Viking Man

I am trying to put together a budget for returning to the UK next year. We are a family of four - my wife is not British but my kids are. This is a rough budget for the amount of cash that we will need to use immediately or very soon after we return. It includes money we need to spend when we live now (Japan) plus what we will need in the UK. We don't have a house in the UK so we will need to rent at first. We will be living in the West Midlands. I am not trying to work out every small item in detail. I just want to work out roughly how much we will need, to the nearest GBP1000 or so. Here are the items I have figure in so far:

1) Flight to UK
2) Shipping stuff to UK
3) Visa/entry clearance costs for my non-British spouse
4) Rent in UK for 6 months (I won't have a job and we've been told we will need to pay 6 months rent in advance)
5) Deposit on rented house
6) Car purchase
7) Purchasing furniture and electrical goods for new house
8) Deposit to put down on a house should we decide to buy one.
9) Food and utility bills for X months until we have an income (X being the uknown factor!)

Number (9) is the tricky one to estimate because I don't know how long we need to tide ourselves over with no income. Can anyone say, roughly to the nearest GBP100 or so, what the monthly budget would be for food and utility bills only for a family of four?

Are there any glaring gaps in my list, other things that I should factor in?

Cheers

Silverdragon102

not sure about the pay 6 months rent cos you haven't got a job. Would suggest checking one of the following sites which would give you a good idea on food bills

www.asda.co.uk
www.tesco.com
www.safeway.co.uk
www.sainsbury.co.uk

Pants

Hi VM

Best to check out some property websites to get rough ideas on rent.

www.themovechannel.co.uk
www.propertyfinder.com
www.ukpropertyshop.co.uk

as for food bills.....We spend approx 360 pounds a month for a family of 3 plus dog.!!Like our fresh veg and fruit.!!

Our utility bills a month direct debit all in pounds

Gas.25.00
electric 27.00
water x2 (we have one to supply and one to take away.!!) 48.00
house insurance 22.00
council tax 124.00
TV licence...? sorry not sure..
telephone 30.00


As for cars..depends how much you have to spend...check out( although plenty more websites)
www.autotrader.co.uk

check out

www.argos.co.uk for electrical goods and they do furniture ..again plenty more places but may give you a rough idea.!


anyway good luck..can't think of anything else...still waking up..!!!

cheers

P


I forgot to mention petrol....I am sure you have seen how high it is now...!!
In case it needs considering I am a southerner living down in East Sussex.

uk+kiwi

Good post. We are a family of four living in the South also (Surrey). Spend approx. the same but more on food (£500/month, very little alcohol if any) & monthly council tax of almost £200. £45/month phone plus mobiles (work).

Pants

I am a Surrey Lass but after Oz couldn't afford to go back there plus always nice to start afresh somewhere..!!


Yes we spend about 40 pounds a month with our mobiles also...

VM...we put down just a 5% deposit on a 200,000 pounds house...!!!

uk+kiwi

Oh no, don't tell me that as we're thinking of going to NZ next year, and are well aware that after a few years we may not be able to afford what we left!!! Never mind, cannot foresee the future!

BLC

Nice one P, it ain't cheap here

Viking Man

Indeed!

Thanks for all your replies especially to "Pants" for the links and cost breakdown. That is a big help in estimating costs. Man, is Britain expensive or what?! Well I'll qualify that by saying that the utility bills are about the same as what we pay now in Japan (of course with the exception of petrol which is only 60p a litre here), but I can't believe how much you guys are spending on food! We all eat well for the equivalent of GBP200 a month on food. Looking at used car prices was a shock too! A couple of years ago we got a seven-year-old Toyota Corolla, 35000 miles on the clock, from a dealer with a year parts guarantee and new tyres, for 2000 pounds. The price in the UK seems more like 4000 pounds for that type of vehicle. One saving grace though is public transport which isn't going to cost as much as I thought because of the existence of the wonderful West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority which provides quite good value season tickets.

Well thanks for the information anyway - at least now I know the worst and can budget accordingly! With the cost of living that high it's no wonder the British aren't saving anything and going deeper into debt.

dunroving

I think you forgot car insurance, which might be a lot more than you expect. When I went back in 2000, several companies said they'd give me a "no claims bonus" if I brought evidence of no claims and no accidents. What they didn't tell me was that it would be discounted off a ridiculous initial premium because I had been driving outside the U.K. (and so therefore was a menace on the roads, grrr).

I seem to recall my premium for 6 months was close to 1,000 quid. Never had an accident or claim in over 20 years of driving but I was paying more than anyone I knew....

Pants

UK + Kiwi Ekk sorry..go with it as you say you can't forsee the future ..enjoy and live it !!!


oh yes car insurance and possibly breakdown cover...!!! Petrol 91p a litre isn't it now?? and the price of diesel :scared:

You can tell we have been doing our sums lately eh...!!!...and lets just say we aren't jumping for joy !! whats with these tax credits?? They now say we have been overpaid....christ only been claiming for about 8mnths..get this... they will continue to pay us in case of hardship but will take back the money we owe them over the years..!!!...

errrr hello......where is the sense in that.!!

one wage we are....your right VM...no chance of saving in this house...not even for a long weekend away..!!still I will be doing part-time work come Sept..no doubt be penalised for that one too..!!!

BLC

Hubby & I remarked recently that Britiain is getting as expensive as Japan Funny that you are currently living there.

It really shocked us coming back, yet we seemed to be surrounded by people with a tonne of disposible income or should that read debt/credit???? Scary :scared:

Best of luck
B

Pants

Hiya B

I reckon it must be credit...how else do they do it..!!!??

P x

BLC

Yep, not sure when the bubble will burst. I know nothing about Government/Economics but at some point they will not be able to keep it under wraps :scared:

Good luck with the job hunting, you and me both

B x

Pants

I got a job.....starts in Sept when missy Pants goes back to pre-school.....upmarket food company...out in the field so to speak visiting all the hotels, pubs etc and chatting to their head-chefs...very flexible and lovely company..best bit is I get to try some samples...yummmmm....they said I can do this upto when ...you know who ..!!!will see how it all pans out.!!

Keep looking babe something will come about!!xx

Viking Man

Don't believe the old news reports! Japan isn't expensive any more. Even the Americans here comment at how reasonable prices are. My sister came over from the UK last year and went shopping mad - she couldn't believe the prices.

Still I don't want to be too negative - there are many things that I am looking forward to on returning to the UK. The cost of living isn't one of them! But there are more aspects to a country than just the cost of living. Albania has a very low cost of living, but strangely enough people don't seem to be beating a path to their door.