TouristTrap

You even need 50p for you know what used to cost a penny!!!!!

basementwaj

errr kinda... london eye, then managed a staffed operations unit at london eye, alton towers, thorpe park and chessington, so i was all over the place every week!

AdobePinon

Ouch - $4500 property taxes would correspond to a $900,000 house here. Actual market value would probably be ~20% higher.

basementwaj

i only had a small 2 bed backhome and i was paying £1500 a year in council tax, you must have been in a shoe box at £500!

jumping doris

We pay nearly$10,000 a year and they keep threatening to re-evaluate our house.
Our house in the UK was worth more and much bigger and our council tax was 103 pounds per month for 10 months.
And we pay an earned income tax to the township!!!!
When we add everything up we find the cost of living here higher than where we lived in the UK.

BigDavyG

Not everyone gets paid less in the US - in fact its prob only people from SE England who find themselves in such a situation when they move here.
And the UK inflation rate dwarfs the US one, so not really sure what you are on about really.

Vicky88

Have to agree with BigD, for some the US will be more expensive, for others it will be cheaper. It all depends on what your situation was before you came here. Without a doubt we are better off financially in the US than we were in the UK, even though we live in California and we came from the South. It has much to do with what your career is and getting in with the right company. Many of the complaints people have are totally foreign to me as I have managed to get a decent package, 19 days annual leave, unfortunately only 7 days public holidays, 2/3 of company paid medical, free dental and vision, LT & ST disability insurance, good salary & expected bonus of 10% or more, I've been able to restrict my hours over the past few months to only 40 hours per week, and even better I am left to get on with my job with no-one hanging over my shoulder every 5 minutes.

It's not easy to make the adjustment, but it can happen. Just don't go thinking that the world is against you because you don't have US experience.

snowbunny

Dollywood?

One of the Great America parks?

austin_d_powers

I am surprised by the number of times people on this forum who complain about a job situation use phrases like "a job" "any job" "can/will do anything".
When in reality they mean they want a job that pays at a certain level and is located within a relatively small geographic area.

From your posts it sounds like your previous positions were at an executive/managerial position, and as we all should already know the higher up the corporate chain you go the fewer the opportunities.

I noticed you said you applied for about 10 positions in Nashville. Would you say these positions fall under the title "any job - trust me I can do it" or are these positions directly relevant to your most recent jobs/skills?
I find it hard to believe you would have found many open tourism/attraction managerial type positions in the Nashville area.

With your experience you should be able to eventually get a similar position (somewhere in the USA) with excellent career/pay opportunities. Tourism and attractions are a big business in the USA, California and Florida come to mind off the top of my head.
This truly could be the land of opportunity for you and spouse.

Obviously it all depends on how you and your spouse make decisions, ie: Yes we can move anywhere, Yes dear we can move from here when hell freezes over, who can earn more, if you move for a job can spouse easily find job also, etc, etc.

As far as UK vs US cost of living, you are better off in the UK if you earn very little otherwise for medium wages it is about equal until you start earning higher amounts.
If you get to salary of $100k or more then the US is better (at $100k you better be getting company health insurance).
The biggest variable that will affect cost of living is where you choose to live (house price).
If you choose to buy a house in downtown san fransico, then don't complain about the cost of living to me.

Good luck with the job hunt.

gazzpfc

Sales tax 17.5% here, property taxes in south similar to USA, income tax 40%, NI 12% on my salary.
Fuel 85%+ tax at $8.25 a us gallon.
Think as someone who has worked all around the world the methods of fleecing differ some more covert however ultimately you end up wealth wise about the same wherever you are.
As I said couple of weeks ago in Norway I used to find this place and Sweden and Denmark really expensive now things there are the same in price if not cheaper.
If you have been out of the UK for a while you may be stunned at how expensive this place has really become.

gazzpfc

Where can I ask did you pay £500?
We pay £2379

unicorndreams

Hi ,
Welcome to BE.
Sorry you are having a rough time at the moment.
Hopefully it will all work out fine.
Take care.

Bob

she likes the horrid things

Bob

Errr...but there's so many hidden stealth taxes in the US that get you like medical insurance etc.

Cost of running a car is about the same, it all depends on where you live, for me car insurance is way, way more expensive, as is tax on the motor and plate registration. Can't really compare petrol costs because gallon size is a chunk different from the UK, and it's grading is rated differently....and you end up using a hell of a lot more petrol in this country.

Elvira

And then there are the things you young lads won't even think about, but which can creep up seemingly unawares.... like car insurance for teenagers , college tuition

Or contracting some horribly expensive illness and having a 20% deductible with it... ......... sorry - BE doesn't allow enough to convey the potential horror of that...