Top 10 top tips.....before moving?

[KalahariHarry]

Hi all, we should be leaving in a cpl months to our new land...

What are your personal top 10 top tips, things you wish you had done or brought with that I may miss under the 100 steps??? Admin related or otherwise, i'm sure you will all have a few good ones, as we all have different priorities and outlooks.

Maybe paperwork you wished you brought, stuff to sort out etc

Trev

Edited July 24, 2014 by KalahariHarry

[Bigvan07]

I will be following this thread with Hawk Eyes as I am also wondering about it.

Didn't someone start a similar thread though not too long ago?

[TammyP]

Yes please... would also be very interested

[Crossedover]

Tips I have got from the forum are...

Since bed sizes are different in Aus... Buy new matrices and linen too.

Buy gardening tools and general tools.

Update your wardrobe is much as you can.

Ensure your doctors visits are all done...

I would love to hear more too....

[Mara]

Get letters from your insurance companies, they may be accepted here to prove your no claim bonus

If you are renting, get a reference from your landlord to say you are a good tenant, if you have sold your home, get a letter from your agent to say how well cared for it was.

Get a file that has plastic pockets, so that you can file all of your documents, resumes, certificates for birth and marriage also school and education. This keeps everything together which makes it much safer than having the documents all over the place. I have one file, section for hubby, section for me, our whole lives are contained within that file. We keep it in a safe place, easily reachable, should we have have to evacuate our home, that is the only thing (plus the cat) that has to go with us! Imagine trying to replace that documentation in 20 years time?

When it comes to guns and knives, Australia has pretty strict rules, take a few minutes, consider the fact that you are starting a new life, do you really want the responsibility of keeping these items safe for the rest of your life? Weigh up the sentimental value of the items with the ongoing hassle of looking after them in Australia. It is not just a case of locking them in the safe... pretty difficult to bolt a safe to a NON-BRICK wall.

It is very much cheaper to rent an unfurnished home than furnished accommodation, so consider camping out in an unfurnished home. Perhaps buy a bed for your guestroom, then you can sleep on it until your container arrives. If you love camping, perhaps get some camping beds for the kids, with sleeping bags, you can get them quite cheaply here. You can also rent furniture for the short term.

[DXB2OZ]

Print out extra copies of the visa and keep them on different places. That way, when you've put the one copy in a safe place, but can't remember where that is, you can get another copy.

Wish I had started a note book where I had written down all of the handy hints, instead of just thinking "brilliant - must remember that".

Wish I had gotten one of the petrol pump attendants to show me how to pump my own petrol (very embarrassing).

Top tip - look very very hard at everything you want to take with you and ask yourself why. Then ask yourself if you are willing to clean it to meet customs requirements. Then ask why again. Had a mass clear out, yet have still managed to clear more stuff after arriving!!!

[BriD]

1. Know that when you get to Aus, no matter how much you love your furniture that you paid a bomb to bring over...you will be tempted by new furniture and will probably replace or add to your collection much sooner than you think. So when you are clearing out think long and hard about what you are gonna schlepp across the ocean, be realistic. Aus houses often do not have nearly as much space as SA houses did. Don't bring along "I might need this one day" stuff...

2. Yep renting an unfurnished place is much cheaper. Camping is possible, but made much easier if you don't bring appliances from South Africa and rather buy once in Aus. Then you don't have to deal with changing plugs, your stuff is under warranty in Australia and you get it as soon as you move into your rental. I know that helped us a lot. I don't think I could have lived without a fridge for a month.

3. Def revamp your wardrobe before you leave South Africa. Ensure you have a good windbreaker (I find this applicable for Melbourne and Sydney).

4. Keep all important documents in a one place...a flip file or something. Make several copies of documents that are needed for many things, like passport copies, visa grant notices etc.

5. Buy a printer/scanner/copier when you arrive. It helps for a huge amount of things.

6. Consider using Telstra for a landline, you get an AWESOME deal with them. For a minimal amount extra around $20 a month, you get free international calls to South African landlines from your Aus landline. This deal has transformed my immigration experience. I speak to my mom once a week on the phone for 2 hours at a time...it has helped so much to be able to still have such great contact.

If I think of anymore profound ones I will come back to add to it...

[KalahariHarry]

Thx all. Awesome info, keep them coming. Trev

[Mara]

With regard to telephone calls and internet, I am with TPG, costs me $88 in total for home phone and ADSL2+ internet. For that I can call 80 countries around the world for free as often and as long as I like, it includes RSA.

[Bronwyn&Co]

With regard to telephone calls and internet, I am with TPG, costs me $88 in total for home phone and ADSL2+ internet. For that I can call 80 countries around the world for free as often and as long as I like, it includes RSA.

We're on the same TPG plan as you ate Mara but what BriD is saying above sounds interesting. $20!?

Edited July 28, 2014 by Bronwyn&Co

[BriD]

That TPG plan sounds very good. I had no idea there was another supplier that did that. We pay $295.00 per month for - 2 X Mobile phone plans, 1 x landline including the international bundle, Adsl Internet and Foxtel.

Edited July 28, 2014 by BriD

[Bronwyn&Co]

My tip : every time I met new people I wrote a short description and their names, as well as their kids & husband's names and their addresses down in the front of my diary. It helps you not feel like an idiot because everyone remembers you as the 'new family' and you remember nobody because you're overwhelmed ?

Every time I met a new mom at the cricket, or a neighbour popped over to say hi or whatever, I ran to update that diary...

Edited July 28, 2014 by Bronwyn&Co

[Eva]

1. Know that when you get to Aus, no matter how much you love your furniture that you paid a bomb to bring over...you will be tempted by new furniture and will probably replace or add to your collection much sooner than you think. So when you are clearing out think long and hard about what you are gonna schlepp across the ocean, be realistic. Aus houses often do not have nearly as much space as SA houses did. Don't bring along "I might need this one day" stuff...

