Really, why would you want to stay in the UK?

[Wembley67]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.

If it wan't for my parents getting to an older age I would be away to sunnier shores in a second.

Really really despise the UK :bitchy:

[Sergio sledge]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.

If it wan't for my parents getting to an older age I would be away to sunnier shores in a second.

Really really despise the UK :bitchy:

:agree: We're at this moment in time seriously considering moving abroad. In America, the wife could get over double what she earns here, and the cost of living is half what it is here. :bitchy:

Just to put things in perspective, we bought a 2 bedroom semi in Inverness a year ago for £150,000, and for $278,000, (nearly exactly the same price) we could get a 4 bedroom, 2 reception room, 1 games room, detached house with a pool, in a gated community in Florida, less than 0.5 hours drive from the centre of Tampa. Community amenities include 3 pools, (1 indoor) a sports centre with 3 basketball courts, and a golf course, all for $300 a year, which is only £25 more than we pay for grass cutting in the area we live just now. (on top of flaming council tax)

Only problem with moving to America is that eating out is so cheap and portions are so big that I'd be a fatty within a year....:greengrin

[Pretty Boy]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.

If it wan't for my parents getting to an older age I would be away to sunnier shores in a second.

Really really despise the UK :bitchy:

Spot on, i love so much about Scotland but if i could afford to up sticks and get away i would. A few flying visits a year could satisfy my apetite for home.

[Onceinawhile]

hibs
irn bru

thats the only real arguments i can see against moving out of the uk(i still reside in the UK im just in belgium for a year)

also you do miss your friends and family

[Tomsk]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.

If it wan't for my parents getting to an older age I would be away to sunnier shores in a second.

Really really despise the UK :bitchy:

Too true. It's murder!

If I was younger I would go. I keep telling my laddie he mustn't make the same mistake I did.

[GreenandGlaikit]

:agree: We're at this moment in time seriously considering moving abroad. In America, the wife could get over double what she earns here, and the cost of living is half what it is here. :bitchy:

Just to put things in perspective, we bought a 2 bedroom semi in Inverness a year ago for £150,000, and for $278,000, (nearly exactly the same price) we could get a 4 bedroom, 2 reception room, 1 games room, detached house with a pool, in a gated community in Florida, less than 0.5 hours drive from the centre of Tampa. Community amenities include 3 pools, (1 indoor) a sports centre with 3 basketball courts, and a golf course, all for $300 a year, which is only £25 more than we pay for grass cutting in the area we live just now. (on top of flaming council tax)

Only problem with moving to America is that eating out is so cheap and portions are so big that I'd be a fatty within a year....:greengrin



....and the hurricanes, and the guns and the religious ****-wits and the corrupt political and judicial system. :greengrin

A veritable paradise - if yer permanently healthy & young and speak Spanish. :wink:

[Mikey_1875]

I cant really think of a valid reason why but I know I could never move out of Scotland permanently. Maybe just because I have no problems with the current life in Scotland, well adjusted in Scotland, good way of living imo. Couldn't be bothered adjusting to a new lifestyle or culture either as I like the way things are here at the moment.

[Iain G]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.

If it wan't for my parents getting to an older age I would be away to sunnier shores in a second.

Really really despise the UK :bitchy:

Its not all rosy in the rest of the world, the UK is not such a bad place to still live. I know, I moved out last year and am loving NZ, but there are problems here like anywhere else, youth crime issues (whether grafitti (or tagging as its known) or boy racers), low wages compared to scary price of houses, mortgage rates at 9 and 10%, murder, crap weather etc etc.

There are always problems wherever you live, its just that the positives need to outweigh those negatives, just don't go thinking the grass is greener on the other side, it may be but that grass still has slugs and rubbish and stuff on it :wink:

And you will miss the Hibees.... :boo hoo:

[Hiber-nation]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.

If it wan't for my parents getting to an older age I would be away to sunnier shores in a second.

Really really despise the UK :bitchy:

It has one very important thing - being able to watch Hibernian FC each week.

