[Diny]

Just thought I'd share my feelings on this subject.

We've reached the stage where all our belongings are being packed into boxes marked 'send sell or ditch' - just sorting everything out ready for the packers.

This was a job I was dreading, having to decide what to take and what to leave. I'm one of those people who washes out margarine tubs and keep them stacked high .... just in case they may come in handy. But - so far I've found the chore to be really liberating. Not only have we got the opportunity of a new life - but also for a new start minus all the associated clutter.

It's suprising how much junk we've accumulated, we even have boxes which we packed when we left the house before last - they remain un-opened in the attic. Obviously we don't need them and there's no way we're taking them. With the help of E-bay and a garage sale we should make a few quid.

Out go the several pairs of old curtains that are stored in the bottom drawer of a chest - out go the old clothes - the old books - the broken cassette player - the bag of plastic spoons and paper plates .... all of it crap. Why do I keep it?

Yep - this is a good feeling, un-junk ourselves and get rid of all the unnecessary clutter.

Maybe I'm just on one of my emotional highs today. Tomorrow I'll have an emotional low and it'll all be too late 'cos the bin men come first thing !!!! There's something to be said for this 'life laundry'.

[Mildred]

I've got a friend who gives to the charity shop anything which she hasn't used for a year whether its clothing, kitchen stuff etc.

I'd love to be so self-disciplined - I'm sure if I got rid of all the stuff I've collected (just in case it will be worth something one day...), I'd have less chaos in my life.

[Raeven]

Hi, Diny,

Congratulations to you on your liberation from stuff!

Steve (DH) and I went through something similar earlier this year when we were getting our house ready to sell, and also to figure out what was going over with us and what to leave behind. We got rid of excess furniture, I donated clothing, and I sorted through and tossed out things I'd held on to for years and years. It was hard at the time, but yes, so freeing!! Now when the house sells, we can just call the packers and say come on in and do your thing, we're ready for you!

I read recently where a clever person likened migrating to dying and being reincarnated -- I thought it was a very apt metaphor. It really is a brand new start in a time and place where no one really knows you. I hope to make the very most of it, and sans a lot of junk I've been dragging around with me for god-knows-what-reason!

Yours in sparsity, Rae

[Moorf]

I totally agree - I, for one, was a bit of a hoarder! It took me a good 6 months to starting getting rid of my stuff - clothes, shoes (arg!), cards and letters from all my bdays and anniversaries etc, "things" I hadn't seen or used for years, more clothes :laugh .

Paperwork was the worst - do we throw away all our ancient filing stuff - bank statements going back 10+ yrs, old house deeds, expired insurance details, etc etc - sods law says I'll need them as soon as they are gone.

What is the minimial amount of paperwork I need to take, considering we shall be receiving our application form once in New Zealand? How about old school certs, school reports, etc

[Diny]

School certs and reports have stayed. I'll be taking them with us - just to prove to the NZ poeple that I'm not as thick as they think I am !!!! :laugh

Knowing what documents to throw and what to keep is abit of a headache - like you say, as soon as they've gone you'll want them. Anything that has expired for more than 12 months has been ditched. I still had my insurance certificates for a motorbike I sold 3 years ago. Anything legal (solicitors letters, house deeds etc) have been kept, they don't take up much space and you never know.

Had a nice 'find' this afternoon. A pair of voile curtains from Ikea. I bought them a couple of years ago simply because I loved them and they were some stupid price in the sale. Never used them (never even took them out of the packaging) - so now I have a brand new pair of trendy 'drapes' to take with me .... bonus.

Tomorrow I tackle the wardrobe in the spare room - God knows what fruits that will bear.

Dinay

[Moorf]

Oh God, leaving the wardrobe(s) to last... have already binned 5 bin bags of clothes in the last few weeks (you know, the sort you wouldn't want even an Ethiopan refugee to be seen in !!)

Now it's down the nitty gritty - the "it might fit once I get fit in NZ" :laugh , the "these will come back round into fashion", the expensive designer labels that are a bit passe but cost a fortune and just don't merit being in a bin bag!!

I shall be storing a few items, packing a few to take with me and the others are destined for charity shops....

I am hoping I will feel better after the throw-out - either that or my credit card get hammered at the weekend!! hahaha

Moorf

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Can't think of a decent signature!

[bbq]

we aint packing yet, but I did have a day in the loft. I found a pair of my wife's Deirdre Barlow Specs from 1979. Our daughter wore them all weekend and is still laughing!!

