jasper123

Yes Don but we have whip cream in the States too in an aerosol can but it aint the same as Miracle whip, M.W. its for spreading on bread like Mayonnaise,
Now your confusing whip cream in an aerosol to (COOL WHIP) thats what we put over deserts and also on our Pumpkin pie at thanksgiving and Christmas it comes in a round plastic container and if you buy the light cool whip its hardly any calories and Hmmmm yum yum --- AND SO MUCH BETTER THEN plain old whip cream ---- just saying,

jasper123

I remember seeing the Queens coronation in 1953, My Mum said no way, I said yes we the whole family went up there and saw it, she said Noooo we didn't, but anyway I do remember it, but then I also remember the street parties I think they were for the coronation, and all the roads in Portsmouth had big long wooden tables with tablecloths on and lots of food that all the houses would donate, it was lovely, so maybe I am confused about us actually being up in London on the coronation, Hmmmm

jasper123

Yes thats exactly right, and I use my debit card at the ATM machine at Barclays bank to with draw my cash --- just like I would do if I had my S/S paid into my UK account,
As I said theres only one fee, the 1% conversion fee, but that is only between BofA and Barclays cause they are linked up together, but if you use your debit card for purchases they charge you 3% conversion fee === so I just pay cash for everything, feels good too, brings back memories way back when that was the only way you could buy things,

jasper123

No Cheers if I were not fortunate enough to be living with my Mum I would no way have enough money to survive on S/S plus a few quid from the British pension for time served, ---- no indeed not, --- not if I had to pay rent for a one bedroom flat, well having said that I could just squeeze by maybe if the rent was say no more then £350 per month (Inclusive of council tax) and not having a car of course and just the free bus pass ----- which incidently I love
PS but try finding a one bedroom flat here for £250 or £300 + council tax, especially in the South of England where I am,

Mallory

Thanks Rodney. I wondered how it all worked!

Mummy in the foothills

Miracle whip is like a fake Mayonaise in a jar isn't it? I just get real mayo. Cool whip is the cream stuff in a tub.

aviva

And if you feel brave:

Clone of Best Foods (Hellman’s) Mayonnaise

1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice (bottled ok)
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash white pepper
1 cup vegetable oil, at room temperature

Break egg into a 1-quart glass canning jar. Add lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, white pepper and vegetable oil. Place handheld emulsion blender (turned off) all the way to the bottom of the jar, pressing down over the egg. Turn it on high speed. Hold in place for about 5 seconds until you see mayonnaise begin to form. Slowly lift the blender upward until it reaches the top of the jar, about 5 more seconds. Cover and leave on counter for about 8 hours, to give the vinegar and lemon juice sufficient time to kill any bacteria that may be present in the egg (or use pasteurized egg). Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks. Yield: 1 cup.

trottytrue

dunroving...Have you thought of getting online and looking up ziplog bags in the UK. I love them.

Miracle Whip....http://brands.kraftfoods.com/MiracleWhip/Products.htm

ldyinlv .....Not long to go. I am sure you have lots of mixed feelings but once you get home everything will be fine. The internet really helps and if you have Logitech Vid you can talk and see your friends and family in the US also with Skype. Goodluck

Jasper123...Thankyou for the information on Banks thats very helpful. Still on a roll with the happiness of being home. You are correct I think most of us on here are well aware of the highs and lows of going home and know what we are getting into. I think those of you who are back have given us some idea of what its going to be like. I dont pretend its not going to be difficult leaving behind my family and even thinking about that gives me a churning in my tummy. My sons will be fine but my daughter I will really miss. My Grandchildren have two great parents so they will be fine.

Tyrone...While I found the article very interesting I do wonder whether instead of moving to another country she should have tried moving to another part of England. I read up on Middlesbrough and its not the best part of the country.

