Please beware if you are going to Texas
May 26th 2009, 3:00 pm
#1
Account Closed
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 52
Please beware if you are going to Texas
I want to warn people who are considering moving to Texas, before you go, please do your homework.
I have spent the last 5 years there and have finally admitted defeat and returned to UK.
Make sure you have plenty of available funds and be prepared in case of job losses, because Texas has "hire n fire at will" I worked for Home Depot and Wal-Mart and the salary was quite poor ($10 per hour). I didn't have a college degree and this is the route most Americans take to avoid these jobs.
Food prices are roughly twice what they are in UK, and believe me, they are.
$4.99 for a pineapple and $25 for a few steaks is quite expensive.
Getting adequate healthcare is a nightmare, you cannot afford to be sick here at all. Medical costs can bankrupt you here very quickly, my fiancee was in hospital 4 days with breathing difficulties with asthma and the bill came to $6000. There is no way anyone can afford to pay that.
You have to work a FULL year before getting ONE day off, compared with 5 weeks holiday time in UK. Not easy to work through Easter and Christmas without a break.
Jobs, if you are lucky to find one, are not around the corner, I had to do 100 miles trip a day to work and that cuts into anyones budget.
Remember, Immigrants cannot claim welfare or Medicare for 5 years, and if you become homeless and jobless like we did, its "tough luck, buddy"
and if you think of retiring on a decent income here, you havent a cat in hells chance, because the Americans have been paying in the Social Security from 16, and if you are 40 something, you will be working well into your late 70's and 80's just like my friends at Wal-Mart, where the greeters were all over 75.
America? No, thank you. I made the right decision and came home to UK.
I have spent the last 5 years there and have finally admitted defeat and returned to UK.
Make sure you have plenty of available funds and be prepared in case of job losses, because Texas has "hire n fire at will" I worked for Home Depot and Wal-Mart and the salary was quite poor ($10 per hour). I didn't have a college degree and this is the route most Americans take to avoid these jobs.
Food prices are roughly twice what they are in UK, and believe me, they are.
$4.99 for a pineapple and $25 for a few steaks is quite expensive.
Getting adequate healthcare is a nightmare, you cannot afford to be sick here at all. Medical costs can bankrupt you here very quickly, my fiancee was in hospital 4 days with breathing difficulties with asthma and the bill came to $6000. There is no way anyone can afford to pay that.
You have to work a FULL year before getting ONE day off, compared with 5 weeks holiday time in UK. Not easy to work through Easter and Christmas without a break.
Jobs, if you are lucky to find one, are not around the corner, I had to do 100 miles trip a day to work and that cuts into anyones budget.
Remember, Immigrants cannot claim welfare or Medicare for 5 years, and if you become homeless and jobless like we did, its "tough luck, buddy"
and if you think of retiring on a decent income here, you havent a cat in hells chance, because the Americans have been paying in the Social Security from 16, and if you are 40 something, you will be working well into your late 70's and 80's just like my friends at Wal-Mart, where the greeters were all over 75.
America? No, thank you. I made the right decision and came home to UK.
May 26th 2009, 3:31 pm
#2
ModerĪ±tor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 30,768
Re: Please beware if you are going to Texas
Different strokes for different folks innit?
Everything you say is true, but its all info thats out there before you make the move. A lot depends on your job... money, benefits, retirement plans, job satisfaction etc. Not everyone only finds a job 50 miles away ...Not everyone has to work a year before getting vacation, although in unskilled jobs thats true. Did you go to be with family? Canada and especially the US make it hard for people to get there as immigrants without the skills to get well paid positions.
It didnt work for you, but it works for many others. North America is just different to the UK in the way things operate. I am shocked that a pineapple is $5 there in Texas. Up in canada they can be that much, but you can get them for $2 in some places too.
At least Canada has medicare....Being in the US without some sort of coverage would scare the pants off me... Good luck back home!
Everything you say is true, but its all info thats out there before you make the move. A lot depends on your job... money, benefits, retirement plans, job satisfaction etc. Not everyone only finds a job 50 miles away ...Not everyone has to work a year before getting vacation, although in unskilled jobs thats true. Did you go to be with family? Canada and especially the US make it hard for people to get there as immigrants without the skills to get well paid positions.
It didnt work for you, but it works for many others. North America is just different to the UK in the way things operate. I am shocked that a pineapple is $5 there in Texas. Up in canada they can be that much, but you can get them for $2 in some places too.
At least Canada has medicare....Being in the US without some sort of coverage would scare the pants off me... Good luck back home!
Last edited by iaink; May 26th 2009 at 4:34 pm.
May 26th 2009, 4:42 pm
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Arnhem, Netherlands
Posts: 287
Re: Please beware if you are going to Texas
Sympathies and all good luck back in the UK...However, as Iaink says that really is just one experience....TBH it is tough to get ahead in the U.S and probably Canada without a degree of some kind...Did you do research into the jobs open to you before you went?
