krizzy

I find the cost of living high in the USA...nowhere for the kids to live is a big problem...talking to my mum today she thinks it was a bad idea us bringing the kids here...they would of been better off in the UK...I think she is right....but at the time it was here or no work for miles...
The USA is a great place for young kids...but once they get out in the work force its a different story...

My mum thinks the UK is going a bit down hill when it comes to crime...but she still thinks the kids would of been better off there ....I don't know...all I can say is the worry I've had with the pair of them over the years have worn me down....

rabsody

I think that's the same whatever country you are in tho. We were complete pains for my mum (in UK), police round every five seconds, running away from home, taking drugs, underage sex etc and my friends with teens here in Aus all have the same probs. Teens will be teens!

Of course, my girls won't be like that

crystal23

I think kids will find it hard to get onto the housing ladder whereever they are in the world. You can't pick up the paper here in Perth without somebody taking about the high cost of housing.

I am surprised that the cost of living is high in the US - it's all about perception again isn't it? I've only been on hols there and found things to be quite cheap but I guess when you are earning the US $ it is all relative.

Maybe crime is going downhill in Britain - I don't know - maybe it depends where you live. I lived in a tiny little village in Britain and crime barely touched us there. I was a victim of crime twice in ten years in the UK - once in London and once in a town 10 miles away from my village. Both times I was assaulted and unbelievably both happened in the same year.

Lucky is my middle name

Whilst I've been in Australia I've had my car vandalised twice once while it was on the drive and my daughter witnessed her friend almost be abducted in broad daylight in front of another friend's mother. These 3 things were in the space of 4 months.

mand8002

Not been on this forum for quite a while now, although I was a frequent visitor when we first arrived here as I was terribly homesick.

It does not matter what anyone else thinks, only you know how you feel.....some people love it here and some people don't . I was one of the ones who didn't but once we had decided to go back to the UK we started to enjoy ourselves and ended up deciding not to go. Am I glad we did as we are truly happy here now.

For all those that have decided to go 'home' I wish you all well and hope that you settle back into life quickly, only you know what you want out of life. At least you have tried it and decided it is not for you which is a lot more than other people have done.

suffolk nuts

here here you have no idea until you have tried it totally agree with you we are in a similar position to you good luck with youre move back to ukits what makes you happy that counts in the end its totally different when you come for a holiday living here is totally different

LouiseD

Before we returned, I did cost comparisons of earnings and expenses - I looked at absolutely everything - food, fuel, rent, utilities, clothes etc.

Despite hubby working longer hours (mine were same), we were worse off by far in Oz.

Fleaflyfloflum

I agree with this 100%. I have been quite shocked at how much cheaper a lot of things are back here in UK compared to Aus. Maybe things have just got worse n Aus since i left UK, who knows, but i am convinced Aus on the whole is worse value for money than UK.
Whilst some things on the surface may appear cheaper there, people tend to forget the differences in earnings and paying for things using your aussie dollars and income.

MikeStanton

It's almost a universal rule that the people who have never lived in Oz believe it is Godzone. After all, it has beaches, beer, beaches, bigots, beaches and boredom by the bucketloads. Did I mention the beaches?

Some people seem to think that Oz has all of the best bits of the UK, but with better weather. You'll find these people down the low end of the IQ scale.

In Oz they work* some of the longest hours in the western world.

And they still can't produce a half-decent rugby union team.

After we returned to England, I was surprised at the number of people who had lived in Oz for a short time (6-12 months). And to a man - and woman - they said the same thing "Nice enough place to visit, but I couldn't live there."

We'd then round-off the discussion by spending the next hour getting stuck into Oz and the narrow-minded Aussies.