This part of her article was good news for me
One thing to watch if you are returning to the UK is house prices, they are falling quickly and are anticipated to fall by 10% to 20% in the next 18 months depending who you listen to. I have and a large number of other people are selling, banking the money and renting. Also, interest rates are expected to start going up from this summer which are foretasted to increase the average UK mortgage by £1K per month.

cheers

Rod,
Thanks.

Lets see if I had a monthly income of £1000 and found a place up north for £400 a month. That would leave £600 for food, power and such. I may make it?

Living expenses include:

Tax, Home Ins., TV Lic., Water?, Phone/internet, food and elec/gas.

Dunroving,

What do you think of an income of £1,000? Would a person make it without a car.

cheers

My son lived in M., among other places, during his two years in England and it was the worse place he lived. Having said that, if a person went 20 miles away it could be nice.

On the interest rates. It seems to me if people are not borrowing then interest rates should go down. Just sayin'.

cheers

Does anyone know why on the forum you can select a 'buddy list'?

cheers

Rod,

Have you bought any clothes for the weather since you got home?

Tyrone

Hi Jasper123
I have been enjoying your observations and comments on your return home. I live in Westchester, NY which is about 30 mins ride by train to Manhattan. I left NI after college in the late sixties and landed in NY and stayed a while before travelling and living in Toronto and Sydney in the late 70's and back to NY in 1980. I am eligible to register for Medicare this November and I have decided next year I will retire in NI as I have lots of cousins back there. My main reason for leaving family here and returning is that I have a fear of ending up in a nursing home in NY State. As an american citizen it will be easy to come back and forth to shop and visit friends and my docs for yearly checkups as they are direct daily flights into Belfast. I did look into purchasing a home in NI but I was advised that it was cheaper for me to rent and live of the 401K interest along with my monthly SS so that I have to find out about. I have started keeping a folder with all the great ideas that I see posted and I appreciate all the input and as I gain info on my journey I will go in and list it. I basically have 18 months to go, I am going back in April or May this year for a quick research visit and ask lots of questions, I will not get a pension at home although for a laugh I asked as I worked all my college years in the summer they said I would qualify for 89p! I did not ask anything else as I was LOL with the gentleman. Anyway this is a brief synopsis of my story and I am full of fear but will go foward with the plan as leaving home as a young graduate and returning as a senior person is going to be a challenge so bring it on.
There is no place like home.....look forward to reading your listings as I am really a secret lurker!
Tyrone

dunroving

I think I may have previously posted a list of my expenses last year, excluding things specific to my situation (e.g., dog health care insurance), but here it is again, with notes where necessary:

Council tax 1,068.76
Entertainment 1,311.05 (I splashed out on new TV, Blu-Ray, etc., normally this would be close to zero)
Groceries 1,791.32
Household 692.29 (this would be household tools, supplies, etc., so some are one-offs, some are recurring costs, including garden maintenance costs)
Insurance 1,393.57 (this includes a stack of insurance policies you wouldn't have)
Luxuries (clothes, books, magazines) 146.08
Medical (mostly chiropracter, etc., you wouldn't have) 863.02
Misc (this is cash expenditures - small grocery purchases, newspaper, lunch at work, and about £1,500 for dog-walking) 4,456.02
Utilities 2,000.96
Vacation 257.90

- sorry about the formatting. Some of these expenses wouldn't apply to your situation, and the "Misc" category (cash withdrawals, essentially, spent on everyday stuff) isn't especially informative, but hopefully it will be of some help. I tend to treat my grad students to lunch quite regularly so that also bumps up my "Misc" category - you can probably reduce that to about £1,000 if you were to include only cash purchases like newspapers, bacon butty at the local cafe, and other minor purchases. I typically live quite frugally, don't splash out - so the TV, etc., for last year is highly unusual for me.

aviva

Just something that you may wish to check into. I had heard that you can opt-out of Medicare and that by doing so your Social Security check is more. Haven't checked into it but planning to come over for an annual check-up may be costly.