I don't know how many times I read on the forum how houses in Australia are so much smaller than in South Africa, which made us decide to leave our second lounge suite behind at the last minute - even after being quoted on fitting it into the container and coming with spare space!! - and then we bought a house with 3 lounge areas and had to buy more furniture!!

My advise is if it fits into your container, bring it! You can always have a garage sale here and sell it for dollars. Actually we just sold the lounge suit we bought to use in the rumpus room on a local things for sale facebook page for a miserable $120 just because I wanted to get rid of it quickly, it is easy to sell stuff here.

I think I have regretted NOT bringing more stuff than thinking I shouldn't have brought something.

Of course it did give me an excuse to shop. And I LOVE shopping!

[Sunnyskies]

I"m sort of in the be careful not to bring too much stuff camp. We have furniture in storage because I can't bear to sell stuff for next to nothing - probably not the best idea financially but I can't toss old Afrikaner furniture and more knowing that I can never replace it here. I should rather have left it behind with people who appreciate it.

Some tips (in addition to those already given and not really top tips but useful)

- fill up empty spots in your container with stuff from the bodyshop (or wherever you like to get smellies) - you won't buy it much here. We also packed some of our favourite toilet paper - at the time it seemed like a good idea and we did use it, but when we finally unwrapped the last of our furniture 5 years down the line and a packet of Woolies toilet paper fell out I laughed and then looked at what I thought was so special and laughed again.

- pack extra deodorants (probably just not aerosols) - it is nice to have a familiar smell under your arms

- buy new takkies - branded runners are expensive in Australia

- get the kids new black schools shoes - school shoes are expensive in Australia although they are Clarks and really comfie (worked that out as my son is now my size shoe so I tried his new shoes on to see what they felt like and I must say they are way more comfy than what I wore as a kid)

- go through your crockery and leave anything cracked or not in great nick behind - if you like a special brand stock up as you won't get everything here or at a price - if you like Mr Price specials don't worry about buying in SA, lots of equivalent type of stuff here for not much money.

- I went to Woolies and Naartjie and stocked up on kids clothes (for the next two years) - it was great as it meant I didn't have to think about buying clothes for them and they thought it was a treasure hunt everytime I dug in the cupboard. I would only do this if your kids are small. Way to complicated once they get to 10 and beyond. But having said that the quality of Target has improved a lot in the last 5 years and when we were in SA in January I struggled to find stuff in Woolies that my children would like - - speaking to my friends they were buying from Cotton On and JayDees (both of which are Australian brands). I used to buy Naartjie online from the USA, pricing wasn't too bad as I was always buying on sale so about the same price as Target or a bit less.

Things I absolutely could have left behind - my outdoor furniture - hasn't fitted properly in any of the houses we have lived in here - just too big and too much.

Something my husband always goes on about is the quality (or lack of quality) of tools in Australia - a lot of stuff is not built to last. If you are handy, probably go through your tools and see what items you would like to have and then get them. Also, garden blowers are big here (we laughed a lot at the blowers when we arrived) but they are really handy. We still haven't bought one as we have been warned off the cheaper models in Bunnings and don't feel like spending hundreds of dollars for a good one ($500 is what our landscaping neighbour suggested) and maybe a wippersnapper (ie weedeater) although we bought a cheepie from Bunnings and it works fine. As I told Crossingover a while back - get a good garden fork - we went through a bunch before I bit the bullet and bought a Dutch forged spork - you could be lucky like Toitjie and get a winner at the local opshop but you could be like us and have a never ending parade of forks that collapse on themselves (on that score keep the receipt so you can take it back to Bunnings).

We have also bought a floor steamer since arriving - Hoover (cost about $300) - it is great no more buckets and mops - you can get cheaper models from China - so perhaps price that and seriously consider bringing one over as it makes doing the floors a lot easier (even my husband will use it which is more than I can say for bucket and a mop). Although if you are worried about the warranty weigh up whether worth getting in Rands and running the risk.

We priced knives on our last trip back as I like a Wustenhof or Victronox knife - definitely cheaper in SA.

Now you have probably worked out why we brought too much stuff .

[Crossedover]

What helpful info... Please keep the tips coming

Thanks everyone

[Parks]

Loving this post.........we are in two minds whether to bring a movecube or not. We not taking furniture or appliances.

[Lisa505]

Loving the tips

Parks.. what made you decide not to bring furniture? We're also not sure if we should take anything or use a container or a movecube.

[Parks]

Hi Lisa505,

We taking a Boat which we can not replace that side for what its worth here.

My cousin moved over 2 years ago and he said we shouldn't worry about a container as there are places where we can buy stuff relatively cheap or even auction houses. We have heard this sentiment from several people so I think it just helped us decide.

We also don't have many items of sentimental value, our beds also need replacing. I plan on buying bedding here though and taking it with us in a suitcase.

I'm also keen for a shopping spree that side

[Lisa505]

Yeah I guess I'll end up buying new stuff anyway when we move over. Probably a good plan

I'm leaning towards a move cube now just to take the smaller things that can't fit in a suitcase. It seems relatively cheap. Container is out for now. Not worth the cost and waiting time.

[Bronwyn&Co]

I think a movecube is good if you can afford it. There are always those few sentimental things, photo albums, maybe a nice rug, tools, toys, blankets or whatever bits and pieces. If you bring one, pack it to the rafters. You can even pack coathangers, stationery, sports equipment...

Edited July 30, 2014 by Bronwyn&Co

[Mara]

Just be careful with your bedding...the sizes can be different, especially in Queen size. The standard South African queen is shorter than the Aussie queen.