[Dedré]

We have a friend already in the UK (close to London) that walk with us through the expenses exercise. We would like to share that with you.

Tax:
@22% on salary.
NHS get deducted as tax each month. If you want private medical, you would probably pay around that per person. Private is not really needed if you are in good health.

Rent:
A small 2 bedroom flat. Our (not too pokey) 2 bedroom flat is about £600 per month.
Edinburgh would offer similar pricing in some areas - may even be cheaper.
(Go to http://www.gumtree.com/ and http://www.loot.com/ to find accommodation that will suit you)
A credit check will also be necessary for renting. Please get SA references if possible. ie : pastor, credit companies, last person renting from (if applicable).
Buying:
If you can buy outright, you would probably make a return on your investment in a couple of years. However buying houses is not like SA over here. There is plenty of opportunity for the purchaser/seller to pull out at any time. Do not underestimate the impact this can have on selling/buying. This practice is called gazumping over here. Strange word, but there you go. The agreement is normally only formally done months after initial interest is declared. There are also £1000's needed to purchase the house. Check-ups (structure/electicals/plumbing etc.) need to be done, lawyers need to paid (everything appears to go through a lawyer ££££). It may be best to rent, until you know where you want to buy.
Some choose the route of renting. Mostly due to us not knowing were anything is. Also one start with a zero credit rating in UK (take a Good standing letter from your old bank in SA to the new UK Bank branch, when you apply for a bank account). People are charged dubious prices for the pleasure of credit check checks.
Property/council tax:
No confirmation on property tax values.
Council Tax is about £105 per month (paid over 10 months). Council tax is only paid by you if you are renting.

Food:
Depending on your lifestyle, you look at £50 ea per week. Some weeks may even be less.
You can buy smart at Tesco or Asda. If you want sweets of luxuries, it will be more. However the general quality of items are pretty good here, we find.

Travelling Costs:
A weekly travel card is £... (Sorry, still need to get that info)
Two cars' and some expenses are (some might not have this) : MOT (roadworthy 1/year/car) £50. Tank of petrol- £30/ 40litre tank. Insurance £450/year on a '98 1.3 fiesta/lady driver. Road tax £115/year on a sub 1400cc engine.
Anything bigger is about £180. www.citylink.co.uk for train expenses in Scotland. www.nationalrail.co.uk. You will probably appreciate having a car for weekends out if nothing else. These figures may seem high when converted to Rands, but they are the standard and paid by everyone.

Miscellaneous Utilities
Depending on what you classify in this category. I will make some assumptions here, so clarify if needed.
- Water removal/highway drainage (dunno what that is) - £231 per year.
- Water delivery - £177 per year.
- Electricity - £34 per month.
- Gas - £25/month. You get to pay an average over the year (gas/elec), as this softens the smack you would get in winter. However this is applicable in our area, and it may very in Scotland.
- Gas fired central heating (GFCH) is they way to go here. Storage heating is very expensive, and is very slow to warm up (electricity ££££). c
- Cellphones - about £20 per month on contract. I use a pay-as-you-go one, which costs about £15/6months. However I don't use my phone much. Bring your own cell phones over, but loose the sim cards.
- BT (telkom) line rental - £11 per month. Broadband - 2mb connection, 30GB peak/300GB off peak usage £17 per month. However virgin does a cable broadband package for £4.50 per month. There are so-called prefix phone numbers which enable you to call one company and be put through to another country for much cheaper than BT rates. For instance you can call SA every weekend for about 4p per minute. USA can be called for 1p per minute. This is *far* cheaper than BT, and can save considerable money.

Be sure: This is a very expensive process - if you come over, make sure you are committed to making it work. The stories of people who didn't 'make it' over here are mainly people who didn't plan properly, and didn't know what they were getting into because they didn't research. You can do a lot of reading on-line and Google things. Look at books stores for books like 'living and working in the uk'. Speak to the OVC club - they have business with 1st contact, who do a few things to help prepare you, and also arrange things here (this was something we did, and they were VERY helpful in terms of getting a bank account, for example).

Please add to this if you have the info.

[Janneman]

Here is something I found that might help to sort out one's financial affairs:

A salary calculator for the UK

I don't know how accurate these "things" are, so please, shooting me won't solve anything if the site's wrong...

[Pieter & Andri]

Our expenses in a month (for 2 persons):

Rent - £760 (studio in zone 2)
Utilities/food/movies/burger king - £500
Travel - £110 (only bus)

You could save more by living in zones 4,5,6 but your travelling will also be more expensive.

It is very expensive living in London, but our salaries are much higher for the same jobs in SA. I earn twice as much and my wife 3 times.

[Dedré]

Pieter and/or Adri,

How about an introduction in the Foyer? We would love to meet you guys!

Thanks for the information.

Can I presume a Weekly Travel Card costs £55 for zones 1 and 2?

I see you have a special place in your budget for Burger King! You guys are my kind of people!

Can I also presume that you guys might also be interested in a UK Coffee Club?

[Pieter & Andri]

Hi Dedré,

No, fortunately the bus travel is just £13 per person per week. Then you can travel anywhere in London (on bus). Travel cards are more expensive. I'm not sure but I think a one week zone 1234 travel card will be around £28. We don't like using the tubes. London is a whole different place for us since we don't use the tubes anymore. But that is just our feeling.

Don't forget McDonalds! If you don't have time in the evenings to make dinner, Marks & Spencer food is excellent. But it might have a negative effect on your budget.

Although we do save and send back money to SA every month, we decided to rather stay longer in the UK and spend more on the things that make our lives easier. Like accommodation, entertainment and food. We want to live as normal as possible. For Andri's birthday we went to see Mamma Mia. Brilliant show.

That is a big advantage coming to the UK with a HSMP. You don't have the limitations of the working holiday visa and can work for as long as you want and stay (you have to apply for an extenstion) for as long as you want.

[Dedré]

Pieter/Adri, (which one of you is posting? )

Thanks for the info. It is much appreciated.

Yes, M&S is quite special to me. I am going to make room in the budget for their Coronation Chicken (at least once a week)! MmmmMmmm! Njam, njam... Saam met pork bangers en baked potatoes. Njam Njamies!

[Pieter & Andri]

London travel costs: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/gui...ts-08-01-02.pdf

[Dedré]

Wow, nice!