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We now live in a global village, thanks to high-speed internet and affordable transportation costs. Thus, a growing number of people are looking for and finding great career opportunities abroad. Some of these opportunities are temporary or project based. Others are for a long term. In this latter case, it makes sense to bring your entire family to your new country of residence.
This means that you will have to move your entire life abroad and this includes the contents of your home. In some cases, your employer may provide a fully furnished rental house as part of the relocation package. But this is a temporary solution. It does not feel like home if you do not have your own things around you, arranged just as you want. Thus, you will have to find an international moving company to ship your belongings to your new home.
In this article, we will help you plan and execute your move abroad affordably.
1. Start Planning Ahead of Time
One of the most expensive mistakes in any kind of moving job is leaving it until the last moment. You need to consider the following:
- Deciding how many things you want to take with you
- Obtaining estimates from various moving companies and comparing them
- Deciding between air freight and sea freight
- Getting plane tickets at the right moment to benefit from early booking discounts.
Plus, you will also have to deal with the emotional side of moving, especially in the case of your children. They will leave their friends and the entire life they’ve known behind and this can be very stressful. You will have to give them time to get used to the idea and getting them involved in planning the move is a great way of doing this.
2. Choose Sea Freight to Keep Your Moving Costs under Control
According to the threemovers.com website, shipping your belongings by sea freight may take time (more than one week), but it is also the most affordable choice. Plane shipping is very costly, plus it is not environmentally friendly at all. If you aim to reduce your carbon footprint, you will definitely prefer sending your belongings by ship.
3. Consider Selling Items You Do Not Need
You can offset a part of your moving costs if you start selling items that do not make sense bringing to the new home. You can certainly find replacements in the new country. Plus, US plugs for various appliances will not fit the outlets in other countries (Europe, UK and Australia have different models of plugs and outlets).
Thus, you can start by selling large appliances. Actually, the cost of shipping them overseas may exceed their residual value.
4. Choose Between FCL and LCL
When you get to the final details for your international move, you will be asked: do you want to ship your goods FCL or LCL? These acronyms stand for Full Container Load and Less than Container Load. In the first case, you will pay a flat rate to rent an entire shipping container for your goods.
If you do not have a lot of belongings, you can choose to rent the part of a container, to be shared with other packages. Since LCL is paid per volume, if your belongings exceed 15 cubic meters it is more affordable to choose FCL, even if you do not fill up the entire container.
Save Time, Money and Effort – Hire a Professional International Moving Company!
Planning all the above on your own can be a daunting task. The good news is that you do not have to do it on your own.