Repats- do you feel rich now?

I'm just curious- do you feel rich when you move from the UK to the US? DH and I are used to living a certain way (basically paycheck to paycheck!) and I just think we'll feel like we have so much more when we get to the US.  Then again, maybe its a 'grass is always greener' thing and it just SEEMS like that because we're here and not there. 

I don't know how different the cost of living really is...but since we will be selling the house and exchanging UK £s for US $s I am quite pleased! (Although with our luck the exchange rate will probably even out by the time we get our home sold!)

Its a heck of a LOT better feeling moving back to the US fundwise!!!

Rich? No...
BUT better off...because the equity in our cottage helped us buy 2 new cars outright and pay a hefty chunk on a house...with enough savings to keep us going until hubs found a job, and still have extra savings.
I never would have thought that old darn cottage would have supplied is with such a windfall.  The conversion rates were at their all time high when we came over too.

The pressure is less. Stress is less.

And we got a very nice size home with a huge yard...and no big mortgage worries.

I think that is why hubby is actually happier here then England.  He doesnt feel pressured to have to earn and claw to keep us afloat.  But without that equity, we couldnt have done these things.

That's a hard one.  My husband left a very well-paid job in Scotland and now works casual labor and I am the main earner in the family.  Plus, now we have a car to maintain. 

Are things cheaper, yes.  But it is a different life style in the States, and our bills reflect that.  We live in the city durring the week and return to my home town on the weekends.  That's a drain on the gas budget but as my folks are ill, we need to do it.  Food is cheaper, because I cook at home for almost every meal. 

Medical insurance.  Renters insurance.  Saving for trips to Scotland and England to visit his family; trips around America to visit mine.  Car insurance.  Car repair bills.  Car payments.  This, that and the next thing.

If we were living the exact same life style as we did in Edinburgh, we'd have loads of extra cash here.  But we don't because we live a life style more suited to the area we live.  I guess there are a lot of give-and-takes to it all.

Generally speaking, rich - not yet but better off, without a doubt. We swapped our old jobs for jobs with an improvement of around £7k for one and £2.5k on the other, but the benefits that go along with that (free healthcare w/one job) and unimaginble benefits that I couldn't have dreamed of!

I think the opportunity to save money is actually better here, even given the medical situation and the dependence on a car. Prices across the range (with the possible exception of the quality supermarkets) are so competitive, it's hard to pay full price for everyday items.

So, financially richer, yes, is my "life" richer - without question!

Thanks for your replies! I've been in the UK for two years now, and its hard to think of what life will really be like when we move to the US. We're planning to go in a year or so.

H and I get really bogged down with the bills- even though we both have good jobs. Its just impossible for us to save since we have a mortgage, a car and frequent trips back to the states. I just always feel like we're behind or have something on the credit card.  I think when you grow up in the UK, you're just used to paying for stuff (DH doesn't worry half as much about debt as I do!) I have a hard time trying to convince DH that we will have more spare cash when we're in the US- he seems to think that this international relationship will always be expensive. Which is true, but it will be a little cheaper from the US!

For example, I just got an email from Yahoo saying that tickets from Boston to London are $155.  WHAT?!!? We just paid over £400 each to get to Boston.  Ok, ok, I'm sure the $155 have restrictions and are on a certain day and you have to go to Timbuktu on your way, but still. I miss shopping around for the best deal!! Over here its just accepted that things are expensive!

It just seems like we'll be making twice as much and things will cost half as much (I just wanted a reality check from those of you who have actually made the move!) I am happy we did the UK stint first, so we feel better off when we get there-  I imagine it would be harder to go the opposite way.   

We don't feel rich, but we are definitely more secure financially. We lived in the Lansas City metro for the first year where the cost of living was significantly lower than where we were in Cambridgeshire. But not we live in the Chicago suburbs and the cost of living has risen again. Still, we are able to afford 2 cars, able to afford going out to eat at least once a week, able to have money in savings. And we couldn't do those three things in England. One of the main reasons for moving eas because of his job/salary - - his type of work is just much better compensated here, in our experience.