How do you survive until container arrives?

[Hagabel]

We are moving August and shippers coming next week. How do you survive (with 4/6 yr old) w/out beds etc at other end? Do you rent? We would not want to buy as we have beds coming in container?

We will be going to Hamilton.

[JandM]

Things I've seen other people have done.

Rent furnished accommodation.
Be lent basics by landlord (of unfurnished accommodation)/neighbours/workmates.
Rent essentials (there are old threads giving sources).
Buy s/h or camping gear, e.g. from TradeMe, for the duration, then sell on when your things arrive.

[charliesdad]

Well, we borrowed 2 mattress' and bought 3 more, sat on a church pew, borrowed a bean bag and bought another off trade me, borrowed knives, forks etc, bought a kettle, fridge/freezer and washing machine as these weren't coming from UK and basically muddle in and made it a big camping holiday but with a tin roof, kids loved it and we added bits as the weeks went on until the 12 weeks before our container arrived.
All good fun but admittedly easier if you have a friend with a few extra odds and ends!!
good luck

[Familyofmonkeys]

We hired beds, sofa, table & chairs, fridge, washing machine, tumble dryer etc for about 6 weeks from DTR. Their rates were very cheap and we asked and got an extra discount for hiring so many items. Their stuff was basic, but sturdy and clean.

http://www.dtr.co.nz/

Be prepared to provide some references to them before hiring. In our case my OH's work contract and a quick covering letter from his new boss was sufficient.

We also bought a $10 toaster and a hob top kettle (good for camping afterwards) from the warehouse, along with a cheapo set of crockery, a single saucepan & frying pan, 2 cheapo kitchen knives, some cheapo tea towels. We borrowed some old camping crockery from a new work collegue. We spent less than $100 in total getting set up with the basics.

We also went out and bought a tub of lego, some paper & colouring pens the day after we arrived, which kept the kids occupied, and we also picked up a bunch of other toys for $5 from a garage sale we drove past.....there are plenty of these around NZ. With plenty of exploring to do and the great parks and playgrounds around NZ, its not hard to keep kids entertained. Ours were 12 weeks, 2 and 4 when we arrived.

We brought with us in a suitcase all our duvets, pillows and a set of sheets each. We put it all in a vacuum bag in order to get it all to fit. It was surprisingly light for such bulky looking stuff, so didn't go over their airlines weight restriction.

[Manks]

There were only two of us, but we rented a furnished apartment in the city while we got our bearings and decided where we wanted to live. We started looking for a long-term rental about a months before our container was due to arrive. We found a house straight away but the landlords wanted us to move in before the container arrived so they lent us some stuff for the 1.5 weeks we were without. In all we were without our stuff for about 3 months, 2.5 of those in NZ

[April]

As you're arriving off season so to speak, you may be able to do a deal with a motel or holiday park - we got deals at a couple of places we stayed for the first week or two as business wasn't good.

[victoria24]

we rented furnished and it was probably one of the happiest periods of our lives having just stuff from 8 suitcases. I'm sure there's a message in their somewhere...

[shelscrape]

We house sat for 7 weeks, found through husband's work colleagues. Had a huuuuge TV with the full sky package which 6 year old loved ... now we have crappy nz terrestrial tv in our rented house

[tigerlily]

Holiday rentals are easiest. But more expensive. We had a very short term holiday rental, then found an unfurnished long term rental. We brought sleeping bags and slept on the floor for a few weeks until the container arrived. The kids loved sleeping bags. We borrowed a few items (chairs, table) and bought some cheap items at the Sallies (like Goodwill).

[Manks]

I don't know if this works elsewhere but the recycling station at our local tip/dump has a shop where people take furniture and all sorts of odds and sods that are really cheap. An alternative to the "op shop" in case you can't find what you want there. Then there's always Freecycle.