UK living? Gathering info...
We are looking into the feasibility of possibly moving to the UK in a couple of years (from the US), and I'm trying to get a general idea what the average cost of living is (probably varies widely, depending on the area), things like health insurance, rent, cost of sending your kid to university, car insurance etc
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First and bestest thing - no health insurance! We have the brilliant, gorgeous, NHS and it works. Using it for free depends on your right to be in the UK (visitors are charged, nowadays). Oh, this is what the Citizen's Advice Bureau says about that:
Your entitlement to free NHS treatment depends on the length and purpose of your residence in the UK, not your nationality. There may be charges for some NHS services, for example, your dental treatment, and you may be entitled to help with these charges. Any free NHS treatment you receive, or any help with NHS costs, does not affect your immigration status.
If you are entitled to it, you can obtain free treatment immediately. There is no qualifying period.
Hah - we all pay for the dentist these days... and optician... (unless you qualify for free treatment - kids, elderly etc)
Erm... Rent will depend hugely on where you are... and you'll get much less for your money than in the US. Depends what you're used to, mind... Having had a quick scan of websites, you can get a three bed semi-detached house for £350 per calendar month, for example...
Car insurance obviously varies too, depending on what your car is, where you get it from etc - also if there'll be any under 25 year olds driving the car... or students/learners/ etc... I pay less than £200 a year for a 1300cc hatchback, if you're looking for cheap. You need to pay Road Tax each year (c£155 I think) and make sure your car is MOTed (safe-car-check!) each year (unless it's very old and qualifies as a "classic"). My car is going in for its check on Monday, and will cost £55 - plus any repairs/adjustments to eg. exhaust emissions that they need to make (hopefully none!)
Erm... I must drink coffee now - is that a start?! *g* How exciting!
Plus - London! Bodie! Doyle! Endless location spotting! Cornish-Birdwatchers-Ghosts holidays!
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We are not used to much here, in the way of wealth!*g*
More the opposite.
We do own a small house (well, it's not paid off for many more years), but it's only a two bedroom and overall no bigger than my parents' flat in Germany.
Nothing like the types of places seen on TV! :)
My husband loves gardening, though, so that might be a problem!
I've looked around a little at activity co-ordinator jobs I could find online, and the wages were anything from minimum to much more, but mostly fairly low.
Would the wages quoted be before income tax, and how much is income tax in the UK?
And what's the cost of living for a family of three, used to fairly frugal living (foodwise and such)?
Like, how much is a liter (gallon, pint?) of milk, a pound of coffee, a loaf of bread, cheese, butter, spaghetti, potatoes etc.
Oh, even if I knew, I'd first have to figure out UK currency. ;)
And commuting costs (bus, train etc.)
Also, when you rent here, they want "first, last and security".
Is that the same in the UK?
If we sold our house, we'd have a little bit of money to keep us going for a couple of years, even without a job, but we wouldn't want to do that, of course!
Oh, and is education free? Cheap? Depends?
Our daughter would be in University by then, probably have done a year or two here already, but not done yet.
She's bright and loves school, has good grades here, and is doing IHS (International High School), which is supposed to uphold the same standards as many other countries (Europe).
I love thinking about this possibility, and Pros locations would be a humongous bonus, of course! *g*
But I've always loved travel, and changes, and when I lived in Germany (and thought that would always be my home base for travel), I kept England, Scottland, Ireland for when I was older, because it was close, never thinking I'd be living in the US!
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in Norwich, east England - a university town
in Folkstone, Kent - near Channel! - I reordered list from lower rent to higher
within 30 miles of Lancaster (north England) - starting around £200pcm
within 30 miles of Cambridge (east England but nearer London) - and this includes a 3 bedroom house for £165!
Council Tax might or might not be included in this (I only rent where it is), agents charge exhorbitant fees and I get around that by not using them - there are plenty of private ads in the papers too. Usually you pay a month's rent in advance and a security deposit as well. There's a scheme that landlords can sign up for now too where the deposit is looked after by a neutral body, so that landlords/tenants are all safer from being ripped off - I look for landlords who sign up to this.
Like, how much is a liter (gallon, pint?) of milk, a pound of coffee, a loaf of bread, cheese, butter, spaghetti, potatoes etc.
Try Sainsbury's Online shopping
or
Tesco but that seems to want you to register before you can even see prices...
eg - fresh baked bread in Sainsburys from about £1.00 a loaf - that's about US$1.67. I use XE Currency converter
And commuting costs (bus, train etc.)
Depends where you live and work, of course... I live about 7 miles from a city centre, and if I commuted every day it would cost me about £9.00pw - US$15.00. What I do though is drive to the Park and Ride (free) and walk to work for free. *g*
School is free until you're at university level - and in fact in some circumstances you can be paid for staying on at school post-16. Check out this government site about University costs and how it all works.
Living in the UK doesn't have to be expensive - even in the south-east, which is traditionally the most expensive part of the country. (And btw, when people talk about "the south" they generally mean "the south east") I've been surprised at the prices down here - if you're looking for posh it's here in abundance, but actually us normal people do live here too... *g*
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