How many boxes are reasonable for an overseas move???

[Logan]

I'm struggling with how many we seem to have still....

I have packed pretty much everything. We are using plastic storage boxes (45L) instead of cardboard moving ones and there are 30 total (!!!!!!). I would say 90% of it is baby + kids hand me downs and items for the next baby. What is in the boxes is all we are taking except a few small items that don't fit (DS's scooter and balance bike). No furniture etc. All household items, bathroom, kitchen, and my stuff (books, DVDs, sentimental stuff, photos) accounts for only 4 boxes total. 

What would others consider a reasonable number of that size box for a family with 2 kids and planning more??? 

The minimalist in me is cringing every time I see the pile of boxes, but the frugalist in me doesn't see the point in getting rid of it now only to rebuy when we get there. If it would help I can give a run down of what is in the boxes. Also we are going to an Island, so there are certain things we are taking that I may not otherwise take simply because they won't be available there. Mostly small storage type items (these are packed with things inside them) and clothes hangers (these take up a bit of room!), that type of thing....

ADVICE PLEASE- I'm going crazy with all this stuff  If I had my way we would only take one suitcase each....but doesn't seem practical 

[mkksmom]

Personally, I would not take any clothing for future babies... MAYBE one or 2 favorites in 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.

I would weigh the cost of shipping them against the cost of replacing them. I'd sell everything and keep the money to buy replacements. If you are not opposed to buying used, you can really save a lot of money.

[Logan]

I'm planning to be pregnant though before we leave (as much as you can plan these things ). So they are not for some time in a few years, they are hopefully something we will need six or so months after arriving. I'm not doing Ebay any more so its unlikely I would get much for the items- they would cost a lot to replace though as they are mostly nice organic stuff. I'm just not sure it would cost more to ship than replace them. I could probably cull the 6-12 months and size 1's though as they are less gender neutral and wouldn't be needed for at least a year no matter what.

The cloth nappies are taking up a lot of room- but there is not that many of them, they are just bulky. I have 2 boxes of newborn as we go through heaps per day in the first few months (my babies fit newborn for a while). And 2 boxes of smalls which I may be able to get down to 1 but would need to rebuy to make up for it after the baby was born. And cloth nappies have very little resale value here so I would be taking another big loss on them too. And I also have one box of medium and one of large and training pants all of which DD is still using. They all include prefolds as well which are bulky. But they aren't readily available here (had to ship them all in from the US at huge expense) so again I don't think its worth getting rid of them since we are still using them.  Arghhh....

.....I'm making excuses....please talk me into getting rid of more! 

[Arduinna]

Well I'm no help, we are a family of 3 adults and we had 130+ boxes of various sizes when we moved cross country.  There is no way I could get all our stuff down to 30 boxes. That would be 10 boxes each and I'm sure I used more than 10 boxes just for the kitchen alone and I'm sure at least 10 boxes of just books.

[mkksmom]

OK... I think I'd stick with going for what is most cost effective and weigh in possibly being pregnant at the time of the move. BUT, I'd take out each size and be very realistic about what you'll need to get through a week. If you can wash clothes twice a week, then you can get rid of even more. Decide on a number of outfits per size-- for newborn and 0-3 months, I'd pick no more than 10 sleepers that could be worn during the day or night and then 2-3 outfits (preferably with layers) for going out. As the sizes get bigger, I'd sub more outfits for sleepers-- so by 12 months 5 or 6 of each. Cloth diapers-- I'd keep those. If you have a system that works, then why mess with it? I wonder if you could vacuum pack them to make them take up less space.

There are 5 years between my girls and I am still saving stuff. I am having a hard time getting down to a week's worth of clothing until I get to 4T or so. Everyone loved shopping for her, but by 4, she got more opinionated, and I learned to tell people that she already had way too many outfits. But yeah-- it's hard. One thing I am doing for the more sentimental pieces that aren't practical to save is cutting scraps and making a sort of fabric collage so I can have a piece of those outfits that made me smile.

