How did you wind down living in the US before you moved?

Of course the wedding and the Visa application need to get done, but I am hoping to move in August. With that in mind, I am renting out my apartment and getting rid of all the excess stuff.

How did you handle the transition before the move? I am hoping to be out of my apartment at the end of June and thanks to my weird work schedule, I will rotate between hotels on my work days and driving to my mom's house in another state on my days off for the first week of July. Then I go visit my sister's house for a week and when I come back I am staying at a friend's house for the last 2.5 weeks of July and will be on vacation the first two weeks of August.

If you had a car, when did you sell it? I know everyone's situation is different but I don't live near family so can't crash there.

Thanks.

I've got two months to go before my big move and I'm in a similar situation. I have so much to do but I can't do much of it until right before I leave! It's hard to unwind with all the move stress (and of course missing my husband). It's a tough limbo we're in.

Keeping an eye on this thread, because I'm in the same situation... I need to get rid of more stuff. I try to do it as I can. Still haven't decided what to do with the car. And of course, I've *just* paid it off! D'oh!

I got rid of most of my stuff, which took months. I started out selling things but it got boring so I started giving it away which was much more fun! I did keep some things in storage for the first year.

Then I sold my house. I moved into a flat nearby that was owned by a friend who was very flexible with my time frame. At the time I was waiting for my company to sort a work permit so I had very little say in when I could leave.

I gave my car to my son, who still drives it. It's MUCH dirtier now. 

When I boarded the plane, it was the first time in my adult life that I had NO KEYS. No car key, house key, nothing. It was very freeing. 

I sold my car with about 3 weeks to go before I left, and borrowed a car (a lovely red convertible BMW!) from some friends.

I only had a week after having to move out of my apartment, so I stayed with friends. All my belongings had been shipped over weeks earlier, so all I had was a suitcase with me.

I didn't sell that much stuff because most came with me, but I did have to get rid of some things. I put ads in the paper for larger things, put up signs at work for smaller stuff, had a big yard sale and then gave the rest to either friends or charity.

We did a LOT of weeding things out, taking them to Goodwill, then after hubby came ahead over, I had a few yard sales in the four weeks I was still there. We were lucky enough to be able to store the rest at mom's, and some is still there, but the yard sale money came in handy.

We ended up handing the car down to my niece. It was a little used car we got after ours caught fire, and since we were moving over here anyway, we saw no need to go the expense of a better car.

I started advertising furniture and car on craigslist about 6 weeks prior. I listed car saying 'can't let go until X date'. Had a garage sale 3 weeks prior. Shipped the 'movable' stuff & had donation truck show up the day before moveout. Moved out of apartment and then spent 5 days with friends. Finalized car sale in those 5 days.

Pros of doing it this way: 1) It was a natural progression of downsizing - worst torture was one night on the floor and 2 weeks without a fridge, 2) allowed me to have days at the end to focus on odds and ends...if I had flown the day I moved out of my apartment I would've been a wreck, 3) also allowed more quality time with friends and without all my belongings at the end!

As a friend said when I was suuuuper frustrated one day "keep your eyes on the prize" and totally agree with Courtney...

When I boarded the plane, it was the first time in my adult life that I had NO KEYS. No car key, house key, nothing. It was very freeing. 

I already have my new house keys for the UK! I'm coming for a visit (and to go to fiance's brother's wedding) in July and he'll be at work, so I have to make my own way to the flat.

Alilbabba, which shipping company did you use and approximately how much was it? I'm going back and forth about shipping stuff all at once or bringing it over one extra checked baggage at a time.

Our process was quite drawn out.  
We sold our house in 2004 and moved into an apartment while we decided if we really wanted to move to England (MrRed5 is English and had lived in the States since '92).  Prior to moving into the apartment we started selling off items that we no longer needed.  
The community we lived in had a flea market twice a year and that helped us unload items, and we sold items to friends at a reduced rate.  The girls and I (they were quite young at the time) drove up to see my family and we gave my Mom some electrical items and my cousin our booze.  
A week prior to moving we sold our cars to carmax and rented one.  The movers came to the apartment on a Thursday and packed everyting up except for a couple of air mattresses and a few other items.  Friday night was 'shred fest' as we shredded paperwork that we no longer needed.  I'm sure our downstairs neighbors weren't pleased with us. 
On Saturday we went to the local Goodwill to drop off what wasn't going on the plane with us.  We dropped off the apartment keys and went to a friends house for a few hours.  We had our last meal in Texas at IHOP, dropped off the rental car, and got on the shuttle bound for the airport.    
I forgot to add that I had a notebook that contained everthing that I needed to either cancel (like electric and phone) or change the address on (like bank accounts). 

