing/loading ourselves. They will handle the paperwork and ship to Fremantle. This will cost $3500. Then we will have to arrange with a customs broker on that end who we will pay to clear customs for us. We also have to pay to have the container unloaded, cleared, inspected, loaded onto a delivery truck and delivered to our home. It appears that all the wharf-to-door fees will come to about $2000 for a grand total of $5500. It's quite a savings given that we were quoted $7-8000 for the door-to-door service. Not sure if its a good idea though because customs will definitely go through everything if is is self-packed. We know some people who did it this way and customs was really rough with their belongings when they unpacked to go through all their things and then they just threw the things back in the boxes and there was a lot of damage by the time it all arrived at their home. Also we are concerned that self-loading of the container might result in more in-transit damage than if it were professionally loaded. |
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| rhimb | May 13 2008, 02:18:01 PM Post #10 |
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True Blue Mate
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My husband and I shipped over a full 20-ft container. We also got rid of a lot of stuff before we came, though. We gave away anything that plugged in the wall with the exception of the computer, a stereo, and a few lamps. One of my sisters made out like a bandit and practically ended up with her whole apartment furnished by us - we had an extra dining room table and chairs, bedroom set with side tables and dresser, sofa, wine fridge, washer/dryer, plus many other things! My other sister got her kitchen pretty much fitted out with dishes and the like... and we still brought over a house full of furniture and other things, though! Unfortunately, the house we're renting doesn't have a garage or other storage area, so one whole room of the house is being used as our storage area. The cost for us was about $7,000 from Houston to Perth, and that was door to door (they packed for us). I think it was well worth the extra cost rather than packing ourselves. Luckily, it was all included in our relocation allowance with my husband's company... but with the additional expense of bring two dogs and a cat, we definitely exceeded that allowance!
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| Rhianna | |
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| incognito | May 13 2008, 04:45:59 PM Post #11 |
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Chatterbox
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We got a 20' container though Southern Winds from Sacramento to Canberra. It cost us about $8K all up and it was packed and unpacked on each end. About half of our container was filled with tools/equipment for my husband as he was remodelling homes and it would have cost us 3 x what we paid in the States so it was worth it. We did sell a lot of stuff before we left. As we will probably stay here for good, it was worth it for us. If we ever did move back to the States, we'd just buy new stuff there I think... prices are so high in Oz we would have paid a fortune to replace everything here. CaToWa - I'd really think about self packing as your stuff may get damaged, and you can only insure for full replacement value if you do it that way. Any stuff breaks, no compensation. We toyed with the idea until we found out about the insurance implications, and we also felt that we probably were not qualified to self pack a 20' container to go around the world!! We really don't regret our decision even though it was a lot of money. |
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| LittleOne | May 13 2008, 06:23:33 PM Post #12 |
Chinwagger
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We brought everything... although...it's still not HERE!!!! We've been here for 3 months and are living in an empty apt. We are told that our stuff will be arriving in Melbourne on May 30th...but know knows how long it will be in quarantine and when we will actually get it- ugh! My husband and I got married just under three years ago and we didn't want to get rid of all of our sentimental gifts and stuff- china, picture frames, etc.... so we brought it all... We are on a 457 Visa and i'm hoping we will return to the US in a few years.... I'm missing home SO MUCH! SO, we'll have to schlep it back again... |
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___________________________________________________________ Moved to Melbourne from Coconut Creek, FL in February 2008 | |
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| rdhay | May 14 2008, 01:42:54 AM Post #13 |
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Yacker
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We're just looking at about 8-10 large boxes (basically one pallet) of clothes, books, toys, and sentimental things. I've been quoted about $600-$700 for that, and I'm perfectly happy with it. Obviously, it'll be a while before we get our things, but that's cool with us 
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| CatoWa | May 14 2008, 03:05:45 AM Post #14 |
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Chinwagger
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Thanks, Incognito! Yes, we're not sure if we will do it either, for that reason. We just reallly need to hold on to our money!! The house sold for a lot less than we had hoped (although I gotta say in today's market, I'm just releived it sold at all!) and the exchange rate just keeps tanking :moon: . But you are right, if we save money by self loading and then there is a ton of damage and we have to buy new stuff, well then where is the saving. We are having a garage sale this weekend--maybe making a few bucks selling off my junk will make me feel a bit richer!! :mrgreen: |
