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

Things are moving along ok for me. My friend Kelli is buying most of my stuff as she's looking to make a change in her life and will need to set up house. So now I have friends set up to help move stuff on June 22nd into a trailer so I can haul it to another state to get it to Kelli. Her parents have some trailers they use for storage. She's going to store the few big things I want to hold on to until my sister can get them.

A friend is letting me move up my stay with her date to the end of June. I hope to apply for the visa in about 2 weeks and will expedite it. So may have to hotel it for just a few days. Once visa is approved then I'll turn in my notice.

DH is taking his sweet time about getting the papers together that I need. I know he's been busy but we are on a tight schedule! I was going to work through July but if I can get out of it by July 5 I'd be thrilled. Then I'd go stay with my mom for July.

Momof2: so did your plans come together today? Good luck to you!

We are the same as a lot of you, started off selling things on Craigslist but too much of a hassle.  We live in an HOA and they will not let us have yard sales, so we are giving nearly everything away to a local domestic violence shelter, they are so appreciative.  We are going to be selling our cars as it gets a little closer since we still need them. 

We are pretty much just taking suitcases (vacuum sealed bags like others have said!) of clothing and a few sentimental items.  We may need to ship a few things, but basically just giving everything away.  It feels pretty good!

It is funny how many hundreds of tiny shampoo and soaps you end up with, you always save them just in case lol!  I know the shelter can use them. 

I found a couple of consignment stores to take most of the stuff I couldn't sell myself to. Got a little cash for it. Having a apartment "garage" sale here in the next week or so.

I went around the house a week or so back, opening drawers etc. and pulled out lots of odd little things -- mostly my parents' -- tossed them in a bag to take to the dump. Oddly liberating feeling -- may encourage me to move on to bigger stuff.

My "big" announcement didn't happen last week, gave the consultants one last week to get a deal for the business.

Just sent them an email that no deal will happen. Just do not like how the buyer is leading us around. So that was my first big step in the winding down!

Tomorrow will announce to employees that we are closing our doors. Will give them 2 more weeks of pay if they stick around to help with the winding down of our business (finishing client jobs, return client inventory, sell equipment, clear out the office, etc). We'll see if any of them take me up on it or if they'll hate me.

I'm feeling pretty okay with the decision. I realized I have spent the last 10 months actively trying to find someone to buy the business so my employees would be able to keep their jobs and it's time for me to throw in the towel. I just can't be away from my family any longer. They are my priority.

So tomorrow is our monthly pizza lunch (I buy them lunch) and then that afternoon I'll break the bad/sad news to them.

My mom is coming up at the end of the month to help w/ an estate sale (craigslist is going no.where!).

Already had someone come look at the house that will hopefully buy it (it's not on the market yet, that will have to wait until after we empty it). Still can't decide if we want to rent it out, sell it (which will be hard because we owe so much on it), or just hand the keys back to the bank.

It sucks that we are leaving this country with absolutely nothing. No money from the business (the sale of assets will mostly go toward debts) and none from the house. Although I'm hoping to sell the house instead of walking away because that will only contribute to my neighbor's decrease in home values (not that I should care, right?).

So here I sit at work, a knot in my stomach knowing what tomorrow holds. If I can just get thru the next month I'm sure I'll be a much cheerier person!

Thank you for all your encouraging words. It helps to get this off my chest. Goodness knows the few people that know about our situation have a hard time hearing about it SO much because it hurts them that we moving away. It's nice to know there's somewhere I can go to talk about this!

Shelly

momof2: hope things are going better for you. How did the annoucement go to the employees?

I'm now down to 2 weeks left in my apartment, and then it's the nomad life for me for July. I lucked out, my BFF is going to buy most of the stuff I want to get rid of, and will store the big stuff I want to keep. So that's good. I've started to pass around a list at work of "garage sale" items to see if I can unload stuff on my co-workers. On the 22nd I move all my big stuff out, except for my couch which I'll sleep on for a week. Then it will go to consignment. Also plan on having an apartment "garage sale" posted in my building for the last bits, and then at the end the rest of it will go to a charity or two for the reciepts.

Sadly, I could not find a home for my kitty Sam. My vet (a freind and the place I got him) is going to take him back, I hope they can find a forever home for him.

That's about it for me!

I'm just starting the winding down process and have to be done by July 20th as I will fly out that night to start my job in London on July 23rd.  I'm starting to post my furniture online and in our online "marketplace" at work.  I hope someone can buy them.  Figured start early and hopefully it will be done and dusted by the time I have to leave.  I'm also thinking of having an "apartment sale" for the smaller bits like dishes, pans, etc.  We'll see on that bit.  I live in a 3 family, so not sure how that would go down. 

I only plan on shipping boxes mainly an archive of guitar/music mags that my husband has collected and used over the past 20 years or so and his books, my cookbooks and a few pots/pans that I just love to bits and use all the time; not to mention his guitars, cds and such.  The rest will be the clothes in my suitcases.

Ugh...let the games commence! 

Update...

It went well w/ the employees but then the buyer (that I walked away from) came scrambling back to make the deal. So delays continue. Very stressed and in limbo again. Hopefully will have THAT part settled this week. Clients/vendors still do not know.

On the home front, listed 2 couches, bunk beds & pool/snooker table on craigslist this past Saturday. Sold 1 couch & bunk beds by Sunday. So that felt pretty good. Working on listing more, will have an estate sale in a few weeks. My mum comes up next week for 2 weeks to help purge & sell. Told a few neighbors yesterday (since they'll be wondering why my furniture is being sold!), so I feel good about that too.

