American wanting to move to UK
May 23rd 2008, 3:41 am
#121
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 8,497
Re: American wanting to move to UK
Fair enough Panda...wish you and your family the best in California. We all have to find that place where we "fit" wherever that may be. I know Arizona is not that place for me at all (though I know it will always be my home state..it just isn't what I desire as an adult). I feel perhaps that the US is not even the place for me right now (not that I hate it) and my husband and I want to explore a totally different place that from the sounds of it and from what my husband has experienced there...may be a better fit for us. My parents and now in-laws are the only relatives I have here in this state and they are considering moving as it is...so I realize that my ties here are not as strong as others may be.
Thank you all for the insight into the UK. I am more than willing to take a chance and move there eventually if the opportunity is right. I don't expect it to be like America and really I don't want it to be. I can't wait
Thank you all for the insight into the UK. I am more than willing to take a chance and move there eventually if the opportunity is right. I don't expect it to be like America and really I don't want it to be. I can't wait
May 23rd 2008, 3:43 am
#122
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 8,497
Re: American wanting to move to UK
I could go on and on about the positives over here. Just as I could about the positives in the States. To sum it all up.........it's just different. The attitude to approach living over here is not about the bad things or the things you miss...........but to concentrate on the things you like and enjoy. To try new and different things. To talk to and make friends with new people.
Thanks for being the voice of reason. Karma sent.
May 23rd 2008, 3:54 am
#123
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 8,497
So come on folks group hugs all round. 
May 23rd 2008, 1:14 pm
#124
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Kamloops from London via New York
Posts: 456
Re: American wanting to move to UK
I know, one expensive city to another! Pity really as one of the ways my husband sold the move to me was on the basis of finance. In fact we have a big drop in income as I have given up my career (at least for a while) and was previously the higher earner. Unfortunately good though my job was it didn't involve any American links (NHS) so no chance of a transfer
Otherwise just wanted to say that Panda is right Yorkshire, although beautiful, can be very bleak. I should point out that there is no such area as Southern England and Wales... indeed Wales is known as being very very rainy. It's one of the differences between the UK and the States you get microclimates so that the landscape and weather can change if you drive an hour or two in the UK whereas in the States it's more like a day or two!
Oh and to ask him if he did get his other thread deleted? I have some insights into what he is thinking about re. his stepchildren.
Otherwise just wanted to say that Panda is right Yorkshire, although beautiful, can be very bleak. I should point out that there is no such area as Southern England and Wales... indeed Wales is known as being very very rainy. It's one of the differences between the UK and the States you get microclimates so that the landscape and weather can change if you drive an hour or two in the UK whereas in the States it's more like a day or two!
Oh and to ask him if he did get his other thread deleted? I have some insights into what he is thinking about re. his stepchildren.
May 23rd 2008, 6:02 pm
#125
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 93
Re: American wanting to move to UK
Otherwise just wanted to say that Panda is right Yorkshire, although beautiful, can be very bleak. I should point out that there is no such area as Southern England and Wales... indeed Wales is known as being very very rainy. It's one of the differences between the UK and the States you get microclimates so that the landscape and weather can change if you drive an hour or two in the UK whereas in the States it's more like a day or two!
Oh and to ask him if he did get his other thread deleted? I have some insights into what he is thinking about re. his stepchildren.
Oh and to ask him if he did get his other thread deleted? I have some insights into what he is thinking about re. his stepchildren.
And to Rookins, that's a great attitude to have and I wish you well. If you're looking for something completely different from the Arizona desert, then green, lush, personable Britain is your best bet. It'll definitely be an adventure and I envy your embrace of it.
May 24th 2008, 2:38 am
#126
Just hanging around
Joined: May 2008
Location: Back in England
Posts: 1,447
Re: American wanting to move to UK
Looking back I was given two pieces of good advice. The first...it would be easier to adjust if English wasn't the first language. Because it is we tend to assume the culture and way of life is the same...it isn't...so it comes as quite a shock when one realises this. The second...life in the US and UK is different...not better or worse...just different.
When we came to Canada I was surprised at how odd everything seemed, and how long that feeling lasted, (it probably grew) because I did think it'd be more or less the same. And I think Canada and the UK are more similar than the US and the UK.
It seems some of the biggest problems are when two people from different nationalities marry.
Bev
May 24th 2008, 3:12 am
#127
Sursum corda
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
Posts: 38,860
May 24th 2008, 3:36 pm
#128
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,397
Re: American wanting to move to UK
I've just moved to the States (NYC) and things seem more expensive here, with the exception of petrol. Also you can't just take the exchange rate and convert it, because the cost of living is related to income not the exchange rate. Having said that my husband has come across with his English salary fixed at a good rate (although the deductions for health insurance for the family are scary) and we are still finding things expensive. For example we are paying $2500 rent in the far suburbs of Queens for a two bedroom flat, whilst my four bedroom house in London (also suburbia) is renting for £1200. Food is also a lot more expensive (and I have a serious Waitrose habit) - I'm paying $3-4 for a decent loaf of bread. Almost $4 for a small stick that would cost maybe 80p in England. Eating out on the othe hand is cheaper. Now I know that prices will vary across both countries, but I really can't see that the States is 2-3 cheaper unless you are paying with pounds.
Not that we are regretting it mind you, just that we had thought it would be cheaper, and have found that it certainly isn't.
Not that we are regretting it mind you, just that we had thought it would be cheaper, and have found that it certainly isn't.
My supermarket bill went from 50-60 quid a week to more like 150 dollars. Rent on the 2 bed apt (nice one mind, with pool on complex) was $1200 when the rent on my 2 bed house & garden was back at 800pcm. My potential earnings as an experienced admin temp went from 10-12 pounds an hour to 12-14 dollars an hour and my numerical expenditure shot through the roof.
A 3 hour relaxed 2 course meal, carafe of wine and coffee in the Italian run by Italians on my old highstreet would set as back 50 quid. The same meal was 75-80 dollars for an hour and 15 minutes in the bloomin Olive garden. Despite the price of gas the money out of our pockets on petrol rose considerably. And with regard to salary deductables and costs by the time you had factored in fed tax, state tax, sales tax, personal property tax, utilities charges, SS and additional health insurance, surcharges and taxes on cable, phone etc etc what we were having removed from earnings was nigh on the same.
Back then the xrate was 1.7ish so even despite purchasing power and going on the direct conversion alone the whole mental cost justification for being there got blown out the water.
Last edited by Tootsie Frickensprinkles; May 24th 2008 at 3:38 pm.
