Shopping in the UK can be fun. You'll have plenty of choice and most times hunting for the right deals can be very rewarding in terms of savings.
Clothes and Accessories: If you are looking for cheap stores, nothing can beat the PRIMARK price. I found the quality to be just about 'ok'. I also shop sometimes at GEORGE -ASDA's clothing line. The quality is good. I just bought a nice stylish sweater for 10 GBP. Debenhams, Newlook and M&S clothes range are also good (more expensive though)
Shoes and Sports related: JD sports and Sportsdirect rule the market here. I've always bought at sports direct but I generally compare prices with JD. Also, what I noticed is, its cheaper online. If you are sure of your shoe size, you can save some bucks by ordering it online
Groceries: ASDA, Tesco, Morrissons, Sainsburys are all major retailers. I found ASDA to be the cheapest of all on the whole. Veggies are cheaper in ASDA. Cereal and milk is cheaper in Tesco. Indian groceries are usually available in ASDA. I buy Kohinoor Basmati Rice 10kg bag for about 10GBP. Pillsbury 10kg aata for about 12 gbp. Did you know this? We get 5kg Pillsbury aata for 8GBP but if you are okay with Ashirwad brand, you get it for about 5GBP! Eastham, Hounslow are Indian localites. I've seen many Indian shops there. I get stuff from Eastham sometimes.
Baby and Toddler stuff: Mothercare is a good brand. I bought some clothes for my 2yr old from Primark and they were quite good. I got 2 sets of night clothes for 4GBP and the quality was pretty good. The brand was 'early days'. For high chair, car seat etc, hunt online for deals. Watch out! ASDA has baby and toddler events very often and I found some good deals there.
Furniture: Argos, ASDA, TESCO everyone sells furniture. If you want some good stylish furniture for reasonable prices, I strongly recommend IKEA. Check out gumtree (www.gumtree.com) ads. You might get a nice deal from someone on a house clearance.
General Info: The concept of Car-boot-sales is a good one in the UK. People sell their unwanted stuff for cheap there. Look out for charity events or car boot sales in your area. The items are generally of reasonably good quality.
Tuesday 28 September 2010
UK job search and resources
Your UK job search can begin even before you move to the UK. But let me warn you, employers prefer those who are already in the UK. Most of the job interviews happen face to face.. Some of my clients got jobs while they were still in India. It depends on the demand for your skills and the employer.
Job search from your home country:
Best way to start your job search from your home country is to register at job sites. Format your CV well so that there are no spelling/grammar mistakes. Having a UK number can increase your chances if getting an interview call. Employers might think you are already in the UK and also, calling a local number is always more appealing.
Here is how you can get a UK number: http://www.uknumber.co.uk/
Once you are ready with you CV, register with as many jobsites as possible
www.reed.co.uk
www.jobsite.co.uk
www.cwjobs.co.uk
The best way to find jobs is through www.indeed.co.uk This website show you jobs across different jobsites!
BEWARE of fake calls! Agents can call you saying they have a job opening for you and after a while, they ask you if you applied else where. They do this to find out about open positions so that they can fill them with their candidates! All you need to do is, tell them that you didnt apply elsewhere yet !
Job search from your home country:
Best way to start your job search from your home country is to register at job sites. Format your CV well so that there are no spelling/grammar mistakes. Having a UK number can increase your chances if getting an interview call. Employers might think you are already in the UK and also, calling a local number is always more appealing.
Here is how you can get a UK number: http://www.uknumber.co.uk/
Once you are ready with you CV, register with as many jobsites as possible
www.reed.co.uk
www.jobsite.co.uk
www.cwjobs.co.uk
The best way to find jobs is through www.indeed.co.uk This website show you jobs across different jobsites!
BEWARE of fake calls! Agents can call you saying they have a job opening for you and after a while, they ask you if you applied else where. They do this to find out about open positions so that they can fill them with their candidates! All you need to do is, tell them that you didnt apply elsewhere yet !
Living with kids in UK
Children will love the UK...there is so much for them here!
