# What to take, what to leave...



## nickyc (Nov 27, 2009)

I'm really really planning ahead here as we're nowhere near ready to leave! I'm interested though in views from those that have made the move already. 

What did you take and wish you hadn't paid to ship? 
And what did you throw away and wish you'd taken?? 

I know everyone is different, but I've heard that furniture is expensive so friends of ours who have gone now wish they'd shipped their old stuff. Any thoughts?!

Thanks, 
Nicky


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## elkitten (Jul 6, 2009)

Papers--without a shadow of a doubt, i wish i hadnt shipped so much.... info i didnt need.

With furniture, and anything you own, you have to think--will the cost of moving it be cheaper than replacing it?

For example, I am shipping one small box with me this time filled with kitchen knives, couple of books, some makeup and other kitchen gadgets i have purchased....

The kitchen knives alone would cost at least twice as much as the cost to ship them in order to replace them (i have those really good Henkle knives) not to mention that they can be hard to get. So i am shipping them and some other stuff to fill the box.

If you are already shipping or planning on shipping a fll container, then yes move furniture, but it might be a good idea to make sure said furniture will fit into your new place.

BTW you can get furniture cheap in oz-- the key is knowing where to look. Its not that bad, probaly on par with most places i have been to.

Good luck!


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## dexternicholson (Oct 23, 2009)

Well, we just moved 2 weeks ago to another apartment and I have to say that we aren't that finished with unpacking yet. we almost brought everything along as we know someone with a huge truck, only we had to carry the stuffs ourselves, which is ok as hiring someone to do so can cost money...

before we packed to move, we have organized everything and sorted them out in boxes. those big furniture, the ones we needed, we either sold or gave away to relatives that are in the area (only few were given away, like 2 to 3 stuffs...)

now, all the things we need are in our new home and those we don't, are serving their purpose with another family or individual in exchange for some money and for the relatives, they helped out in carrying stuffs..


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## nickyc (Nov 27, 2009)

Thanks both of you. I can see us offloading quite a bit, but I do tend to hoard papers so thanks elkitten! I'd love to have Henkle knives so I wouldn't leave those behind! 

Where's good for buying cheaper furniture? We'd heard such horror stories that we'd contemplated buying new stuff here flatpacked to save money!


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## nickyc (Nov 27, 2009)

I typed a really long reply to this yesterday but it seems to have vanished! I'm feeling full of cold today, so this will be shorter!

I reckon we'll probably ditch quite a lot of stuff like dexter, but I tend to be a real horder of paper, so I'll take elkitten's advice and ditch some of it!! If I had Henkle knives then I'd def take them!! 

I was really interested to hear a different view about the cost of furniture... Where is good for cheaper furniture? We'd thought about replacing some of our stuff that's a bit knackered and buying some flatpack stuff to take, but if you can give us some pointers about where to go then I'll save on shipping 

Anything else people wish they'd taken or regret paying to ship?!


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## myownhome (Mar 3, 2010)

nickyc said:


> I'm really really planning ahead here as we're nowhere near ready to leave! I'm interested though in views from those that have made the move already.
> 
> What did you take and wish you hadn't paid to ship?
> And what did you throw away and wish you'd taken??
> ...


Hi Nicky,
I moved from California to Victoria, Australia just on 10 years ago now. You've brought it all back to me. The reality is that you pay for an entire container and whether you fill it to the brim or not, you still pay the same cost of shipment. I had to move an entire house with two children on my own. I literally brought the things I knew the kids couldn't live without to make it easier on them (when we opened it all again some months later it was like greeting old friends!) I brought the trampoline, the bikes, toys, I even brought their craft things (forced me to get a system in place which I still use today). We were staying with a friend at the time in California and even she commented that I needed an entire month to get it all sorted and ready for shipment. I brought all furniture, linen, beds, TV and I organised transformers for the electrical goods (particularly for the kitchen which I had plenty of even the refridgerator). I left the washing machine/dryer behind as I researched that these wouldn't function with the transformer. I sold the car although I've heard of people who arrange for cars to be shipped as well. One very sad thing was that we had a 10 year old labrador dog, who we left with my friend. Its different now because its more common to have pets microchipped and the quarantine arrangements in Australia are apparently much better than they were 10 years ago. My kids and I never fully recovered from this and in hindsight had I known more about quarantine arrangements I might have coped with the cost and brought him over as well. I wish you all the best. Lou


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## nickyc (Nov 27, 2009)

Thanks Lou. Must have been a real wrench to leave the dog behind


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## Barbaragabogrecan (Apr 9, 2010)

I am thinking to shift our place soon then I’ll let you know.


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## avcrk (May 27, 2010)

Hi Lou,

Sorry to hear about having to leave the lab behind. My wife left her dog behind when she moved from Virginia to here, that was two years ago, and quarantine seems so complicated and felt it and the flight would be too much for her border collie. 

Cheers,
Adrian


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## avcrk (May 27, 2010)

Hi Nicky,

My wife sent so much over the years in preperation to coming to Australia.
Every month it was a posted box on items - expensive through the postal system.
The one thing that was not needed as much, especially here in Perth, are good clothing for casual wear. Casual wear in Perth is really casual, as Perth has always seen itself as a country town, and still acts that way. We ended up throwing out most of those clothes, especially the heavy winter wear. (sits at 30-40c in summer here and 15-25c in winter.)

Cheers
Adrian


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## nickyc (Nov 27, 2009)

Thanks Adrian. We'll definately keep a few jumpers - my OH really feels the cold! We were in Brisbane in August and he was complaining about the evening temperature! No pleasing some people!!


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