Other opinions sought ?

[The Cobra]

Hey guys,

 

A few years ago I released the property I had in the UK and put all the contents of the house in to storage. A few years have now passed and its about at that point where I have probably spent more than the stuff is now actually worth.

So, sentimental value aside, what would you do ? Keep going awhile longer or burn that last bridge ? With it there it would be very easy to set up home again if ever I had to return for some reason. I am unsure and would like some others input and thoughts please.

 

If it was to be finished it would probably just go to charity and local dump as not all can be given. There is of course Ebay and sell it as a job lot etc or keep on for another 12 month and re-assess then ?

 

What do you think ?

 

Thanks

Edited December 6, 2020 by The Cobra

[ThailandRyan]

I am in the same predicament in the US.  I have paid for another year up-front, and I am hoping that I can get back to the states for a visit at which time I would downsize the remainder and give what I wish to donate to Goodwill, the local homeless shelter, and churches along with other places, but giving the mementos and important keepsakes to my kids.  You could do the same thing if you have kids or family back home.  Just a suggestion.

 

Having a Plan B and not burning the bridges may make returning easier one day should it be necessary and keeping the stuff in storage is an idea if you can afford it.  You can always buy new furniture, pots, pans, and stuff to restart a house if needed.

Edited December 6, 2020 by ThailandRyan

[Kwasaki]

You should ask yourself if you are going to back or not. 

If you're not sure then keep it in storage. 

[Lacessit]

If it's costing more in storage fees than the contents are worth, selling as a job lot on eBay or Craigslist may be the best option. Don't expect much though, I got peanuts for some quite expensive tools, books and furniture.

[bkk6060]

I sold every last thing I had and came here with only a suitcase.

House, car, furniture, and all the worthless BS collected over the years.

Filled up several of those 30 foot trash dumpsters the rest I gave to charity.

Best thing I ever did what a huge relief I miss none of it.  If I had to go back, I would just rent a place already furnished.

As I get older I want less clutter and "stuff" to deal with which is the life I enjoy here.

[scubascuba3]

Get rid of it, you don't need it if you go back

[blackcab]

Get rid of it because it makes no economic sense. If you move back, get a short term furnished place and use that as a base of operations.

[OneMoreFarang]

When I came to Thailand I put everything in storage. And then about 5 years later the storage contract finished and couldn't be extended. Then a friend back home gave some things away and he stored some other things with some friends (like a couple of boxes in the basements). And some of the staff is probably still there.

 

In the hindsight I think I should have done something like this: Store "everything", move to Thailand, and maybe a year later think again about my future. In my case a year later it was already pretty clear that I would continue to live in Thailand. At that moment I should have send some of the things to Thailand, sell others, and give away the rest. I would have saved a lot of money which I paid for the storage

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

I had a big fire in the back garden. To paraphrase Dylan Thomas, what a lovely fire it was.

[Bangyai]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

I sold every last thing I had and came here with only a suitcase.

House, car, furniture, and all the worthless BS collected over the years.

Filled up several of those 30 foot trash dumpsters the rest I gave to charity.

Best thing I ever did what a huge relief I miss none of it.  If I had to go back, I would just rent a place already furnished.

As I get older I want less clutter and "stuff" to deal with which is the life I enjoy here.

 

Same. I sold my flat fully furnished and just walked away from it all. Buyer was very happy to be able to just move in without having to spend out on furniture and fittings.

 

I still have a small studio flat which is let out just to keep my foot in the door.

[sammieuk1]

Similar situation in the process of selling my late father's house everyday I rummage through getting more brave at parting with what amounts to old memories and tat now condensed into about 7 suitcases the larger stuff can stay time to finally move on ????

[Surelynot]

Sell the lot and cut your losses.....faced the same situation when we moved back to the UK from Germany........we had the contents of a three bed house to deal with.

 

Even if you get coppers it's off your hands and you are not paying for storage.

