Calculating salary against living cost in London BOROUGH

Depends on the landlord.

What London landlord is that?  Unless you are in a bedsit or a flatshare, which the family of three here would not be apart of...

Which ramp are you referring to? Is this the built-in one that slides from under the bus? I ride on one of the new buses in London and I noticed that there is a pillar right in the middle of the bus, next to the wheelchair sections, making it difficult for an electric wheelchair to go around. My wife definitely have to try getting in the bus and manouvering between the pillar. It's not impossible, but I think it's very difficult.

Yeah, that is the ramp I am talking about, the side middle one.  You are right the pillar is there (it happens to be the one with the wheelchair assist button on it) and I do agree it is kind of oddly placed though it does seem to secure most params in the area, which is why I suspect they did it.

Your wife is on an electric scooter?  My friend with MD is on one (when he isn't in his newer compact 4 MPH one, which is much more "chair" like) and I could see that Pillar being a pain.  It would be worth the try and I am would think after a few times your wife would whip that thing right in there.  I haven't ever measured the space there, though I can see someone nosing in there and the having to back out.

Did you get measurements?  I assume you did, but if not, I can always look like a big dumb American and measure up the space.

For info, there is a thread in teh 'transport' section about wheelchair users and public transport in London.

Vicky

Vicky, hate to point out to you that it was lanwarrior who asked the questions that started that thread...    I realize we were getting a bit off topic, but we were having fun.

We're in nearly an identical situation - a family of four on a salary of 48,000 living in Redbridge. The bottom line is that with your salary you can live VERY well by UK standards. The problem is that it's not the same as US standards. We rent a 700 sq. ft. 2 bed flat for 800 pounds per month - 900 pounds will get you something a bit bigger. But that usually means an extra tiny room, not bigger rooms. Depending on your wife's mobility she may find it hard getting around narrow hallways and doorways, etc. And of course there's usually little storage space so you'd have to budget for wardrobes, etc., but you could get them used quite cheaply.

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have.

Thanks for the info, Blue! It's good to know someone that is currently living in Redbridge. I'll PM you with questions specific to Redbridge.

Regarding car insurance, you may be able to get an insurance report from your US insurance to give to the UK insurance company.

Did you do this when you came to the UK? I am attempting to get this type of report but my US insurance agent is telling me that Farmers never give this type of report. What kind of insurance report did you get?

The other thing I was thinking about is it sounds like you may have some kind of mileage or car allowance.  Are they giving you a fuel card?  If so, they often cover private mileage as well as business and you're wife may be able to get free petrol on the company.

Yes, I got felixble allowance, which I can use for car or anything else, including taking a portion of that as cash. I haven't received the full offer package other than the soft copy, so I'll have to check on that. Does company that provide car allowance give fuel cards? This is new to me, but if this is normal, then this will certainly save me a lot of money.

Whether they whack it up because of the disability changes I don't know?

I hope not... this will consider racism towards people on disability, as this means we're being treated differently due to the disability. I know ADA prohibit this in the US, and I hope in UK it's the same. I am going to check UK Department for Transport for this, but so far they have this written in the Disability Discrimination Act:

Since December 1996 it has been unlawful for service providers to treat disabled people less favourably for a reason related to their disability;

Your wife is on an electric scooter?  My friend with MD is on one (when he isn't in his newer compact 4 MPH one, which is much more "chair" like) and I could see that Pillar being a pain.  It would be worth the try and I am would think after a few times your wife would whip that thing right in there.  I haven't ever measured the space there, though I can see someone nosing in there and the having to back out.

Did you get measurements?  I assume you did, but if not, I can always look like a big dumb American and measure up the space.

ROFL! Thanks for the offer, kitsonk! I don't want to trouble you on having to measure the space in a crowded bus!. If you happen to take the bus on your daily commute, I guess you can VISUALLY measure the space. My wife use an electric scooter that is 125 cm long and 62.5 wide. This is the standard scooter size, similar probably to the ones your MD friend uses.

To everyone,

I have accepted the offer and I'd like to thank everyone for their advise and support. I still  have a bit of uncertainty on the cost of living in London, especially given my wife's condition, but I think based on everyone's input it is sufficient. I will definitely have to try living it out in London!

I still have more questions about living cost, transportation, etc, but I think I will begin posting it on separate threads or sending PM separately so as not to confuse other readers. However, feel free to post in this thread if you have any input related to the living cost based on the salary I have.

Congrats and good luck!

Congrats and best wishes on your move over! 

Vicky, hate to point out to you that it was lanwarrior who asked the questions that started that thread...   

 

Vicky

Best of luck lanwarrior....