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!

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

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.