Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Good morning all,

I'm in the messy stage of trying to sift through neighbourhoods, schools, what to ship, what to sell, when to go, with which airline, and all the other things I was playing around with for almost 2 years, as there was no real point in doing it properly in case the application was rejected - again!

Can I please get some tips from you friendly fellow migrants on relocation costs? I'm convinced there must be lots of little things I'm missing.

I have an idea on things like "Shipping Costs" (thanks contributors!!), rent, flight, car, landing fee and even the ones you tend to forget like redemption penalty on the mortgage, (we were going to rent our flat, hence the extended tie-in period, but now think its best to sell), Canadian-cold proof clothes, (we're aiming to head to Calgary in January!)

There are other things such as the driving test that I am aware of and still need to find out the cost, but please tell me what I'm missing??????

Many thanks,

Lyles

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Flights, and transport to airport.
1-way tavel insurance.
Excess baggage costs.
PR Card costs on arrival.
Cost of medical cover if applicable (for BC & Alberta) and maybe extended cover for dentals etc
Cost of preparing pets for shipping (pet passport, vaccinations, certificate).
Cost of shipping pets (& kennels if applicable).
Shipping of household goods.
Storage of household good UK.
Indemnity for loss of goods in transit ("insurance").
Storage of goods in Canada (optional)
Cost if goods need moving up stairs (say if moving to an apartment, usually they charge extra for this service).
$ cash on arrival.
Car hire costs.
Car purchase budget.
Auto insurance budget.
Driving test costs.
Deposit for rent on property (short/medium/long term).
Budget for house purchase:
Lawyer fees.
Home appraisal fees.
Property tax costs (Land Transfer Tax).
Utilities deposit for new home.
Furnishings costs/appliances for new home.

Plus adjustments for fluctuating £ to $ conversion rate based on best deal via a currency broker (Moneycorp, HIFX, etc), maybe in stages of transferring your cash.
Interest earned on £ capital left in UK savings acount & once converted to $ (& how often you transfer funds).

& much more besides depending on circumstances :eek:

Hope this helps.

Rich.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Wow! Fantastic Rich. This is very helpful.

Cheers,

Lyles

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Rich has covered most points really thoroughly there so not much to add except there may be a gap between selling cars in UK and going, so may need to think about short term hire car costs in the UK also.
Unless you land in Canada and go and stay with soneone or move into fully furnished accomodation, then there will be loads of 'little' things to buy that really add up. The essential electrical stuff, PC, TV (unless you want a riot from the kids) a multi-region DVD player so the kids can watch the DVD's that just HAD to go in the suitcase with you. Aswell as the small things like tin openers, scissors, oven gloves............the list is endless. IKEA ( South Edmonton Common) is fab to get you started. Our landlords were fantastic and helped us out loads by putting ready beds in for us to sleep on the first few nights, along with sheets and pillows, a couple of saucepans and a nice welcoming bunch of flowers..really nice after a long and emotional journey.
The excess baggage point is my next one to address. We had 8 cases, travel cot, buggy as well as all our hand luggage...gulp......and the excess baggage fee should have come to 300 GBP............WOooooooow. Fortunately the v. kind lady at check in took pity on us and only charged 100 GBP mainly due to the fact the flight was not full, and that Mrs R2D2 was choking back tears due to the stress of running late getting to the airport, then having to drop the hire car off and almost missing the last check in time........Never again.!
Point is ...you always end up spending more than you think you will. Be prepared for that.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Also the cost of your driving licence/test. In BC it cost us $15 for theory test, $50 for road test, $31 for new BC licence (valid for 2 years). $86 in total. If there are two of you, double this!

On the scale of things it doesn't sound like a lot; but all the $80 here and $75 here, soon add up.

We saved a lot of desposits on utility bills by giving them my HSBC credit card no (UK account - but with Canadian address). The only conpany that wouldn't accept this was the Electric!

Louise

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

You're gonna get hurt buying pounds to pay those bills.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Nooo, should have said that they only hold the card number on file, a way to get payment if we didn't pay the bills when they are mailed to us.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Ah. Lots of bills here go directly to the credit card.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

I have set mine up so that I get all the bills. I want to learn what's what before I switch to everything being automated. It also means I'm more aware of what they are charging.

Not impressed with cable - we have the full suite (for now!) and my husband thinks the sprts channels are rubbish. The only chanels I would like are Sci-Fi and MTV (for doing housework to) and neither of those are available. It's bad when the best channel is H&G!!!

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Roger's cable just this minute called me advising that a review of their services could save me money. I thought for second, agreed, and cancelled the TV. The picture was unwatchable since they went digital and the content was never impressive anyway.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

We have Shaw, the picture is good, just the content of the channels that isn't.

We also have our Internet access with Shaw. I was really pleased we had, as our phone line went down 2 days after it was connected (that was after waiting 2 weeks for them to flick a switch - we are in a new apartment that is already pre-wired). Telus seem to have the monopoly on local calls in Kelowna.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

We didn't have a landline for years, just cell phones. I think it's only in exceptional cases that the cost of a landline makes sense (assuming everyone will have a mobile anyway).

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

Some friends of mine in Toronto were happy to have kept a simple landline when the power failed two years ago - all their other phones (including the cell phones) stopped working.

BUT - that was an extreme case. More and more folk are moving over to cell phones only, and it does mean no junk calls!!

Clare

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

er, no, I get a junk call an hour on mine, same as on the home phone.

Re: Relocation Costs - overlooked items
 

:mad: that is APPALLING - you have to pay to receive incoming calls (hell you have to pay to make calls too). :(

What does your cell phone provider say about that? :confused:


Clare