Pack up your life and go

Luckily we have done this before a couple of times so we have learned the art of not having too much stuff. It's not easy. My family certainly did our own share of hoarding -- that's just what happens when you live in a 4-bedroom house with a basement in the suburbs for 12 years and your uncles move away and give you all of their stuff too. When we moved to England in 2007 we literally spent the entire summer getting rid of stuff. I think at one--I say one because there were numerous--of our garage sales, we made over $5,000. That's a huge amount of money for a bunch of random crap that had been collecting dust for who-knows-how-long.

Once you get over that deep-rooted compulsion to hold on to everything, you will feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders. And come on, who really needs all of their school projects and report cards all the way from kindergarten to university, or the Guess denim overalls circa 1990 (that your brother had a matching pair to), or that exercise bike without a seat (how did that even happen?), or dollar store knick knacks, or Christmas cards from the bank lady, or that never-opened extra Magic Bullet set?! Seriously, de-clutter your home and de-clutter your life!

Make a pile to donate (there's always a charity happy to come around and do a free pick-up), a pile to sell at the garage sale (try to do it when your whole street has one of those neighbourhood sales, they get the best crowds), a pile of must-keeps to go into storage (at your parents' if possible, or rent a storage locker if not), and throw out the rest. Trust me, you will feel like a brand new person, ready to take on the world and whatever new adventures lie ahead.

[Having said this, it doesn't make sense to just go out and buy new everything, especially if you are about to go into a huge amount of debt for your (or your husband's) MBA degree. So don't go crazy with the purging, keep the stuff you need for everyday living.]

Back not too long ago when airlines used to let you check two suitcases each person free of charge, we made that our limit when relocating to a new city. Nowadays it seems every single checked bag costs money. We flew in with Air Canada and it was $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second bag (and a whopping $100 for any additional bags) and the weight limit was 50lbs which really is not very much at all. Here are some tips to help you through this:

• This is one scenario where those as-seen-on-TV vacuum bags really have come in handy for us. Go to your local Home Sense/Winners (Marshalls/TJ Mexx/Ross in the States) or Costco and you can usually get a box of these bags for $20. They'll somehow condense a huge pile of clothes and even your down duvet and pillows into one suitcase (just mind the weight limit). 
• If you are visiting the school ahead of time (e.g., for admit weekend), or if you are traveling somewhere that included a stopover in your new city (most flights from the east coast to Australasia stops over in LAX), bring a few suitcases with you and put them in storage either at the airport (which tends to be pricey and/or non-existent like at LAX), or near the airport for as little as $20/month. We used Airport Mini Storage which is within a 5-minute free bus ride to/from LAX.
• If you don't have enough suitcases, it doesn't make sense to buy them just for the move, and most airlines will actually allow you to check cardboard boxes or big tupperware containers, as long as you follow their rules on the dimensions (when they say "maximum linear dimension", they mean add up the L+W+H of the box). Just tape them up real well and remember to identify them with your contact details at both your departure point and destination.
• If you know you're going to have visitors in the near future, leave a box of stuff behind and ask them nicely to bring it for you. It will be like Christmas in July!
• Make sure to always carry on important documents (marriage certificate, VISAs, bank statements, school paperwork, etc.), all valuables, computers, chargers, cameras, basically anything you wouldn't want to lose, and a set of clothes for in case your luggage gets delayed/lost.

Depending on how much stuff you have, you could also look at shipping your luggage so you don't have to lug them all to/from the airport. Here is an article about a company called "Lugless" which you might find useful.

If you just can't bear to part with your stuff, there are lots of options for moving companies too, and they can take everything for as little as $1,000 across the country (or so I have heard) and have them shipped within a week. You just have to do some looking around online.