Emigrating with Stuff

[Carolyn]

We've kind of started this discussion under the New Members thread, but I thought it would be good to move it to General, so more people might be able to get in and contribute.

When you moved to Sweden, what did you bring with you besides clothes and how?

Did you ship furniture or not? How did you get your stuff here?

What did you bring that you now wish you'd saved the money and space, and what didn't you bring that you wish you had? Why?

[Carrie]

I didn't ship anything over here. I just had two huge suitcases full of clothes, chocolate chips and books, and one carry-on. I left all my stuff in storage in my grandma's garage so it didn't quite feel like I was giving everything up. Most of my furniture was parental hand-me down type stuff so there was no sense bringing it all over here.

I bought and brought over a ton of sweaters and I really regret that. I think I wear two of them on a regular basis. I have never liked sweaters so I don't know what I was thinking, other than Sweden is COLD so I must have sweaters. I keep it warm enough in the house here that t-shirts are fine.

I don't know what we are going to do when we move back to the US. We have some really nice furniture that I want to take back, esp our bed. At the moment our plan is to sell everthing, but I don't like that plan very well. I guess we've got lots and lots of time to formulate a better plan.

Carrie

[Barb]

Hi
Finally found my password for this site. lol.
When we made the jump across the pond, we brought all our personal items of course such as clothes, pictures, cds, etc. In reference to household things, we brought very little furniture. We did bring some pieces that had held special memories or that were gifts such as a trunk, linen chest, wicker chaise and a rocker but other than that we either sold or gave everything else away. We did bring one of our puters, as far as the tower but left monitors, scanners, printers and anything electrical such as kitchen appliances, tvs, etc. We shipped our belongings with Alfa Movers who were great and handled the whole thing . The end result was the pieces above that I mentioned plus 149 boxes, it took a little over a month and cost was approx 6800 USD. That price included all boxes, tape, packing material and Alfa packed our entire shipment while we watched tv. They also handled our shipment going thru customs and when they delivered they carried the boxes in and unpacked them and disposed of the packing materials we did not want. In all the boxes, there was only one glass that was cracked, everything else made it here is excellent condition and we were thrilled.
As far as what I wish I had brought, I wish I had brought my Christmas lights at least for the tree because I later found out that I could of used them with an adaptor. I wish I had brought more comforters for the bed as I have yet to find one I like here and I also think if you are into curtains and things like that, the selection and price are alot better in the states. We brought alot of books and vcr tapes and dvds and usually when we make our visits back, we pick up even more. English books are hard to come by where we live and it is nice to be able to play your old movies when you feel like it. However as an added note, when you purchase your tv and vcr or dvd here, make sure you get one that plays the American tapes and is a non region dvd.

[Sabeine]

I also brought non-furniture items. I do wish I had brought my bed though, it was much more comfortable than the one that we have now. It might have cost too much to ship though, I never looked into it.

I did bring all my things in suitcases with the exception being shipping my books in M bags. Anders came for a visit the April before I moved. He had only one suitcase, and since he was allowed two, I sent one of mine with him. It was packed to the limit of 75lbs (at that time, now the limit is less) filled with picture frames, some vases, lots of little wooden boxes (the kind that look great, but you can't use them for anything, ha ha) some crystal, American version of Trivial Pursuit, and some fluffy new towels, and sheets. The scale acutally came to 74.9lbs so he just made it.

Then when I moved in June I brought two suitcases filled to the max and later this past March when we went for a visit, we each had two suitcases a piece. One each for our stuff, the other two for things we bought and some leftover stuff that I wanted to bring with me, that I had been keeping at my mom's house. I still have things that I would like to bring over, but it will have to be when I go for visits and can bring maybe 5-6 items extra in my suitcases. Otherwise as far a furniture is concerned I sold most of it, and what I wanted to really keep my mom has.

[Dawn]

We brought the whole 2 bedroom apartment!
EVERYTHING.
We shipped it in a 20ft container and it took about a month. We figured since we sold our car and would not be buying one, and there is not much of a market for second hand furniture in the US, it was worth it to have a full apartment in place. Plus, it feels like home!

[Carolyn]

Maybe we should arrange a sweater swap, Carrie. I love sweaters, and the only real problem I found with that in Sweden is that I LOVE sweaters in bright, cheerful colors and patterns, and at least when I moved to Sweden and for the last few winters, all that seemed available was black, grey, white and occasionally red. I'm more of a purple-green-blue-fuschia kind of person.

I wish I hadn't brought so many bath sheets and taken up space, because when I got there, Anders already had bright, colorful bath sheets, so they are available there.

I did bring my queen-sized comforter, because it was a wedding gift to us and also in the Swedish colors of blue and yellow. I also brought some American queen-sized sheets, mostly because they were 320-count and up and they don't give thread counts to sheets in Sweden, at least the ones I've seen.

I'm glad I brought my cooking cups and books and some pans, and thanks to Amy in Malmo, who finally sent me a few cookie cooling racks, 'cause I couldn't find them in Örebro when I was looking, although I did see them later.

This time back, we are also taking some round pizza pans with the holes in the bottom for crisper crusts, and Anders got one of those thermometers that measures temperature both inside and out, C and F, 'cause he's a weather freak. We are also shipping back probably 200 pounds more of books that somehow we have managed to accumulate in the last year.

I wish I'd kept more of my table linens (inherited from my mom), but I'm not sorry I left most everything behind, 'cause this way, Anders and I have bought things together that we both liked.

[Leslie]

We left all furniture items back in the States. Some things are packed in the backroom at my grandmother's house and other things were loaned out to my sisters and my mother. It made more sense to let those that needed them use them, rather than to have them sit around unused, or get a few bucks for them.

