Englishmaple

I'm hoping to live on about 20 pounds a week UK if I can! I've been following the blog A girl called Jack http://agirlcalledjack.com/ and I'm going to be very careful with my money. I certainly have the impression that food in the UK is cheaper although here in Canada I've bought far more organic stuff partly because I've wanted to try (as much as possible) to avoid eating GM food - although I'm sure I probably have because it's next to impossible to avoid here.

Editha

I've been doing the same thing. Not long after I came to Canada, 8 years ago, I read that there were something like 80 chemicals legal to use in agriculture in Canada, but banned in the EU! As a result, I buy much more organic stuff here than I used to in the UK, and I buy as much food imported from Europe as I can too.

I also think the labelling for organic and Fair Trade products is more reliable in the UK than in Canada.

If you are following a Girl Called Jack, you'll be fine!

Dashie

I like her too some friends of ours feed a family of 4, including 2 teenagers on £100, so you should be fine

Englishmaple

Oh that's good!

Can anyone come up with ideas for cheap places to live? I've just been searching on the spare room website - I thought I could get something for around 350 but have been horrified when I look at the range - so many now are nearer 400 - which is really expensive (sigh!). I knew this would be challenging. I'm looking for somewhere that is not too remote so that if I go for interviews I'm not spending a fortune on travel to them (as I assume I probably won't get my travel expenses refunded?).

Am open to any suggestions - so far I've looked at prices in: Cheltenham, Worcester, Bristol, Southampton, Guildford, Birmingham, Newcastle ...

Englishmaple

Also, just to add, a lot of the upper ages on that website are nowhere near 50 ... so I may have to discretely avoid mentioning my age!

I've since been looking up rentals in Slough which seem more reasonably priced but if anyone has any other suggestions that would be lovely.

dunroving

Depending on the location, a lot of the ads on Spareroom really suit students (in fact a lot of them are really flatshare ads from students who need to fill a room). However, a lot of the advertisers would rather rent to a more mature professional type so being older can help.

islandwoman120

If you shop creatively you can do this. Most supermarkets mark down their produce when it gets to the end of their 'sell by' date. Still perfectly good, but they have to remove it from the shelves. I buy pork/chicken and freeze it the same day - it has always been fine to thaw and cook. Buy as you need to get good bargains and small portions. Also - I find that if I shop at about 5pm in the regular grocery store, that is when products get marked down locally. Have you looked at Bath as a potential place to live and find work? It has mainline trains and a great bus service, and is only 15 minutes from Bristol via public transport. When I first moved to Frome I used Pullin Rose lettings agents - though I did not end up renting through them, I stayed friends and they are a lovely couple to work with. I explained that I knew people via BE who wanted to rent prior to moving back, and they said that was no problem, so you could have a look at their site and get in touch - Rosie is really cool - very laid back and a good correspondent: http://www.pullinrose.com/frome-and-bath/
Frome may be cheaper living (?), but it does not have the same mainline transport links - the train there goes to Westbury and then to Bath Spa and onwards. have a look and see what you think - it is a great area to explore.

Dashie

Why not somewhere a bit more rural? Suffolk, Norfolk? Fairly decent rail/bus connections, not too expensive? If you're not specifically tied to an area, does it hugely matter until you have that job?

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/prop...ch_source=home

islandwoman120

You could also look at Exeter, living outside of the city and working in the city. There are excellent rail and bus links in this area, and Exeter has business parks as well as retail parks all served by bus and rail. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...tml?sortType=1
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...tml?sortType=1

dunroving

Depending on what sort of work you do and the job security, it may be safest to live near to a large conurbation. Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool are large cities that have cheaper accommodation than the southeast. The Northeast has the highest unemployment rate in the UK, I think.

Editha

I was going to say something similar to Dunroving. I think job availability is probably more important than cheap housing for you. The cheapest places are going to have the fewest jobs.

Englishmaple

Yes I'm trying to find a balance - picking somewhere where I can pick up a job (any job) quite quickly while also looking for professional work. I thought about living up North (because I've done that before - got 2 degrees - 1 from Sheffield and 1 from Newcastle) but if the job market isn't that great, then it would be better to pick somewhere where there are a few more opportunities - at the same time, absolutely horrified by the rents! Wow! They have gone up so much since I left the UK.

Islandwoman - I will look up Bath and Exeter - I actually love Bath but didn't dare look up the rents after viewing the rents in other places because I thought they would be even more! I will check out the PullinRose link as well - thanks.

I love this board! You are all so helpful and supportive x

islandwoman120

I just found out about this home share scheme from reading a book entitled Not Dead Yet, by Julia Neuberger: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/el...ey-rights.html

It may be of help to many in need of a temporary home: http://www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk/homeshare. This section gives you access to existing share schemes: http://www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk/ho...e-in-your-area

Englishmaple

Thanks I'll look into these. I think I'm just struggling with moving back in terms of wanting to go back to where I was (my nice semi-detached house in Hampshire) but I can't ... life has moved on and I just have to accept where I am and cut my cloth accordingly.

Plus am not sleeping that well at the moment - menopausal night sweats (and day sweats) ... honestly I swear I can't wait until everything is sorted and I can just get back! Have been making some progress on the packing but it's slow going and I'm constantly looking at the pile of boxes and wondering whether I can fit it all into a single bedroom in the UK. But am weeding as much as I can. Hope to get all the packing that I can get done, done by the end of this week - and then I can focus on sorting out my tax paperwork to submit to CRA and also start looking (and applying for) jobs.

Am wondering whether to send resume and cover letters to organisations that I'm interested in working for even if they aren't posting jobs? Any thoughts on this? I would love to have a job lined up in the UK to go back to but it's tricky applying for specific jobs at the moment as I think the earliest I could take one up would be the end of March (assuming I get all my tax paperwork and moving sorted out the first half of March).

I don't whether trying to get a job prior to moving back is possible? Or whether trying to will just add more overwhelm to what I already feel?!

I've also no sense now of how accommodating UK employers are with respect to notice in terms of giving people time to sort themselves out before starting work? I've been interviewed by Canadian employers where they expect you to be able to start straight away - I lost out on one job because it required a car and the people who interviewed me were not prepared to wait a week while I bought one.

Dashie

With regard to notice periods for jobs, I was actually discussing this yesterday with friends of ours who both work in HR. One if them is taking redundancy at the end of April and has started applying for new jobs. Apparently the rule of thumb is 12 weeks, taking into account getting things organised for interviews etc. and that a month's notice is fairly standard there.