TruBrit

our subdivison our part of houston is kept clean tks to the HOA i must say but overall houston is a dirty dump.

TruBrit

i was there back in Feb staying with uncle david, he's the only rellie left in liverpool...we went on the ferry across the mersey for old times sake

now they have really cleaned up liverpool and the dock area, very nice with quite pricey apartments.

penguinsix

Haven't been to Houston in decades, but a friend who lived there told me she was constantly looking out for scorpions in her yard. That was a bit too much for me. Not sure if your subdivision has those running around or not.

yuck.

TruBrit

scorpions, snakes, huge mozzies, rats the size of cats you name it we've got the lot

my pest control man comes to our house every 3 mths and the subdivision pest control every quarter and so i've not seen anything move however i wear blinkers when i go beyond our SD

rookins26

Hi everyone!! THANK you for your replies and they are quite helpful. I wanted to make note of a few things though..

I already posted on the UK Yankee site and they are helpful there as well and I enjoy the forum. I felt that since there are British Expats here that I should also get the opinion from the "other side" as well. I want to know why folks would leave the UK or why they are dying to return etc. I like to get both sides of the picture frankly.

I actually have been reading the reponses to my hubby who has been to the UK for an extended time BTW and he and I agreed that a trip is a must first no questions. We have a one and half year old son so traveling with him is too hard...he will not sit still for a plane flight to Europe at this point we know. SO since I am the one who have never been to the UK we are thinking next summer I will go there and visit our good friends who live outside London...since the wife is from there (Yorkshire actually) and the husband has lived there 6 years now I can get two different perspectives and opinions and overall good info from them. Then I will know if it is a place I can actually live.

Over the past few months I have had several folks wonder whywe would leave the USA or even Arizona for that matter and there are several reasons. All in all to broaden our horizons and bit and so our son has the opportunity to experience culture elsewhere and have dual-citizenship so he has options of where to live and work when he is older. America is a great place I am first to say it...but we are a bit sick of the constant consumerism that exists in this country and I will admit is worse depending on the state you live in. Also national health care is an issue that hits close to home for us. I wish we had it here since even with insurance we ended up almost bankrupt from hospital bills when our son was born due to our deductable and co-insurance since he had an extended hospital stay that we of course did not know would happen. We ended up paying out the you know what and it affected our lives greatly. I hear this story too often here. Maybe someday things will change or at least major medical coverage will be a right everyone will someday have. I know the UK will have it's downside and there will be things I would greatly miss about the US but I at least want to give it a sincere try to live elsewhere. That said we'll see what happens after a visit there and more research on jobs...etc.

One more question...what is considered a decent wage over there?? For someone living NOT in London that is. So far we see jobs in my husband's line of work in the 55,000 pounds per year and I wanted to know if that is "good".

Thanks again!

Colette

britvic

Well I think thats a very good wage, you are talking $110,000 per year.

rookins26

See I figured that was like making $100,000+ a year here in the US which is GREAT...but when I spoke to our friends over there they suggested not looking at wages or prices that way....so if you make 55,000 pounds a year and your rent is 1000 pounds a month ..etc..that's it don't look at it as "oh that's $100,000 and $2000/month US money. Does that make sense? I guess they meant try not to compare because whatever the cost is there won't matter in regards to US money because you are not living in the US!

Colette

britvic

Well of course, but you get the picture 55,000 pounds is a good wage, 1,000 pounds per month what you after renting then, I'm going back home very soon and on the ball with rent price's being as that is what we shall be doing.

rookins26

I have heard that 1000 pounds per month is average for a house of decent size......did I hear wrong?? I know London is through the roof and I have seen rentals in the north or midlands for 500-700 a month. We pay $1400 a month to rent a house here in AZ and if we had a first time mortgage we are talking $2000-2500 a month.

Colette

jumping doris

I think thats a good salary. Depends where you will live though..it might not go far in London.
Generally I find the US more expensive than the UK. Our utility bills are bigger here and our food shopping costs more. Yes petrol is cheaper but I drive everywhere now and I didn't in the UK so in the end I am paying more (if that makes sense)

britvic

Yes it dose make sense and I so agree with you Doris.

britvic

In London yes & more, but you did say you was not wanting to move to London. 700 pounds will get you a good size house in most other parts of the UK though, but if your after more then a three bedroom well of course the price will go up.

rookins26

My husband and I think all we do is pay bills bills and more bills. Big ones are electric ($200+ in Arizona in the summer), rent of course, car payment, student loans (will be paying that FOREVER at how much I owe), and medical bills...a lovely co-insurance and deductable everytime we or our son is seen. Oh well guess that is life...just paying bills.

Colette

Sally

I would say £55,000 is good depending on the line of work.

Britain is becoming more consumerist though so don't expect Miss Marple country!

frrussre

north of what?
reg. frank r