Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 13176349)

Contents insurance - to my amusement Saga were the cheapest, never thought I,d be using them, but here goes, I’m old now, I guess!!



Nearly there, freedom is so close I can almost touch it.........

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 13176349)

For anyone following on behind me on the trip home, some updates.

Shipping -Chess have so far been great, very helpful, excellent staff that did the uplift in Brisbane. 🤞🏻 just got to hope its as good the other end.
Seven Seas -airfreighting a bag with them, good customer service but their online system is a nightmare, needs much patience and a lot of wine.
Keys to the rental in Aus went back today & I’m in a motel for a few days. Bond cleaners were great, kerbside collection took most of the old furniture. The bins for the 7 units in my block took the rest 😂

Red Energy promise final bills by next week. I got the regular quarterly gas bill last week, and it has gone uo by a third, so anyone saying energy costs here aren’t rising, is deluded ( Aus forum last week, can’t remember who)

Successfully rented a flat whilst still in Australia, the agents did videos as well as the original photos so I could see everything, even videoed inside cupboards etc. I just have to confirm the inventory when I arrive next week, and they are aware of arrival date etc and that the inventory won’t be confirmed till then. Very helpful with confirming finances, and talking things through. Anyone going to the Brighton area, I can thoroughly recommend Sawyer & Co of Hove.

Finance-wise, money was moved with OFX to Lloyds, took 24 hours, just took one call to OFX to set it up, one to ANZ in Aus to confirm it was really me moving it, and all done.Much easier than expected.

Aussie phone contract converted to PAYG so I retain the number to finalise tax, banks etc,
UK phone needs a higher data contract but can’t fix that till I arrive.

Friendly local bed shop I remember from years ago are attempting to get basic furntiure delivered within a week, to lessen hotel time, and will assemble furniture for a small cash payment -that sort of thing is important as a singleton with arthritis.Excellent service, shout &recommendation for Brighton Bed Co Ltd

Tesco and Aamazon deliveries lined up,all the essentials within 2-3 days of arrival.I can literally sit in the hotel at Heathrow on Sunday and order everything currently in the shopping baskets from there, be set up pretty much 3 days later. Prime already in place, clubcard now active. Interested to see I can do Morrisons through Amazon, some prices are cheaper than Tesco, but not all, so I’ll use both.

Poll tax, very easy to sign up for online, same with TV licence (OMG the BBC with no VPN and buffering issues!!). Water is proving an issue but I think its their website, supply is there, they just can’t get the bill sent right 😄 No gas, for electric I am just going with EON who are there at present, can rethink later if necessary.

Contents insurance - to my amusement Saga were the cheapest, never thought I,d be using them, but here goes, I’m old now, I guess!!

Bus tickets already bought - Brighton, and probably other cities, now do mobile tickets, buy in advance & just activate when you need them, then show the ticket on your phone when boarding. I have a 3 month ticket, so cheap travel.

Football, taxis etc still to be investigated, next week 😱

Any questions, I will do my best to answer, either now or next week.

Nearly there, freedom is so close I can almost touch it.........

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13176756)

You're clearly very well organised.

You've done really well to get so much sorted out before arrival. In particular, renting a flat given the current supply / demand imbalance (it's difficult enough to rent somewhere in-country, let alone from a different country / time zone). It will be so much nicer and less stressful having a flat waiting for you than to arrive in an Airbnb and have to start looking for a permanent home.

For TV, in addition to BBC iPlayer, open accounts with ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 - there's lots of films and shows to watch via your TV or laptop.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
http://www.itv.com
http://www.channel4.com
http://www.channel5.com

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13176756)

Furniture shops generally quote +/- 3 months for the delivery of sofas and chairs - an option is to buy something cheap from a charity shop and donate it back again later.

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13176756)

Consider getting a railcard if you expect to use trains a reasonable amount. TrainPal currently has a 33% discount on 1 or 3 year railcards, which give a 30% discount on most train fares (tends to exclude peak period trains). There are a variety of railcards, depending on your situation.
https://www.mytrainpal.com/railcard-guide

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13176756)

The water company will probably write to you as the new occupier of the flat as the previous tenant will have advised them they are moving out and no longer responsible for the bill. Don't worry if it takes a couple of weeks to sort this out. One thing to watch for with water and electricity is that they will estimate your usage and set the direct debit amount accordingly, and may (will?) over estimate. Utility companies are holding £ billions of customers' money through over payments via direct debits, and must be making a mint on this free financing. Be sure to let them know you are living alone, and keep an eye on the actual vs. estimated usage.

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13176756)

Football - if you want to attend Brighton's matches, getting tickets will be difficult. If you want a season ticket for next season, apply early and be prepared to move quickly - Brighton are flying high and all are sold out but some may become available. An option is to follow the Women's team, where tickets are more readily available.

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13176756)

You're clearly very well organised.

You've done really well to get so much sorted out before arrival. In particular, renting a flat given the current supply / demand imbalance (it's difficult enough to rent somewhere in-country, let alone from a different country / time zone). It will be so much nicer and less stressful having a flat waiting for you than to arrive in an Airbnb and have to start looking for a permanent home.

For TV, in addition to BBC iPlayer, open accounts with ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 - there's lots of films and shows to watch via your TV or laptop.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
http://www.itv.com
http://www.channel4.com
http://www.channel5.com

Furniture shops generally quote +/- 3 months for the delivery of sofas and chairs - an option is to buy something cheap from a charity shop and donate it back again later.

.

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13176794)

You might be eligible for a coachcard, which appears to work in a similar way to a railcard:
https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/offers/coachcards

Match of the Day (BBC) isn't bad for the football highlights, especially if you've avoided the results. Watching it on iPlayer on Sunday is good as you can fast forward through the waffle if you don't want to listen to Gary Lineker. ITV has a similar highlights programme for the Championship. It's a shame the Premier League don't stream matches themselves, or at least sell rights to a single company. Splitting the rights into multiple packages and selling them to different streaming services puts money before the fans, but what's new? Talksport and/or BBC Radio 5 might be worth a listen.

Originally Posted by mikelincs (Post 13176817)

ITV is now ITVx which is OK and o Freeview, BUT not available on ALL TVs. I have a smart TV, Blaupunkt, and cant get it on that. I would suggest getting a 'smart' TV as there is more choice of platforms.

Originally Posted by Pollyana (Post 13176857)

Sadly still too young (though not by much) for the coachcard, but its a thought for the future.

Been watching MOTD on VPN'd iplayer on my laptop for many years, it'll be great to watch it properly!! One of the few things I will miss from here is Optus Sport - all EPL games shown live!



Ah ok, I had heard of ITVX but thought it was an iplayer type of add-on. I'll have to do a bit of research before investing in a TV :)

Originally Posted by tdrinker (Post 13177182)

Same with cricket - last week's England matches vs. New Zealand were on BT Sport, this week vs. Bangladesh they're on Sky Sports.