Got a job offer!!!..... and now faced with a choice.

Question regarding cost of living and overall ability to travel based on job offer salary.

My wife and I love to travel and have made it a focal point in our life. I have received two job offers, one here in the US that would be a better career move (very rare opportunity so early in career), and another in southampton/portsmouth area in the UK (good engineering position not career changing). We have always kicked around the idea to move to another country sometime in our life and now are faced with the actual decision but its very hard to compare cost of living in florida to the UK. The offer in the UK came in at 35k British pound. Diong a direct conversion to USD, this is less than what I make in the US. Currently I am living comfortably with money left over for frequent travel (abroad at least once per year with many domestic).

My question is: is 35k enough for daily living (modestly but not meagerly) and still travel frequently to other euro countries on holidays?

Also, was cost of living what you expected/estimated once you got settled?

Thank you for any insight and opinions!

Absolutely enough. My wife is the American by the way, I'm a Brit. Travel to Europe is cheap, particularly as you would be on the south coast. Also you would get at least 25 days holiday time in order to travel, and many cities you could go on a long weekend. There are plenty of budget airlines flying to European cities. As to general cost of living, we were in Florida last year (Clearwater) and found that supermarket prices, particularly produce, was much more expensive than in the UK. Electronics are more expensive and housing will be more expensive.

I guess if you want the experience then it's a great opportunity to see Europe.

I think you'd have to do some hard number crunching to see if £35 would be sufficient for you to live on in the UK, as well as deciding whether or not you want to further your career.

To get a better idea of average rent prices for the area, I suggest taking a look at rightmove.co.uk or zoopla.co.uk

Would your wife also be contributing an income?  If so, I think it would definitely be possible to survive in that area.

To give some perspective, I make less than the wage you stated, pay £500 towards my share of the rent each month (plus bills, council tax, travel).  We eat out ~once/week, and travel to Europe every few months.  I typically pay for 3 round trips to the US per year as well (me twice; him once).

Would your wife also be contributing an income?  If so, I think it would definitely be possible to survive in that area.

I wouldn't be able to count on it as we are not sure how difficult it would be to find work for her. From what I read, she would receive a work visa (piggy backed onto mine). She currently works in the Human Resources field

Thank you for the replies! I will continue to do some number crunching, but I feel we  would be fine.

Your wife would apply for a dependent visa that will allow her to work.

If you make say $70k in most of the US (outside of major metros like NY/LA/SF), I think £35k is going to feel tight. You can do a lot but keep in mind taxes are quite high and you are unlikely to save. Also keep in mind you will likely want to travel back to the US to see friends and family.

Your wife would apply for a dependent visa that will allow her to work.

If you make say $70k in most of the US (outside of major metros like NY/LA/SF), I think £35k is going to feel tight. You can do a lot but keep in mind taxes are quite high and you are unlikely to save. Also keep in mind you will likely want to travel back to the US to see friends and family.

I think Geeta is right in saying that £35 here will feel tighter than $70 there. But it isn't bad. If your wife works - which she should be able to - then you are in a pretty good place.

There are some big life questions here....but you know that.

 

Experienced teachers earn about £35k, so that's the lifestyle you'll have. Modest but okay outside of London. If you and your wife love to travel, though, do it. You get 5 weeks holiday here and flights and packages are cheap. I assume you don't have kids? If not, double do it. I think international experience is only an asset, and you'll bring valuable knowledge on how things are done in the US - so you will be liked. South coast is very friendly, further west is stunning. I'd encourage you to keep ties to US if you do move here (some people find they miss home quite quickly, some never move) but strongly consider it.

I'm an engineer and when I moved to the UK, I took a huge pay cut. As you can see, engineering salaries here are just not as good as they are in the US.  The allure of moving to Scotland was too great for me and I jumped at the chance. Not often you get a visa for another country and it's been brilliant.    I have loved every single minute of it!  

I know you’re talking about cost of living, but I am thinking slightly differently:

You say "good engineering position not career changing" - but you know, international experience can give you a huge boost in your career and could make you a stronger candidate for the higher positions later on. Plus there are very good engineering institutes here (not sure what type of engineer you are); but for example, I became a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and that opens up a lot of trainings, courses, seminars, (from basic engineering skills to management) and a whole network of engineers to tap into. It also means you can become European registered and that opens up a whole new network.  Your new company may also have opportunities once settled in.

For the other position, if you're early in your career, are you up to the challenge of the bigger position?

For both positions, which one will bring you to your ultimate career goals? What kind of professional opportunities will it bring you? Does it meet your aspirations for what you want to do every day?  

Thinking about the working environments- are you comfortable working in metric and learning new terminologies for tools and testing equipment quickly?  Are you able to take on new regulations and EU legislation quickly?    
For either company, what is the work-life balance like?  What are the perks and benefits?  