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| incognito | May 14 2008, 10:39:41 AM Post #15 |
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Chatterbox
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Have you gotten quotes yet? Sell as much as you can (we made more than we hoped getting rid of junk, but it's not like it made a huge difference to our bank account) and then see what kind of quote you get. We only brought essentials and stuff that was really important to us really plus husband's tools/work stuff. We got rid of heaps of furniture, though in truth we did not have all that much to begin with compared to some people. We probably have more kitchen stuff than we really need (though I LOOOOVE to cook), and keep in mind that ovens and cooktops and many sinks tend to be a LOT smaller here. We cannot use most of our baking trays, etc. in our crappy little Smeg(ma) oven in our rental. In our last rental, our sink was so shallow we could barely wash anything in it. If we did not have my husband's tools to haul around, we would have probably only filled 1/2 of the 20" container. Oh - and we used Southern Winds (Michael Gilbert was awesome) and were really happy with them. Rainier gets good reviews and seems popular as well. |
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| pastrycook-136 | May 14 2008, 10:32:28 PM Post #16 |
True Blue Mate
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I have several boxes in transit now, mostly kitchen things, knick nacks, my computer printer, and my tools. |
| "If you want to gather honey don't kick over the beehive!" | |
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| minx | May 14 2008, 11:43:35 PM Post #17 |
True Blue Mate
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I had probably 15 boxes that I shipped UPS (never again :arrgh: ) CDs, books, movies, clothes, and a ton of kitchen tools and baking pans. |
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| CatoWa | May 15 2008, 02:34:07 PM Post #18 |
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Chinwagger
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Yes we have had two people out for quotes, one from Rainier and one from Southern Winds. They have both been wonderful to work with so far. We are also speaking with someone at Aladdin about the self-load. They have also received a positive mention on movingscam but they are not on the list of recommended intl shippers...Rainier was quite a bit more expensive, but they met Aladdin's price when I asked them if they could. One thing that I really like about them is that after they have loaded everything they will take any of your left over non-perishable food and clothing to a local shelter. We don't have a lot of stuff either. We are the opposite of pack-rats but over the years we have acquired some things that have become valuable to us and/or would be more expensive to replace. As you suggested, we're going to wait and see how much stuff we can get rid of from our garage sale to see what we are left with to make a decision on whether we'll need the whole 20' container or not. Like you, Incognito, I lived in San Francisco for a long time, so I'm plenty used to small spaces and a small kitchen! I am crossing my fingers that we end up in a place with a Smeg(ma)-- I want the full Aussie experience! (just without the spiders!) 
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| sheowahya | May 16 2008, 05:55:23 PM Post #19 |
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True Blue Mate
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I got a lift van from Southern Winds International. They packed everything up for me in the States, and will unpack for me once I have a home here in Victoria. They told me to expect it to take about 9 weeks, it took less than 5!! So, once the container clears customs, it will go into storage, I am hoping it will not take me much longer to get job and home. I only shipped what I considered the bare essentials. I sold or gave everything else away. Cheeers Marilyn |
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My Timeline ========= Category 136 BN - Skilled Independent. Skills Assessment: Applied ICAA: 13May05 Approved as Accountant 2211-11: 26Feb07 Main Visa Application: Sent to ASPC: 12Mar07 VISA Approved: 07Nov07 Main move to Australia: 17Apr08 Citizenship Application: Applied: 17Apr12 Appointment: 7May12 | |
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| shylady | May 16 2008, 06:09:44 PM Post #20 |
oldYank
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I already had a home here :lurve: and had left numerous items on each trip for 6 or 7 years. However, I needed to empty a 4-bdrm farmhouse B&B with full basement and several garages/outbuildings/barns. :mrgreen: It was the GIANT Giveaway/Garage Sale for a month, where I tracked down anyone that had looked at an item, and said, "Here, take it! :hugs: :yaay: :bow: " I left the US with 2 suitcases. Totally unbelieveable, considering what a packrat I'd been, for 20+ years, and all the antique B&B furnishings! Such a RELIEF, though, to be rid of the baggage! My daughter-in-law mailed me a couple of the family-cookbooks, and I haven't missed the other junk! :headscratch:
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"I could’ve turned a different corner, I could’ve gone another place... " ku,'09 | |
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