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Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by SultanOfSwing
(Post 10885480)
Bloody right. The cost of living here is reasonable (get further south, closer to Chicago and it skyrockets but that's the price of living in a major metropolitan area, London would be the same). House prices are decent, too and our mortgage is about a third of some of those rent numbers being thrown out there :blink:
$200.00 to plow a drive and $450.00 to clean windows? Buy a $10.00 shovel and a $20.00 ladder and do both yourself :D I KNOW the US is not the same all over - my job is in Santa Clara, so I have to be IN Santa Clara. I'm sure if I had the opportunity to move to another part, I'd find it different. I was answering the OP's original question - is x enough money to live on IN CA. From my experience of having been on a similar salary in the UK and moving to a similar area, I would say NO. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by dlake02
(Post 10884353)
Me: "Hello. Our landlord has just put our rent up by over 10%, but offered us the option of buying our house privately. I'm on an L1; can you help me ?
Wells Fargo: "How much is he asking ?" Me: "$890k" Wells Fargo: "And you seriously don't have that kind of cash ??? But you work in IT ? Can't your family lend it to you ?" Me: "You're having a Tin Bath, aren't you ?" WF: "Nah - most houses round here go for cash in about 5 days. Most families help out. Mortgage business round here is dead." Me: "Can I have a chair and a glass of water please ?" WF: "Your landlord should put it on the market - he is stupid trying to sell privately - he could get a lot more." Me: "I really need that chair and glass of water." WF: "OK - I can do you..... 35% deposit, the rest over 30 years. But the rate is going to be bad as you're on an L1..... You're looking at about $4500/month" Me: "I want my mummy." WF: "How come at 45 you don't have $890k in cash ? Are you a dismal failure or something ?" Me: "When does the plane leave for reality ????" I think that's how it went. Frankly, I'm trying to forget.... And the number of kids driving new cars is insane. My parents never bought me a car, I had to buy it myself! To be fair they did loan me money to buy my first flat in Glasgow but I did pay them back with interest when I sold it. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by dlake02
(Post 10885632)
The fun thing was the guy that quoted us was from Manchester and got the funny side of it. He used to charge £25/house back home....
I KNOW the US is not the same all over - my job is in Santa Clara, so I have to be IN Santa Clara. I'm sure if I had the opportunity to move to another part, I'd find it different. I was answering the OP's original question - is x enough money to live on IN CA. From my experience of having been on a similar salary in the UK and moving to a similar area, I would say NO. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by SultanOfSwing
(Post 10885628)
No, I meant to put $200.00. Didn't proof read.
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Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by dlake02
(Post 10884353)
Me: "Hello. Our landlord has just put our rent up by over 10%, but offered us the option of buying our house privately. I'm on an L1; can you help me ?
Wells Fargo: "How much is he asking ?" Me: "$890k" Wells Fargo: "And you seriously don't have that kind of cash ??? But you work in IT ? Can't your family lend it to you ?" Me: "You're having a Tin Bath, aren't you ?" WF: "Nah - most houses round here go for cash in about 5 days. Most families help out. Mortgage business round here is dead." Me: "Can I have a chair and a glass of water please ?" WF: "Your landlord should put it on the market - he is stupid trying to sell privately - he could get a lot more." Me: "I really need that chair and glass of water." WF: "OK - I can do you..... 35% deposit, the rest over 30 years. But the rate is going to be bad as you're on an L1..... You're looking at about $4500/month" Me: "I want my mummy." WF: "How come at 45 you don't have $890k in cash ? Are you a dismal failure or something ?" Me: "When does the plane leave for reality ????" I think that's how it went. Frankly, I'm trying to forget.... |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 10885672)
Oooh! That would buy a nice ladder! :wub:
Now whether I actually bother to clean them really depends on the birds. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by Bink
(Post 10885633)
I am surprised on a daily basis about how much cash is seemingly floating about here! Take Houston - the O&G business is strong, no doubt, but not everyone can be earning $500k/yr can they?! I see so many stay at home Moms driving porsches who all have housekeepers etc and I just don't understand how so many can afford to live like that!