[Logan]

Arduinna- Thanks for making me feel better  technically we are moving 'interstate' as the island is owned by the same country- but still its more like moving overseas because of the distance and everything will have to go by boat to get to the island. I guess they are small size so probably more like 15 regular moving boxes- but even that sounds like a lot. Why do little people have so much stuff? 

Mkksmom- I like the idea of picking a concrete number of clothes and getting it down to that. That sounds doable for me- otherwise I get sentimental if I try to just choose things I love. I wash every day so would probably go more for a 7 outfits kind of thing. We are doing great for the bigger sizes too as by the time I was buying ahead for those I realized how few they really need! Definitely the worst seems to be 0 + 1's especially as I seem to be most sentimentally attached to these sizes for some reason. 

I'm gonna go through the cloth diapers again and try and be even more ruthless. We made the switch from man-made fibres to organic inners but I was still keeping the others I had to wear them out (using a natural cloth liner) since the resale sucks anyway. But maybe I can just cut my losses on those ones and that gives me an excuse to replace with natural ones later on down the line once we need that size again. 6 boxes just sounds too much  And elastics don't last forever, even on the nearly new ones. 

[K'sMama]

Honestly, a whole bin of diapers in NB and again in each size sounds like overkill.  Now, my youngest is almost 2 but we have 15 diapers and 3 covers and that is more that enough.

[Logan]

We do change with every wet so in the newborn stage we need a LOT. Plus I don't use the dryer on them as it kills the elastics- except for prefolds/inserts etc. But yeah, I think I can cut down more on what we have for sure- mostly in size small as we don't need anywhere near as many as with newborns. I just don't want to go uncomfortably low on them and always be scrambling to find a clean one. DD easily uses 12 a day at the moment. We have a comfortable amount in her size so that if I don't get the clean washing put away for a day we still have enough. And we have several different types because I use different things at different times in the day- night nappies are AIO's, fitteds without covers in the day at home, AI2's when out and prefolds in the AI2 covers when I feel like it since we don't have spare boosters for them. In her size (medium and large) we have 14 fitteds, 2 AIO's, 4 AI2 and 12 prefolds. Then there are 12 size large prefolds which don't get used as much as I usually trifold the medium ones instead of snappying the larges. But she is outgrowing the medium ones in length pretty soon (already way too small to be snappied on). Then add in the cloth liners, wetbags, and training pants and that has filled two boxes right there just for medium-large. Tomorrow we have to be home all day so I'm going through all the boxes again with a vengeance 

[larablue]

I don´t think 30 Boxes is much.

And it is not only the price you pay for shipping- it is time you would need to find similar things again.

So if you plan to become pregnant, just take all those things with you. You never know how you feel pregnant, and you will surely have lots of things to organize after your move- why not just make it easier on yourself and bring those already packed boxes.

I think the main reason to live more simple and uncluttered is to make your life easier.

It is not something dogmatic to do just to be able to say "we moved overseas with only the clothes on ourselves plus one suitcase".

And something entirely different: I really like the things I have used before. I very much prefer a nice used thing which I own for a longer time than things I just bough new.

If you are similar- please just let your thing companions stay with you.

HTH,

lara

[mnnice]

I am completely astonished at how little other stuff you have.  I have a whole household of clothing mimalists, but I am a total kitchen tool/dish  freak.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by mnnice 

I am completely astonished at how little other stuff you have.  I have a whole household of clothing mimalists, but I am a total kitchen tool/dish  freak.

Yeah, cloth nappies and baby clothes are definitely my weakness- they are too darn cute  I'm very minimal in other areas already. 

Larablue- Thanks for that, I do get attached to things I know work well and trust. I think its definitely treading a thin line between not taking anything that's not essential but also not leaving behind things that you really do use and need. Its definitely not something I want to just do for the sake of it. I would love to leave most of it behind, if I wasn't planning more kids I would. For me its about the freedom and how much nicer day-to-day life is without the excess stuff cluttering it. The more we get rid of the more I want to get rid of. Its so liberating! And life really does run a lot smoother the less we have.