Desinflorida

Hi all and firstly thanks for all the help and support over the last year. Anyone who does this without engaging in BE is making a big mistake, I have saved hours and thousands of dollars thanks to contributors on this forum and fuly intend to help others now that we are here and are building a basket of experience in expat matters. Arrived on the L1 Saturday - 5 minutes at immigration, very friendly, asked what line of business more out of curiosity than anything else, thankfully easy. No longer than usual tourist entry. We should move in our house today and out of the hotel having sorted beds for delivery and some other furniture in the independence day sales. Going to be a busy next few days but feels good to be here having made the leap. Much more in a few days when we are with broadband at home. One quick tip - Walmart has everything and cheap, it has got us up and running with a pay as you go cell phone for example as many local stores cannot call internationally when arranging delivery so you may need a quick solution as we did. best to you all. Des

SnoopJohnnyJohn

I might be pounding you with questions in a month or two mate, looking to move out mid-September on an L-1 visa...

Englishtart

YAY!! Welcome Des!

Try not to do everything at once, make yourself a list of priorities and do what you need to do, take time to relax and take everything in.

Expect that some things will frustrate you, be prepared, there will be times when you feel overwhelmed. Just remember that everything will start to feel normal eventually!

traceym

Welcome I think it can get so overwhelming especially with jet lag too, take your time. The best bit for me was opening the boxes from the UK it was like Christmas!

MsElui

have you sorted your utilities out yet? Its not like the UK where you can chose your electricity company. Each home has a list of the utility providers it is connected to and you just ring up and sort it out with them.You obviously can chose things like phone and tv but gas, trash, water, elec etc are as far as im aware - fixed suppliers in each area.

You can ring them up before you move in so its good to go that day - just get a list from the realtor/landlord. Also remember that they are going to ask you for an ssn number. You might have to explain at length that you dont have one yet and they will either accept that, ask for something else (i had to fax the cover page of my english passport of to a couple of companies), or ask for a security deposit (i had one for $75 and another for $150).

So as well as obvious ones like Gas and Electricity - you could have seperate bills for Water supply, sewerage, trash collection, cable tv, phone, internet - BUT some of these can be combined (ie most cable companies offer the phone/cable/internet packages) and in some cities, trash and water and sewerage can be done by 'the city' and on one bill - it all . Check mimimum contracts for phone packages etc - ive never been stung with one and have been able to chop and change netween providers very quickly to get a better deal - but id want to be sure what i was signing up for.

For Trash - we had to get a wheely bin delivered by the trash company (in one house this free provided by the city, in this house we 'rent' a wheely bin from the trash service, or could buy a trash bin ourselves). They may offer kerbside recycling (ask when you ring them up to sort the bill). Again - we have had recycling boxes dropped off at some houses, (or left by last tenants), or have had to drive to local depot to pick up recyling boxes). In the 3 houses ive lived in they have all had different rules about what you can put in the box so ask. They may well also do a 'green waste' collection - you need to buy some large brown paper bags from the supermarket and stick any compostable garden waste in there and out out on kerb on certain days. Again - ask the trash co as it can vary enormously.

Water Gas and Electricity is typically meter read every month so dont be surprised to see some chap walking around your house to the meter spot at some point. The water meter 'can' be situated in the garden - ie down a manhole. (ours is -but is read remotley by a man with a van in the road).

Some of the companies will offer direct pay (or some name like that) which is the equivalent of direct debit in the UK. Right now - I pay pretty much all my bills that way but when we arrived in 2007 - many companies still didnt offer it). You may have to be sent in a form to get it or even send in an empty cancelled check so they can get your bank details from it. However - its likely that you will have to write Cheques/checks to some utilities every month until it all gets sorted so make sure you have stamps and envelopes etc on hand. Some utils - esp gas and elec tricity may offer a budget scheme too - ie pay a set amount each month regardless of varying usage. We do that jow with our gas - but had to wait a year to join the scheme as they wanted a usage pattern. This helps to balance out the high electric a/c costs in the summer and the gas heating costs in the winter.

not to do with utilities but something I didnt know upon arrival - The mailboxes outside will often PICK up your pre-stamped mail. Thats what the little flag is for - for you to tell the mailman there is something in there for him to collect (and not as we had mistakenly thought - that he had left something for us to pick up. We couldnt work out why the flag never went up and we got no mail til one day after a week or so - the mailman came and knocked at the door and asked when we would empty the mailbox as it was so full he couldnt fit in any more new stuff lol )

lansbury

Welcome the comments about overwhelmed and frustrated refer to dealing with US banks. Only to be undertaken when fully refreshed and rested.

meauxna

Welcome (finally) Des!
Glad to hear you've landed with your feet under you.

jackattack

I agree.
I remember thinking that many things here were simple and easy to set up. I had quite a few good customer experiences (then again, I was moving from France so my comparison wasn't exactly fair). But then I hit banking and was shocked how backward and illogical it seemed.

