Sell, Store, Hire, Rent, Buy ? So many choices - So what did we do
This was a big decision to make and one that has taken a lot of thought, a lot of pounding numbers into calculators, many phone calls, quotes, options etc.
So bare with us while we explain to how we got to where we did in relation to leaving the house, animals and furniture behind.
So bare with us while we explain to how we got to where we did in relation to leaving the house, animals and furniture behind.
Firstly we have decided to rent out our 5 bedroom house for the 12 months we are planning on being away.
We wondered if it would be worth renting it fully furnished, but that was quickly realised that it is far too difficult to do, for insurance, maintenance of every item, cataloguing every single item etc. - not happening!
Secondly thought was to buy 2 x 20ft containers and store everything into them and relocate them to a good friends rural property in return we would pay their land rates for a year for their kindness , then upon return resell the containers- This seemed to be the Golden egg and would save us a considerable amount of money when compared to using a self storage facility which would have cost us close to $8000 for the yr. But alas the old saying " too good to be true " slapped this one down. Getting contents insurance alone by doing this was near impossible and quoted in excess of the $8000.
Thirdly - Self storage unit ? go back and read the bit in Secondly about the cost of this.
Fourthly ( is that really a word/number ? )
We have found a way to combine Secondly and Thirdly together and allow our items to be insured and a far more reasonable cost of approx $2500 for the yr. Hire 2 x 20 ft ( A-B grade) shipping containers and store them at the container hire facility who offer this service in Brisbane, undercover and in a secured warehouse allowing us to be able to insure the 2 containers and our precious contents. They deliver the containers when we want them, we load them, lock them , they come and collect , store, protect and when we want them back they deliver them home again, we unpack at our leisure and they come back and take away the container . Our solution - Sorted. ( upon return we will update on the unpacking process )
Fifthly Our 3 beloved animals, Chewy the dog and 2 cats Sheriff and Woody, whilst the kids ( and us ) would love them to come along as they too are part of our family it is just too hard to get our heads around how to bring them along and still be able to visit all the places we want to go to and to be fair on the animals. So off to Grandmas for a 12 month holiday vacation they go
IT BEGINS
Container #1 has arrived !! and sadly so has some heavy rain for day, so this means inside only and packing.
So three days in the packing and I can report that every part of me is hurting - yes 3 days of packing and moving boxes and furniture is a better work out than any boot camp!! At least I am working off the excesses of our christmas holiday in Busselton.
Here is how the weeks packing has gone.
Monday it rained all day so packing was restricted to inside stuff so sorting out all the final boxes and moving things into seemingly endless piles of stuff which may / may not be needed for the trip. I finished all the kids rooms (7 boxes from one the boys rooms not including all the rubbish I convinced him throw out). All the boys now have clothes in the van, books and a few extra's in the rooms and not much else.
Tuesday was clear (muggy and hot but not raining) so Blake attacked the shed and move all this into the container. The boys went to Grandma and Grandpa's for the day which meant I packed non stop all day - man we have soo much stuff - box after box after box.
Wednesday had light showers in the morning but cleared quickly so we both attacked the packing again. This time we worked together to pack the remaining boxes and the move these and some of the heavier furniture into the container to have it full ready for pick up on Thursday morning.
Thursday the first container will be picked up and the second dropped off. I am working on Thursday so Blake and the boys are planning a dump run (with all the bins full and still more to throw out this is must) and tackle the gardens which are so lush and green after all the rain we have had of late. This will give us a days rest before the real heavy lifting of all the furniture stats to be loaded into the second container - I will need my Rocky theme song on for this!! So stay tuned for more packing / container photos and once the van is fully loaded I will post these as well.
We wondered if it would be worth renting it fully furnished, but that was quickly realised that it is far too difficult to do, for insurance, maintenance of every item, cataloguing every single item etc. - not happening!
Secondly thought was to buy 2 x 20ft containers and store everything into them and relocate them to a good friends rural property in return we would pay their land rates for a year for their kindness , then upon return resell the containers- This seemed to be the Golden egg and would save us a considerable amount of money when compared to using a self storage facility which would have cost us close to $8000 for the yr. But alas the old saying " too good to be true " slapped this one down. Getting contents insurance alone by doing this was near impossible and quoted in excess of the $8000.
Thirdly - Self storage unit ? go back and read the bit in Secondly about the cost of this.
Fourthly ( is that really a word/number ? )
We have found a way to combine Secondly and Thirdly together and allow our items to be insured and a far more reasonable cost of approx $2500 for the yr. Hire 2 x 20 ft ( A-B grade) shipping containers and store them at the container hire facility who offer this service in Brisbane, undercover and in a secured warehouse allowing us to be able to insure the 2 containers and our precious contents. They deliver the containers when we want them, we load them, lock them , they come and collect , store, protect and when we want them back they deliver them home again, we unpack at our leisure and they come back and take away the container . Our solution - Sorted. ( upon return we will update on the unpacking process )
Fifthly Our 3 beloved animals, Chewy the dog and 2 cats Sheriff and Woody, whilst the kids ( and us ) would love them to come along as they too are part of our family it is just too hard to get our heads around how to bring them along and still be able to visit all the places we want to go to and to be fair on the animals. So off to Grandmas for a 12 month holiday vacation they go
IT BEGINS
Container #1 has arrived !! and sadly so has some heavy rain for day, so this means inside only and packing.
So three days in the packing and I can report that every part of me is hurting - yes 3 days of packing and moving boxes and furniture is a better work out than any boot camp!! At least I am working off the excesses of our christmas holiday in Busselton.
Here is how the weeks packing has gone.
Monday it rained all day so packing was restricted to inside stuff so sorting out all the final boxes and moving things into seemingly endless piles of stuff which may / may not be needed for the trip. I finished all the kids rooms (7 boxes from one the boys rooms not including all the rubbish I convinced him throw out). All the boys now have clothes in the van, books and a few extra's in the rooms and not much else.
Tuesday was clear (muggy and hot but not raining) so Blake attacked the shed and move all this into the container. The boys went to Grandma and Grandpa's for the day which meant I packed non stop all day - man we have soo much stuff - box after box after box.
Wednesday had light showers in the morning but cleared quickly so we both attacked the packing again. This time we worked together to pack the remaining boxes and the move these and some of the heavier furniture into the container to have it full ready for pick up on Thursday morning.
Thursday the first container will be picked up and the second dropped off. I am working on Thursday so Blake and the boys are planning a dump run (with all the bins full and still more to throw out this is must) and tackle the gardens which are so lush and green after all the rain we have had of late. This will give us a days rest before the real heavy lifting of all the furniture stats to be loaded into the second container - I will need my Rocky theme song on for this!! So stay tuned for more packing / container photos and once the van is fully loaded I will post these as well.
well we did it !!! our non essential life of homewares is now compacted into 2 x 20 ft containers and the essentials into Jeff the Jayco. What a mission !!! Sue and I packed it all with only a hand from our wonderful neighbour Michael to move the pool table and the solid timber outside table. Thats it we are now living in the van for the next year :) off to Grandmas to finalise the packing and see the animals, have Ryans Birthday party, our farewell night then YEEEHAAAA we hit the road and begin our life long dream. Our Loopy Lap of OZ is now a reality. See you all out there