jalby1992

Hi,

I won't be driving for a few months, I should get a minimum $10,000 of bonuses and a $10,000 pay rise after 6 months. I am very good with money I come from a poor background so I won't waste it on much. (I work in central London and live off £20k) Of course I will hopefully do fun things and new experiences, but I have seriously just came for the training to save money up and develop my career. I will be working and sleeping, most apartments will have a gym. So for fun in my spare time I will be going to the gym and watching TV/Xbox and skyping friends and family.

If I have a good month and get a bonus I can do treats. I know I am young but I am quite boring nowadays lol. Yes it appears that I won't get something walkable!

I also enjoy the job, so it's not too bad I am fortunate. Alot of my work will include taking clients out for expensed meals and drinks and learning which is fun too.

My manager has predicted even if I do just alright at the job I will be on $80,000 per year with in the first 6 months, but $57,500 per year is worse case scenario if I don't meet any targets and be complete useless lol!

I plan on flying down twice a year, I get vacations paid for with my work! So won't need one anyway only local Las Vegas, New York but will be great

jalby1992

Yes I think I would kick myself if I did not work abroad ever in my life when I have the opportunity to, will be great for my development and all my friends family and lecturers said I should, I don't want to look back in a few years when I may have dependents and regret it. I have a dead end job I have been in for 2 years, I have nothing to lose.

Thanks all the above are a good guide line figure, I haven't looked at food costs yet

Twinkle0927

Food costs are very much an individual thing. Someone mentioned a figure of $250 a month. That's a good place to start. I find that good food is much more expensive here than the U.K. but bad food is much cheaper. We buy organic food and from local producers where possible to reduce the food miles. I know that we spend more than other people because of this but it is our choice to live like this. We also buy eco-friendly cleaning products and other consumables.

If you are going to be eating out on the company's nickel that will save some food money but you will need to factor into your budget a good wardrobe. Wearing a Primark (or equivalent) shirt for a hosted dinner with clients won't cut it.

tom169

I agree - I also find good food to be more expensive here than it was in the UK. Also, I find some staples such as milk to be more expensive.

Pulaski

Milk can be expensive, but our BJ's membership pays for itself several times over with the money we save buying milk.

Guindalf

Wow! personal attacks! Looks like I need to quit this forum again - for good this time, if I can't offer an opinion without being attacked!

For information, my point is that a 'job of a lifetime' should not just be above the breadline. Where I live, $60k would be a wonderful salary, but in Chicago, it's not so good and certainly not 'opportunity of a lifetime' money. Sure, not everything is about cash, but there's living and there's surviving. That kind of money if Chicago is closer to surviving than it is to living!

GeneralPowerpoint

In manhattan I paid $4 for a pepper once.

Jerseygirl

What are you man or mouse? I may be missing it but I don't see a personal attack in the replies to your post.

Pulaski

I am inclined to agree with your perspective, but have you lived in Chicago? I don't believe that Rete has (either), so it looks like you two just have different opinions, each expressed robustly, and you both have very diffent personal historys (based on posts on BE) so I don't see anything for either of you to get your panties in a wad over.

mrken30

Chicago has 5th Most Expensive Rice (white), (1kg) in the World (out of 332 cities). See More Price Rankings for Chicago, IL
The price of Eggs (12) in the year 2012 in Chicago was 2.34$. See More Historical Data in Chicago, IL

Not sure how accurate these prices are, but 1700 / month for a 1 bed apartment is going to eat into the OP salary a reasonable amount.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Chicago

Rete

Sensitive? I was not attacking you but your statement that $57,500 was just above poverty guidelines for a single person.

If you can't take being corrected on misinformation, then guess it is time to leave.

Twinkle0927

I agree that money is not everything when it comes to a new job opportunity and that there is more than money to be gained from moving overseas to a whole new life. But unfortunately this particular job is in a country where money is everything. Everything has a price. Even basic healthcare. I see that he has healthcare from his employer but with a 20% deductible. Even a small percentage deductible is a huge amount if you have a serious illness or injury. It's something us Brits never have to consider until we leave the country. We come from a society where we are looked after a lot better and where there are more safety nets. The US may be a great place to live but it's a terrible place to be poor. Especially as an immigrant with no access to public funds (e.g. benefits) if he should fall on hard times with very little support network. I was briefly unemployed in the U.K. in 2009 and received dole at £64 a week. But I got through it with family and friends pitching in - a meal cooked for me by my brother one day, a bag of groceries from my sister another day, and so on. Money rules here, unfortunately. After all, this is a country where they will arrest you for bouncing a cheque. On the U.K. you'll get a polite letter from the company in question hinting at a slight oversight on your part. In the few months I've been here I've noticed how much more people's lives are controlled by how much or how little money they have.

Many people can live simply and on very low budgets. Good for them. But while the OP has the chance to live in another country it would be a shame if he never saw beyond the Chicago city limits because he couldn't even afford a plane ticket to another city. It would be a shame if all his free time was spent at the apartment gym or on the Xbox because he couldn't afford a theatre ticket or art classes (or whatever hobby he likes). He could stay in the U.K. and work out and play on an Xbox. And have more annual leave and no healthcare costs to boot!

Guindalf

There are ways of saying things and 'Why not be factual for a change' does not qualify! It implies that I never use facts, which, IMO, is a personal attack - and from someone I never expected it from!

...and then to follow it up with 'If you can't take being corrected on misinformation, then guess it is time to leave', well, there are no words!

My last little spat was resolved and we now have a mutual respect for each other, which surprised me as much as it would some others on here. This is out of the blue, and if I can't express an opinion without being jumped on, then it really is time to leave.

I don't know who pissed in your cornflakes this morning, Rete, but you've managed to achieve one less person to argue with.

Goodbye.

mrken30

Not quite the same, but it's possible to do a lot of travelling and not see much. If all you see is an office, hotel room and the airport, it doesn't count as travelling.

This could end up being a similar kind of experience if money is so tight.

Jerseygirl

You really need to take a read back through your posts. Some of your comments are quite caustic and uncalled for. People in glass houses and all that...