Babies and Toddlers: Sure Start is the Government’s programme to deliver the best start in life for every child by bringing together early education, childcare, health and family support. All sure start activities are free! My 2yr old goes to Sure Start's 1'O clock club and she loves it. The session lasts for 3 hrs. Paining, clay modelling, rhymes and lots of high quality toys to play with. Above everything, what I love about such clubs is the opportunity for the child to interact and play with other children.
Your local library or church can be a good source for more activities. They usually run weekly sessions in Story telling, book clubs, rhymes, art and craft sessions.
I plan my daughter;s week based on activities at the club and library.
Schools and Education: There are 2 kinds of schools in the UK. State schools and private schools. State schools are free while private schools are expensive. If you choose state schooling, you can only apply for schools in your area. Some state schools are very good and needless to say, rents and property prices in that area are very high! State schools are regulated and statistics are published regularly. http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/ can give you all the info you want about your local school
Children start school typically at the age of 3.
Education in England: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England
Education in Wales: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Wales
Education in Scotland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Scotland
Information about GCSEs can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Certificate_of_Secondary_Education
Child care in the UK: Day care is expensive in the UK. It costs on average £900 a month per child. I've seen a couple of them and they were good.
Education in England: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England
Education in Wales: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Wales
Education in Scotland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Scotland
Information about GCSEs can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Certificate_of_Secondary_Education
Child care in the UK: Day care is expensive in the UK. It costs on average £900 a month per child. I've seen a couple of them and they were good.
Touring UK
UK is so centrally located. With Europe at its doorstep, you will want to pack your bags at every opportunity to explore another country or just the beautiful country side of the UK.
My husband love to travel and we are out every weekend! In this article, I'll write about how to find places, modes of travel, money matters and some dos and donts :)
Travel within UK
England, Wales and Scotland together make the UK. Each of these, EXTREMELY beautiful in its own way. Best way to start is to cover the country you are in .
http://www.visitengland.com/en/
http://www.visitwales.co.uk/
http://www.visitscotland.com/
Travel:
Train (National Rail) is the best way to travel within UK. Coach (National Express) is also another economical way to get around. Train is much faster though.
www.nationalrail.co.uk (check www.thetrainline.com - sometimes you get better fares here esp if you are booking much in advance)
www.nationalexpress.com
If you plan extensive travel, I strongly recommend buying a railcard. You end up saving a lot on your tickets. Talk to the ticket office staff to see what railcard suits you the best.
If you plan to hire a car to drive around, your international driving license can be used.
Accomodation:
I always use www.booking.com for booking accomodation. There are several websites that offer deals on hotels. www.hotels.com is another one...I generally book from one of these.
Food:
Eating out is quite expensive in UK and Europe. Also, it is difficult for vegetarians like me! In the UK, you spend about 15 GBP for a decent meal for 1 person. If you eat at Indian restaurants, expect to spend a min of 20 for 2 ppl.
If you go sightseeing over a weekend : 2 breakfasts and 4 meals = a min of 75-80 bucks!! Thats a lot of money!
What I genereally do is, I book a apart-hotel where ever possible. Apart-hotel room is a like a studio..you have a small kitchen in your room. I take frozen or ready to eat rotis and some ready to eat curries. This way I save 2-3 meals. For breakfast, I buy cereal and milk... for 1-2 meals, I eat outside to experience local flavours :)
Coming up soon in this session:
- Travelling with children in UK
- Travel to Europe!
My husband love to travel and we are out every weekend! In this article, I'll write about how to find places, modes of travel, money matters and some dos and donts :)
Travel within UK
England, Wales and Scotland together make the UK. Each of these, EXTREMELY beautiful in its own way. Best way to start is to cover the country you are in .
http://www.visitengland.com/en/
http://www.visitwales.co.uk/
http://www.visitscotland.com/
Travel:
Train (National Rail) is the best way to travel within UK. Coach (National Express) is also another economical way to get around. Train is much faster though.
www.nationalrail.co.uk (check www.thetrainline.com - sometimes you get better fares here esp if you are booking much in advance)
www.nationalexpress.com
If you plan extensive travel, I strongly recommend buying a railcard. You end up saving a lot on your tickets. Talk to the ticket office staff to see what railcard suits you the best.