What we did bring with us was our stereo system, vcr, both computers, some of our kitchen items, Alex's toys, all of our books, all of my afghans, wash cloths, and lots of health and beauty aids such as my favorite shampoo, condtioner, deodorant, etc.

Looking back I wish we had brought my recliner, crockpot, electric skillet, griddle, towels, my mixing bowls, and all of my Christmas decorations. I didn't have that many but I have even less here.

They way we shipped everything was everything except the books went on the airline with us. We flew British Airways and sent all of our boxes through their freight system. We packed everything up then took the boxes the day before to their freight department. Everything was inspected and was required to sit in the warehouse until the day after we left for security reasons. We paid about 900 dollars and we had 16 large boxes. Per lb we paid $2 a lb.

We shipped the books by M-bag. Oh and we did send a few regular boxes by mail. At that time it was about a dollar and 70 cents per lb.

[Sabeine]

Leslie,

I bought a crockpot when I was in the US last March. I swore at that time (as I hand carried that sucker on the plane) that I would use it at least once or twice a week. I have used it maybe 5 times in almost a year.

I would still like to keep it, "just in case", but you could borrow it for several months if you want. It is a 6 qt programmable all white Crock-pot brand slow cooker. We have a heavy duty convertor for it that you could also borrow. Since it is programmable (a digital display on it) Anders made a time table for it since it with the conversion timing switched. I didn't think about when I bought it that the change in power from 110 to 220 would also change the cooking time settings, since it is digital. He has figured out the difference in the setting and made a time table and printed page of the "crock pot time" versus "actual time". I have used it and it works well. The adjusted timing is not a problem.

If you're interested let me know. You won't have to worry about getting it back to me anytime in the next several months. It's not like I'm going to use it anytime soon. I like having it for the "what if's" but truthfully I don't want to admit to Anders that I could have skipped buying it and lugging it here, especially since I made such a big deal about having to buy it when we were in the States.

[Sabeine]

One more thing.

I think the best advice for moving here is, take what you really like. At first after I got approved to move here I went around my apt and made a mental checklist of "to bring/not to bring". There were lots of things that I liked that I thought I really didn't need so I didn't think that I should bring bring them. A week or so before I moved here, my dad was helping me sell some of my stuff and assisting with packing. Each time I would put something in my suitcase he would say, "oh you DON'T need to bring that". I think he thought I should only pack clothes or something. At first I removed the stuff, but in the end I brought it and I am glad for that. It helps me to feel more at home, to have something familiar around me. I didn't bring any furniture items, but I did bring several smaller items, clothes, and my adorable cat (though that was not supposed to happen, but I am glad every day that she is here)

[Suzanne]

This was a great thread for me as I am already beginning to pack what I am going to take with me next year. I have what may sound like a dumb question (but better to ask a dumb question than not to ask at all). If I ship a box of my things, for example, my 300 or so Hallmark collector Christmas ornaments and some clothes by way of U.S. Postal Service, are these taxed by customs?

Of course I'm not collecting them as I have thrown out all the boxes and have packed them in bubble wrap. I want them strictly as decorations. I'm not sure if it's only newly purchased things that are taxed or everything you send over. I'd like to start shipping things now, maybe a box or two a month until I get there so the packing and unpacking process won't be so overwhelming. It also spreads out the cost over a longer period of time. Any expert advice on this?

I've read the threads on M-Bags and did some research at the USPS website so I'm going to start shipping those things right away.

Thanks Again!

Suzanne

[Carolyn]

Okay, the really good news is that, as an immigrant to Sweden, you are allowed to bring in "household items" and pretty much your whole life duty-free. You have one year from the date of your PUT (or permanent residency permit) to bring these things in duty free, so if you can't take them all at once, you still have time.

And since you're very new at this, your PUT or permanent is something that MOST people don't get until they have lived in Sweden two years, so that means a total of three years for shipping stuff.

What you will probably get first is your UT, which will have to be renewed every year for the first 2 years you're in Sweden. Some very young people with very new relationships apparently only got the UT for 6 months, which means 4 visits to the migrationsverket office instead of just 2. During the 2 years, they will want to make sure that you two are still together in a relationship. After you get your PUT, you can dump the guy and stay anyway (just joking there). ;D But once you do have your PUT, if the relationship does fail and you love your life in Sweden, you can still stay in the country on your own.

Once you get the paperwork going, you can start sending stuff. I was mailing via the post office for about 2 months before I actually moved. On the customs declaration, I just marked "immigrant, used household goods", and never had a problem.

I did send my fine collection of porcelain cups and saucers back with Anders after a visit, so he could carry them in a hard-shell suitcase well packed, and not a thing got broken. Don't know how the postal service would do that.

Everything I sent through the post office, I wrapped really well and either sent M-bag or the slowest, cheapest surface mail. No problems.

[lisa]

I'm just about to move to Sweden although we've been planning it for some time. We've decided to take everything (and more!) as my Swede's employer is making a contribution towards the removal expenses. It's still a hefty amount we'll have to pay but I figured that as there are some items I just would refuse to leave I might as well bring it all. Add in to that a new mattress, hedge cutter (don't ask!), bulbs & seeds for the garden, towels and bed linen.

[Suzanne]

So you actually have to begin the paperwork before sending anything over? I at least wanted to ship the Christmas things and a few clothes before I send the application (in January).

I'm not bringing much since he's already got most of the necessities (except for cooking items which his EX took with her). I'll be bringing clothes and afghans that my mom has made and most of my computer things. I hate packing and unpacking so everything else goes.

Thanks for all the help!

Suzanne

[Sandy]

Just send them from yourself to yourself and you should be fine.

[Carolyn]

And don't forget to tell your Swede to put YOUR name on the mail box as well! Especially critical if he lives in an apartment!