marietuluse

You certainly can be in our gang......oohh that's sounding a bit like a Gary Glitter song ......that's not good

Good luck with you're move, where are you planning to move back to?

Piff Poff

I was going to quietly slink away but feel I have to respond. Many people on these boards know we have had a particularly rough time over the past couple of years and last winter being the worst of all, we could have quite happily packed up and gone and some of that was because we were listening to other peoples opinions of what the UK was like

I did do a full shop, I had to go to two Supermarkets as that was what was required. In Tesco's we witnessed a father of a maybe 10 year old, threaten and argue with a Senior with a disabled cart over who arrived at the check out line first. AND the food was expensive, it truly was and a dollar is not a pound. So saying $65 is 65 pounds is wrong - the minimum wage is almost double in number amounts in Alberta. It took my OH a good year before he was earning bigger bucks than the UK, now he earns 3 times the amount he could ever have dreamed to earn and he's just a lowly mechanic - nothing posh

We found it stressful to get anywhere because of the traffic and signs of recession are everywhere as companies cannot afford to repair their buildings (We were in Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire, Kent and Sussex). AND Petrol OMG no wonder we spent too much while we were away and I didn't even get any of the purported decent clothes because they were expensive and just not up to it IMHO. Comparing shopping in Red Deer to any major town in the UK is also like comparing Biggleswade (small market town in Beds) to Oxford Street

We thought we were bored in Central Alberta, but we are quite happy to swap the crowds (people EVERY WHERE), the boring cars, the busy narrow roads, the stress heads, the grey skies ( we glimpsed sun twice) and the winds for where we live now, it was a relief to be home in Canada.

Canada is not for everyone, I get that. But something pulled you returners here in the first place, don't hate it just because it didn't work out for you!

Cumbrian Lass

could i please ask why you are responding to people who have moved back to the UK (back home site) when you have nothing good to say about the UK ,nor have any intention of moving back??

Pomster

possibly to give a view from the other side? A lot of folk on here are trying to get a view of the pros and cons, so all views are helpful, surely?

gillyd65

Just catching up with this thread and reading through everyones posts.....
We have been in Canada since August last year. We are moving back before the start of the summer. We really don't get it at all. It is way too expensive on all fronts for us as a family of four. Food, housing costs, kids activities, fuel (sure its $1.20 BUT we travel 2x/3x the distances to get anywhere so it cost a fortune). Second hand cars cost the earth, insurance, postal service (don't get me started on that), the list goes on. Although OH is earning more than the UK, when everything costs 3,4,5 times as much then we think what the hell!!! we're going to be bankrupt if we stay here, no kidding. We manage our money very well, cost out our food shopping, do a weekly menu so we know what we're eating for the week and so we don't buy any extras we don't absolutely need. We don't eat out either other than the odd 'food court' stuff in the mall.
There are a host of other things which just don't gel with us, some have said its culture shock and homesickness which it could be, but we have tried to look at it from a detached point of view as well and certainly not through rose tinted specs for either the UK or Canada.
We've tried it, though not for long, and have come to the conclusion its not how we want to live.
Cumbrian Lass - you certainly have chosen a beautiful place to live, one of my favourite places in the UK.

sallysimmons

We were in the UK twice in the last couple of years (Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria) and didn't run into bad traffic at all. However, living in New York I might have a different definition of bad traffic and we did get stuck behind some sheep one time

We found petrol expensive but everything else cheaper - especially eating out. Amazing prices!

We did see some closed up shops, but we see those here in our nice little town just outside New York City. We have 4 empty shops currently on our small high street.

marietuluse

Oh......wasn't expecting that from my jokey, lighthearted response to your previous comment, I did think we were friends and didn't want to fall out over a difference of opinion

I certainly dont hate Canada and have never said that, we didn't enjoy living there, there wasn't enough for us there, we realised pretty early on that we couldnt have the lifestyle there that we were used to here, Sam couldn't earn the kind of money there that he can here, and as you know he wasn't happy with the work he was doing there, Georgia wasn't happy at school there, we found Red Deer a dull place to live, it certainly wasn't an insult to you personally, like I said everyone's circumstances are different I experienced more rudeness from people, drivers, shop assistants etc.... there than here but that's just my observation, there are rude people world over, like your rude man in Tesco arguing with the disabled person, doesn't mean everyone in the UK is like that or that situation hasn't happened in other countries

I'm sorry but I disagree, if in Canada you earn, say $1000 a week and go and spend $65 on a curry, then surely if you live in the UK and earn 1000 pound a week and spend 65 pounds on the same curry, then it's exactly the same.......except they generally don't cost that much here

We haven't seen any signs of recession in our area, there are new business's opening and revamping of our town centre and roads and I don't personally know of anyone out of work?

We will have to agree to disagree on the cost of groceries but I know Im happier paying Asda prices than I was Walmart prices, with a lot more to show for it and I know for sure that everyone I have spoken to that has returned or about to, feels the same about the cost of living in Canada compared to UK
xxxx

gillyd65

marietuluse - agree totally on the $1000, 1000 pounds scenario you still have to pay $65 dollars or 30 pounds for the curry. Thats the mistake we made when we first moved out here, although we were earning Canadian dollars we were looking at prices here and converting them back to UK pounds and thinking the prices weren't too bad. But we were earning and paying in Canadian so that didn't work, no wonder we didn't grasp where our money was going. So we look at things as 1 pound 1 dollar which shines a whole new light on things!!!

Cumbrian Lass

I thought it would be the "maple leaf" or "moving back" that would be more of an appropriate site

marietuluse

Hi Gillyd65
This is exactly what we were doing and took us ages to get out of that 'holiday mode' where you keep converting it back to pounds and thinking it's not too bad

& yes.....the post office prices !!

Piff Poff

Because it was in our thought process to return for a good 8 months last year - you don't know enough about me to make any comment on my situation, you only know what other people have told you about me and what I have posted on here - so get off your high horse!

Exactly - a balanced view! But returners don't like to hear anything bad about the UK. We half thought we would hit the OMG what have we done as soon as DD finished school we're coming back for good or bad that didn't happen.

I now believe my Mum when she says how much the cost of living has risen in the last 6 years.

There are lots of positives about the UK, I don't deny it, for us Alberta is better for now.

Piff Poff

Didn't realise we would fall out if I voiced my opinion and my personal experience.

Bar66949

Hi,

I am new here and have looked at a number of posts. Most positive about the move back to the UK. I am going to be 63 this year and am scared about the move back to the UK although want it very much. Here in the US have no health insurance due to pre-existing conditions and no social life. I have some relatives and friends back home who will help me but will need a permanent place to live. Do you think that this will take a long time? I do not wish to live on the sympathy of relatives for too long. Any one been in this position?

Bar66949

Sorry if this is in the wrong area.

sallysimmons

I don't understand the question ... are you asking how long it will take to find a rental? Or how long it will take to buy something?