I do agree that holiday and health insurance can be crazy but again I would expect to already know that before upping sticks and moving to a new country....
Good luck back in the UK
I do agree that holiday and health insurance can be crazy but again I would expect to already know that before upping sticks and moving to a new country....
Good luck back in the UK
May 26th 2009, 4:54 pm
#4
Searching for contentment
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 513
Re: Please beware if you are going to Texas
Goodness me, I thought there was a imminent threat when I read the title of the post. Being in Houston Texas, I'd started to pack my suitcases 
As I said in my response to your other post, you have obviously had a horrid personal experience and for that, you'll receive nothing but sympathy from BE I'm sure. I know that even if you are aware that some things might be a challenge before you arrive in a new location (such as the healthcare costs here) it doesn't take away from the magnitude of actually experiencing them when you arrive or live here.
It would be a shame if the valid points you are making get lost, or not taken notice of because of the fait accompli assumption you are pushing that Texas and the US in general is all bad. Of course, that is your opinion, and I respect that, but having read the points you've made that are valid, it would be a dis-service to the forum if that overshadowed the good you can do to some members here in their relocation decision-making.
As I said in my response to your other post, you have obviously had a horrid personal experience and for that, you'll receive nothing but sympathy from BE I'm sure. I know that even if you are aware that some things might be a challenge before you arrive in a new location (such as the healthcare costs here) it doesn't take away from the magnitude of actually experiencing them when you arrive or live here.
It would be a shame if the valid points you are making get lost, or not taken notice of because of the fait accompli assumption you are pushing that Texas and the US in general is all bad. Of course, that is your opinion, and I respect that, but having read the points you've made that are valid, it would be a dis-service to the forum if that overshadowed the good you can do to some members here in their relocation decision-making.
May 27th 2009, 3:24 am
#5
Account Closed
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 0
Re: Please beware if you are going to Texas
Goodness me, I thought there was a imminent threat when I read the title of the post. Being in Houston Texas, I'd started to pack my suitcases
As I said in my response to your other post, you have obviously had a horrid personal experience and for that, you'll receive nothing but sympathy from BE I'm sure. I know that even if you are aware that some things might be a challenge before you arrive in a new location (such as the healthcare costs here) it doesn't take away from the magnitude of actually experiencing them when you arrive or live here.
It would be a shame if the valid points you are making get lost, or not taken notice of because of the fait accompli assumption you are pushing that Texas and the US in general is all bad. Of course, that is your opinion, and I respect that, but having read the points you've made that are valid, it would be a dis-service to the forum if that overshadowed the good you can do to some members here in their relocation decision-making.
As I said in my response to your other post, you have obviously had a horrid personal experience and for that, you'll receive nothing but sympathy from BE I'm sure. I know that even if you are aware that some things might be a challenge before you arrive in a new location (such as the healthcare costs here) it doesn't take away from the magnitude of actually experiencing them when you arrive or live here.
It would be a shame if the valid points you are making get lost, or not taken notice of because of the fait accompli assumption you are pushing that Texas and the US in general is all bad. Of course, that is your opinion, and I respect that, but having read the points you've made that are valid, it would be a dis-service to the forum if that overshadowed the good you can do to some members here in their relocation decision-making.
BREAKING NEWS
My local HEB store has Pineapples for $2.49 this week
May 27th 2009, 10:28 am
#7
Go on.. Pull my finger..
Joined: Jul 2008
Location: Dubai
Posts: 5,726
Re: Please beware if you are going to Texas
Altohugh now in Dubai, I lived in Houston up till a couple of years ago and, in fact, returned for a month just last month....
I have to say I can only vehemently agree with IanK...
Personally, I love H-town and would move back in a heartbeat, if my company offered me the opportunity.
But then again, I wasn't trying to get by on a greeters wage from Walmart.......
I have to say I can only vehemently agree with IanK...
Personally, I love H-town and would move back in a heartbeat, if my company offered me the opportunity.
But then again, I wasn't trying to get by on a greeters wage from Walmart.......
May 27th 2009, 6:37 pm
#8
Searching for contentment
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 513
May 27th 2009, 9:11 pm
#9
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: FL
Posts: 273
Re: Please beware if you are going to Texas
Pineapples are $5 here in Florida!
May 27th 2009, 10:06 pm
#11
Account Closed
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 52
Re: Please beware if you are going to Texas
Altohugh now in Dubai, I lived in Houston up till a couple of years ago and, in fact, returned for a month just last month....
I have to say I can only vehemently agree with IanK...
Personally, I love H-town and would move back in a heartbeat, if my company offered me the opportunity.
But then again, I wasn't trying to get by on a greeters wage from Walmart.......
I have to say I can only vehemently agree with IanK...
Personally, I love H-town and would move back in a heartbeat, if my company offered me the opportunity.
But then again, I wasn't trying to get by on a greeters wage from Walmart.......
