How much is enough to live on?

So, here's the deal. When I move to jolly ol' England, I won't be working for about 6 months or longer. I'll be on the fiance visa. My honey, at the moment, is making 26000GBP. Is that enough for two people to live off of? He says it will be fine, but me being the worrier that I am can't help but to wonder if it really will be ok. Going out to eat once a week would be nice as well as movies sometimes. I'm also taking a little savings of about 1500 dollars. Oh, and another question. How many of you are stay at home wives or girlfriends? How do you pass the time? Did you get bored in the beginning?

We've been living on about the same amount for seven months and it's been just fine.  We've managed to pay off our honeymoon debts and are starting to save a substantial amount each month.  We go out a couple of times a week...always the movies once a week and then out to eat or on a little weekend outing.  Seems we have plenty of disposable income!

It's a weird way of thinking....I know that if we were living in the US on my former salary of about $26K, it'd be extremely tough, but his salary of £24K is more than enough...I think the £ definitely goes further than the $!

I wasn't bored in the beginning....I was scared and nervous and felt like a 3-year-old because I couldn't go anywhere by myself.  If you're like me, the first couple of months will be a study in extremes--you'll be thrilled to finally be living w/ your FI, but you'll also be homesick and feel like you've lost your independence.  The only way to combat that is to stay in close contact w/ your friends and family back home and to get out as much as possible.  My husband was really good at taking me places over and over so that I eventually learned where things were and I was able to venture out all on my own after about 3 weeks or so.

I'm just starting to look for work now, but not too seriously.  I said to my husband just last night that it feels great to be looking for a job without NEEDING a job.  We're fine on his salary and could live comfortably if I never worked and you guys will probably be in the same boat.  I'm hoping to find something part-time at first because I want to be home when he gets home...I want to do the housewife thing and have dinner ready, etc. 

As for what I do all day....well....housework, of course.  There's always something to clean, so I do that.  We also have a big garden and I love doing yardwork.  I also go shopping and just visit Newcastle in general since I'm still getting used to living here (been here about 2 months).  I also have lazy days....today, in fact!  But those are pretty rare...I always find something to do!

doesn't alot have to do with where you'll be living (as far as rent is) too?

I know our rent will be about 1200 sterling a month....hence why i've been a stressball about $$ but luckily people have calmed me down a bit about that stuff......

i dunno, sometimes i think the pounnd (no symbol on my keyboard!) goes farther and in someways it doesn't.....

things to get used to. 

Of course, I forgot monthly rent! Our rent is actually pretty cheap atm. 500GBP a month. But, we'll probably be moving to a slightly bigger place for about 600.

i'm sure you'll be fine then.   

Yep...you should be just fine.  Our rent is 600 a month. 

I think it definitely depends on the area of the country you live in ...we live in the southeast and it is so much more expensive then living in the north...with rent/mortgage payments...

Hi

I agree about the area of the country you live. I came from living in el cheapo central Mississippi to the SE of England. To me the £ definitely did not go futher than the $.  I thought it was way expensive here. I still do.

..... i dunno, sometimes i think the pounnd (no symbol on my keyboard!) ....

If you hold down the <Alt> key, then type 156 on the side number pad (not the keys across the top of the keyboard) a "£" will appear (also Alt130 gives "é", and Alt171 & 172 give "½" and "¼".  There are many other useful symbols "hidden" this way. 

£ ½ ¼ é

Way cool, thanks for the tips Turn_Left

... Way cool, thanks for the tips Turn_Left

You're welcome! 

£ How exciting!  Thank you!

What if you have a laptop?  How do you go about doing the pound sign with that?

What if you have a laptop?  How do you go about doing the pound sign with that?

If you look at the keys U I O, J, K, L, and N, M, , (I think) you should see the numbers in another color (on my laptop they are a blueish color).  There should be then a button, maybe above the top edge of the keyboard that will allow you to access the "blue" characters - when you press the button there should be a small neon light come on, somewhere near the Shift-lock light.

Does that make sense? 

I bought my laptop in England

I was pretty bored not working!  But I made it through the days fine.  I took a lot of walks and met my friends for lunch.  Window-shopped a lot since things are just so expensive!  I did buy at Lush!  I love that place and things are not too pricey in there!!