*In Oz, "work means "to turn up" at a location, while expending minimal effort to extract maximum $$$.

katesbackagain

((Shudder)) These lil bastards are evil, too. They like to dive-bomb you, and with their massive wings, they sound like frigging Pterodactyls. Let's not also forget Black Widows and Brown Recluse spiders. We had a BW infestation at our last rental home. Luckily, they were all outside, but the pest man said it was one of the worst he'd seen. The leasing company never kept up with the pest control before we moved in, and they didn't take care of it after we signed our lease, either. I didn't even know what they were until I sprayed one with Raid, and it rolled over in agony, showing it's red marking.

pam0512

Oh how right you are.......Although maybe the Aussies idea of "work" is different to ours???? My OH puts 110% in for very little reward and is still expected to do over and above the call of duty.....but then he is a Brit, maybe that's why they employed him...knowing he would work harder than an Aussie????
As for the beaches....yes they are lovely but when you are working all the hours God sends, what time do you have to enoy them???? Quality FAMILY life included my OH who is so knackered on the w/e that if we go out for 1 day as a family then we are lucky!! Plus the weather has been s*** here!!
Thanks for the tip on the fruit and veg.....I will definitely take a look at that!
Okay moan over!!
Pam x x

brits1

Well your wife should come to Freo. anytime of day and you usually see a "local or two" doing more than throwing up in the bushes!!!!
Jackie

brits1

Hi Crystal nice to hear from you...how's the car? well I have been lucky I suppose in one respect as while I lived in England I did not have any trouble, I do not know of anyone in my family who has been "robbed" etc....(our first home was though many moons ago now...few things taken and was angry...to say the least). But I have been chased with a knife in broad daylight here in Aus...known people who have been burgled..I have had road rage (honestly) happen to me....my car looks like it has been in a stock car race, everytime I come out of a shopping centre there are more scratches on it.....so all in all I think it is down to luck!!! (or lack of it) crime happens here in Aus it just does not get the "daily news coverage" we have at home (well there is only the Western Aus which you can class as a "local daily" anyway)
I think we can all swap stories and all in all it just is down to where you enjoy living and belonging....
Jackie in Perth!!!!not saying to much today...a bad day!!!!

dawn.s

So glad I found this site today
After living in Spain for nearly 6 yrs we decide to return to the UK. For the sake mainly of our son who didn't have a life here. He returned 3 months ago and has settled well into college. My hubby and me had to wait for the dogs to be ready, 8 months. Now 3 wks before our flight back, he's getting cold feet, and says he'll 'have to see how it goes'!! and if it doesn't work out he'll want to come back here to live (apparently minus us)

Honest_H

Hi all,

Its funny but everyone is saying exactly the same thing, and until you speak to someone else, you think your on your own.

Basically, when you leave Blight, there are two sets of people. Those who think its a great idea, wish you luck, and come and visit and have a great time. Then there's the others, those who think your completely mad, tell you that you'll be back within the year, visit but judge everything you have got/done since you moved.

When you return, there's the two sets of people again.....firstly the ones that think your mad to come back and don't understand how hard it is to live outside of the UK (doesn't matter what country it is, Cyprus is just as hard or maybe even harder that Oz or America - only my opinion of course), then there's the others shouting "I told you so" from the top of the town hall!!

Only your very good friends will welcome you back with open arms, you feel comfortable with these guys. Then there's the other friends who can't wait to tell you what a mistake is was for you to move away in the first place and will judge everything that you do.

I have both types of friends. One can't wait for me to come home so we can be close again. The other can't wait to see what a mess we make. He's so materialistic, he can't understand that we will be moving back to a 3 bed semi and a second hand car, when we left a 4 bed detached and two new cars.

I know which I'll be socializing with!!

Has anyone had the same reaction from friends? Has anyone lost once good friends because of it? I'm quite nervous about been judged that we "failed" and had to come home

dawn.s

Oh, lots of so called 'friends' are rubbing their hands together right at this moment, dying to listen to listen to tales of woe and desperation.
We are also moving back to a house that cost half of what we left behind. Prices soared in the UK (just as we left) and plummeted in Spain (just after we bought)
My closest friend and daughter have been amazing. They went house viewing for me,and I stayed at my friends so many times while over viewing etc, I've lost count.
Like you say, it's great holidaying in places, but it's a different matter living there. My husband loves it because he works away and feels as if he's on holiday every fortnight, where I can go a whole week and not see another human!
I'm glad to be going back.........with or without him!