And then I hit cell phones, another area where things differed quite a bit. More expensive too.

I still haven't figured out heathcare (I didn't see the doctor for the first three years since I wasn't sure where to start). Best try and figure out how your healthcare policy works for routine and emergency stuff BEFORE you actually need it.

Welcome

MsElui

man - i still struggle with healthcare and ive been here almost 3 years. I was just looking at the insurance webpage and looking at the deductibles we have paid already and wincing - thinking i hope no-one gets ill - or if anyone does get it i hope its the kid who is already high on the deductible so we will have less to fork out - how sad is that!

HarryTheSpider

Hi Des,

I just wanted to say "well done ol' chap!" and echo your sentiments about how helpful BE is. We're headed out to Phoenix around the end of Sep on an L1 and so far the biggest plus about BE is the info and moral support we've found - has taken a lot of angst out of the prospect of moving to the US (not stressed - we're looking forward to the adventure!)

Good luck getting settled!

Cheers

Harry

lisa67

[QUOTE=MsElui;8681551]have you sorted your utilities out yet? Its not like the UK where you can chose your electricity company.

It is in Texas.

Dan725

Welcome, Des - whereabouts in Florida are you?

jackattack

I'm in a state of denial over healthcare. The kind of 'close your eyes and hope it doesn't happen'. I am very lucky in that we have an employer plan that covers the whole family (although costs an arm, a leg and a PHD to figure it out) so should something go drastically wrong then we're at least partially covered.

I unfortunately had to have minor surgery last year. The op was less than an hour, outpatient etc but when I logged in online I saw that the cost was $13,500!! Holy cow, what were they doing to me while I was under? AND that was in network. If i thought more about it then I probably wouldn't sleep at night. I'm just thankful that we seem to be healthy for now.

Best advice for a newbie (assuming you have employer coverage) would be to find a friendly colleague at work with the same plan who can talk you through it and maybe refer to a doctor. I found other expats the most useful since they have had to navigate the system from scratch too.

Good luck

Desinflorida

Thanks all! Miss Elui, I have learned something from you about post boxes! We were wondering today why we hadnt seen a post box anywhere and have just bought a sheet of 98c stamps from our local post office as the kids are writing to their friends like it is going out of fashion but assumed we would have to visit the post office each time to post them! Priceless, we still have much to learn!
To all you L1's out there I would be happy to answer your questions but here is the most valuable tip. Spend the USD400 on AIG/Chartis expat package as they have helped me enormously. For example I now have an HSBC unsecured credit limit with a very generous (more than my UK ones) credit limit and the cards were here within 3 days of arrival into US which is well before you get a SSN and I also opened a USD checking account with Wells Fargo in London a few months ago before arrival, again excellent. . With US banks today an unsecured credit card on arrival is highly unusual and can be a big stumbling block for many. See my previous posts which have a link. I have also taken renters insurance with them. They are really excellent.
So we are now in our house with Brighthouse internet/phone/tv and very pleased with it too. I am in flat pack heaven with a few essential bits of furniture until our shipment arrives. We all seem to be settling in well and skype is helping bridge the emotional gap back home. Thanks for all your warm wishes. Have much more to post but off for a cold one now nearly... I like US stores, they help you out to the car with heavy boxes and hold stuff if you cannot fit the heavy box and your family in! Good weekends all.

meauxna

I forgot that's not common elsewhere.

One tip, hate to be a killjoy, but be cautious about what you leave in the mailbox unattended. It's been known for people to steal your bill payments/sensitive mail and use it for identity theft.
My mailbox is up on my porch, so I tend to feel more secure, but only because I'm home.

I used to take my mail to the office and send it from there when I worked outside the house.