[Techno Viking]

I paid $200 a month to cover my houshold goods in storage.

After 10 years  I posted a friend they keys to the storage room and asked him  to take it all to the dump.

[Leaver]

Give it all to charity. 

 

This will free up your monthly storage fees to take care of the sick buffalo in Issan. ????

[nobodysfriend]

I have no family left . So , when moving here , I sold everything , except what we put in a container and sent here ( wife's name ) .

I did not want to have to worry what might happen  if I left the stuff in storage etc .

Good decision . If you own something that you never use anymore , just sell it .

If you have to worry what may happen to your stuff , it is just a weight more to carry . Be free ...

[kbb]

My own personal experience with this. 

 

A friend put a bunch of her stuff in storage about 15 years ago. 

She never thought it would be there that long. 

Guess what happened - She ended up moving several times.

Never in the life she planned. 

Storage costs just pile up year after year.

 

I recently sold my apartment.

Had lots of storage space & so a lot of stuff we collected over 25 years. 

Rather than cry about losing "antiques" that really weren't worth that much to anyone else but us, we simply donated most of it. 

No thought of storage. 

We did spend $$ to ship about a third to Thailand. 

Worked out really really well. Irreplaceable things like photos, clothes, and a comfy leather couch made it here. 

I thought I'd miss the other stuff, but I honestly don't. 

 

 

 

[elgenon]

In Buddhism it is viewed that attachment causes suffering.

 

Or as Janis Joplin put it (Kris Kristofferson song) : freedom is nothing left to lose.

[BTB1977]

I down sized everything to 4 Rubber Made totes.  Two at my brother's house and 2 at my daughter's house.  If I'm that broke to set up a home again, I don't deserve one. 

[Iem]

You don't say how much its costing you for storage , nor how much you think the stuff is worth were you to require it in the near future . Those are the important questions to answer before you make a decision .

[chilli42]

I would see it as a blessing to burn the baggage of my past (or burden someone else by donating it to the needy).  It’s not difficult or expensive to furnish a home should the need arise in the future.

[CH1961]

It depends what is in storage. 

Nobody wants your old pants and VHS p*rn tapes but the Porsche. 

[jomtienisgood]

21 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

When I came to Thailand I put everything in storage. And then about 5 years later the storage contract finished and couldn't be extended. Then a friend back home gave some things away and he stored some other things with some friends (like a couple of boxes in the basements). And some of the staff is probably still there.

 

In the hindsight I think I should have done something like this: Store "everything", move to Thailand, and maybe a year later think again about my future. In my case a year later it was already pretty clear that I would continue to live in Thailand. At that moment I should have send some of the things to Thailand, sell others, and give away the rest. I would have saved a lot of money which I paid for the storage

And some of the staff is probably still there.     /    They must be very hungry by now . 5555555

[Led Lolly Yellow Lolly]

10 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

I have no family left . So , when moving here , I sold everything , except what we put in a container and sent here ( wife's name ) .

I did not want to have to worry what might happen  if I left the stuff in storage etc .

Good decision . If you own something that you never use anymore , just sell it .

If you have to worry what may happen to your stuff , it is just a weight more to carry . Be free ...

 

Ditto that, no friends or family UK side that have any interest in me, or me in them. It was November, so a good bonfire night. Everything went into that fire, the huge pile of paperwork that had gone into my wife and stepdaughter's British Citizenship application, furniture, clothes, anything the local charity shop didn't want. I knew we wouldn't be going back, so I remember it being a cathartic experience. We then spent a week at a Heathrow Airport hotel while I tied up loose ends, sold the car etc, boarded a flight, and that was that, gone.

