Mark & Sarah in the UKAdventures throughout the UK

Moving to the UK - Quick Financial Guide (For Renters)

If you're going to move to the UK, here are a number of bills you should plan to expect in the first month or 2 if you plan on renting.

1. 1 Months rent in advance, and 1 months rent as bond. This is standard fare, but can be painfull if you live in (expect a medium sized apartment to be about 250-350 pounds per week) or very near to London (In the area that Sarah and I are in expect anywhere from 500-900 per month for a decent place, dependant on size)
2. Over here rent tentants pay council tax (rates), expect about 700-1000 pounds per year. Luckily you can pay in installments so expect about 200-300 pounds in the first month
3. Sewerage Bill (Charged in 3 monthly blocks of about 30 pounds each)
4. Water Bill (Again charged in 3 monthly blocks), Most places are on a "rates" style system where you pay a fixed fee every 3 months but some places are on a meter. For rates expect about 50-70 per 3 months.
5. Telephone Bill (Charged in 3 monthly blocks), Price depends on what connection plan you use but you will pay line rental up front.
6. Gas Bill (Charged in 3 monthly blocks). Haven't recieved this yet so can't give an estimate in price
7. Electricity Bill (Charged in 3 monthly blocks). Again, haven't received this yet so can't give an estimate in price

So intial outlay could be anywhere from 2,800 - 3,500 pounds ($AUD 5,500 - 9,000) depending on where you live.

Some other things to watch out for:

• Everything takes a _long_ time to get done over here. Expect a lot of things to require your presence in person. There are a lot of things you can't do over the phone.
• Most furniture is made to order, and it can take a long time to make. For instance the sofa's that Sarah and I ordered are going to take 8 weeks for delivery (ordered 3 weeks ago now). Our bed that was supposed to be delivered in 1 week has now taken 3 weeks.
• People don't like to help you even though its their job. You will get a wide range of attitudes when trying to sort things out on the phone from the plain unhelpfull to the rude.
• Your US or Australian keyboard won't have a pound symbol (currency pound not the # (hash)) on the keyboard, which can be a pain in the butt :)

If I think of anything I have missed here I will update this post.

Slippage

Sarah slipped over in the snow when she was walking home from work :(

It's Snowing!!!

Something that we were hoping for even though we didn't expect!

Go to our moblog page for some low quality photo's taken with my webcam, or click here to download a video of the snow!

Yay! Time to go for a walk in the snow, if just I had my proper camera.

So much good news, its all to much!

Since we have been over here in the UK, Sarah and I have not been used to good news. Its been delay here, delay there, hastle here, hastle there. Finally we have some good news, all at once.

1. I have been offered (and have accepted) a Job with Accenture Technology Solutions.
2. Our final box of stuff has arrived, after being declared missing and having had to request an insurance claim form it suddenly appears. This is better news than you can imagine as it has all of Sarah's extra clothes in it.
3. The insurance claim forms for my camera that was stolen have been submitted, and it looks like seeings as the cameras are cheaper here in the UK I am going to be able to get a better spec camera, so instead of getting another Olympus C740UZ I will get an Olympus C750UZ instead, which gives me the option of an external flash, its 4mp instead of 3.2, and it records sound to the video it takes.

So, lets hope the news continues. I will be opening my bank account tomorrow, so lets hope that goes smoothly and all continues well.

Trip to Paris

The first 3 days of this week for me (Mark) were spent in Paris with my parents and other family. It is a fantastic city, so beautifull, I havent come across a city yet that matches it. Unfortunately my camera was stolen from the hotel lobby (along with all my accessories and camera bag), so I dont have any photo's to share :(

A BIG HELLO

Well I thought I should write something....I cannot believe I have been in the UK for over two months time really does fly. So much has happened over the past two months. I am sorry to everyone for not emailing, but I have only recently had access to E-mail. I miss you all in Perth and have not forgotten you.

Life in the UK is different I guess. More people, little houses, no gardens etc....but I think Mark and I have fitted right in. As most of my friends know I am working at Southend Hospital as a Basic Grade Dietitian. I guess it was a shock to the system when I started full-time work, as I was only a casual in my last jobs. I am very busy with my wards which are A&E, Stambridge, Hockley, Bedwell, Chalkwell, Medical Assessment Unit and Southbourne. I spent quite a lot of my time on Stambridge and Hockley. My patients are generally medical and geriatric. All the basic grades have to rotate in six months so I can get a chance to do different things.

I think Mark and I are also lucky that we were able to find a flat that we both liked and is in a nice spot. It is very close to the train station and shops, it takes me about 30mins to walk to work, but at the moment I am catching the bus as the weather is cold and wet. I was very lucky when I first arrived, the weather was not that cold. It has gradually become colder, so I was able to get use to it. A common statement that I would hear when I was in Australia was that the weather in the Uk is very depressing and gross. I must admit it has not affected me yet. It does not really bother me at the moment, except when I dress up nice and try to look half way decent when I go into London and it is constantly raining and windy. I guess when I have been here a bit longer I may have a different opinion.

Christmas was great and New Years was relaxing. Mark and I spent the Holidays in Devon with Mark's family, which was heaps of fun and it was great to finally meet them all. There are heaps of photos of Christmas and the Wedding we attended for Mark's cousin Victoria and Marc. Mark will create a photo gallery for this soon.

Hmmmm well I guess that is all for now, that was just a quick summary. There will be heaps more to come.