Cost of living: US vs UK.

Tru · 19 Oct 2007 at 13:15

Random_23 said:
Sorry to hijack your thread but it seems like the perfect oppertunity to ask. I have been thinking of moving the USA or Canada and wondered what I would need to do? Im low on trade skill's but have great GCSE's and a lot of work experience. I also have a drink driving offence damn those officers for getting me after a meal with boss's at the pub and being 2 yes TWO units over >.< Would that offence stop me being allowed to emigrate?

have you considered Mexico?

fini · 19 Oct 2007 at 13:18

Tru said:
hmmm not sure why you've singled blacks out, that seems kinda prejudiced to me...not accusing you of anything, just saying.

That was my point - you've created a list of things that are generally seen to be bad - crime, illiteracy, poverty etc - and then you've stuck 'black' in the middle of the list. I highlighted it to indicate what I was talking about when asking 'how does that feature in your list? What difference does is make?'. I don't understand what it's doing in the middle of your list and that was my question.

Random_23 · 19 Oct 2007 at 13:23

Tru said:
have you considered Mexico?

Was that sarcasm ? >.<

badbob · 19 Oct 2007 at 13:35

Tru said:
have you considered Mexico?

lol. I would think he would be refused entry. So what he's got a few GCSE's and work experience? Do you have a job? Any skills? Work for a multi-national corp?

Munky1080 · 19 Oct 2007 at 14:00

I'm from the states (texas as a matter of fact,) but live in the UK now, and I gotta tell you it took almost a year before I stopped cringing at how much things cost over here. My wife and I both work full time, but we can't really afford to enjoy life. In the US things are so much cheaper, especially texas. I'm happy you want to spend time over there and wish you the best of luck. If you have any questions you can MSN me, my email is in trust.

Random_23 · 19 Oct 2007 at 14:18

badbob said:
lol. I would think he would be refused entry. So what he's got a few GCSE's and work experience? Do you have a job? Any skills? Work for a multi-national corp?

I have a job, Im skilled in the IT industry.

Kyle009 · 19 Oct 2007 at 14:43

anyone have any idea of how you'd go about getting a job in the US from over here in the UK?

Col_M · 19 Oct 2007 at 14:45

The cost of living is probably lower, as are wages but healthcare is where a lot of your money will go. The dude that did the thing where he ate Mc**** for a month also did a show where he lived on minimum wage and pretty much all his money went on health care. I also remember someone saying they had a baby that was premature and needed 3 weeks in intensive care in a incubator, that cost them $600,000 and the insurance only covered $300,000, of course for 99.99% of people money would be of no significance in this circumstance, but still that's a lot of money to have to find.

Working with many Americans and hearing experiences from them I'd choose Canada over the US

johntmanic · 19 Oct 2007 at 14:56

jidh007 said:
The building standards ARE lower. We use brick, you use wood.

Timber for buildings is just as good as brick.
Im currently working on a 5 storey timber framed building (i think its the highest in the north) so its not exactley something that just blows over

Id love to live in America, im always giving it thought for when i finish my degree and see if I can get a structural engineers job over there!

badbob · 19 Oct 2007 at 15:00

What about traffic noise and audio systems from the house? Wood sided building can't reduce as much as brick, even with padding?

cheets64 · 19 Oct 2007 at 15:30

I have been to America twice, Florida and I there is a more gap between rich and poor, the UK has more of a community spirit and has more history but its just too big of a country to say its better than the UK, Florida is the size of the UK, the UK has its problems and sometimes I want to leave but its home and its Great Britain.

The US homes are very big and when I stayed in a typical Villa the whole place just felt strange and there was no comfort or character to the house I dont think having a bigger home means its better than a average 3 bed semi detached.

I would hate to live in America forever but its a nice place to visit.

willd58 · 19 Oct 2007 at 15:31

Tru said:
Yes yes Kenneth, we can all see you were clearly born with a silver spoon rammed up your jacksie and mummykins has shielded kennywenny from the harsh realities of the most obese, obtuse country on this planet. It is time to wake up pal, outside of your gated communities the US is a hellhole. Sure, your pool must be nice in the evenings but do you think about the Mexican immigrant, with barely a tooth in his head, who comes to scoop the crap out of it when you're cruising for Barbies down the boulevard in your SUV? . Huge swathes of the population are either illiterate, living in poverty, without health insurance, black, criminally insane or both. What about the millions upon millions of religiously demented Christians who DONT ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION and are simply waiting for the day a hairy-beardy man descends from space to come and take them all to heaven? These people RUN your country. And is a justice system that frequently straps a man to a chair and passes electricity through his head until he dies, burnt and covered in his own waste, in front of the local media, a good, progressive approach to justice? Really? In Britain we killed people more humanely than that 400 years ago. Take a walk on the wild side chief, go steal your dads BM and joyride it down to the mall, you will be hard pushed to see the benefits of your justice system with a face full of mace and bullets. OK, so you live in a brick house, super, but those sure didn’t look like bricks that were floating out to the gulf of Mexico from Louisiana a couple of years ago. The girls seem hotter because cosmetic surgery is part of the curriculum.

Had much experiance living over there have you Tru?

iviv · 19 Oct 2007 at 15:34

I spend 3 weeks on holiday in Orlando with a friend, and I certainly enjoyed being there. Given the choice, I'd like to live or work there.
The one thiing that really annoyed me were the prices in stores. Over here, the shelf-edge proce includes VAT, so what you see is what you pay. But in the US (or at least Florida) its added on at the till :/

MuvverRussia · 19 Oct 2007 at 15:56

Random_23 said:
I have a job, Im skilled in the IT industry.

Getting a job in the US is extremely hard if you're British. Unless you're setting up your own company and are investing some serious cash, or are sponsored by a multinational it's almost impossible. Even with multinationals, they have to prove that they couldn't hire a local person to do the job. In your position with just GCSEs (tbh, they're not much of a qualification) and a bit of experience you're way off.

As for the sales tax, sure, you have to add it on, but it's hardly anything compared to the UK - pretty much always below 10% depending on the state you're in.

Health care wise, I'd disagree that the US system is better. The US system costs a lot more to run than the UK system (% of GDP) and is pretty inefficient. Sure, the NHS isn't the best system either, but it's a lot more equitable than the likes of Medicare.

sunama · 19 Oct 2007 at 16:21

MuvverRussia said:
Getting a job in the US is extremely hard if you're British. Unless you're setting up your own company and are investing some serious cash, or are sponsored by a multinational it's almost impossible. Even with multinationals, they have to prove that they couldn't hire a local person to do the job. In your position with just GCSEs (tbh, they're not much of a qualification) and a bit of experience you're way off.

So, then lets say I wanted to move to the USA. I have a BSc and MSc What would I have to do?

InvaderGIR · 19 Oct 2007 at 16:23

sunama said:
So, then lets say I wanted to move to the USA. I have a BSc and MSc What would I have to do?

Get a job offer from a US based company/be contracted out to the US.

Then you can get a work visa.

Atleast that's the way I've understood it for a emigrating etc.

InvG

D.P. · 19 Oct 2007 at 16:26

Kyle009 said:
anyone have any idea of how you'd go about getting a job in the US from over here in the UK?

This you really should search for.

But in brief, it is hell.

Vanilla · 19 Oct 2007 at 16:27

I did my placement in the US...i'll do a write up later tonight.

Spent a year over there.

D.P. · 19 Oct 2007 at 16:29

sunama said:
So, then lets say I wanted to move to the USA. I have a BSc and MSc What would I have to do?

Become a famous musician, movie star, artist,
Or a GP/surgeon

Get a PhD/Win a Nobel prize.

Invest $1 million in a start up.

Marry a US women.

Options aren't easy even when skilled. The route I am doing is PhD... then post-doc in US, and when i am there beg for a job.

Having a good education means you can really make it big in the US.

InvaderGIR · 19 Oct 2007 at 16:32

Vanilla said:
I did my placement in the US...i'll do a write up later tonight.

Spent a year over there.

That's what I plan on doing, most people I know think it's a great idea, but there are some that just basically say "you, get shot, and it's crap over there, and there are not many jobs, you wont get one". Nothing like being pointlessly negative, not backing up anything, just going on what they were told when on holiday there. :rolleyes:

That'd be cool if you could give some info/feedback on it.

InvG