It's the work front that's killing me now. I hate being in limbo. At least the employees know whats happening now so they understand my crazy behavior. Unfortunately for them, their lives are now in limbo too so they're also stressed out. Hopefully things will start progressing again later this week so I can finally feel like it's all going to work out.

Another good note is I have my departure date - August 17th! Come hell or high water this girl is outa here! I'll be leaving for TX on July 20/21 to take stuff to store at my mum's & the rest has got to go. Including my 2 cars (hopefully will sell one in a few weeks & the other one as soon as I return to IL, July 29). Then all I'll have to worry about is the house sale, which can happen w/out me here if necessary!

My best to all of you that are going through this crazy stuff too!
Shelly

Good luck to you momof2!  It is hard being in limbo, like you said at least you have tickets now so no matter what happens, you will be leaving on Aug 17th!

kbee417 wow hope you will be able to get adjusted to the time difference before you start work!  Lots of coffee! 

Meghan2828 sorry to hear about your kitty!  Are you out of your apt now? 

We move out of our house in about 2w and into a hotel so that we can get the house painted/new carpet to prepare for renting it out.  Getting close now! 

Thanks for asking geordiewife, my kitty went back to the vet I got him from last Tuesday. But I am happy, the vet (who is a friend of mine) got permission from the clinic owner to make him the clinic cat. So Sam will be able to meet and greet everyone and I know he loves doing that.

Friday (yesterday) 1 huge hurdle was done and that is I got the furniture I want to keep moved to Iowa and then all the stuff my friend bought off of me moved down to her as well. So I am now sleeping on the couch for this week while I get the rest of my stuff separated into little piles. Right now I have a pile for the church, a pile for the consignment store, a pile of things that one of my coworkers is buying from me. I have a pile of things I'd "like" to take with and a pile of things to go to my mom's house to deal with at some unknown future date.

My final walk through on the apartment is supposed to be this Friday. I am taking some things to a friend's house on Wednesday and then I think I will hotel it for the weekend. Friend has company coming into town.

And I am praying this week that DH gets the last of the documents to me so that I can get the visa done. My stress level was pretty high last week but now I am kind of seeing an end to it.

momof2: so glad that you were able to move forward with your employees and the selling of your stuff. I am hoping to be to the UK on Aug 18th. I am really nervous about the visa, I am hoping we have enough savings to get approved.

Hi all....I feel your pain!! Got my husbands visa through on Monday 2nd July (it took 2 days!!) and I start a Doctorate program in the UK on the 3rd September (and my daughter hopefully in her new school - wherever that may be!!). We are still living in (and own) a house in Connecticut, and flitting between trying 'For Sale By Owner' or getting ripped off with a Realtor. Trying to get a rented house in the UK but seem to be a little early for a late Aug/Early Sept move in, which means I can't sort my daughers school. We also have a cat which is causing major guilt, could ship him but the funds are low and need to pay for shipping, flights, rental in UK... am going to look into the pet shipping process.

This is more of a vent....sorry. Hopefully the next month and a half are very productive!! Good luck to you all

Just an update: the last of my stuff went into my mom's basement on Friday. I am living out of 2 suitcases in a friend's basement, then bouncing between 2 more friends and a hotel (just to give my self a little posh living for a couple of days) until the end of the month. My application arrived in NY last Thursday and the little email I got from them said 48 hour processing for priority. So keeping my fingers crossed that I hear something tomorrow.

And then... then it's time to sell the car. I am thinking I'll put it on Craig's list the weekend of the 20th. I will be done the 29th with work and hope to be at my mom's the first week of August. If I have to rent a car for a few days, so be it.

I am quite proud that I have gotten everything pretty much done. I have 2 boxes to sort and pack to send to the UK which I will do later this week. DH is being very sweet and just told me to send them on, he's not picking at what I plan to bring. Which is good. Because I don't think I can part with my egg-timer and egg cups. Or my grapefruit knife. Which I didn't know I needed until I had it.

And for my lovely hanger collection (see another post) it is in storage in my mom's basement. If I get over there and need more she'll ship some to me. Hopefully I'll be happy with what is over there and she can just use them/sell them in a garage sale.

The first week of August will be the last time I sort though the box of "I don't know what to do with" things. I'll take a few things to a local consignment store and that will be that.

Hoping everyone else is getting along well!

Seriously getting to the stage of using up bottles of shampoo, lotion, etc. For one thing, I don't want to spend money on new ones (use it up, wear it out!) and secondly I'll only have to toss them out when the time comes.

For oh maybe the last 5 years or so, I've been buying both clothing and household items with an eye for "the move". So, avoiding anything electrical but snagging towels and so on when on sale. Choosing wardrobe items more suited to a casual lifestyle (fortunately my job situation was pretty casual anyway). Whenever I found a pair of trousers or tee shirt that I especially liked I would go back and buy another one (especially if on sale!) maybe in another colour. So I now have one big suitcase filled with my stash. I figured it was better to stock up whenever I found something I liked because, once retired, I won't be able to afford new stuff (and I'm not a style maven), Just hope I haven't overdone it! 

Today I spent $240 to ship 3 boxes to the UK. Now I am down to 1 large suitcase which is about half full and then my carry on. I have 2 weeks of work left then all those clothes will get tossed (the uniforms get turned in but the socks, undershirts and work undies are GONE!). I am doing a little shopping for nice undies and work out gear before I go. And will go through the last of my stuff at my mom's house just to make sure there is nothing left I really need. Well, I may sneak in some more hangers....

Whom did you ship ur last boxes with....  And how big were they ??