If you plan to hire a car to drive around, your international driving license can be used.
Accomodation:
I always use www.booking.com for booking accomodation. There are several websites that offer deals on hotels. www.hotels.com is another one...I generally book from one of these.
Food:
Eating out is quite expensive in UK and Europe. Also, it is difficult for vegetarians like me! In the UK, you spend about 15 GBP for a decent meal for 1 person. If you eat at Indian restaurants, expect to spend a min of 20 for 2 ppl.
If you go sightseeing over a weekend : 2 breakfasts and 4 meals = a min of 75-80 bucks!! Thats a lot of money!
What I genereally do is, I book a apart-hotel where ever possible. Apart-hotel room is a like a studio..you have a small kitchen in your room. I take frozen or ready to eat rotis and some ready to eat curries. This way I save 2-3 meals. For breakfast, I buy cereal and milk... for 1-2 meals, I eat outside to experience local flavours :)
Coming up soon in this session:
- Travelling with children in UK
- Travel to Europe!
Sunday 26 September 2010
All about renting in the UK
Renting a flat in UK can be quite a task. You need to be careful not to fall into fraudsters traps. The purpose of this article is to make you aware of such pitfalls and provide guidance on property search.
UK property market (rentals and sales) is completely taken over my agents.
The procedure is: You browse through several property websites and shortlist some properties. You then contact the agents who advertised them and schedule a viewing. You can also ask them to show you some more similar properties. Once you like the flat and decide to take it, you pay the agent's fee and deposit. You can search for privately listed properties on www.gumtree.com but be aware of all those frauds! (check my post on frauds)
About the agent's fee: Agents fee for tenents can be anything from 'exorbitant' to 'nil' . In anycase, you should not be paying more than 100. You do not have to pay for the viewings. If an agent is asking you to pay before they give you any service, run!
Areas: Every council has good and bad areas. If you like a property, make sure you visit the area once early in the morning (6am) and at around 6 pm, 9pm and 11pm. During the day time and in the evenings, see if you find families and children around. Such areas are usually safe. When you visit late in the night, the picture becomes more or less clear. If you find hooded groups hanging around or if you find broken bottles on the street, it is likely to be an unsafe area. Even after you do your research, contact the nearest police station to verify your facts. There are several nice areas in Central London but they are expensive. We've just finalized a property in Bromley. We were told the area is good and safe. I'll update this with my experiences after a few months.
About Deposit: Once you decide to rent a property, you usually pay your agent 'holding fee'. This is usually a part of your deposit. It is a norm to collect 6weeks rent as a deposit. Make sure your deposit is being held in a deposit protection scheme. There have been several cases where the landlord refused to return the deposit or the agent playing dirty. So it is very important that you deposit is being held in a council approved deposit protection scheme
Rental agreements: Rental agreement are generally for a min of 6 months. Templates are available online. Even if you landlord gives his own template, do not sign in haste. Take a copy home with you, read it inside out and discuss any doubts that you may have. Make sure there is no maintainance clause on you. All the appliances should be maintained by the landlord (unless the damage is not accidental).
Moving into your new rented home: Before you take the keys, make sure you run the inventory with your landlord and make a note of existing damages in your rental agreement. The landlord should not have a spare key to your property. No one without your approval should have access to your property
Maintenance: You are expected to maintain the house in a reasonable standard. Normal wear and tear are accepted. Some landlords expect you to have your flat professionally cleaned when you move out. Check if such phrase is included in your rental agreement. Make sure you are aware of the costs involved. Incase of any maintance required to property or appliance, inform the landlord and expect him to respond within a reasonable timeframe. You can break the contract or sue the landlord if the property is in a bad state and the landlord is refusing to spend on getting it repaired.
Moving out: You generally give 2 months notice before moving out of your property. Make sure you are aware of the costs involved if you are breaking the agreement. Just before you return the keys to the landlord, run the inventory with him and get his signature on the deposit return form. Some agents will want to do it after you vacate. Insist on doing the inventory in your presence.