I ended up bartering my stuff (a bunch of stuff to a friend who was taking care of my cat until he could go through the rabies BS, more to another friend so he'd hand in my keys at the end of my lease and give my flat a once over) or giving it away on Freecycle.  It took me a month or two, and although I wish I shipped some things I gave away, it was a lot less hassle than dealing with lawn sales/classifieds.

However, I didn't have a car or house to sell.

I now figure I've got maybe a year in limbo to travel back and forth (bringing over as much as poss. each time) but meanwhile trying to hold on to the house and car in case DS decides he wants to stay (in which case we'll have to bolster his finances). In any event, I need to seriously downsize! Been giving a few 'heirlooms' to cousins, taking bags full of clothing and household items to the Goodwill truck. The things that really worry me are the true heirlooms that are probably worth something (ship or sell?) and all the paperwork to go through and shred. Ugh!

It was much easier doing this the first time around because I could leave most stuff with my parents until I needed it (wait, most of it's still in the attic  )

I now figure I've got maybe a year in limbo to travel back and forth (bringing over as much as poss. each time) but meanwhile trying to hold on to the house and car in case DS decides he wants to stay (in which case we'll have to bolster his finances). In any event, I need to seriously downsize! Been giving a few 'heirlooms' to cousins, taking bags full of clothing and household items to the Goodwill truck. The things that really worry me are the true heirlooms that are probably worth something (ship or sell?) and all the paperwork to go through and shred. Ugh!

It was much easier doing this the first time around because I could leave most stuff with my parents until I needed it (wait, most of it's still in the attic  )

This sounds like me! Right now, lots of stuff is in the basement or the garage. I will have to go through all the garage stuff before I leave, but that means some will end up (sorted and labeled) in the basement. That will be my June project once I'm out of school! But the if-fy stuff... sell? give away? donate? I think I will do a keep/sell/toss pile thing like on that tv show. After the wedding, I will have a few weeks while the visa processes. I'm thinking it would be wise to have one last garage sale during that time (Aug, so kind of prime time for them...) Plus it will help me keep busy.

Red5- you are the kind of organized and efficient I want to be about this!! I love the notebook idea. Did you get fair price at carmax, do you think? I'm thinking that's my best option if my mom doesn't buy my car herself.

When I boarded the plane, it was the first time in my adult life that I had NO KEYS. No car key, house key, nothing. It was very freeing. 

We're doing the no keys thing at the moment. We're rarely out later than the in-laws stay up, and when we are we just borrow a key. We've been keyless since the end of January. It is freeing and odd at the same time.

I do have a key to mom's and a key to dad's though. They both told me to keep them when I moved over. That way they wouldn't have to keep track of where they were to give back to me on visits.

I am right in the middle of this myself.  Because of the timing of things, I have to leave the room I rent in a house during the summer and since I wanted to come to the UK anyway for the Olympics, I am quitting my job in July and "moving" into my Mom's house in Atlanta.  She and I just had a joint yard sale and sold most of the non-furniture items I wanted gone and the rest are sitting at her place waiting for a charity truck to pick them up.  I just need to sell my bed, tv stand, and desk this summer sometime.  She is going to try and drive my car while I am in the UK for August and see if she wants to keep it as a commuter car - otherwise I will sell that in October when I move over to the UK. 

I am planning to send over some things to the UK at the end of Sept - I think it will all fit into the 50cu ft crate that upakweship has.  If I can get the pile of stuff a lot smaller, we will just use extra luggage instead.  Right now though, I am living a bit rough - I work nights so I sleep during the day and I went ahead and sold my curtains so I have to get used to my sleep mask again (which my dog loves to swat at).  Trying to sell my bed last but I have an air mattress waiting for the inevitable. 

For me it's been a series of steps of elimination.  There was a lot of "sorting" the last month and a lot of trash - but it's great knowing I have gone through everything now and can see what I have left that I want to bring over.  It has been difficult trying to balance the feelings of wanting to travel lightly and have a nice fresh start but also wanting to bring things that mean a lot to me.

I wish I could just take everything I know we don't want outside and have someone whisk it away -- just so I could visualize what it is I do want. 
Also it's difficult to know how big a place we will end up in -- maybe my great grandfather's chests of drawers wouldn't fit!