Shipping Household Effects: Moving What You Need

It has been said that three moves is as good as a fire when reducing the number of possessions owned by an individual or family. When you have a move in your future, the decisions that are required for shipping household effects can lead to high levels of stress and frustration before and during the move.

How Long Will You Stay?

Making decisions about shipping household effects may be affected by how long you plan to stay in the new location. Obviously with a short-term stay, of 1-3 months, it may not be worthwhile to pay the cost of shipping. Conversely, if you plan to stay for years, you will have to consider whether or not to ship older household items that may not last as long as you plan to stay. Many people who move to a new location prefer to purchase household effects when they reach their destination and determine what is most needed.

Will Your Lifestyle Change

When making decisions about shipping household effects to a new location, it is helpful to consider how your lifestyle may be different after you move. If you are starting a new job, or attending classes, some things will be the same. However, you may take advantage of more cultural and artistic activities so spend less time in front of the television set. You may elect to take up skiing so you may need different types of outdoor clothing and gear.

Cost of Replacement

Shipping household effects can be expensive. Even if you are getting help from your company or organization for the costs of moving, you will probably need to have a budget to determine how the money is best spent. For those items that you don't bring with you to the new location, you will probably decide that some of them need to be replaced. This can be because they are old and not worth the cost of shipping; it can also be because they are only used sporadically; some people even prefer to look for alternative items that may not be available in the United States as replacement products.

Styles and Fads

Many times an item is purchased originally because it is in style or it is a fad item that everyone owns. These are often discarded at the time of a move, because they are no longer used consistently. Shipping household effects that are seldom used, or that are a fad item does not make a lot of sense, particularly when you have a chance to replace passe items with the latest fads from the new location.