callé

Hi Barb
I am in Alsager, Cheshire. I do the same thing at Christmas, send parcels, as with my sisters and mum still being there and their kids and grandkids- they love to receive goodies from home. I used the post office at first and it cost me a fortune but now I use interparcel. MUCH cheaper and they get it to Florida in two or three days, even at Christmas! It cost me £25 this past Christmas for a very heavy and good size package. It was a box and contained some articles of clothing, a few books, a few small toys, and of course jams, and chocolates and Christmas pudding. They come collect it at your door, and it got to Florida in 2 days.


AES1,
I was charged £35 for transferring $35.000.00. My credit union in Florida also charged me $30. Taking a normal amount from the cashpoint- We always received the regular daily exchange rate and were'nt charged extra for the withdrawal.

Beedubya

Thanks for the tip about Interparcel, will defo be looking at them to use next year.

Alsager, very nice part of Cheshire, my family all live in the grim Northern town of Runcorn - eeeewwww

aes1

Hi Calle, thans for the info. I guess there is no getting away from the transfer fees. As for the cashpoint, you did well there! I have done tons of research online for different banks' cards, and they all have a percentage fee of 1 to 3% for using a visa or mastercard abroad, plus some have a $ fee per transaction, ranging from $2 upwards. It all adds up!! I was thinking of bringing the maximum amount allowed in cash over on the plane, however, I am now hearing that there have been extra security and limits set making it harder to do - maybe that's just in Europe??? Anyone else heard that??

aes1

Runcorn!!!!! I was born there!!!! At least that's where we lived till I was 6!!! I was actually born in Chester hospital, does that make it better??
But my father was born and raised Runcorn, his sister lived in Frodsham till she died. We moved to Middlesbrough, then in North Yorkshire, but my dad was always proud of being from Cheshire!!

Speaking of Wales, (which people have!), I spent many a holiday with my children in Beddgelert! Anyone been there? Something about a dead dog's tomb??? And slate caverns! That's what I remember most!!

trottytrue

I will have to remember the Interparcel sometimes I want something mailed to me but its to expensive I shall ask my family have they heard of it.

Referring back to one of the threads..... I came to the US on 23rd August 1977. We arrived in Florida on a hot and humid day. I wanted to turn back and go home right then. Should have done

Mummy in the foothills

http://www.valleystream.co.uk/gelert.htm

It's not far from where my Mum lives now. Beddgelert means Gelerts grave

Taffy Duck

Yes I've through Beddgelert many times on our way to Snowdonia very beautiful..the Nant Gwynant Pass..The legend of Beddgelert goes like this.." Llywelyn the Great is said to have left his faithful hound Gelert to guard his infant son while he went hunting. When he returned he found the cradle overturned and Gelert covered in blood. Thinking the dog had savaged his son, Llywllyn slaughtered Gelert but then discovered the boy, unharmed, under the cradle. Nearby was a corpse of a wolf, which Gelert had killed to protect the child. Dafydd Pritchard, the landlord of the Royal Goat Hotel created Gelert's Grave by the River Glaslyn, a mound of stones a short walk from the village "....I hope this jogs your memory...cheers...Taffy

Taffy Duck

We visit Llandudno every time we go home it's a beautiful resort and also we go to Conwy for a walk about castle walls,smallest house on the dock and then have a pot of tea in those wonderful Victorian Cafes, great Edward the 1st castle there. We've been many times down the Conwy Valley on the train and of course stopping in Betws-y-Coed to shop. The more I talk about North Wales I get those goose bumps working...cheers...Taffy

Taffy Duck

To our fellow Canadian members here is my first question......RRSP's what is the best thing to do when we make the move back home. I believe there are two scenarios..

1) Cash in and pay the 25% with holding tax....
2) Leave it in Canada and draw small amounts when needed....

My understanding is that when you cash out and pay the Canadian Government the 25% tax you can then re-invest the money in Britain or use it to help you settle down.

On the other hand if you leave it in Canada and withdraw small amounts at a time there is no tax as you are are not a resident, however you must pay British Tax as income coming in.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated...cheers...Taffy

callé

Just to add... my son started uni this year in Bangor. I agree, north Wales is lovely! We will be driving that way again on the 19th March to fetch his belongings for Easter break. Cant wait as we will leave early to stop and see some beautiful sights along the way.

