It's finally happening!!!
 

Hey guys,

So... I finally signed my offer letter for the job I applied for in Reno, Nevada, and the L-1 visa process is underway. The relocation officer thinks the whole process may take around 3 weeks (apart from if there are complications etc) so I'm in the process of making lists, and then some lists, and then a few more lists.

As part of the relocation I have a budget of $3,300 - basically to spend on whatever I need (including first month rent etc.). My questions is this:- what do I spend it on?

Givens:

A plane ticket (with extra baggage allowance for clothes)
Rental car when I first arrive
Hotel when I first arrive

Options:

Shipping of my stuff (see notes below)
First month's rent + security deposit

My stuff:

I have lots of stuff but I'm not sure I'm going to take all of it. I want to take my PS3, my PC, my laptop and my DVDs. The last there is an issue, I have almost 2,000. My current plan is to bring around 500 or so (just the discs) in my luggage (with my laptop to watch them on) while the rest and the remaining boxes are shipped over.

Does anyone, with any experience of recently shipping items, have a rough idea of how much it would be to ship a PS3, PC, around 2,000 DVDs and a couple of boxes of books and random bits? I need to know if I can fit this in my allowance of save up and pay for this later.

Cheers in advance,
John

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

We're shipping 17 boxes (12 "tea-chest" size, 4 double that, one irregular) to NYC via Excess Baggage and it's costing us around GBP600 for a ten-week by ship service. Contents are mostly books - about 2,000 or so.

I dare say you know about the difference in DVD regional encoding between the EU and US. I understand that it is a lot easier to get multi-region DVD players in the US than it once was.

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

Yeah I do :) Most of my Blu-Rays are region free anyways, but my DVDs are all region 2 - worst case scenario I hook my laptop up to the TV :P

I'm going to do some "calculations" to see how many boxes I would need - hopefully for ease of calculation it'd be about the same size as yours :D

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

How many evenings do you plan to stay in the US?
Do you have any social life currently? :lol:


Congratulations on your job win and move!

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

I'm a bit of a hoarder... I watch it, then keep it, and if I sold it I'd probably want to watch it again. That and I'm a massive movie fan. I could just bring my BluRays but I'd just end up collecting all the same films again!

But yeah, I'm a computer programmer (a.k.a. professional geek) so social life is not top of my list of hobbies :P

I've just submitted a quote request to www.shipit.co.uk so I'll see what they come back with... If it's anything like rpjs's quote, I might just have to go ahead and ship my lack-of-social-life with me :)

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

I'd guess less. There's a weight limit of 35kg per box, and you hit that a lot faster with books than with DVDs so we didn't fill up our boxes to the brim. I reckon you'll be able to do that and so use fewer boxes.

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

I think that most of your $3,300 is going to go on rent and airfare before you start worrying about shipping DVDs! Most landlords here want both first and last month's rent in advance, so that could account for at least $3,000 in one fell swoop! And then you will need to put down deposits on your utilities, as you have no credit record here. There is a site named City Data (or something along those lines!) that people have recommended, which would give you an idea of costs in Reno.

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

You're going to need more money. :lol:

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

Here's my litte thread that might help:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=boxes

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

if you have no credit history over here - you will be getting off very lightly if they just want first and last months rent. You might well need to stump up several months more than a yank - to get something.

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

Main Nevada forum page, and specific Reno-Sparkes area forum page.

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

$3K?

Are they taking the piss? I spent more than that moving from Maine to Mass, and they're right next door!

You've got to factor in that you've no credit history, so you'll probably have to put more down as a deposit, you probably will be looking at the first and last months rent, plus anything from 1-3 months worth of rent as a deposit, possibly more because you've no credit history and then deposits on getting utilities switched on. Also don't forget if you use a realtor to help you find a rental, you'll have anything from half a month up to 3 months worth of rent as a fee, depending on the local market.

Your budget is blown before you've even got a ticket.

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

Hey it's better than it was! They were originally offering nothing. :eek:
I'm not in too bad a shape, my uncle in San Diego has offered to guarantor me a loan to buy a car, and whatever else I might need it for - I guess I'll just have to use that to chip in to my rent and utilities as well...

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

If it's a company transfer, they are seriously taking the piss by a country mile.

You should have a look at the wiki on relocation to see what else you might be getting jipped on, as well as adding a bit of job security to the mix.

Car, don't forget insurance will be a lot more expensive in the first year with no US driving history or credit history, you've also got excise tax on the car, plates, registration, inspection etc.

Good luck with the move!

Re: It's finally happening!!!
 

The relocation agent has got to be making at least that much. :eek: