Money to save for the move?

Hi,
I'm just wondering how much money we should save for our move to the UK this summer.  It will be my husband and I and our 6 year old daughter and 2 dogs. Here is a budget I have come up with.  Am I missing anything major?

All amounts are in US dollars:
1st months rent  1500
Deposit             2000
Moving expenses 1700 (for 2 pallets of boxes, no furniture)
Airfare               1500 (1 ticket on BA, 2 one way tickets on Aer Lingus using air miles)
Dogs airfare        1500
Buying things      2000 (buying small appliances and some furniture)
2 wks expenses   1000
Misc.                   600 (setting up bills like gas, electric, phones, etc)

Total               11800     

Do you already have a place to live or are you basing your rent on average local prices? 

Airfare     1500 (1 ticket on BA, 2 one way tickets on Aer Lingus using air miles)

Those Aer Lingus tickets- is one of them for you, and does it involve a connection in the Republic of Ireland?  If so, I would seriously reconsider...as I recall, you're planning to enter on a spouse visa, right?  It is a really bad idea to travel through Ireland when entering the UK for the first time on a spousal visa (no immigration officers present when coming off flights from ROI to the UK, but you need an IO to stamp your passport on your first entry. Cue huge headache.)

Hopefully, I'm just being over paranoid and you're not planning to connect in Ireland- but just in case you are, I thought I'd give you a heads up.

If it were me, I'd try to increase the misc to around £1000.  It's just if you don't know the area or if your spouse hasn't been there in a while, you might need a little spare cash. Besides you never know what could go wrong or funky, and it's always better to have a bit more than a bit less.

Yes, the flight does connect in Dublin.  But the tickets are 1/2 the price of flying another airline.  My daughter will have have a UK passport.  Are you saying I can't fly when connecting in Dublin or it's just more hassle? All the other airlines are charging round trip amounts for one way tickets.  Aer Lingus is the only one that seems to have $450 tickets.

We don't have a place lined up but have been looking at rents in the East Kilbride suburb of Glasgow.  You can rent a nice 4 bedroom house from 800-1200 pounds.  We saw quite a few nice ones for 1000 pounds.  Our budget is for a $1.50 exchange rate.  I realize if that changes so will our budget.  We will probably have about 3800-5100 UK pounds to live off of each month depending on the exchange rate, so hopefully spending 1000 on rent will leave us with enough money for spending and traveling. But we have some expenses in the US like insurance, prop mgt fees.

Yes, the flight does connect in Dublin.  But the tickets are 1/2 the price of flying another airline.  My daughter will have have a UK passport.  Are you saying I can't fly when connecting in Dublin or it's just more hassle? All the other airlines are charging round trip amounts for one way tickets.  Aer Lingus is the only one that seems to have $450 tickets.

Take a look at the visa board, there are loads of stories about flying through Dublin on a first entry with a visa and the headache it causes.  If you do choose to fly through Dublin, it's not the absolute end of the world, but it will cause some complications, especially when you want to apply for ILR/citizenship.  In my opinion, it's absolutely worth the extra money for a more expensive ticket to avoid hassling with immigration later on or having to do a channel hop to the Continent just to get that stamp.

Susan, I completely feel your pain about the Aer Lingus thing.  I was in the same situation, but I had bought my ticket before I heard about what a hassle it is, then couldn't afford to give up the $450 ticket AND buy a $1000 one as well.  As springhaze says, it's not the end of the world and it's not illegal, but if you do decide to go via Dublin, be sure that you document your presence in the UK thouroughly and from the minute you arrive, so there's no question about when you entered.  Register with a GP, get a library card, save all your mail, get bills in your name, get a provisional driving license, anything you can do.  I've done all this, and frankly, I'm still really worried about eventual ILR/probationary citizenship.  I hope there won't be trouble, but who can say?  If you haven't bought your tickets yet and can afford the more expensive ones, it's probably worth it in the long run, for your peace of mind, to avoid Dublin. 

Does anyone know of any other airlines that are cheaper for one-way tickets?  Since our daughter will be flying with me - it's not just a question of me paying more, it will be for 2 tickets.  We already have to pay more for my husband to fly with the dogs on BA and then he needs to take the train from London.

Not to do with the airplane tickets, but: Does your husband have a credit history in the UK?  Many people on this site have had to pay six months of rent in advance because they lack a UK credit history.  I'm not sure how long you and your husband have lived in the US, but it might be worth checking with some estate agents about what will be required if it has been a while since he lived in the UK. 

Ticket prices can depend on where you're flying from.  If you're leaving from LA, you might try Air New Zealand, they had some reasonable flights a few months ago.  If you're leaving from Chicago or Boston, unfortunately Aer Lingus is the only cheap--or I should say not ruinously expensive--option.  It's a b*tch of a situation. 

Does anyone know of any other airlines that are cheaper for one-way tickets?  Since our daughter will be flying with me - it's not just a question of me paying more, it will be for 2 tickets.  We already have to pay more for my husband to fly with the dogs on BA and then he needs to take the train from London.

Have you looked into buying round-trip tickets instead of one-way? They can be much cheaper and you don't have to use the return ticket if you don't want to .

We've lived in the states for 18 years so my husband doesn't have a credit history.  But went he went over in Dec he spoke with an estate agent how said as long as we can pay the first month's rent and desposit and show salary info we should be fine. 

We are flying from Washington Dulles or we could also fly from Baltimore.  The fares I get from expedia are about $1000-1100 one way or about $1100 or 1200 round trip.  I also just noticed that Virgin as a one way fare for $577.  It seems to be a special fare, so I'm not sure if it will still be there in a few months.  I don't want to book until we have everything esle settled.

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions!

If you're coming from Dulles to Glasgow, I think there is a route through KLM that connects in the Continent (Amsterdam IIRC).  It's not as cheap as Aer Lingus, but it's not as costly as others (BA, etc).  Also, if you do not have a lot of luggage coming with you, I'd also look into flying into Edinburgh and taking one of the commute trains over (they run every half hour out from Waverley to Glasgow Queen Street and cost £10 per person).
Oh, and when are you coming over?  If it's going to be mid to late summer, you'll want to book the flight sooner rather than later because you may run into higher prices with tourist season.

I think its easier to scan a budget and give advice when presented in GBP but I'm just math lazy (now that you presented the exchange rate you were using). When I was there it was a $2 to 1GBP rate!

I would separate your stuff out more into specific utilities, etc after looking around at costs for various things. Are you including council tax in your rent estimate?

These items are a bit too vague now to give a good read on:
Buying things      2000 (buying small appliances and some furniture)
2 wks expenses   1000
Misc.                   600 (setting up bills like gas, electric, phones, etc)