Here is a rough estimate of what our moving in costs were. While most of this was in pounds, we used a US debit card to pay for most of it, so I left it in $$ for your ease (see my post on the 1£/2$ exchange rate). (Our bank is E*Trade, and it has no foreign currency charges. Many charge another 2.5%-3.0% for foreign currency.)
Plane tickets - $2,200. We found Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) to be very reasonable for 1-way tickets, since they charge you about 1/2 price for 1-way rather than the same. You’ll have to book a flight to Dublin and then from Dublin to Newcastle.
Visa applications: $640
B&B - $750. St. John’s for a week while we were looking/waiting to move into a house.
Car rental - $900. Minivan for about a week to get settled in, plus petrol (~$8/gallon).
Ikea - $800. Household items (dishes, a few bookshelves, etc.)
Argos/B&Q/Curry’s - $350. TV, lamps, dvd player, etc.
Eating out until settled - $560 Assumes: $10/person/meal, 4 ppl, 1 week, B&B for breakfast and that you make some sandwiches sometimes, otherwise it’d be more. This is Subway, KFC, etc. (so more if nicer food).
Setting up bank account - $4000 deposit
1st months rent + deposit: $2500
Miscellaneous things: $2000+
That gets you to about $15,000+.
I think we spent even more than that, but we didn’t split out all of it. What that means is that you need an ATM card that doesn’t charge fees, so you can draw out about £400-£500 a day to get all the deposit (£3500) and other stuff done.
While it was more expensive, we highly recommend coming at least 2 weeks before term so you can settle in. We did 2 months and it was great. It especially allowed our kids to get settled before the busyness began.
It’s obviously cheaper if you just move into Ustinov (or other college housing) b/c no B&B charges and eating out is reduced some.
Tuesday, 6 February 2007 at 3:12 pm
Thanks Ben!
Tuesday, 29 January 2008 at 5:05 pm
Ben,
When you moved to the UK and shipped over your books and belongings, where were they sent if you did not have an address when you first arrived?
Daniel
Wednesday, 30 January 2008 at 7:29 pm
We pre-boxed everything and left them with my parents. They shipped them as soon as we had an address. When you ship stuff make sure you that you mark on the customs forms that you are moving personal belongings and it doesn’t hurt to have filled out form c3 so VAT doesn’t get charged. See the link here: http://dunelm.wordpress.com/moving-to-the-uk/us-to-uk-moving-tips/
Tuesday, 19 February 2008 at 2:40 am
Ben,
Thanks for info! My wife raised three more small questions that I would like to ask. One, if we take our reading lamps over with us, will the UK sell light bulbs that we can us for our US lamps? Two, if we take our coffee pot, blow dryer, microwave, etc… will they blow up with even with a converter. I just do not want to hurt any of our appliances. Third, what is the cost of internet in the UK? Who would you recommend as a provider?
Thanks,
Daniel
Tuesday, 19 February 2008 at 9:12 pm
Daniel, Glad to answer whatever I can.
Lamps–You can get US (screw-in) style bulbs here, though the UK most often uses a ‘bayonet’ style.
Appliances–I’m not sure others’ success, but nothing that we brought that needs a converter has worked correctly, even with a ’smart’ converter that supposedly can handle different wattages. Here’s a general post on this issue: http://dunelm.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/moving-electronics-to-the-uk/
Internet–We use BT and it’s about £20/month. See here on DSL:
http://dunelm.wordpress.com/moving-to-the-uk/settling-in/
Hope that helps,
Ben