| Here's one that I have buried somewhere on my blog, and might be of use to people. Of course costs vary -- this is just what I pay, 35 minutes (by train( north of London).
AIRFARE: One-way ticket from America: $700 . . . Extra piece of luggage: $110 . . . One overweight piece of luggage: $25 . . . Hired car (through Bluewave) taking exhausted me from Gatwick straight to my flat: priceless.
RENT: First month's rent, £550; deposit, £550 -- so about $2100.00 to get in the door). More on utilities below . . .
If you don't have a flat before arriving, some B&B's or hotels offer monthly contracts. Unless you're in London, a cheap hotel might go about £40 per night or more, so if there's any way you can arrange a flat before arriving, do so. If it's not perfect, you can move later.
FOOD: I spend about £10 a week at the farmer's market for all my freshies (I'm a real 5-a-day gal), and then another 10-15 at the supermarket.
GETTING SETTLED: I brought a few things from home (my good flatware set, a few kitchen towels, potholders, a large bath towel, a sheet, pillowcases, and my goose-down duvet). Upon arrival, I went to Sainsbury's for a skillet, a pot, a teakettle, a large oven pan, a pillow, an iron and ironing board, alarm clock, a hair dryer (about £100 for all that).
For the rest, the local charity shops are fantastic -- gorgeous antique dining room set for £40, desk for £25, small stand for £10, and a (complete) like-new bed for £70 (if it bothers you to buy a slightly used bed, do as I did and bring one of those anti-allergy mattress-covers in your luggage -- the ones that are created to keep even microscopic dustmites and the like in their place? You then have a fresh, clean bed at a low price. I bought the biggest size, not knowing what I'd have, then fold the extra fabric underneath.)
LAUNDRY: A friend told me recently it's £3 to wash, and £3 more to dry! Horrid! My flat has a brand-new washer, and I bought a huge 'aluminium' (and they pronounce is 'al-yoo-MIN-ee-um') drying rack for £10. Since my water is set at a fixed rate (no meter), it really doesn't cost me extra to do the laundry there, with the exception of a small amount of electricity.
UTILITIES: You hook these up with just a phone call. My water account is set at £30. Gas will vary, as will my electric, and all three are billed quarterly. Nice to not see any bills for the first few months, whilst I recover from the moving expenses. None of those pesky connection fees we are always charged in the U.S. (Updated later: First quarter of electric was £55, and first three months of gas was £79. During the winter, gas was about twice that per quarter, but electricity stayed the same.)
INTERNET/PHONE: I have a 4 MB Internet connection for £15 a month, and the phone plan I chose is £17 a month (which gives me calls to America on weekends at just 2 p. per minute). Again, no connection fees -- they'll just do direct debit and begin billing one month after connection. I used NTL (tel: 0800 052 0665). They have various packages -- some as low as £30 a month for Internet, cable, and phone.
CABLE: I didn't bother with cable -- not that big a fan of telly, but I see ads where you can get it for about 10 a month, in a package deal.
COUNCIL TAX: Make a call to your local council within 21 days of moving into your new home, or face a fine. Council tax is based on two adults per household, so get the 25% discount if you live alone. You can pay council tax monthly through direct debit -- mine is £70 a month for a 2-BR flat.
TV LICENCE: If there's a television in your home, you need a licence. It's £131 a year for colour TV, and £45 for black and white. The fine for owning a TV without a licence is £1,000, and don't try to convince them that you aren't watching it, cable isn't connected yet, etc -- they don't care (on their web page, they do have a riotous list of excuses they've heard!). Call 0870 850 1202, or go to their website and purchase your licence online.
BUS FARE: I buy the monthly pass for £36, unlimited use -- gets me back and forth to work just fine. (You can go online to find the right company, the routes and schedules, and even buy the pass online before you arrive.)
BANK ACCOUNT: This was simple as well. Bring your letter of introduction from Bluewave, your passport/visa, work permit, contract, lease . . . whatever you've got with your address on it, and presto -- you have a bank account! Ask for a line of overdraft protection -- at HSBC, I got £800 initially (interest on overdraft amount is 1.67%). Also, you don't have to make a deposit initially when you set-up the account (unlike America); they'll just get your direct deposit when pay starts rolling in.
NIN: The one we were all stressing over. Pick up that mobile phone that Bluewave has put into your welcome packet, and order the NIN form the first day (it tells you how in your packet). When it arrives, fill it out and take it to your school on the very first day. They only have to fill in 4 little boxes on part D, stamp it, make some photo copies of your passport, visa, etc., and send it off to the proper authorities (the address is included, so post it yourself if you want -- I did). And why is NIN is listed in this finance-related post? "Because . . . (all together now) . . . without that, you'll be taxed at a very high rate and end up living in a van, down by the river" (for all the S.N.L. and Chris Farley fans reading this).
Hope it's helpful . . .
I'm sure others here will add and tell what they pay, differences they've experienced, etc. Hopefully . . . ! Pardon all typos -- too lengthy to proof. |
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| One thing to note about your salary, if you are on the Pay As You Earn tax scheme, your personal exemption is spread out over the entire tax year, including weeks when you are not teaching. This means, you'll have to wait up to a year to get some of your money (in the form of a tax refund). Our actual take home pay is smaller than our gross pay |
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