Easterndawn

Well a new day has begun, hmmm they should make a song out of that. Okay, I'll stop being corny, went and did a little shopping yesterday, just to pick up a few things, I have noticed that bedding is so much more less expensive than it was back in Canada, this surprised me. For example I can by a double duvet with 2 pillow shams for about £20.00, you can get less expensive but at this price why would you.
I think that when I look at the cost of things here and the cost of things back in North America and look at the earning power here and again back in North America for us the difference is minimal. I have been here for 7 weeks, which I do understand is not a long time but will my lifestyle change for the worst, I can say at this point with all honesty a resounding no.
Of, course everyone is different and everyone has to decide what is important to them and their lifestyle but for us it is happiness and a sense of belonging.

Mummy in the foothills

I too have seen those differences on visiting. But I did notice that things I found more expensive in UK were ones that I didn't need to buy weekly like food. I'm happy to pay a bit more for bedding or a washing machine but want the necessities of the weekly shop to be lower or equal to what I pay now, which it seems to be.
Other pluses for us, council tax where we are looking is half what we pay in property tax here, and ours doesn't include the bin man collection and street lights.

Elvira

Useful resources:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Home.h...os%26aqi%3Dg10

http://www.bhs.co.uk/

http://www.johnlewis.com/

alba1

what a difference a day makes....more corny..LOL Seriously, been off board for a few days and so happy to see everything came together for you. It gives us all encouragement. Have you determined if you are going to ship any belongings and if so what the cost would be? I could happily leave most things behind but my odds and sods I would like to take.

Easterndawn

I agree, I think people have to look at what they are getting for their money. It might look good on paper but after closer examination you can see that it really is more expensive for many things overseas, add to the fact that you are leaving family and friends and what do you really gain. But like they say different courses for different horses.

trottytrue

Easterndawn I am so happy for you, your husband must be really excited things are falling into place. Sometimes life is just like a jigsaw puzzle a bunch of separate peices but once you get the thing started everything starts to fall into place. Love to hear your news

You know if someone had the money what a great business to start up helping people return home who have the minimum amount of money to spend.

Easterndawn

Good Evening,
Well my landlady and new friend took me today to Braehead Mall in Glasgow. Huge mall and was very, very busy, if Scotland is in recession someone better tell the people of Glasgow, everyone I saw had packages, so money was being spent.

The mall had some lovely stores, with good selections and prices, lots of bright jewel colours and well presented store windows. It was a nice change for me and I enjoyed it immensly even though didn't buy anything.

Mummy in the foothills

I miss window shopping

shelley748

Thats good to hear!!!!

Bevm

I've noticed the supermarkets and shops are really busy here. I was in Leeds and everyone was staggering along with loaded bags.

I just hope they're not getting into debt for it, though,

Bev

aes1

Yes, Alba 1, good question - the longer it takes for me to get to a departure point (house sale obstacle), the more I look at all my belongings, and the more I think I want to take with me. Even if things are less expensive in the UK, it takes a lot of money to buy them all at once - and some essentials you do need to stock up on, especially clothing for example. When I think of all the money spent on the essentials I have now, and starting all over again, like a college kid, it is a tough decision to make to dump it all. Especially when we are not young students with parents helping us stock up in a new place! But then we do have that time delay, whilst the boat is crossing the ocean!!!

ED, after 7 weeks now, do you have a good idea of what items you definitely need to have shipped over?

eastkilbride

Hi ED, we were in Braehead Mall Glasgow in May this year, like you we enjoyed it. You should try and get to the East Kilbride mall.
By the way, when you were at the Brehead Mall did you visit the Clydeside Museum, its next to the Mall and well worth a visit.
I was talking to my brother in Kilmarnock this morning and telling him about you saying everyone seemed to be in a buying mood at Braehead, his comment was "Aye, thank God for plastic" lol

Easterndawn

Our initial decision of sending over only things that really have sentimental value etc has not changed. In Scotland most furnished flats come with most of the items that you will need to begin with. I looked at a few furnished flats and most seemed to have most of the the stuff I needed, of course purchased towels, face clothes, set of bed linen. Some of the items that we plan to have shipped are as follows, two pieces of Raku Pottery that were purchased by my husband during holidays, a piece of Italian glass given to me by friend, 2 water colour paintings that I did of my grandchildren, (these will be removed from frames and rolled up and sent by mail in rolled containers), a very good knife set, my husbands computer, family pictures etc. The amount that we will be sending will cost us about $1500.00, but these are things that cannot be replaced. I have started slowly to replace some of my items, waiting till I see them at a good price or at the charity shops that are all around. I am determined to to accumulate the amount of "stuff" that I had before. When we decided to move, I had to set aside my need to horde what I had accumulated and become very ruthless and keep the things that I felt I really would love to keep, even after saying that I went through things many times after the first go around and still found thing to get rid off. Each of us are different as to what means the most to us.

dunroving

I think this is very much an individual decision. Assuming there is no help with shipping costs (e.g., from a new employer), I think it depends a lot on how much cr*p you've got, how big your current house is, how big a house you are likely to move into, whether you intend to rent or buy initially, and how sure you are that you will stay! personally, if I get the chance to move back to the States, I likely will NOT ship all and sundry (like I did coming back to the UK), especially big items of furniture. It is such a headache getting it all packed up, unpacked, etc., and I still have carpets/rugs stored in the attic, a big kitchen table in the shed (no room for it).

I think a move is an opportunity to really start afresh and also to simplify your life. I have accumulated so much cr*p I don't really need (and I'm not one for going mad with the plastic, by any means), it would feel good to get back to just a few bags and boxes-worth.

Easterndawn

It's difficult to determine if shoppers are using credit or not as Bank Cards here have the Visa Logo on them and people use there bank cards much more here than cash.