:P :P

[Nicola]

We aren't moving till next year, but I have already started on the attic. We sorted out a whole load of stuff and trundled it along to a car boot sale. I made £50 and my son made £30. I have still got loads to clear, even some boxes that remain from the last time I moved 8 years ago. Maybe we will have finished clearing by next year.

[Lil]

I've been doing the very same for some months now, cupboard by cupboard and am glad to say that most of the junk has now gone. I've filed away all my photographs and bits of important paper, cleared out the loft and the garage and I don't even know when we will be going. Think I will still need to have one more ruthless cull before we actually go.

The only trouble is now I keep thinking of all the nice new things I could buy before we go - shall I/shalln't I?

[Craig]

Lil - I'm with you on the "to buy or not to buy" issue.

I've always been the kind of person who buys things that I really like and then 'saves them for best' :? and then find that I've got some pristine clothes that would look fantastic if I could travel back to the time when I could still fit in them :uhoh

I am recently reformed however, and now my dilemma is "do I buy more clothes to take with me in case I wear mine out and can't find anything I like in NZ?" :roll:

Justine

[markkellaway]

We also won't be going until next year now, barring a miracle (ie a job offer) before then but we are getting everything ready, house finished off, attic sorted. To us it's all part of the process and, in a perverse kind of way, quite exciting! :nice1

Another great thread, especially now we have a picture of Moorf, there'll be no escaping now when we are all in Christchurch! :laugh

Mark. :D

[Dave & Sandra]

Panicking :eek

25" Case now full = 20 kg. Should have sent more clothes with the shipment. :no

Carry on case 5kg with paperwork that I'm taking - limit is 7kg. Where is the laptop going to go? Aargh. Haven't even got hairdryer, make-up and other essential items in yet.

I'm going to have to get a 30" case and not worry about being a little over the limit. I know Dave was when he went - about 4 kg.

[Moorf]

Had very same discussion today re luggage allowance - as in 20kg.

We are taking one large suitcase, two pull-along cases plus laptop each in our onboard luggage - guess we will have to weigh them arg :eek

[veronica]

you can have the laptop as carry on in addition to your other bag, and you can have a handbag too. When we flew out we phoned and emailled the airline (singapore) and told them we were emmigrating and scrounged another 5kg main allowance. its worth a try

[Dave & Sandra]

Veronica to the rescue again - I'll give them a call.

I thought you could take a lap-top as well but just went on the Singapore Airlines site and it didn't mention them. Unfortunately, the carrying case is lost somewhere on Dave's travels. Suppose I could put it in a brief case. :yes

[heimatseeker]

Hi - have been following this forum for a few months now and found it to be a wonderful resource - you all rock! When I read this thread I knew I had to de-lurk because it really hit home.

We are leaving for NZ at the end of the month and just this past weekend we started to seriously get rid of stuff (no more couches to sit on. ouch). I've moved around too much to have accumulated a *lot* of stuff but still, there's always something. While I have no problem donating things that I don't use any more, I've got a thing about wasting stuff and I've been know to collect end pieces of gift wrapping paper ("This is still good for CDs or paperbacks!" ;-) and the like. It's easy to get bogged down with the small stuff fer shore.

I've done a similar thing before though when I moved from Germany to the US 8 years ago with literally nothing but what fit in two suitcases. I very much remember how liberating that was, and how exciting it was to start again from scratch. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, right? :-)

[Raeven]

Welcome, heimatseeker!

Glad you've delurked! I will have a soft spot for The City till I draw my last.. it's my favorite big city in the world. You're about 4 1/2 hours' north of us at the moment, and if you are moving to Wellington, I guess you'll be about 4 hours' north of us in NZ as well, as our intention is to settle in the Picton/Blenheim region. Please feel free to drop by for a coffee sometime!

Re the current thread, I take comfort in the numerous times I've read the words of those already in NZ, "take everything!" The whole sorting-and-donating process would probably have been much more traumatic if I felt I had to be more strict with disposing of things. As it is, I am mostly grieving the prospective loss of my washer and dryer, and not much else.

I take from the fact that you have gotten rid of couches that you are repeating your practice of 8 years ago and going light. Exhilarating!!

All the best, Rae

[heimatseeker]

Thanks for the welcome! Funny we'll transfer that same relative distance between our locations from CA to NZ - how is that for some stability in the universe?



I take from the fact that you have gotten rid of couches that you are repeating your practice of 8 years ago and going light. Exhilarating!!



Pretty much. Once you realize how cool it is to have less clutter in your life it's hard to fully turn back. For a while I had a rule that I couldn't own more stuff than what fit in my car (but hey, we just sold the car :P ). It'll be a bit more than two suitcases this time but really just the absolute necessities: laptop, camera, Simpsons DVDs...

