s/o moving home

welshgirl

For those of you who are in the process of doing it, or have done it, can I ask how much money you saved for the process - and what your personal circumstances are/were? (e.g. did you have a job lined up, a house to return to, etc)

(And no, we're not planning on it, but I think every winter I think about it, so just curious how expensive it would be, and therefore how realistic.)

MintChocoChip

We didn't save up much money, although we did have enough in savings to be okay for about 6 months.  This wasn't a huge issue because we stayed with my parents for a couple of months (rent free) until XH found a job.

XH and I both quit our jobs without jobs lined up in the US.  He was very marketable in his field and found a job in about 6 weeks.  It took me 6 months to find a job, but I had no experience.

It cost us about $1k a month for health insurance on our own before he found a job.  As I said, we lived rent free so we only needed to pay for food and gas.  We used an extra car that my parents had.

There were a lot of expenses soon after moving back though, including leasing cars and renting a house (1.5 months plus security deposit and realtor fee) but at that point XH had a job so it wasn't that big of an issue.  We also financed furniture (because we had sold ours abroad) so that was about $8k in interest free debt that will be paid off by March. 

The divorce was the most expensive part of moving back for sure .  We didn't have kids though so our expenses were pretty low.

ETA: Obviously we didn't have a relo package so flights and the cost of moving the pup back were OOP as well.

frlcb

It was not cheap to move back. The first expense was the green card, which was probably around $1200? Maybe a little more, I honestly can't remember. Part of getting the green card is being able to show you (as the US citizen) can support your dh, so you have to either have a certain amount of money in your account or have a job, or have someone in the US sponsor you. It is some strange formula, like a certain amount over the poverty line (it is like 3x 125% of the poverty level for your family size).

Then we paid for movers. We moved our flat, including 2 beds, a dresser, a couch, chair, and all our stuff. It was about $10k. You could move much cheaper if you didn't move furniture but then you would have to buy it over here, so either way you are spending money. We moved our cats back and that was about $1k. And then plane tickets.

We bought our house before we moved over, but you would have to figure out if you wanted to buy or rent. We had to buy a car, my parents still had my old car so they gave it back to us. DH didn't have a job so we had to pay for insurance, it was about $750 a month for a high deductible plan for the 3 of us.

We had to get cell phones, and set up all our utilities, which cost money as well.  

Then just odds and ends. It was definitely a pricey move, and we won't be moving back unless it was with a job and everything was paid for.  

Coffee&Cream

We have made sure that DH can transfer, that we have a solid e-fund, and additionally monies set aside to purchase cars and furniture.  Essentially, we have lived here for five years and expect to be here for another 18 to 24 months and have been saving to move back for at least three years to date, and also a DP.

We don't have a lot of furniture, so we expect it will be about $5,000 to move back. We are luckily that DH's company will cover all those costs. 

However, I am a big planner.  I know that I will lose my job,  but DH will pay less in taxes because I will be a dependent as opposed to being taxed solely as an individual in the UK.  

Our plan is to, actually, live in a Marriott in a suite in the NYC tri-state area for eight months or so and then buy a home.  I got the idea about six months ago from a women that did in Washington, DC: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-hotel-room-of-her-own--every-day-for-10-years/2011/10/26/gIQAawkuJM_story.html

I've run the numbers and between an apartment, security deposit, utilities, gym, and purchasing temporary furniture, this is more cost effective for us plus it doesn't lock us into a lease and we can move when we please.

I think it is doable.... it just takes some planning... 

 

welshgirl

Thanks guys! I think I want to come up with actual numbers to see how realistic and feasible it all is. This is helpful.

chelbel7

Thanks, this was a good post. We're thinking of moving this year, dependent on H's job, and we have to think about all of the details. Most specifically the cost and logistics of moving our stuff back because I don't know if he's going to find a job that will help with that.

EnidFalcor

Our 'retirement fund' (the money we are setting aside to use when DH retires from hockey) will cover at least 6 months of living expenses (including rent, although it's likely we'd stay with my parents for the first months until we bought/rented a house and one of us was employed) and ideally I'd like it to cover 12 months of those expenses, JUST IN CASE. It's likely I'd be able to get a job within a month (though as a social worker, so not much money) that would potentially have benefits, but privately in summer we pay about 450 for insurance and this summer it will be 625 including V.

I think the range of costs depends a LOT on how you will live. For example, if we need furniture most of it won't be bought new, aside from mattresses, etc. We won't be getting cable. We have one car and in my hometown that works since it's small. So take the general ideas we give you and apply your own lifestyle since it can vary greatly! Good luck pretending/planning, I do it all the time!

hamilton.ja

We didn't really use our savings to move home. DH got an internal transfer with his company and they paid for the move. We had savings in the UK but preferred not to touch it unless we had to and left it all in our bank accounts there even. We didn't until we bought the house here, about 18 months or so after moving back here I guess. But I was glad it was there to fall back on if we needed it. We probably coudl have a couple of times because they totally screwed us over when they did the cost of living adjustment (adjusted DOWN about 25%) and took the exchange rate the date they made the calculation, not the overall rate from the past year which would have been a more accurate comparison since the exchange rate TANKED about a week before they did it. So his salary blew when we first got here but we made it work.

ashleynicoles

I agree with others that it really depends on your lifestyle and how much you want to move. 

 I've moved twice "overseas," although one of the moves was to Hawaii. (Which, while still a state, just as costly as far as moving expenses were concerned.) 

 For our move to NL we sold virtually everything we owned in the US before coming and left a few boxes of our favorite possessions, photographs, and whatnot at my mom's house. We shipping nothing, so $0 there. Plane tickets and my visa. 

It was the same case when I moved to Hawaii except in that case I did spend about $250 shipping a few 50lb boxes of household stuff. Everything was OOP and I quickly regretted shipping anything at all because craigslist, TJ Maxx, and other secondhand stores would have been just fine and less expensive.

 Health insurance will probably be your largest monthly cost. What is your tentative plan regarding moving back? Do you have a timeline? Area? Etc...