Take everything - Take nothing

[welwynrose]

well we've started on the NZ job hunt so that we can get the necessary points to complete the EOI & were having a chat last night about the ins & outs of selling up & moving to NZ and we wondered iwhat the pros & cons were of taking all your worldly goods against taking just the basics, we haven't got any family hairlooms & could probably sell most if not all of our pocessions so could in theory only have things like family photo's & clothes to take out with us (if we get there) & then buying fresh when we find somewhere to live - is this something anyone else has considered or done or is it really expensive to replace all your houselhold items in NZ

[zummerzet_lou]

Well when we eventually go, we shall take as much as we can (that is still servicable). When we started adding up what it would cost to replace everything, it far outweighed the cot of shipping.

We are busy decluttering at the moment and already have a list of things that need replacing or just not needed anymore.

We need to replace sofa, and fridge ... would it be best to buy these in NZ or UK?

Also, what about washing machines? We have a standard UK hotpoint front loading one .. can this be plumbed into a NZ home?

Lou

[welwynrose]

these are they things we were wondering as well - the three big things the OH is concerned about is TV, Fridge/Freezer & Computer - there's not a lot in the house I would think I must take that so would it be worth the cost of shipping everthing out - there's only the two of us (plus dogs) so it's not as if we have kids toys etc to worry about

[keeweegal]

We're not taking any of the big things with us. Our suite was ready for the tip anyway. For what we had & with the hassle involved of shipping everyting, we decided it was better for us to start again. We replaced the PC with a laptop, we will have boxes with clothes & OH's tools & that's about it. We've been quoted ?750 for 20 tea cartons, door-to-door Glasgow to Hamilton. Thought we might airfreight 1 or 2 boxes with things we wanted straight away. Price for that came in at ?5.75 per kilo + ?35 handling charge - so ?143 for a 25 kg tea carton. Again, this was door-to-door Hamilton to Glasgow.

There's pros & cons for taking stuff & leaving it. One comment that has come up, if your fridge/washing machine breaks down, are the parts readily available in nz?

hth
Sal

[welwynrose]

good point about things like fridge etc breaking down - must remember to remind hubby about all his tools, I'm sure there's a lot of his stuff that he won't want to get rid of

[MotherBear]

There's been many a discussion on the subject of whether to ship or not. Some have said 'Bring everything you can, it's very expensive to replace stuff here' while others have said 'Sell up and do away with the cost of shipping and the worry of whether your possessions will get lost or damaged - you can get great bargains here if you wait for the sales or buy several items per shop and ask for discounts.'

Guess it comes down to how fond you are of your belongings, how old they are and whether they are worth the cost of shipping. It's very liberating to sell up, walk free and then start up again in NZ, but it comes at a cost when you get there. Basically, if your stuff is getting a bit worn round the edges think twice about shipping it because you'll probably only have to replace it anyway after a short time in NZ. If you're thinking of having a container, get the guy around to enlighten you how much of your stuff you'll get in there, starting with the things you really want to take and filling up the last nooks and crannies with the stuff that's not so important. If you're paying for a full container load, make sure you do fill it to get your money's worth, even if you need to go out and buy something new to take with you.

From what I can gather, TVs are only worth taking if they're digital and reasonably new. Not sure about electrical appliances but many people seem to ship them and have no problem. I'm sure someone can fill you in on this.

Lou, I'm sure front loaders can be installed in NZ as WG has one (I've seen it and had my washing done in it ). Many washing machines are top loaders but there doesn't seem to be a problem hooking up a front loader either.

[Duke]

I am flustered on how early working immigrants traveled???.. maybe this new experience isnt for me. I read how most that migrate to NZ have a substantial amount of finances to relocate, get a shipping container to move thier prized possessions, and have furnished homes waiting for them in NZ.. Maybe I am wrong, but I thought NZ was a country of a working class, excuss my ignorance, but I would think most working class families would not have such a budget. I hope to hear from one family that migrates to NZ with the bare minimum( tools, clothes and photos). Maybe we will be the first?
WHAT WOULD BE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF FINANCES ONE WOULD TAKE TO MIGRATE?
Americans seemed be be focused on Mexican immigrants which live in crowded rooms with several families, and other immigrants I hear get tax breaks on business for years until the next family member arrives, and British people flood American television by yelling at us on reality shows (American Idol, Hells Kitchen, America Got Talent etc..), the suppression is so, so heavy in America, could I ever break these chains?

[pianist1]

Speaking only from our experience moving here 11 months ago from Florida, everything here costs at least three times more. A lot depends on where you are moving from...people from London think it is cheap to live here. We left all our white goods behind because we would have to force them to work with transformers and god forbid, if they broke down, no one would be able to fix them since they don't have metric parts! We were fortunate my husband's employer paid for our moving expenses. We saved by packing and shipping ourselves - our 40 foot container was just a little over half-full. We bought our big appliances here - washer, dryer, refridgerator, freezer, a 40 inch and a 27 inch digital TVs at the Power Store. We got the salesman to give us a discount for buying everything there. $2k off the $11k total. Just be aware that the number of different models and choices here can be very limited compared to where you are coming from. Also, washers and dryers work differently than the ones in the US - our washer (a Whirlpool made in Australia) takes 2 hours to do a load on the cotton cycle! Most people dry their clothing on the clothesline here. It is a good idea to buy your fridge when you get here since most kitchens have a space allocated for it...and the space is NOT big, so beware. Our small appliances work fine with the transformers we brought from the US. Frankly speaking, we wish we had brought our yard tools etc. It adds up very quickly when you have to replace so many things. Of course, if you have great jobs lined up and will make good money it may not bother you too much. We are glad we brought all our furniture cos the stuff here costs much more and are not of as good quality as what we have.

[KiwiHopeful]

I'm going to weigh in on the side of bringing everything you can, too. (Except the large appliances which, other problems not withstanding, probably won't fit in the small NZ homes.)

Some things are cheaper, other things are more expensive ... and still others are much, much more expensive. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which items are which, though generally speaking electronics are less expensive than in the US.

I would second the quality point as well. In the Warehouse, I've seen cheap crap from China that even Wal-Mart wouldn't sell. Quality items are available, but they generally seem to come at a premium.

Don't get me wrong--this isn't the wild frontier, and things are not prohibitively expensive. However, I am having second thoughts about having given away or sold some of the things that I thought I wouldn't need or that I could replace here.

[ambrose]

Hi

We brought our sofa as we had just finished paying it off, and looking around it worked out cheaper to ship it than sell it and buy new. Also shipped our washer out as front loaders are expensive here, and I think they wash better. (Not such a huge selection to front loader washing powers here though)

Wish we had gone to IKEA and shopped, as finding it hard to get mid range stuff here, its either cheap low quality (The Warehouse) or high quality/high price. It makes a difference when you start earning NZ$.

Although if we had had more ?'s might have bought it all new, but we were doing it as cheaply as possible.

Alex