larrabee

This is true, my first day at work in the US (Los Angeles though, not Houston but I'm sure this applies to any big city) everyone was complaining as one of the staff members was off and everyone else was overworked.
Turned out that someone had bumped his car, he'd got out to inspect the damage and they had mugged him. He spent the next, don't know how many weeks with his jaws wired together.

sybil580

redglade:
Buying insurance in the UK is a simple procedure - it isn't here.
Why is that??? can you please explain? (also is it mandatory to buy car and home insurance, whats the equivalent of MOT tests?)

Having to stand in line for hours to take a driving test instead of being able to make an appointment will make you fume.
You are joking right?

Shopping will both delight and exasperate you.
Again can you please explain?

Don't expect your cost of living to go down.
All the cost comparison sites show cost does go down. Also there is a difference in the tax we pay on salary, on my salary i would pay 10% less tax there, so based on that i was hoping a cut down in costs.

People seem so friendly - they'll make small talk outside the school or at a party, but that doesn't mean that they want to be friends, they're just being polite. People will give and receive compliments far more than you will be used to.
I noticed that, seemed so odd

Many thanks for your help

Pulaski

I drove into the middle of my first armed police "situation" one night last year, on my way home with Mrs P and little Miss P. A police car was blocking the road, but by the time we realised what was going on, we discovered the "perp" had already passed the police car and us, and was behindus surrounded by several officers pointing guns (pistols and at least one shotgun). We had to drive over the sidewalk to get away, not wanting to drive back past the stand-off. Thankfully no shots were fired while we were nearby.

Mr Weeze

Insurance is often credit scored here - be prepared to pay in excess of $1,000 per six months. It's not just a case of going to one website either, you have to confirm everything over the phone. Check out the aig inbound programme. Car insurance is mandatory.

Renters insurance (contents) is also very expensive. You may also want to get an umbrella policy (just in case someone sues you).

They are not joking on the driving license - we drove out to Hempstead to avoid the queues.

Shops are different here - things are called different things in the supermarket, not all the products are the same, but there are lots of new things to try.

Re: cost of living it all depends on your lifestyle. I would agree that it isn't cheaper to live here though, on balance.

redglade

In the UK, the price of insurance is based on your age, driving experience,where you live, and what kind of car it is you're insuring. Makes sense to me. Over here its based on your credit score.
This story will illustrate just how lost we were when we arrived: Hubby started work here September 2005, I arrived with the kids 3 months later after selling the UK house. He was still driving a rental - I was fuming. He was supposed to at least have a car organised by the time I arrived. He claimed that he was having trouble buying a car because the dealerships wouldn't finalize a sale until he had insurance, and the insurance companies he contacted wouldn't sell him insurance until he had a car. He had talked about this at work and had received some sympathy but no advice. After visiting yet another dealership, the saleman and I eventually worked out the problem. We needed to buy liability insurance first, and then insure the car separately. Noone at his work, the car dealerships or the insurance companies he had contacted had bothered to explain this.

No. But after the fact we learned that some licensing offices will allow you to make an appointment. No one told us this either, even after hearing about me turning up at 8am, waiting until 3pm and having to leave to collect the kids from school without reaching the front of the line. The next time I started lining up at 6am and got tested at 2pm.

Lots of fun clothes to choose from and if you're a UK 12, you'll fit into an 8 here.
Food shopping - every supermarket had a different layout and its never intuitive. You will spend ages wondering if you can't find something because you're looking in the wrong place, its known as something else, or if you simply can't get it over here. Example: in our local Krogers, marshmallows are found in the baking isle and not with the sweets.

Yes - some things are less expensive but there's more to spend your money on and your lifestyle WILL change.

Jerseygirl

In NJ we had to get auto insurance before we could buy/lease a car. New car dealers are not allowed to release a vehicle until they have confirmed insurance cover with the insurance company. Taking along a letter of confirmation just doesn't cut it...the dealer has to contact the insurance company.

Oh forgot...we couldn't get insurance until we had a driver's licence.

The day after we landed we went along to the SS office...from what I've read you can no longer get a SSN as quickly as we did. Within the next few days we took the driving test...took our licences to the insurance company and purchased auto insurance. Then we were able to buy a car.

Rules and regs differ from state to state.

Shopping for everyday items was a bit of a mind field. Not only are most of the products new...there is such a variety. Shopping for meds was a nightmare...how many different types of cough mixture can there be? Bread, orange juice, mayo etc...doesn't taste like the stuff we get in the UK.

Pulaski

Agreed, it does depend on your lifestyle, and the biggest trap I think many fall into is not comparing like with like for example moving from a British semi of say 1,000 sqft and buying a 3,000sqft detached house. So instead of saving money on housing you spend as much, but have a much larger house. We deliberately bought a much cheaper house that we could "afford", what the mortgage lender was prepared to finance would have been very nice, but we were still able to buy a nice house in a good & safe neighborhood, and keep our mortgage cost about the same. If we'd kept to a similar house to the terraced house we had in London, our housing costs would probably have dropped by about a third. Comparing the market price we SOLD at in London, our housing costs could have dropped by more than 75% if we had bought a small terraced house here.

Similarly our petrol costs were about the same as in the UK when we first moved the US- the price/ gal was about one quarter of what it was in the UK, BUT we were driving four times as far! Given that the price of petrol has trebled in the US, I am certain I am now paying more for petrol each month than I would in the UK.

FWIW My payroll deductions are significantly less than they were in the UK, even though I have to pay for medical insurance.

AZ_Alba

Depending on the state there may be vehicle tests, in Arizona for example there is an emissions test every two years

Did you factor in Health Insurance, Dental, vision, medical deductibles, and co-pays?

penguinsix

Ever notice the drive home always seems to go faster than the drive to somewhere new? On the way back you know where you are going, and time seems to pass much more quickly.

Same is true with a number of things you're going to be dealing with for the first time when you arrive. Car insurance, health insurance, drivers licenses, bank accounts. The process you have been through XX times in the UK is different here, and those little changes are going to seem strange, complicated, or just plain stupid when you compare them to how it used to be, and as such it's going to feel much more difficult than what you are accustomed to. And then when you factor in the fact that each of the 50 different states have different rules on driving, licensing, insurance, etc and things get even more complex.

But the fourth or fifth time you get car insurance in the US, or open a bank account, or whatever, it should be a bit easier since you know what to expect. Don't let the initial few experiences get you down too much.

Bob

You get on with life, or you'd never leave the house. Shame with the UK and knives or the rain, whatever thing that's bad in the news that morning.

Bob

Down my way, you'd just end up with massive eye strain and a twitch in your wrist if you flipped off every bad driver...

Saying that, I have been told not to hit the horn at people, because of guns and people generally don't use their horn down my way all to often but they're pretty unimaginative about their use of expletives, so I just win on that front.

Bob

Oh you're in for a shock then...

Jerseygirl

Swings and roundabouts. I feel much safer living in a safe neighbourhood here than I ever did in the UK. IMO the bad elements tend to stick to the not so desirable neighbourhoods...in the UK it doesn't matter where you live...you could still get your house burgled or your car stolen. We have a very strong police presence in my small town...cops are patrolling the roads all the time. If I call for the police they are at my door in literally 2 minutes.

Pulaski

Right. You should not ignore it, but be aware of it and do whatever you can to prepare for it. .... Look out for the crazies, avoid walking anywhere near parked armored car cash trucks or police who are in the process of a pursuit or arrest, and avoid behaviors that someone might find threatening whether you're on foot or in your car.

Jerseygirl

Exactly.