windsong

What items are you stocking up on to take back to the UK? Some things are less expensive in the USA than the UK. Clothing, drug store items, pet items, and other.

Celticspirit

Windsong, Petplanet.com is a great UK online store. I have already ordered beds, pens etc and have had them sent to my brother's home. Their prices are excellent, lots of sales too.

not2old

The obvious one is money & lots of it .....along with a case of each of

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Pancake mix

Quality dress shoes + those rubber over shoes for when it rains

Cotton bed sheets

britishspouse

Tuppaware, bed linens, some kitchen supplies (scouring pads/dish cleaners.... i buy with coupons so they end up free). Also will be taking some basic medicine, large packs of ibuprofen etc.

Celticspirit

If you take sheets, will they fit the UK mattresses?
I have also heard returnees say to bring heavy duty tinfoil.

Jerseygirl

US beds are different sizes to UK beds...besides IMO bedding bought in the UK is far superior.

Besides my husband and dog...the only thing I need to take with me is my UK passport.

Sally Redux

Painkillers cost so much more in the US though.

penguinsix

Some UK mattress sizes are smaller than US beds I believe, so if you get sheets for a US-sized mattress it will fit, it's just there is a bit extra material.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_size

If it is time for a computer upgrade in your house, you might consider a new computer from the US which can be cheaper.

Mummy in the foothills

I'd say a laptop if you are ready for a new one any time soon.
Shoes I wish I'd shopped for more before coming over, I'm not keen on the styles here at the moment.
I do wish I had made room in the shipping for my pans, I think the ones here I've seen seem expensive for the quality, but I have time to watch the sales.

Englishmum

A word of warning: most ovens in Europe and Asia are much smaller than American ones....your roasting pans and baking sheets may be too large to fit inside a British oven! Only take the smaller sizes You may be pleased to know that if you choose not to bring them or your items eventually wear out that there are many TJ Maxx stores in the UK (but they are called T K Maxx there)....it's a good source of kitchen gadgets (inc. muffin and baking sheets) and homeware items, similar to what you will find in the US but they don't stock the large American sized roasting pans or baking sheets lol!

A few rolls of "Glad" 'Press n Seal' would be a good thing to take.

If you like using Mrs Dash (for non-US residents it is a salt-free condiment to use in cooking, eg. for fish, stews etc) then you might to bring some.

You will be used to using US Cup sizes for recipes; in the UK most recipes are used with a combination of kitchen weighing scales and different spoon sizes; strongly suggest you bring your US cups and favourite recipe books. It is not impossible to buy US cups in the UK and you can find US recipes online, but initially it will be more convenient to have familiar things around you! Don't bring small electrical appliances such as coffee makers, irons, blenders, you don't want to bother with transformers and if you go to Argos, the larger Asda or Tesco supermarkets they are very inexpensive.

You can buy Maple Syrup in UK stores (I currently have Tesco's Finest Maple Syrup from Canada which I bought in the UK) but you may be able to find a local product which you might like to take with you or some local honey etc.

To be honest I wouldn't bother with the pancake mix; it is so easy to make with some flour, an egg, water and milk that it's not worth it. In any case you can buy pancake/batter mix in the UK at most food stores, although of course in the UK the preference is for pancakes to be like thin crepes One thing I haven't seen in the UK is the wide egg noodles - but you may find them in the shops catering to the Eastern Europeans.

If you like buying organic/natural foods in Wholefoods you might want to take a small selection of their products (eg. packets of naturally flavoured quinoa/couscous/wholegrains etc.) although may be interested to know that they have a few stores in the UK, including Glasgow; however it seems that you can also order a limited selection online.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/list/uk

I don't know if you have a Costco card, but you can use the cards in any of their stores around the world, I went shopping at Costco in Coventry, England last month; I didn't even have the card with me although my membership hadn't expired and they just looked it up online for me and gave me a temporary pass for the day.

Do take a look at the Land's End website - they always have online sales and clearance items at great prices; last year I bought four bathing suits (aka swimming costumes ) for $25 each with free shipping in the US; a few weeks later the identical items were back at the usual price of $119 Their clothes are so durable and wash well with a good range for inclement weather. The quality is a refreshing change from many other clothes in US stores.

http://www.landsend.com

(It might be worth seeing if you can find some good quality hiking/walking shoes or boots if they are on sale or if you can find a discount coupon).

Going slightly off topic, here is an expat's experience of flying pets with United from Newark to Edinburgh:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=79767.0

curleytops

I agree re the tinfoil, the stuff we get in UK is downright wimpy. I also miss Ziploc sandwich/freezer bags and those Glad brand lightweight food storage containers that stack inside themselves with the blue lids that interlock with each other for storing tidily in the cupboard.

Re the bedding sizes, twin and double are pretty much the same in both UK and North America. The UK King size is the same as the North American Queen size and the UK Super King is the same as the North American King size. We generally get our bedding at Yorkshire Linen http://www.yorkshirelinen.com/. They have some lovely duvets and bedspreads and we love their flannel sheets at this time of year!

dunroving

Two big bottles of ibuprofen from Sam's Club (about $10 for 500! That will sort out all the muscle and joint aches and pains); Levi jeans; Zip-lock bags; Thor-Lo hiking socks (there is absolutely nothing comparable available in the UK).

In fact, almost anything from Sam's Club.

I find these days when I go back that many things that used to be cheaper in the US don't seem as cheap.

curleytops

I was just saying to DH last night as we were unpacking the groceries that some Press n Seal would really come in handy

Another good source for nice cook/bakeware is ProCook http://www.procook.co.uk/.We've ordered a lot online from them and shopped at their Ashford store when we lived in Kent and have always been very happy with our purchases.

formula

37p in Waitrose. 3 packets for £1.20 in Tescos

dunroving

Guests from the US are not allowed through the front door until they confirm they have brought "proper" Zip-lock bags (the ones with a zipper)! I use, re-use, and then recycle them for all sorts of purposes.