 

There's an underground car park in Maida Vale in London that I liked to use whenever I drove into London (right next to Maida Vale Tube station). There are (were?) a number of old luxury sports cars, old Porches etc parked up, some of them that appear to be from the 70s, with inches of dust on them, flat and perished tyres, torn and shabby car covers, look like they've been parked there for decades. It always made me wonder, is someone still paying for them to be there? Strange really.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by NilSS

[Buffy Frobisher]

I moved to Asia for 12 months to see if there was much business opportunity for the company I was working with, and put everything I owned into storage. After the 12 months turned into 17 years, and after the company had paid the storage fees for all that time, I finally decided that I wouldn't be going back home and had everything thrown into a container and sent here. It took a few weeks of sorting it, but I ended up keeping just two boxes of old pics and papers, and the rest of the 20ft container ended up in a skip. Nothing else I'd hung onto was relevant to life now, and I hadn't missed any of it anyway. Throwing out the past was an incredible relief, and storing it for 17 years was a crazy waste of money. 

[Lancelot01]

On 12/6/2020 at 8:22 AM, The Cobra said:

Hey guys,

 

A few years ago I released the property I had in the UK and put all the contents of the house in to storage. A few years have now passed and its about at that point where I have probably spent more than the stuff is now actually worth.

So, sentimental value aside, what would you do ? Keep going awhile longer or burn that last bridge ? With it there it would be very easy to set up home again if ever I had to return for some reason. I am unsure and would like some others input and thoughts please.

 

If it was to be finished it would probably just go to charity and local dump as not all can be given. There is of course Ebay and sell it as a job lot etc or keep on for another 12 month and re-assess then ?

 

What do you think ?

 

Thanks

I was in a similar position. After 8 years storage I realised I could have probably replaced almost everything new. 

I decided to remove everything. I kept personal items, documents, papers etc. a few items were sold or given away and the remainder was collected by a charity shop. 

It was one of those situations whereby 'if you haven't worn or used something for two years or more, do you really need it'.

[Sumarianson]

Been there. Get rid of. Sell give away. The cost of going back and selling can be much mote than you may get from selling. If you havd a few items that are important or of sentimental value ask a family member or better still a friend to allow you to store them in the attic. If I had my time over I woulc have asked a local buyer to appraise a value and sell it as a whole. Good luck it is difficult and painful. I had around £40,000 worth of stuff sold for a pittance. Stuff like Persian rugs and Turkish Kilim's, original oil paintings. If I think I would cry. 

[Leaver]

On 12/7/2020 at 10:28 AM, elgenon said:

In Buddhism it is viewed that attachment causes suffering.

Is that why so many Thai women detach themselves from their farang husbands, but not the car, house, land, shop, condo they bought them?  ????

[elgenon]

11 hours ago, Leaver said:

Is that why so many Thai women detach themselves from their farang husbands, but not the car, house, land, shop, condo they bought them?  ????

I do think many farangs in a relationship do cause suffering and should be detached. Or dispatched.  8 ^)

[Andrew Dwyer]

On 12/6/2020 at 7:34 PM, sammieuk1 said:

Similar situation in the process of selling my late father's house everyday I rummage through getting more brave at parting with what amounts to old memories and tat now condensed into about 7 suitcases the larger stuff can stay time to finally move on ????

Did a similar thing 2 years ago, my father moved into care and the family house ( since 1955 ) had to be sold. The house was my go to place and had some of my stuff held there since I left the uk back in’95.

Getting rid of my stuff wasn’t too difficult a decision, just have to admit to myself I wasn’t going back, sold or donated my stuff, brought a handful of keepsakes back here.

 

My fathers stuff was more difficult to get rid of , what could be sold was sold , what was worthy of donation was donated, but a five bedroom house with a packed garage and 2 sheds held a lifetime of memories of my parents, my brothers and me and my kids .

Just have to be ruthless, break up that G-Plan furniture from the 70’s and take it to the tip.

 

Physically good exercise but mentally draining !!

[Leaver]

On 12/9/2020 at 9:44 AM, elgenon said:

I do think many farangs in a relationship do cause suffering and should be detached. Or dispatched.  8 ^)

The only trouble a farang causes in a relationship here is when his money runs out.  ????