And the number of kids driving new cars is insane. My parents never bought me a car, I had to buy it myself! To be fair they did loan me money to buy my first flat in Glasgow but I did pay them back with interest when I sold it. A neighbor/friend finally put in a pool - they couldn't afford it last year as they couldn't save the last 2k to make up the 20% deposit....why couldn't they get that last bit? Because they were also saving for a deposit on a new "toy car" - a convertible that they "deserve" because they've had a rough time at work....making them a 4 car family with only 2 drivers:confused: Now, without any discernible change in their situation, they have put in a pool which I reckon conservatively cost them something in the 100-120k range. How? Loan from the grandparents to make up the balance of the deposit, a withdrawal from a 401k (hello tax and penalty!) and an unsecured loan (nothing left on the HELOC!!) at 16%:eek:. And all because "the girls are getting older and its not fair on them that they are the only ones in their group that are growing up without a pool". FFS some folk need a serious slap to wake up and realize what their financial situation is....they are up to their necks in debt, no college funds for 2 kids that will be college age in 6 years or so and they're spending money they don't have like there's no tomorrow, all so they can project an image of a lifestyle they can't afford.... |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by kins
(Post 10885438)
Yes I find this a lot on here. People say 'The US is like this' and I wonder if perhaps I live in a different country or something.
I have also never paid $450 for window cleaning :) In my current mid rise condo (5 story), the windows open outward so they can't be cleaned from the inside so the HOA had to hire a contractor to scale the building to clean the windows. That took about a week to clean the windows for 100 units. Then about 4 years ago, Cal OSHA forbid the scaling of a building to clean windows for safety reasons and the HOA installed motorized platforms since they needed them to paint the building and thought they could use them for cleaning windows also but they take so long to assemble and dissemble that is wasn't cost effective for window cleaning. Apparently last year Cal OSHA reversed itself and again started allowing scaling the building to clean windows since last spring, the windows were being cleaned again by workers scaling down on ropes. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by Michael
(Post 10885695)
I could easily imagine paying at least $450 to clean my windows on my previous townhouse if I required them to clean them from the outside. There were 27 glass windows and doors and the townhouse was on a slope so to clean the top windows would require a 30' foot extension ladder and two people for safety. Fortunately the windows were the type where the lower part of the window snapped out and could be cleaned inside the townhouse and someone could sit on the window sill to clean the upper part of the window. Instead of hiring someone, I snapped out the upper floor windows and cleaned them myself.
In my current mid rise condo (5 story), the windows open outward so they can't be cleaned from the inside so the HOA had to hire a contractor to scale the building to clean the windows. That took about a week to clean the windows for 100 units. Then about 4 years ago, Cal OSHA forbid the scaling of a building to clean windows for safety reasons and the HOA installed motorized platforms since they needed them to paint the building and thought they could use them for cleaning windows also but they take so long to assemble and dissemble that is wasn't cost effective for window cleaning. Apparently last year Cal OSHA reversed itself and again started allowing scaling the building to clean windows since last spring, the windows were being cleaned again by workers scaling down on ropes. I did our windows last month - they are the snap-out type, but with the sh*t in the air round here, they get very dirty very quickly. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
When I first came here, I innocently asked the neighbours about the window cleaner :lol: Only one person had ever had it done and it had cost $400 they said (one-storey house as well)
Our house is quite high and the windows don't turn so it's a problem. We try to use an extending thing on a wobbly pole when they get hard to see out of. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
I've had a few quotes since we got here, most in the 300-350+ range. I honestly thought they were quoting for a years contract!! I'm not good on ladders, but even so, I was not prepared to pay that. My mam still pays her guys UKPDS 5 (Five) a week - OK, our house is bigger, but not 50 times bigger:eek:
Then I got talking to a wee south American chappie (Ecuadorian I think) that was cleaning the coffee shop windows one day....he now comes twice a year, and does a smack up job on the windows and screens for $165 (plus a tip at Christmas:D). He also replaces any high up bulbs while he's here, and cleans all the high light fixtures. Bargain. Sort of. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
$165 to clean windows on the house one time?
I'm glad I'm sticking with a one story these days. |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by hotscot
(Post 10885728)
$165 to clean windows on the house one time?
I'm glad I'm sticking with a one storey these days.
Originally Posted by hotscot
(Post 10885729)
$165 to clean windows on the house one time?
I'm glad I'm sticking with a one storey these days. BTW FFY :) |
Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Bloody duplicates....
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Re: Salary Calculations between UK and US
Originally Posted by hotscot
(Post 10885728)
$165 to clean windows on the house one time?
. We get a lot of dust, and our neighbours fall into 2 categories. Those that seem to pay 300+ for window cleaning, and those that can't see out. I have never seen anyone doing their own upstairs windows round here. |
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