 What is your wife thinking, is she open to the move?  How close are you to family and friends at home?  How likely do you think you'd be homesick?  How quickly do you get frustrated when you don’t understand things?  How likely do you want to own property (houses cost a lot and be prepared for no one to give you a mortgage until you’re a permanent resident)? Moving internationally with no support network is HARD! (I knew not a soul when I moved).

Just some food for thought!
    

Another thing to remember is that health care is free. In England you pay around £8 for prescriptions, but otherwise, you don't have to pay anything out of pocket at point of care and don't have to contribute to employer health care plans. If either of you has health issues, this could be a major money saver.

To get to the nitty gritty of the costs, take a look at http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php and take a look at your take home pay (taxes are higher here and you will still have to file in the US.  You shouldn't owe unless you have investments or other assets that are subject to taxation).

Based on £35k, your take home pay will be £2,200 a month.  This could decrease if you have a company car, private medical coverage (NHS will cover you and you will not *need* private coverage), pension, etc.

Looking at Portsmouth on Rightmove.co.uk, shows that you would have a lot of options for a 2 bed flat for £700/month.

Other expenses (all estimates) if anything, I've gone a bit high:
Council tax:  £100/month
TV License:  £150/year
Gas / Electric:  £85/month
Water:  £30/month
Cable/Broadband/Phone:  £55/month
Mobile Phone:  £35/month (£70/month for two people)
Car Insurance:  £50/month (won't need if you don't have a car of course)

I may be forgetting something, but I think this basically covers most things.  That basically takes your bills to £1,100 a month, leaving £1,100 left over to cover food/entertainment/travel or £250 a week.

One off expenses in your first year will be driving lessons to get a UK driving license (you can drive on your US license for a year).  It will probably cost £400ish to get your license with5 hours of lessons and the test fees.

If you don't have a furnished apartment, you'll need furniture and such.  If you have pets, they are expensive to move.

Eating out is more expensive here, costing about £40 to £50 for a meal out for two (obviously can go to cheaper places or more expensive places).  Train travel is very expensive (I talk to people in the US who have the misconception that train travel is cheap. It's not cheap, but it is a very good network).

Obviously cost is not everything.  You will be opening yourself up to having international experience on your resume which will open many other opportunities.  Granted, if you don't want to get yourself into an international "niche", this is something to consider too.

Also if you were to love it, the requirements to obtain ILR (permanent residence) are becoming harder all the time.  If you will be a Tier 2 General, you will need to make GREATER than £35k for five years to qualify.  If you will be on a Tier 2 ICT, you will not be able to qualify for ILR.  Something to keep in mind if you were to fall in love in the UK and want to make this your permanent home.

Good luck to you.  You are in an awesome position to have two great choices!

Looking at Portsmouth on Rightmove.co.uk, shows that you would have a lot of options for a 2 bed flat for £700/month.

Yes, but they may not be in an area where you want to live.
I live in Hampshire and the cost of living is quite high. When we moved over in 2005 (myself, husband and two daughters) my husband was making more than £35k and we found it difficult to maintain the standard of living we had in the States.  Eight years on and we still find it a struggle as far as cost of living and saving for retirement.  In fact we keep toying with the idea of moving back-but it would be to San Jose which is another area where the cost of living is very high.
I wish you all the best in your decision making. 

Hi,

Some excellent responses above and as you can see, there's a lot to consider and evaluate!

Overall though, the situation is still as it's always been, and that is that in direct comparisons for many people looking to move to the UK, the cost of living is higher, standard of living is lower, quality of life is lower when directly comparing to the USA. Is a £35K p/a enough? yes, no and maybe/possibly - no one here can give you a definitive answer. However on the general talk side of things, I'd say it's lower, given that the vast majority of economic migrants do share plenty of similar wants/needs when moving/living in another country.

As per above, you'll need to assess your own personal situation, the things you'd like to have and achieve and then compare to see if that salary and any potential increases you might get allow you to do those things. Chances are relatively high you won't be able to and you'll need to adjust/cut back/ compromise somewhere along the line.

There's plenty of information online and of course here on UKY about specific areas and interests etc around pretty much most parts of the UK which will give you real or as accurate indicators to help with your evaluation process.

Good luck whichever way you do decide to go!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

You can manage to have a good life in the UK on 35K a year, but you'll have to make compromises and maybe re-evaluate how you spend your money.

When I moved over I knew I would have to take a pay cut and thought I was prepared for it but when I was offered a job it was for less than half I was making in the US for a comparable position - it was challenging, but doable.

But, one thing to consider, if you're goal is to be able to travel I think that will be very difficult on one salary. The budget airlines aren't so cheap anymore and if you're paying for two it will add up, just something to consider.

Good luck, I think the chance to live in another country is too good to pass up and would make any sacrifice worth it.