[SoCal Gal]

Greetings, Heimatseeker!
Will, if you are on the North Island, and bringing the Simpsons DVDs, then that means I only have to pack the South Park DVDs, right?! I think a lot of us are in the same boat, bring everything, bring nothing, hope the container doesn't fall off the ship, etc....thank goodness there are lots going through this! A new support group! Hi, My name is SoCal Gal and I am consolidating a house into a suitcase! LOL! I thought I was alone in my illness of saving scraps of gift paper for wrapping small gifts, etc., and not even my loving, minimalist husband has been spared from the grip of what to bring-ness. He was once so proud that he lived in Holland for 5 years with only two suitcases from America (and he was a professional IT person, not a backpacker!) and now he is snatching up the Bed, Bath and Beyond flyer and yelling "Screaming deal on towels!! Egyptian cotton 20% off! We CAN take appliances! We need a new....." :cool

[heimatseeker]

Will, if you are on the North Island, and bringing the Simpsons DVDs, then that means I only have to pack the South Park DVDs, right?!


Yes please! :nice1 We have the South Park Movie though. Where are you headed? When can we start happy fun DVD marathons?

[SoCal Gal]

We hope to be there by March, my husband will be there next month, though, and that may get us back even faster when he gets back to the craziness here at home! Election time! grrr! Oops, wrong thread!
Anyway, we'll be about 45 min. south of Palmy, in Otaki (pop. 4,000 but right on the Tasman!) and if you haven't read about it already, my movie nights come complete with a giant Scooby Doo head vomiting popcorn!
I'll put you down for the South Park movie for sure! I just hope I don't spend all our money at Best Buys stocking up on all my favorite TV show DVDs! Welcome aboard! :cool

[justin.g.s]

North Island dvd co-op ehhhhhh

Oh, I have joined Best Buy's take a dvd burner home for one month, and return it if you don't like it club. :nice1 :nice1 :nice1

Thanks Giant electronics store.

Next I joined Block Busters, rent as many movies in one month as you like for a nominal $20.00 fee. :nice1 :nice1 :nice1

Well uh, you get the picture :booby :booby :eek gota go.

[heimatseeker]

North Island Popcorn Movie Nights...yay! Looks like between all of us we'll be well stocked. I also found out that there's a Kiwi-version of netflix (http://fatso.co.nz/user/homeNewUser2.php), albeit a bit pricey.

[Diny]

Popcorn movie nights just south of Palmy sound a must. Shall I bring the chippies and dip? Hope to be there by Christmas - just waiting on the house to sell. We'll be in Ashhurst.

As for those of you who are clearing your attics....... forget it !!!! This is the time of year that those bloody great big spiders come inside as the temperatures drop. Although I get a fair amount of them marching around the main part of the house, the attic is where they lurk with no shame.

Mark works away (always manages to be absent when we move house) - but I shall wait until he gets home, the attic is his job, my fragile emotional state at the moment can't cope with 8 legged creatures big enough to strap a saddle to.

So - today the spare room wardrobe (dumping ground for the last 6 years) - our local charity shop loves me !!!!

Happy packing folks ... Diny

[Annierobrigado]

hello to you all who are already packing for newzealand!

i envy you! you're just about ready to go to fulfill your nz dream! i also do sorting and tossing out stuff but that's only because the small creepy crawlies are having a population boom already, and i have to make space for the newer stuff that i hoard. :laugh

seriously, bring all the certificates that prove you are who you say you are, even memos from the boss or certificates of appreciation from organizations, especially if you've placed them in your eoi's! i bought a few of those clear books so i can store these certificates in an organized way -- red clear book for our birth, baptismal, marriage certs; blue clear book for transcripts of records, diplomas, certificates of participation, anything to do with school; black clear book for ... well, you get the idea, hope you can find it useful. although i haven't considered the additional weight the books will give to the packing containers... anyway, it's really an exhilarating experience to be able to sort out all the junk. especially the papers! you should get a paper shredder, it's nice to be able to shred those old credit card statement of accounts :cool and say haha! i've paid you up already! :mrgreen:

bon voyage! take care and godspeed!

annie

[SoCal Gal]

Diny - I put you down on the list for chippies and dip! I think Justin will be the person to bring the beer, what do you think?!? Since I just found out that we can bring our videos too, I am going to have a hard time cleaning house with all the things I've taped over the years....can I interest anyone in watching the second season of "That 70's Show" with me?!? Can't wait to meet all of you! :cool

[Diny]

Yep - I'll watch the 70's show thing with you, only if you watch my wedding video though. Not that it's that wonderful but you can actually see Mark with hair and me with a waist - very entertaining !!!

