Feeling overwhelmed at the organisation and admin!

[SneakyLilNameChange]

We are in the final stages of organising a move abroad with 2 primary age kids. I am excited and it will be a good move but I am starting to get nervous about the sheer volume of stuff to do! Could anyone advice on managing the following:

• Sorting the house (clearing all the tat, cleaning it all and prepping for renting out UK home)
• Packing and organising for moving- we wont be taking furniture so planning on maxing out our luggage allowances and taking clothes, few home bits, toys etc but nothing massive if we can
• Logistics of move- DH will need his local ID to set up bank account and rent property- we cant do that til he starts. Does he move without us then we join later....? Anyone done this?
• Organising school places, house to rent, etc etc all from miles away

I know it can be done but the move will already cost us so we cant throw too much ££ at it. I might get a skip and fill it with a lot of stuff from the loft and garage but I also need to sell a lot of clothes (moving somewhere warm!) and its all making me feel v v stressed...!

Where did you start?

If your DH is able to go across a few weeks ahead of you and the kids to sort out a house, that's what I'd opt for. We've moved countries several times and you want the house sorting before you bring DC over so that they can get settled. Schools, I'd start looking now. Where are you moving to? People might have recommendations here. If your DH goes ahead he would also be able to have a look around the schools in advance of your DC starting.
As PP said, is it entirely self funded?
Order some post bags from Oxfam and put any clothes that you don't want to sell into there. Donate clothes, books and more by post | Oxfam GB, or make a big pile of donation clothing and take to a clothing bank. The load of what you then need to list to sell will look a lot more manageable. If you're wanting to sell furniture its very easy (and quick) to pop on facebook marketplace, and that way you don't have to arrange delivery either.

Can you rent a storage unit in the UK just in case it doesn't work out?? That way you won't have to buy everything again.

Why are so many deleted how strange!

Thanks @xmasdealhunter we are in the process of negotiating some financial help up front to help with costs but it wont cover everything. I agree I would rather the DC get there to some semblance of normality rather than be in a short term rented flat and then move etc to help the stress!

@shellyleppard we are renting the house with all furnishings, we have a big loft we can lock so are going to put a lot of our personal items in there and then keep some clothes and bits at my parents house!

@SneakyLilNameChange sounds like a good plan 🥰 my family moved abroad when I was a lot younger, when we returned to the UK had to buy everything new.

You're lucky you're keeping your house, we decided to sell ours, DH got on a plane and I dealt with clearing out a 4 bedroom house, shed and garage!! It nearly broke me. I sold everything I could on Ebay, Shpock and Preloved (not a Facebook user, and this was before Vinted!), gave loads away via Freecycle, had a garage sale, could have opened my own charity shop with the stuff I donated, made hundreds of trips to the tip/recycling centre. In the end, I moved with one suitcase and we shipped 30 boxes. Half of my suitcase was work clothes and shoes because I had to start my new job about 6 weeks before the boxes arrived.

By the time I joined him (6 months later), DH was settled in a furnished apartment and we moved into an unfurnished one when that tenancy ended. We have since moved 3 more times within the same country and I am an expert at decluttering now.

I don't have any advice, but I wanted to write that it seems like you have a good plan!
I hope you and your family will have a wonderful experience in your new country.

Dh didn’t move before us but had a few business trips planned before we relocated so he maximised his luggage allowance and took toys and games for the dcs out and stored them in his new office.
it does seem insurmountable at the time, but you will get there!

It is overwhelming and stressful, for sure, and it makes me certainly wonder why I buy so much rubbish!

It'll all be worth it though.