[Mixu62]

The only things I miss are Hibs, or if not at the game, the results from Geoff Stelling (legend!) on Sky, maybe Soccer AM, old pubs and people understanding my accent. (You get a bit sick of having to say everything twice). And maybe a bit of football banter at work. NZ isn't perfect, but it's a lot closer to it than Scotland I'm afraid.

[Peevemor]

I moved here about 3 1/2 years ago. I wasn't particularly desperate to leave the UK, but wasn't against a wee change either (my daughter was due to be born so obviously I had to rethink my priorities).

What swung it for me in the end was the better standard of living/quality of life that I'd witnessed on the frequent visits that I'd made previously.

Whilst I earn less than I would if I was still in Edinburgh, my salary is on a par with my peers. I am however about to sign contracts to buy a bit of land and build a 4 bedroomed house with garage, 800m from a (smallish) town centre - all for a total budget of around £90k - pretty impossible at home I'd imagine.

[Lucius Apuleius]

Having worked away from home, all around the world for all of my 36 working years, there is nowhere in the world like home.:greengrin

[Bad Martini]

I'd far rather live in the independent republic of Scotland :devil::devil::devil::devil::devil:

(made fi girders) :greengrin

[Iain G]

I'd far rather live in the independent republic of Scotland :devil::devil::devil::devil::devil:

(made fi girders) :greengrin

BM, I think you allready live there mate, its somewhere in between yer ears :wink::thumbsup:

[hibeesboy1966]

....and the hurricanes, and the guns and the religious ****-wits and the corrupt political and judicial system. :greengrin

A veritable paradise - if yer permanently healthy & young and speak Spanish. :wink:
sounds a bit like the same problems they have through at darkheid and sighbrox:agree::agree::agree::agree::agree:

[Bad Martini]

BM, I think you allready live there mate, its somewhere in between yer ears :wink::thumbsup:

Not at all ... unfortunately, I (and the other 5 million + of us here) are all stuck in the very un-republic of the un-independent Scotland :brickwall

ENDOF

[HibsMax]

hibs
irn bru

thats the only real arguments i can see against moving out of the uk(i still reside in the UK im just in belgium for a year)

also you do miss your friends and family

it's tricky but you can get Irn-Bru over here. :)

[HibsMax]

....and the hurricanes, and the guns and the religious ****-wits and the corrupt political and judicial system. :greengrin

A veritable paradise - if yer permanently healthy & young and speak Spanish. :wink:

press 1 for English. :)

[GreenandGlaikit]

press 1 for English. :)

The OP mentioned a Florida move - surely in New England (cannae spell Mass. :greengrin) its different?

[sidjames]

The OP mentioned a Florida move - surely in New England (cannae spell Mass. :greengrin) its different?

Aye its freezing in the winter:greengrin

[(((Fergus)))]

The trouble with leaving Scotland - as I did 18 years ago - is that you never quite feel at home any more. Personally, I cannot wait to get back. One more year tops and I'll be there.

[HibsMax]

The OP mentioned a Florida move - surely in New England (cannae spell Mass. :greengrin) its different?

you might like to think so but it's not the case. When I want to use an ATM the first thing I have to do after putting my card in is select my language. Pretty much every call center / customer service line I've called prompts you for the same as well. There are plenty of Spanish / Portuguese speaking people in and around the Boston area, it varies by town really - some towns have larger populations than others. The first town I lived in was Everett which used to be all Italian but now there are a lot of Brazilians staying there. Birds of a feather and all that good stuff I guess.

[Wembley67]

Thanks for all your replies, I'm now looking at Dubai for a potential move - waiting on a couple of people getting back to me :dizzy:

[BEEJ]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.
Its the resolute refusal of an apparently left-wing Government to impose a 50% tax band on earnings over, say £100,000, that baffles me.

They'd far rather scamble around looking to raise tax revenue from the usual 'sin' taxes (driving is now a sin, allegedly) than consider taking a fairer proportion of tax from the exceedingly high earners in the UK.