[Dave & Sandra]

What shall I bring - not being a domestic goddess it will have to be something simple? I make good Cornish pasties. :D

I keep sending e-mails to Dave bewailing the fact that he is not here anymore to protect me from giant spiders. He used to just pick them up and throw them outside again. Aaaarggghhhh. There were 3 huge ones the other night and even the cat's got bored with hunting them down and chasing them away.

Annie, your English is amazing, better than some native speakers. Where did you learn?

Sandra

[SoCal Gal]

You're on! I actually love wedding videos, and not just the awful stuff they show on those mail-in-your-home-video shows with the cake hitting the floor, etc.! Ah, yes, the days of waist-length hair....sigh.... :cool

[SoCal Gal]

Hi Sandra!
I share your spider horror! At least there is an attic for them to go to, how would you like to be greeted by them in your shower in the a.m.? Ugh! And, I am the gal who usually brings the bag of nibbles and the jar to open - plus with Scooby vomiting popcorn, not too gourmet! :-)

[bbq]

I was stung on the bum when on the loo once, so I am more scared of wasps!! :(

[heimatseeker]

Is it just me or does anyone else find it amusing how two little words (on of them "DVD") turned a thread about how liberating it is to get rid of stuff into to one that makes people realize what *else* they absolutely must bring? ;)

A word on spiders: I don't mind them and volunteer to hunt them down if they get too close to the popcorn. ARRRR!

[Mildred]

We love spiders because they eat all the mozzies. Because we've got lots of trees in the garden and a wildlife pond we get really big beasts in the house and they all have names. Its surprising how long they live.

We even nicknamed one Saddam because he looked just like Saddam Hussein's moustache.

The kids cried when they found him squashed in the hallway :(

[Diny]

Frances ........ has anybody ever told you you're sick ? :laugh

The ones in my house all have names too ..... funny how they all start with 'B'.

I admire you, in fact I am totally in awe of anybody who can even look at a picture of a spid without going all strange.

And just to update you all on the packing front ...... the wardrobe was tackled and nothing nasty was found (they heard me coming and made for under the bed). Just done something else too ........ washed up after tea, dried the dishes with a tea towel that was too wet to be any good. Went to the cupboard to get a clean one out and ended up sorting them all into 2 piles (yep - one to keep - one to send). Am I totally obsessed?

[justin.g.s]

Back to party,

YES Justin will bring beer.

Marge " Homer I brought you a present."
Homer " what is it"
Marge " I got you a six pack of beer."
Homer " Beer , HOW DID YOU KNOW." :laugh :laugh

[Annierobrigado]

Annie, your English is amazing, better than some native speakers. Where did you learn?

Sandra

Sandra,

thank you so much for the compliment. elementary to high school to college and med school. i grew up in the times where it was imperative to learn English, and because all our books were written in English, and the medium of instruction was ENglish (I studied phonetics too in college, ;) ) Actually, our English is patterned after the American one, but because I love reading and grew up with Barbara Cartland :laugh I think i understand how the British English works too.

see you!

annie

[Diny]

Annie

I also think your English is amazing. I loved your comment about growing up with Barbara Cartland - obviously you are a romantic at heart.

All the best to you.

Diny

[Annierobrigado]

thank you too diny! you've read barbara cartland too? she's princess di's grandmum, right?

anyway, yes, i probably am a romantic at heart, i like romantic love story movies, i like being surprised by my husband with a bunch of chrysanthemums, or hearing my name over the radio being greeted by the dj because my husband called him up to greet me on air, that sort of thing...although as the years go by (we've been married almost 18 years) romantic gestures get fewer and you really get surprised when your husband thinks up some, out of the blue. :laugh :laugh

nah, just joshing. anything your husband does that includes you even without his being aware of it is already romantic. that is the nature of the beast - er, the man who is blissfully married and ignorant of the fact. tee hee. :P you can almost hear all the men say in unison: "hey, we married you, right? and you accepted!"

i think this is a new thread. what romantic thing does your husband do that really gets to you right where it's at?

:nice1
annie

[jesselyn]

Ah, yes, the days of waist-length hair....sigh....

i still have the waist-length hair - umm i will have it cut (maybe up to my chin) when i get the NZ visa :P

jes :angel

[jesselyn]

you've read barbara cartland too? she's princess di's grandmum, right?


you are correct annie :clap umm are you gonna bring any romance paperbacks? :hopeso :yes

jes :angel