What did you do until your furniture arrived?

[Guest]

It seems like I am posting every other day asking questions about this that or the other, so forgive me if you are sick of my questions :-) Its just that as the time nears and opportunities arise I find myself over thinking and invariably stressing out. We may be emigrating at the end of the month (so not a lot of time to sort things out). One of the things that worries me the most is what do we do until our furniture arrives in Oz?

We have decided that when we do leave we would like to take a container, just for the sense of familiarity more than anything and I do feel it will make us feel more at home. I have already contacted Don at Cargopak...really nice chap by the way spoke to him yesterday, and he advised that a container could take up to 2 months!! Its a long time to do without the necessities. Obviously when we arrive we would have to check into somewhere that is fully furnished for awhile, and then look for a rental accommodation, but then you have a shell of a rental so do you just buy the basics? do you just camp out in the rental ? So if anyone could give us a little advice on what they did or tips, that would be really helpful to us. I do know that a lot of Australian furniture companies rent furniture which would also be an option, has anyone done this or did they find it expensive?

So many questions but if someone can put my mind at ease on this one Id be grateful. Thanks so much in advance :-) :blush-anim-cl:

[RedPanda]

If you don't have children, or you are a small family, take a look at what's on offer at Airbnb, we found a fully furnished 'flat' (ground floor of a bigger house, closed off from the house) for rent, available for three months. And the rate was really good! So we've spoken to the owner and will confirm final dates in Dec or sooner when we book our tickets. We'll rent there while waiting for the container, and use the time to look for a longer term rental. I've found generally the fully furnished places I could find from this side were horridly expensive. And personally it would bother me to have to rent strange stuff for two months. Somehow I feel it would be better to rent appliances for a year? Maybe that's just me.

[RYLC]

When we moved over as just a couple with no kids we stayed in a youth hostel for a couple of nights and then found a furnished apartment. After that we rented a house and just camped in it with the barest essentials. You can also rent furniture and appliances and we did that for the necessities. It was "fun" to camp in our house back then and I was soooo please to see my stuff when it arrived.

[AFreshStart]

RedPanda,

The problem is here many rentals come with some if not all appliances. You will get a stove, oven and dishwasher, almost always a given, and some, like our rental had a washer & dryer, even fridge. Most new or renovated places will have dedicated spaces built into their kitchens, limiting the size of the fridge that can fit in there, all things to consider.

Sorry Emma.Yenkanna, can't help you with camping this end, we decided to ship our stuff before and camp that side, much easier to use your South African network to borrow linen, towels, matresses etc to 'camp out' than doing it here, likewise eating out is MUCH cheaper. Lastly arriving here to have your things waiting and setting them up helps you settle in quickly, especially if you have young children (ours were 2 & 4 years old) who will be surrounded by familiar things. Something others reading this might want to consider.

In some ways I feel it's better to ship early, or not at all and just buy when you arrive, but to each his/her own.

Cheers

Matt

Edited September 3, 2015 by AFreshStart

[monsta]

You will get used to doing without in Aussie. You can either go to the store and pay a fortune for cheap junk or pay a 2 fortunes for decent stuff.

That leaves waiting for the next sale, or buying it direct from China on eBay and waiting up to 45 business days for it to arrive.

So, be glad you are brining your decent furniture from RSA... Even if you have to wait for it

Edited September 3, 2015 by monsta

[rozellem]

