PCSing Overseas: What to Pack

Even though we have already been in Germany for about a month, we still do not have our household goods or our car. So we have been living with what we brought in our suitcases and what we have bought since we got here. Needless to say, there are some items that we wish we had brought with us. This was our first time PCSing so it was sort of a free for all when it came to packing. Next time around I  plan on bringing only one suitcase with personal items and clothes for myself and making one suitcase specifically for household items that we will need.

Things I wish I had brought in our suitcases:

• A nice, non-stick, frying pan- Once we got housing we were able to borrow kitchen items from ACS while we wait for our stuff but they are very basic items and the pans are not non-stick which is horrible for cooking pretty much anything. 
• Sheets- We brought our own blanket but not sheets. We ended up having to buy a cheap set of sheets while we wait for our HHG. This isn't that big of a deal because we can still use them once our stuff gets here but it would have been some money saved. 
• More shoes- I really tried to limit myself with what shoes I brought which is kind of funny since I brought pretty much all of my clothes. I would have brought my extra pairs of tennis shoes and some more flip flops. The shoes would have been nice for walking into town. I only brought one pair of tennis shoes for walking/running and they don't really match very many outfits. Also, I didn't bring any flip flops because I didn't think about it being warm enough to wear them yet, and it is. So I had to buy a pair. 
• Towels, washcloths, and hand towels- We had to buy new towels and washcloths when we got our housing. It would have been a lot easier to just pack some, especially since we have so many on the way. 

Things I wish I had left in HHG:

• Clothes- I brought a lot of clothes (in my opinion). I should have looked more at what the weather would be like here. I could have left out all of the long sleeve shirts that I packed and added in some shorts and summer items. It isn't too hot here yet but there have been several days that I wish I had brought my shorts. So I had to go buy some, which isn't that big of a deal since I love shopping but it would have just been nice to have options. 
• Wii- We brought it mostly because when they took our HHG we wanted to keep it to watch until we left the states but didn't want to leave it behind. It is pretty much useless here without a TV and would have saved some luggage space. 

Things I wish I had packed in HHG:

• All of our 110v small kitchen appliances- We left quite a few things behind because we did not know for sure that housing on post would have both types of outlets or how many of each there would be. We should have packed our microwave and toaster oven and what not. Instead we had to buy a microwave here. 

I'm sure there are things I am forgetting. Pretty much everything that we didn't bring in our luggage we were able to buy right away. Had we packed them though, we could have saved at least $100 when we arrived.