Mummy in the foothills

I'm jealous, Ds#1 wanted to go there, but ended up nearer to us as he had great scholarships to a private Uni here.
Now Ds #2 had said he wants to go there, but now says he wants to be a policeman, he would love North Wales but can't speak any Welsh so is also looking towards Cheshire another area I love.

jasper123

Hello Mamalade,
Thanx for your kind words and encouragement, yes it is a wonderful feeling to know that my flight and date of departure is all arranged, I feel that I am fortunate though in this respect that I will be returning at the age of 65, and so I will be getting around 220 pounds per month from my U.K. state pension based on the years that I worked in U.K, Australia and Canada, they sent me a pension forecast from England recently and thats what they said I should be expecting, plus I now get $1,000 U.S. from social security here, I applied for my social security here early when I was 62, so I will get that transferred each month to England and they can pay that directly into Lloyd's bank there,
So It all works out to about 800 pounds per month in income and not having to pay rent cause Mum owns her house will be good for both of us as I will be paying for half of all bills and food plus I will be able to treat my Mum to different things, and with her state pension and my two pensions we will be able to manage O.K. What I guess I am trying to say is that people who are going back at an age of retirement have less problems then people who are going back in there 50,s or say before they are 60, because lets face it, all those people have to look for work right away, and there are many on this thread in that position, these are the people that are an inspiration to me,
I dont have money saved and have no property to sell over here cause I have always rented, so that also makes the move a lot less complicated for me,
With me because I will have a small income and a roof over my head as soon as I get there me and people of my age in simular posistion will only have the task of getting used to a different way of life and climate etc, simular to way back when we emigrated to another country when we were much younger,
But the people like Ed and Barb who are already over in U.K. who are working so hard to get Jobs and just survive and like trottytrue and lots of others who are soon to be embarking on there great adventure, all these people I call the brave pioneers, these are the people that I darnright respect to the fullest degree, who could not be inspired by strong willed and brave people like this?
Sorry if I left out a lot of names of all the people on this thread who are over there now or people that will soon be over there in U.K. but there are just so many, and I take my hat off to all of you, your the greatest,
But having said all that the bottom line is we are all in this together and lets keep this thread going and alive even when all of us are over there so we can share our experiences and so help each other,
And by that time I am sure that there will be many more new people that will join the thread who are soon to embark on there journey too, and we can continue to enchorage and help them in there decision to move back home,
Take care and kind regards,
Rodney.

jasper123

Wow Trottytrue you arrived in U.S. the same year as I arrived 1977, I came to the U.S from living three years in Vancouver Canada,
all the time we all learn different things about people on this thread dont we,
Take care,
Rodney.

jasper123

Hello Taffy Duck, It was very interesting reading about you emigrating to Canada in 1975 to Marry a Canadian Girl, almost the same thing happened to me, I emigrated to Canada from my Birthplace of Portsmouth England in 1974,
In 1976 I met a Canadian Girl, we dated for a while, got engaged, our wedding day was set for October 1977, her name was Marg, she was from Vancouver Island, a place called chamanus, wrong spelling I think, could have been chamanas or something like that cant remember, but we met in Vancouver, BC, anyway the evening before the wedding she called the whole thing off, her Father was mad as hell cause he had falked out $5,000 for the church service and reception for all the family and friends, apparently not refundable either,
Marg was 24 and I was 32 I think,
So anyway that was that, of course I was broken hearted not for the first time in my life though I may add, but life must go on,
So I thought well what shall I do now, shall I just chuck it all and go back to England to live or what, well I did not want to stay around there in Canada so I decided on the spare of the moment to just pack my bags and hop on a plane for Los Angeles, not quite sure why, not too much thinking went into it, I was kind of just mixed up I guess, chain reaction or something like that, so anyhoo that started my life in U.S. after a short while I ended up in Reno Nevada and lived there for many years and now been in Vegas for last 14 years, so here I am 33 years later and still here in U.S. --------- but not for long
Rodney.
PS life is strange for all of us, if you did this way back then instead of that, or stayed where you were and thought it through before you just up and left, or what if she didn't call off the wedding and we got married and had a brood of kids and lived happily everafter like the fairy tales, I would still be in Canada, would have lived a completely different life, if that all happened would I be doing what I am doing now and returning to England 33 years later? probably not, or who knows,

jasper123

Thanks Denise, Yes I am going to cherish every minute that I can spend with My Mum, she's still driving her car at 90 years old, bless her heart, she's a very independent Woman, sharp as a tack, reads a lot of books, up until a couple of years ago she was as fit as a fiddle, now just recently she has had a pacemaker put in, she gets out of breath a lot now although she has never smoked, I,m sure she has other health problems that she is not telling me about, does not want to worry me, I really wish that I decided to make this move back home years ago, but they say better late then never right?
I call her and chat to her on the phone for about an hour every Sunday, Ive been doing this since I have lived in Vegas for past 14 years, before that we wrote to each other by what we call the snail mail, over all the years I have been here in U.S. I have taken short Holidays over there for just 3 weeks at a time every 3 or 4 years, but the last time I was back was 5 years ago,
But its a wonderful feeling that I have now knowing that when I go back for good in November I will never again be in tears when I leave my Mum at her doorstep as I travel to Gatwick to catch my plane back to the U.S. Oh what a feeling that is,
Rodney.