Yes, its easier to send your container ahead and borrow in RSA. Then perhaps make the gap as short as 3 weeks without your stuff. Catch 22 is then, if you for some reason struggle to nab a rental, you will be stressing because you have the imminent arrival of a massive container and nowhere to go with it. You can of course pay the moving company $$$ to store it, but its much, much more expensive to do this side. With or without kids, its not such a hardship without your stuff as you imagine now. Its pretty freeing really. DO NOT rent a fully furnished place, unless you have unlimited funds to burn. Its not for the average Joe, more of a company relocation option in my experience. Check out Airbnb for initial arrival accommodation, and then try and get a normal, unfurnished rental asap. Run through a basic house in your brain. The rentals come with window coverings, so you will have your privacy. Then again, please dont be a proud South African. Tell the neighbours, when you go and introduce yourself, that you are camping out and have virtually nothing. I bet they will lend you their camping gear or something they have on offer. What do you NEED in every room. For this exercise, I am talking about temporary, survival basics. Bathroom, you need no furniture. Just toiletries and towels. Bring with or buy here. Kitchen, they all come with a oven/stove, often a dishwasher, if the kitchen has integrated appliances then perhaps a fridge/washer/dryer too. There will be a clothes line of some sort, or a dryer if in a flat. There are laundrettes around most cities too. You could rent a small fridge or buy one on Gumtree and sell later. In the bedrooms, you will need a mattress, and bedding. It will almost always have some sort of robe. We brought duvet covers and as our inners were needing replacing, we did it here. You will not be the first immigrant to arrive with a pot and some basic cutlery in your suitcase. It is mindboggling how little you really need. We had 15 boxes sent out ahead, no furniture. We bought in the first week, a fridge, a couch, a mattress, tv and washing mashing. We have them all still, almost 7 years down the line. We picked up lots on the side of the road. While waiting for the mattress to arrive (from Adelaide, rookie mistake) we bought a inflatable one from a camping shop. Job done. If you join some of the South African facebook groups in your new area, you will be surprised that they have "kits" for new arrivals and will lend you lots of things. We have all been there and we pass on the love.

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for your advise. I do look at airbnb but the area where we may be moving too does not have much on offer on there and it is very expensive. I do find cheaper accommodation listed on booking.com. At the moment we are awaiting confirmation of a job offer and so were not sure on when they would want hubby to start, if we knew then I would immediately have items shipped. As Matt as said Id rather camp out here than in OZ. :-) Its an adventure though and so true that you do need very little to live.

Thank you for all your comments I feel lots better knowing others have been in the same boat and are OK now :-)

[Drought]

Used a plastic knife and fork set and sat on cardboard boxes- still have the "picnic" set but not the boxes!

[D&M]

We decided to stay in a holiday village close to the city as the cabins have all the basic necessities, are quite comfortable and have a laundromat on site. We found out that if you book for four weeks or longer, they will give you a better price. You also do not have to go through the whole rental process as when you rent a house. The kids really enjoyed it as it felt like a holiday to them. We ensured that it was close to public transport so that we could easily move around.

[monsta]

That's good advice from D&M. Often what makes a place cheaper is its lack of good public transport. If you don't have a car that's an issue.

Go on google maps and ask it for directions (using public transport) from your rental to the nearest big shops on a Sunday morning. Then ask it how you would get back from the city at 11pm on a Saturday night.

If you discover that the last buss to your rental is at 9pm at night, you better be prepared for that.

Also, be careful on google. If you want to leave at 10am on a Sunday. Google may tell you to wait 45 mins then leave and it will take 20 mins. So, do your own maths and work out the time from when you want to leave until the time you will arrive. If there is only a buss every hour on a Sunday that can be very annoying! Especially when it arrives 5 mins early and you miss it!

[qwerty]

I rented a room for the first 6 weeks through AirBnB and the found a 2-bedroom apartment for when Hubby and DD arrived. We slept on blowup mattresses for 8 weeks and bought a few essentials cheaply (including a 2nd hand fridge) before our stuff arrived. Felt like Christmas when they carried our stuff into an empty apartment.

[RYLC]

Garage sales are a source of cheap stuff too

http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php/topic/45622-garage-sale-time/

[Tebbutts]

Our furniture took about two months to arrive. We rented a furnished place through Stayz when we first arrived and lucky for us, we only had about 3 nights in our unfurnished rental until our furniture was delivered. We borrowed beds, camp chairs, bedding, towels, kitchen utensils from friends. I also popped into Salvos to pick up a couple of things we needed. Super cheap and I still use the things we bought today!

[Heather]

what area are you looking at moving too? Perhaps there is a South African living in ...... page on facebook in the area where you are going, we here on the Gold Coast all like to help newbys and often lend them furniture in the interim.