Legal hassles and where to go for help:
Resources:
Property websites:
www.findaproperty.com
www.zoopla.com
www.rightmove.com
www.homesandproperty.com
Negotiating Rent: Remember, the rent and agents fee both are negotiable. When you look at a property and like it, dont show it yet! Call the agent after a few hours and say you'd like to put forth an offer for it. We managed a 50pcm discount. We could have walked away from the property and 'perhaps' got more discount, but we really really loved the flat. If the property is on the market for over 3 weeks, put forth a nice offer...atleast 150pcm less than the asking price and then raise it a bit if necessary.
Finding the right flat: Coming up soon!!
Coming up in this section soon:
- How to negotiate rents
- How to look for the right property
UK property market (rentals and sales) is completely taken over my agents.
The procedure is: You browse through several property websites and shortlist some properties. You then contact the agents who advertised them and schedule a viewing. You can also ask them to show you some more similar properties. Once you like the flat and decide to take it, you pay the agent's fee and deposit. You can search for privately listed properties on www.gumtree.com but be aware of all those frauds! (check my post on frauds)
About the agent's fee: Agents fee for tenents can be anything from 'exorbitant' to 'nil' . In anycase, you should not be paying more than 100. You do not have to pay for the viewings. If an agent is asking you to pay before they give you any service, run!
Areas: Every council has good and bad areas. If you like a property, make sure you visit the area once early in the morning (6am) and at around 6 pm, 9pm and 11pm. During the day time and in the evenings, see if you find families and children around. Such areas are usually safe. When you visit late in the night, the picture becomes more or less clear. If you find hooded groups hanging around or if you find broken bottles on the street, it is likely to be an unsafe area. Even after you do your research, contact the nearest police station to verify your facts. There are several nice areas in Central London but they are expensive. We've just finalized a property in Bromley. We were told the area is good and safe. I'll update this with my experiences after a few months.
About Deposit: Once you decide to rent a property, you usually pay your agent 'holding fee'. This is usually a part of your deposit. It is a norm to collect 6weeks rent as a deposit. Make sure your deposit is being held in a deposit protection scheme. There have been several cases where the landlord refused to return the deposit or the agent playing dirty. So it is very important that you deposit is being held in a council approved deposit protection scheme
Rental agreements: Rental agreement are generally for a min of 6 months. Templates are available online. Even if you landlord gives his own template, do not sign in haste. Take a copy home with you, read it inside out and discuss any doubts that you may have. Make sure there is no maintainance clause on you. All the appliances should be maintained by the landlord (unless the damage is not accidental).
Moving into your new rented home: Before you take the keys, make sure you run the inventory with your landlord and make a note of existing damages in your rental agreement. The landlord should not have a spare key to your property. No one without your approval should have access to your property
Maintenance: You are expected to maintain the house in a reasonable standard. Normal wear and tear are accepted. Some landlords expect you to have your flat professionally cleaned when you move out. Check if such phrase is included in your rental agreement. Make sure you are aware of the costs involved. Incase of any maintance required to property or appliance, inform the landlord and expect him to respond within a reasonable timeframe. You can break the contract or sue the landlord if the property is in a bad state and the landlord is refusing to spend on getting it repaired.
Moving out: You generally give 2 months notice before moving out of your property. Make sure you are aware of the costs involved if you are breaking the agreement. Just before you return the keys to the landlord, run the inventory with him and get his signature on the deposit return form. Some agents will want to do it after you vacate. Insist on doing the inventory in your presence.
Legal hassles and where to go for help:
Resources:
Property websites:
www.findaproperty.com
www.zoopla.com
www.rightmove.com
www.homesandproperty.com
Negotiating Rent: Remember, the rent and agents fee both are negotiable. When you look at a property and like it, dont show it yet! Call the agent after a few hours and say you'd like to put forth an offer for it. We managed a 50pcm discount. We could have walked away from the property and 'perhaps' got more discount, but we really really loved the flat. If the property is on the market for over 3 weeks, put forth a nice offer...atleast 150pcm less than the asking price and then raise it a bit if necessary.
Finding the right flat: Coming up soon!!
Coming up in this section soon:
- How to negotiate rents
- How to look for the right property
Living in the UK
Living in the UK is quite an experience! I'll outline financial aspects here and elaborate on each later
UK Salaries: Job sites are the best way to find what the UK markets pay for your skills. Here is one for starters: www.cwjobs.co.uk
UK take home salary: Income Tax and National Insurance contributions are deducted from your salary. To check your net take home salary, visit: http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php
Health Care:
Health care is covered under NHS for everyone who lives in the UK. You need to register with a practicve in your area as soon as you arrive in the UK. To locate your nearest practice, visit www.nhs.uk . In the UK. you can visit a doctor for free, but you pay for the medicines. For those above 65yrs or below 16 yrs, medicines are also free. You just need to take the doctor's prescription to any pharmacy and get medicines for free. This means, complete medical care is free from children and the elderly..isnt is really nice?
www.boots.com is a big pharmacy chain... it is very likely that you have one in your area!
Groceries: The groceries bill can come up to 200 per month for a small family (couple and a toddler). Supermarkets like ASDA, TESCO and Sainsburys have good offers running most of the time. If you have long term plans, its a good idea to stock up items when they are on sale!
Travel : If you are living far from your workplace, you are most likely to commute via Underground, Rail or Bus. For travel within London, visit www.tfl.gov.uk for ticket/season ticket prices
Tip: If you are planning to live far from your work place to save some money on rent, take the commute costs into consideration. You may actually not be saving anything! You are perhaps better off living close to your workplace.
UK Salaries: Job sites are the best way to find what the UK markets pay for your skills. Here is one for starters: www.cwjobs.co.uk
UK take home salary: Income Tax and National Insurance contributions are deducted from your salary. To check your net take home salary, visit: http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php
Health Care:
Health care is covered under NHS for everyone who lives in the UK. You need to register with a practicve in your area as soon as you arrive in the UK. To locate your nearest practice, visit www.nhs.uk . In the UK. you can visit a doctor for free, but you pay for the medicines. For those above 65yrs or below 16 yrs, medicines are also free. You just need to take the doctor's prescription to any pharmacy and get medicines for free. This means, complete medical care is free from children and the elderly..isnt is really nice?
www.boots.com is a big pharmacy chain... it is very likely that you have one in your area!
Cost of living:
Rents very widely based on the area, size and several other factors. This website can give you an approximate idea of rents in your area. www.zoopla.com In addition to rent, you need to pay council tax and bills (water, gas, electricity). Council tax depends on your county and your property's band. It is about 100 per month on average. Google area name+council tax to get exact rates. Your bills can come to another 150 or so. Remember, furnished or unfurnished -this doent make a lot of difference to the rent. Good quality furniture can be bought for reasonable prices from Argos or IKEA. You may also have some good offers from a lot of highstreet stores.
Read 'All about Renting" post for more information
Read 'All about Renting" post for more information
Groceries: The groceries bill can come up to 200 per month for a small family (couple and a toddler). Supermarkets like ASDA, TESCO and Sainsburys have good offers running most of the time. If you have long term plans, its a good idea to stock up items when they are on sale!
Travel : If you are living far from your workplace, you are most likely to commute via Underground, Rail or Bus. For travel within London, visit www.tfl.gov.uk for ticket/season ticket prices
Tip: If you are planning to live far from your work place to save some money on rent, take the commute costs into consideration. You may actually not be saving anything! You are perhaps better off living close to your workplace.
Moving to the UK
There are several ways of entering the UK. As an employee or as a student. Since this blog is about working and living abroad, I'll reserve talking about the student route later.
There are 2 ways that you can get a work visa in the UK.
1. A company sponsored Tier2 visa : If you employer wants to send you onsite, this is the visa they use
2. Tier1 visa: The UKBA uses a point based system with several qualifying criteria. If an individual scores qualifying points, he/she becomes eligible for the visa. The process is outlined clearly in "all about Tier1 visa" post.
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