And why? Well apparently, everyone who earns a six figure salary in this country is an entrepreneur, each employing 100s of people in their businesses! :bitchy:

[DaveF]

I did a globe trott 13 years ago BC (before children) and totally fell for NZ.

When I came back I gave it serious consideration about going out there to work and live.

For reasons I forget now, I didn't go and now I'm here with wife, kids and mortgage, and I'm more or less stuck with it. The other half won't go anywhere due to her parents age and my kids are all at the beginning of their school life so uprooting them would'nt be high on my list of things to do.

I'm not daft enough to think all life's problems would ease with some nice weather and a value for money house, but I certainly think starting a new life abroad has more benefits than pitfalls.

[Iain G]

I did a globe trott 13 years ago BC (before children) and totally fell for NZ.

When I came back I gave it serious consideration about going out there to work and live.

For reasons I forget now, I didn't go and now I'm here with wife, kids and mortgage, and I'm more or less stuck with it. The other half won't go anywhere due to her parents age and my kids are all at the beginning of their school life so uprooting them would'nt be high on my list of things to do.

I'm not daft enough to think all life's problems would ease with some nice weather and a value for money house, but I certainly think starting a new life abroad has more benefits than pitfalls.

If you are looking for guaranteed nice weather and value for money houses, then that certainly aint here!!! MOrtgage rates at 9/10% and kiwi built houses that generally have no insulation, central heating or double glazing!!

There are issues and problems with life wherever you live in the world, just think you have to make the best of it :thumbsup:

I love it here :greengrin

[Mike777]

i was a volunteer in malawi for 6 months, and arriving back in edinburgh i kinda asked myself the same question who would really want to live here?

for all the bad things it has going for it, its the one place i constantly think about moving back to.

the only things i would miss is, Hibs, Irn Bru, but then in malawi i would have MTL Wanderers (1st game i went to was a final against Big Bullets 70,000 crazy malawians, i had only been in the country 4 days) and Sobo Cherry Plum.

[sir_eliot]

What exactly has it got going for it?

Everything is vastly overpriced, weather is constantly pish, salaries are nowhere near inline with the cost of living and the latest budget just makes things even more depressing.

If it wan't for my parents getting to an older age I would be away to sunnier shores in a second.

Really really despise the UK :bitchy:
Personally, I've always thought that moving to the UK (Never lived there) could be a good move, but after reading this thread I'm beginning to have some doubts.:duck: When I came over a few months ago the weather was fine, but I did notice that the cost of living compared to wages etc. was quite high. Personally, I think if you're a teenager-young adult it's equally, if not more, enjoyable to live in the UK (in comparison to Australia) as there's more things happening (assuming you've got an equal amount of friends in both places). However, if you've got a young family then you'd be a lot better off living in a place like Australia/NZ (and probably others) as the weather and more laid back culture provides a lot more opportunities:agree: Might I add, the gap between the rich and the poor here isn't anything like it is in the UK, i.e. there's nowhere like Glasgow over here:wink:

[scott7_0(Prague)]

Whilst I earn less than I would if I was still in Edinburgh, my salary is on a par with my peers. I am however about to sign contracts to buy a bit of land and build a 4 bedroomed house with garage, 800m from a (smallish) town centre - all for a total budget of around £90k - pretty impossible at home I'd imagine.


Apart from my missus being Czech your qoute above is near identical to me.

Decent wage - with the Czech krown being what it is just now against the pound I have many cheap weekends back in Edinburgh so get to see the Hibs a far bit and family of course.

We also have a very healthy lifestyle over here, bought a 1bedroom flat behind the castle for 30k GBP 3.5years ago now doubled in price, bought land this year (801m2) and currently having drawings completed to build our 4bedroom family house in a suburb of Prague, for 75k GBP. Other advantages are summers are hot and sexy, winters cold and cosy, the cost to travel, price of fuel, tax is better.

So don't miss the UK too much.

