potential move to USA, because can't afford to live UK

[AdoraBell]

Is DH fucking deluded, or will be able to live on $50,000 per year? Two adults and either 2 teens or put them in boarding school here coz, ya know, that's free

disclaimer -I might be contemplating strangling the idiot overreacting slightly.

[AdoraBell]

Oh, and we have 3 dogs to feed/vet care etc.

[Earlybird]

That is not very much money for a family of 4.
Would there be other items (such as car, housing allowance, health insurance, etc) included in the package?

Where in America? Costs vary greatly, depending on where you live.

[ImperialBlether]

$50,000 per year is quite a low salary, isn't it? Wouldn't both of you work?

[Kursk]

Depends on the state but somewhere like Maine yes definitely.

You could also manage on that down south

[OlennasWimple]

Where in the US?

How will you get visas?

[PovertyJetset]

Um..... that's to pay for private schooling?! On top.

That's not a high salary for the US and having lived and worked there for a short time (2 years) it is not easy at all to get permission to work/stay in the US!

[RaspberryBeretHoopla]

If you lived in Montana or Oklahoma you'd probably be ok.

Poor you.

My DH has to put up with my "Let's move country!" genius idea about every 2 years.

[Kursk]

Google average state income and you will see $50k is reasonable

[Plunkette]

We live in the USA. It might depend on which state you live in but from our point of view it is absolutely not cheaper than the UK.

Fuel is cheaper but not much else.

I think clothes and food cost roughly the same. Our rent is much higher than an equivalent value house would be in the UK.

You also need to set aside a huge amount of money a month for medical insurance.

[flumpybear]

Have you seen the film John Q ..... that's put me off America forever!!!

[GreyCloudsToday]

It's hard to generalise about such a BIG country, but my experience was that it was not cheaper. Healthcare costs a bomb for starters, even if your employer pays most of it there's a decent chunk coming out of your wages. Then there's co-pays and the rest. Again, this depends on where you live, but property taxes were way higher than council tax. Food was no cheaper in supermarkets, and the cheapest in our neighbourhood was Aldi. Restaurants were cheaper but then you have to tip loads. Fun times to travel though?

[expatinscotland]

I wouldn't move there for that salary and that's with me living in a 'cheap' state.

[Earlybird]

Generally speaking, the cheaper parts of America have little/no public transportation - which means you'll probably need two cars - which can be expensive to insure, maintain and run.

[SenecaFalls]

Depends on where. There are a lot of people in my state living on 50K. It's a fairly modest lifestyle.

[AdoraBell]

No package. So nothing included. Self employed but not licenced to work in US at present.

Visas? I really don't think he's thought about that Olenna

He's mentioning (as I type) about California, possibly Florida/Chicago/God knows where.

[Kursk]

This is interesting to hear other views. we have found that the cost of living is a lot lower than the UK, medical insurance is covered by DH' company.

Mobile phone contracts and car insurance is more but overall we much better off

[AdoraBell]

Plunkett that's very helpful, thank you.i think he thinks everything is still super cheap. He travelled extensively in the 70' s

[expatinscotland]

'No package. So nothing included. Self employed but not licenced to work in US at present.

Visas? I really don't think he's thought about that Olenna angry

He's mentioning (as I type) about California, possibly Florida/Chicago/God knows where.'

Oh, c'mon! He needs to put down the bong. He can't even work there, much less for $50k including not even insurance. In CA?! Haahaahaaahaaa.

[RaspberryBeretHoopla]

I think clothes are less expensive in the USA.

California will absolutely not be doable on $50k

[Loopyloppy]

$50,000 in CA?!

Without insurance?! 😂😂😂

Doable in some places. We live in Maine and make $50-80 depending on the year and do ok for ourselves.

[SenecaFalls]

California? No way. Chicago? No way. Florida possible, but if self-employed, health insurance will be a big issue. Medium household income in Florida is around 50K, but without employment-based health insurance, it would be hard to manage on that.

[Kursk]

Visa is going to be a sticking point. If you are not eligible for one the ideas is dead already.

CA, IL, NY, FL would all be out of the budget anyway......not such a bad thing as they are full of people!

[Loopyloppy]

And he doesn't have a work visa? Nope. Not going to happen.

[PossumInAPearTree]

If he has no visa then I wouldn't worry about it.

I do know someone who bought a franchise out there and emigrated. The hoops he had to jump through for the visa were unreal. He hadn't to reapply every two years and travel back to the uk to apply. The visa and paperwork were expensive every two years and he was earning a lot more than 50,000 a year.

They lasted about five years and came back.

[RaspberryBeretHoopla]

Don't forget even if you have health insurance you will still have to co-pay. Medical bankruptcy happens even with health insurance. My dad had "full coverage" health insurance and still had to pay $50,000 in bills after a hugely serious health issue.