Living in America 2015

[rootypig]

New thread. In honour of:

1. allegedly Irish bangers discovered I saw in Trader Joe's today, which made me think of you lot and especially you Want2b, you pork fanatic - I will report back; and

2. taxes bloody argh! do I have to do this? NOW??? My green card was granted in August last year and I didn't earn a bloody penny. What am I supposed to put on a tax return

How else is everyone's American odyssey going?

yours chaotically, as ever,

rooty

Ach, I'm paying $3 a pound on special for strawberries, Texas ones aren't really ready yet. Still, better than Singapore where it was about $8 a pound...

$3/lb is what the cheap supermarket is charging. The nice supermarket its $4.29/lb and the ones that taste nice are $4.99/lb.

I've taken to forcing the kids to eat bananas, apples and pears only. When I got a tiny box of blueberries two weeks ago DD treated them like they were special candy. The half lb box was $4. Even grapes are super expensive. They used to have 99c/lb about every 3 weeks. Now it's $1.49 about twice a year. Other than that it's $2-4/lb. mainly closer to $4 too!

It's sad when the fruit stand in NYC is a lot cheaper than the supermarket.

Actually, while you NYC-ers are around, wondered if I can ask you some advice about visiting. I'm heading to NYC on Thursday til Sunday with some friends (no dh, no kids!!) Very Exciting.

We'll meet up for dinner and a tour but some want shopping, some want culture and there will be 7 of us. I'm not a shopper, would love to do the Met but what else is good? Was thinking about Chelsea Mkt? What would you do without kids? Went with family last spring so did Central Park, Rockerfeller, Liberty, bus tour etc.

Hi all! Thought I'd say hello to you all before I read all the posts. I finally got my visa and we arrived in NJ...just in time for the freezing weather! Will no doubt be popping back for advice from you lovely expats very soon.

What type of food do you like? What is your budget including tip?

I love spotted pig, aqua grill for fish, Sea Fire grill on UES and a little Peruvian place I came across in the village.

If I had a couple of days without the kids you would find me in bed ordering room service and therapy sessions! Don't do the met as its huge. I prefer the Frick collection. For shopping I find it's super expensive in NYC and they rarely have anything bigger than a 6 at the higher end places. You can find some awesome stuff at century 21 and you can combine that with a 9/11 memorial visit (think you have to prebook).

Thanks supermum! I'm not shopping, I can't be doing with it, mostly buy at Gap, Banana Rep and push the boat out at Anthro anyway - we have all that and more in Houston. Frick collection sounds good - I would just like to look at art without the kids in tow. Think we are staying on the upper west side, fancy just wandering and would like a decent coffee shop too. Heard about speakeasys too ... any thoughts?

We did ground zero with the kids but the museum was brand new then, crowds were big and we didn't think it would be appropriate for them. Like the idea of visiting though.

Hi Dharma, welcome to the USA and congratulations on your visa!

Hello dharma!

I hear you on the shopping. I don't have the patience for it and much prefer shopping when back in Europe.

I love walking over the Brooklyn bridge and there are some really nice little cafes in brooklyn heights and dumbo that are cool. im not sure about drinking places. I go to boring corporate places and the drinks are stupid prices half the time. There are some really cool places. I do like the hotdog place in the east village that is a bar on the other side. Drinks are not cheap and its a bit touristy BUT I loved the drinks there. Not sure if it's still good.

Welcome Dharma!!

Don't worry, strawberries are normally $3-4 here but Sprouts were doing a weekend special and even our organic ones in wholefoods are currently $3.29 so we must be entering another strawberry season. I'll admit we're incredibly spoilt in SoCal, avocado has been very cheap recently too

Hello! I was recommended this thread after I posted about moving to Palo Alto. At the moment it is a possibility in 2 years time when Dd will be 8 and DS 6. We would be there for at least 4 years.

Any tips from California and especially Palo Alto dwellers would be gratefully received. Especially about:

• Education (DD and DS are in a Montessori Primary in the UK and we would like to keep this type of learning going, if possible). I have no idea how the school system works.
• Spousal visas. I think that my professional qualification is recognised in CA and I would be working in the education sector. I would prefer only to work part time. Not sure if that's possible in the US? Or if I could work at all (in which case, is voluntary work an option?).
• Where to live. Do people live in apartments or houses? Is it hugely expensive?
• All the other stuff I've not even begun to think about yet.

Talking of schools....has anyone any advice about the kindergarten system? DS will be five at the end of September and therefore eligible for kindergarten, so as we do in the uk, without really questioning, I've registered him. However, everyone I talk to expresses the opinion that he is far too young and we should hold him back..he will be the youngest of his peers and not even 5 when school starts any advice is welcomed as we are very confused what to do!

Dharma, what town are you in here in nj? Some towns have prek 4 so you could start him now and ease the transition.

Bee - I have no idea about the education in California or Palo Alto. However welcome and I hope you move is as smooth as possible.

Hello all

Dharma welcome! Our town also has an end of Sept cut off to start and holding back is common for July/Aug/Sept birthdays (esp boys). It's not an issue for us as DS is five since last week so will start in Sept. My advice would be that it depends on your child and your long term plan. Realistically, your not yet 5 year old may have 6 year olds who are 15 months older than him in his class. Which has knock on effects both in terms of seeming 'behind' (ie just younger) academically or socially and in areas like sport (a big thing in the older grades/middle/high school as younger kids tend to be smaller so don't get the chance to play due to not being able to compete with the older/bigger kids at the younger ages). Long term, it's getting your driver's licence a year after friends or turning 21 last. But also having an extra year to save for college. The factors to think about depend on if you are here for 10 years plus or if you're here for 3-5 years. Starting a 4's pre-k is a great idea (it is very like reception) as his teacher would be well placed to advise you.

BeekeepersDaughter love your name (my dad kept bees ). No advice but two years is a good long time to plan. Friends in Bay Area/Silicon Valley confirm it is crazy expensive (but jobs tend to be better paid).

Want2 thanks for all the advice! I'd love to know what credit card points you use. We have a Citibank Expedia one and it's fine (have mostly used points for Home Depot vouchers due to all the diy but will be using points for travel this summer). But would love to know if there's a better one. We put most things on it and pay it off each month in full. We don't pay for preschool on it as we use dh's work system to get the tax benefit instead.

Dharma meant to say I'm in NJ too.

Hi flip. We use capital one now. We were using Amex and still have that for Costco. I only do no fee cards and I make sure the balance is paid off in full.

If your DH is claiming the $5k for childcare you can claim it through your tax return. I do that as its a pita to fill out all the paperwork that my employer makes me complete. It's wierd that they ask for receipts while your tax return doesn't.

It's DHs knack for finding deals that's great though. He is in Texas today through Thursday and staying in a clarion inn place as we will earn a free night to spend later this year. Well we have built up a week of a free hotel now that we like to stay at when visiting the Delaware shore. Marriott also have a good reward program and the hotels in Europe are nice. There was a good website for finding the best credit card but I cant remember what it is.

Want the paperwork is a pita! We're doing it as they reimburse us through the year. Or something. I admit to being much less involved here so I should up my game! Both to help dh but also because I should (working freelance around the kids is not a good enough reason!). Work travel is a great way of earning points! Not an option for us (good thing as DH works crazy hours anyway without being away from home too). We went to Rehoboth last year and really liked it. We've only done the jersey shore for day trips (and then mainly island beach state park as I like undeveloped dunes).

I found the paperwork for claiming the childcare through my employer to be harder than putting together the k-1s for DH's company. For $5k in March vs $5k reimbursed through the year I just forgo the cash and use it at year end to apply against what we owe in Q4. After doing it once I said never again. I recall the place my employer used only accepting fax and it wouldn't go through. So bloody frustrating.

I hear you on the long hours. It's a huge reason why we moved. I'm working in NYC now and my commute is 1 Hr each way. If we were still in south orange it would be 2hrs each way plus I would have to walk home in the dark. After DH was held up at gun point I didn't feel safe. There was also someone held up at gun point after they got off at mountain late at night.

lol at faxes! What century are we in! Thankfully it's not that much hassle for us - all done electronically. So we'll try it this way and see how it goes. And my husband makes it from door to desk in just under an hour so not too bad (definitely comparable to the london commute time he had).

I've had to send more faxes in the last couple of weeks than in the last couple of years..!

Closer I had that with cheques when we first moved over. While companies are no longer accepting them in the UK everyone here still uses them...and no chip & pin. I find American retail banking quite old school!

I think the U.S. is about 10 years behind the UK in certain areas. I remember when I first moved here sending a text had just taken off. I was just shocked when I had to show someone who was about 25 how to open a text message and how to send one.

Banking is like this too. Chip and pin is due to arrive soon which is a great thing because right now if someone steals your debit card and charges against it the bank are not obligated to replace any of the funds until you call it in as missing. This is why our debit card only has $1000 in it and our cash is held in an account with no ability to transfer out to a third party account.

Interesting - we have chip and pin cards but lots of retailers still make you sign (or do nothing at all for small transactions). It I'd like going back 10+ years

is

Urgh, we've just had our first tornado scare of the season. The sirens started about 2 minutes after DH had called to say he was on his way home, which had my heart racing until I heard his car pull up outside. Fortunately he only got soaked running between the house and the garage rather than blown away. Why are we living in tornado alley??

Gosh I can't imagine that Mrsf. How often does it happen? what's the protocol - get inside?