[hibsboy90]

:agree: We're at this moment in time seriously considering moving abroad. In America, the wife could get over double what she earns here, and the cost of living is half what it is here. :bitchy:

Just to put things in perspective, we bought a 2 bedroom semi in Inverness a year ago for £150,000, and for $278,000, (nearly exactly the same price) we could get a 4 bedroom, 2 reception room, 1 games room, detached house with a pool, in a gated community in Florida, less than 0.5 hours drive from the centre of Tampa. Community amenities include 3 pools, (1 indoor) a sports centre with 3 basketball courts, and a golf course, all for $300 a year, which is only £25 more than we pay for grass cutting in the area we live just now. (on top of flaming council tax)

Only problem with moving to America is that eating out is so cheap and portions are so big that I'd be a fatty within a year....:greengrin

Only 2 weeks holiday is also a stumbling block. That's why American's travel in old age, and make the most of national holidays.


Its the resolute refusal of an apparently left-wing Government to impose a 50% tax band on earnings over, say £100,000, that baffles me.

They'd far rather scamble around looking to raise tax revenue from the usual 'sin' taxes (driving is now a sin, allegedly) than consider taking a fairer proportion of tax from the exceedingly high earners in the UK.

And why? Well apparently, everyone who earns a six figure salary in this country is an entrepreneur, each employing 100s of people in their businesses! :bitchy:

IMO George Bush made a lot of sense (i know, shock:dizzy:) but when he was talking to the Economic society of New York he kept stressing that American's should not be put in a position that they have to pay more this year in tax than last year. Great to hear somebody praise the need to have a small public sector, and letting companies re-invest their profits to make growth. Not have too large a tax burden on people so that they can make their own decisions. Rather than this country's obsession with taxing us. Here (http://http//uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKWAT00913420080314?sp=true) is what he had to say.

Ironically the infobar at the bottom of the page had the headline that Yahoo were to leave the UK for switzerland to lessen their tax.

If you tax the hell out of people or businesses, then you lose incentive, and efficiency so the govt IMO need to sort that all out.


i was a volunteer in malawi for 6 months, and arriving back in edinburgh i kinda asked myself the same question who would really want to live here?

for all the bad things it has going for it, its the one place i constantly think about moving back to.

the only things i would miss is, Hibs, Irn Bru, but then in malawi i would have MTL Wanderers (1st game i went to was a final against Big Bullets 70,000 crazy malawians, i had only been in the country 4 days) and Sobo Cherry Plum.

I was out in Malawi for an albeit shorter period (1 month) and felt the same. Though for me it was Fanta Pineapple that got my tastebuds rotting, sorry excited.

[Idlewild]

I totally agree with the OP. I've spent the last ten years working my arse off in freezing Edinburgh to help pay for a ****ty one bedroom flat in Slateford, with noisy neighbours around me and total ned ******s on the street.

This month I finally get a decent bonus and guess what, the lovely tax man takes most of it to help pay for the people that, god bless them, don't want to work.

AND RELAX

Jeez, I'm turning into my dad - thought i'd never say that!

Anyway, I've seriously had enough and if I can persuade the GF, we'll be out here tute sweet. Any recommendations for someone looking for a fresh start???

[Bishop Hibee]

There are parts of the UK I wouldn't want to stay in and parts I would. I'm visiting mates in Stockton-on Tees at the weekend and you can get a 1 bedroom flat there for £8000! Wouldn't fancy it though :wink:

Edinburgh on the other hand stands up to scrutiny compared to any other city in the world. I lived in Melbourne and have visited Vancouver and while these are great with hot summers and a great outdoor lifestyle, Edinburgh wins hands down if you are into culture, countryside on the doorstep, free healthcare and the mighty Hibees.

Ideally i'd like the close-season working/holidaying in Oz and the rest of the time in Edinburgh. Roll on the lottery win......

[Hibrandenburg]

I love getting back to Scotland a few times a year. Even if it only takes 3 days until I realise why I left in the first place.

I miss the Hibs and Fish 'n' Chips endof :agree: