BF’s solution is he is going to toss everything (even his expensive cookware, etc???) that he doesn’t need and just bring the essentials like clothes.
To me, it sounds like a good idea. Start from scratch.
So I’m taking this mini inventory in my head of what I have to bring and I’m glad to say, it’s not that much, IF we take into account that I am not bringing all my books with me. Uh huh.
I’m thinking all my furniture can stay in my old room as guest furniture.
1. Wardrobe stuff
(That’s like 2 suitcases right now with all my shoes, etc. Maybe 3.)
2. Books
(Only the ones I love. With the dogeared ones, I may just end up donating them even if I really love them. Am I really going to read them again? I’ll try and keep it to a box here. Almost wants me to get a E-Book Reader but I love flipping pages.)
3. Computers
(I have 2 laptops + accessories)
4. All my electronics
(All my hard drives especially)
5. Important papers
(Another boxful). I am SO HAPPY that I did all my heavy scanning a couple of weeks ago. Some papers are piling up, but most of it is ALL SCANNED, baby!!
6. Sentimental items
(There is this ONE duvet that my Godmother painstakingly sewed all the little patches of blue and yellow together for me before she passed away with cancer this year….)
7. DVDs? I think I’ll just give them away to friends. I rarely watch DVDs, except for Seinfeld and a couple of others I want to definitely keep like Sex and the City.
*racks brain* I kind of feel like that’s it.
Am I missing something? I guess the above there is about 5 boxes and 3 suitcases.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
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If it’s stuff you don’t need and wouldn’t replace, donate it. But be careful about tossing things that you would replace because you can nickel and dime yourself buying replacement ladles and spatulas, let alone cookware.
Nope, dump it. It’s not worth moving because of the cost of shipping internationally! My DH came over with 2 suitcases and a computer. So did his roomie. Maybe if it was like Buffalo and Toronto then yes, KWIM? Drivable? But if not, then why do it.
Dump the expensive cookware??! Wow.
Don’t you have things like dishes and towels and Tivos and alarm clocks and art and furniture?
Will you be taking any furniture with you??
Don’t just “toss” most of your stuff, donate it. It will make a big impact on people and you get a nice little tax write off too.
Sounds like more than 5 boxes and 3 suitcases…I’ve been through multiple cross country moves.
With the DVDs, they have virtually no bulk or weight once you take them out of their cases and put them in a CD folder thingie.
My parents would rarely let us buy books growing up (we went to the library a lot) so only keeping the ones you love totally makes sense. I only own the ones I love to reread 🙂
Depending on when you plan to move and then visit your family/have your family visit you, you might be able to get away with leaving some cothes etc. in a suitcase at your parents’ if you have too much stuff to move at once. A lot of my friends in college left winter stuff at home until Thanksgiving/Christmas (but bring a few warm things, I know one girl who didn’t bring so much as a sweatshirt, to Massachusetts, for September until November!)
Ohh how I hate moving…the process, not living in a new place! It is good that you are thinking ahead at what you have to bring and what you can leave behind.
My fiance and I moved from Upstate NY Austin, TX about 2.5 years ago – our total distance was probably not much less than what yours will be. We only brought 1 car with us to Texas (an SUV) and attached a U-Haul trailer to it. It was a loooong drive. We too had a goal of not bringing any real furniture. I was just about to graduate from college and had a number of pieces of furniture that I was not interested in keeping so my roommate and I sold almost everything to the incoming tenants of our apartment.
Fiance and I brought clothing, computers, an armchair that has a lot of sentimental value, a mattress + box spring, kitchen items (fiance is a chef and could not part with these items) and a TV. We had plenty of space in the trailer; our goal was to have no packed items in our car because we also had our dog with us and wanted him to be comfortable in the back seat.
Instead of boxes for packing we purchased large plastic bins at Target for approximately $5USD each. They stack securely, don’t collapse in on themselves like boxes, and are less prone to invasion by water or insects. Also, we were able to save them for future storage use.
It’s a daunting move but doable. Good luck to you!
I think you might want to take everything you can with you. Prices are HIGH here in the states for everything. In retrospect.it’ll be cheaper to bring the basics (like cookware) with you so you won’t have to purchase it when you get here…or sell the stuff…