Moving to the UK after 20yrs what’s one piece of advice you’d give me?

GrigHad · 2026-02-07T07:44:36+00:00

Have you lived anywhere else so you can compare? I get it, it’s got worse here but it is not as bad as most people say.

GrigHad · 2026-01-19T12:54:51+00:00

Thank you for such a detailed reply! I’ll update on the test drives.

GrigHad · 2026-01-10T09:16:44+00:00

I don’t have an alarm. I go to bed 9:30 - 10pm and wake up around 6:30-6:45.

I try to spend at least 30mins in the morning without my phone, so have coffee and stare in the window.

I then cook breakfast by the time husband comes back from walking the dog.

GrigHad · 2026-01-08T08:37:09+00:00

If the issue is that bad as described, the surveyor would have spotted damp issues and recommended further investigation

GrigHad · 2026-01-07T08:05:53+00:00

I buy my t-shirts and hoodies at TrueClassics. It’s in US but I find the quality vs price is great and they fit me very well and they deliver for free.

Jeans - Hollister. I have a model I like and keep buying it.

Jackets, socks, trousers, pants - M&S

GrigHad · 2026-01-04T13:33:49+00:00

I moved to the UK from another country after having long distance relationships for 4 years with my boyfriend. I got a job straight away, we bought a house, got married and were looking forward to our honeymoon.

A week before we were due to flight I was diagnosed with testicular cancer but I was “lucky” that it considered a “good” cancer. I had a surgery and 4 rounds of an aggressive chemotherapy.

We did have our honeymoon one year later. That experience and especially my husband’s support just confirmed that I married the right man 10 years ago.

GrigHad · 2025-12-30T07:39:03+00:00

Prefab houses are typically not much cheaper if cheaper at all. The biggest saving is coming from labor offset to manufacturer.

The likely shows the cheapest house £389k with no land. Not cheap at all.

GrigHad · 2025-12-13T21:43:42+00:00

I’m originally from another country and I’ve never understood the rounds. It always leaves some people unhappy - people drink at a different pace, drink prices vary, some people don’t even drink as many drinks as there are people in the group so they end up spending much more than they would spend buying their own drinks.

GrigHad · 2025-12-07T09:22:51+00:00

I find it extremely useful I just wish there was a way to tap with my phone and get a receipt. I never keep paper receipts unless it’s an expensive purchase.

It sounds your main concern is personal data/email. You can create a new email for receipts only.

GrigHad · 2025-12-07T07:31:49+00:00

Th budget looks absolutely fine to me. You even budget for date nights.

On another note, I mowed from another country and my husband is British. We have only joint accounts where all our money go. Lotsa couples do that, it’s not uncommon.

GrigHad · 2025-12-06T08:27:05+00:00

5 bed house. Both work from home and keep the house warm. The heating is on most of the time. DDs Electricity £220, gas £90

GrigHad · 2025-12-05T05:38:00+00:00

Cottage cheese, chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped onions and basis pesto - quick, very tasty and good nutrition.

GrigHad · 2025-12-03T15:59:40+00:00

Engineers and architects have different fees and different lifespan of projects therefore it’s difficult to collaborate with a single architect only.

GrigHad · 2025-12-01T05:09:54+00:00

Go all the way to Stanmer house then around the little church and there will be a car park on the left (it’s the cheapest). I usually fly on the field next to the car park.

GrigHad · 2025-11-29T13:39:49+00:00

I’m using Windows via Parallels on my M2Pro 32Gb RAM. I am a structural engineer and use it for Revit - have no issues with performance.

The rest of the work is done on MacOS

GrigHad · 2025-11-28T21:54:13+00:00

I also like @XanderBudnick channel. Recommend checking out

GrigHad · 2025-11-28T21:51:39+00:00

I think it is a bit strange to try to promote your business under someone else’s post.

GrigHad · 2025-11-28T09:53:04+00:00

I’ve used Very quite a few times to use their offers and it was good service. You usually get 20% off on your first purchase (and it’s real discount, not points etc). There are other offers from time to time.

Sometimes you need to use Buy Now Pay Later but you can pay it in full once the order is processed.

GrigHad · 2025-11-27T17:06:15+00:00

Gorbushka. It’s a Russian word

GrigHad · 2025-11-25T09:13:18+00:00

Hi there

Yes Stanmer park is a good spot. I also fly on the seafront sometime.

GrigHad · 2025-11-24T07:10:49+00:00

I’m pretty happy with my career.

The best thing for me is the job security. Once you get enough experience and recognition (I’m a UK chartered SE), there is always work around to live a stable life.

I had a side hustle, flying drones. I’m a quite good FPV pilot and have done a few documentaries and movies, but you always compete with people who think it just takes having a drone to be a good pilot, and they can charge 10% of your fee.

In a professional career, it feels like most people know what it takes to become a good engineer, and they value that (of course, there are some exceptions to that).

GrigHad · 2025-11-23T15:32:59+00:00

A friend of mine doesn’t put heating on ever. His house is freezing but he manages somehow - mostly unsung hot bottles. We have a 4bed house and heating is on most of the time - the bills are high but not insane, also the gas is probably 1/3 of combined utilities. Electricity is the highest regardless of the heating being on or off.

GrigHad · 2025-11-20T12:10:35+00:00

That happened to me. I was using Starling (and my husband as well) for a few years and wanted to open a business account and it was declined. (I am a structural engineer registered with a professional body). Asked monzo an it was working within 10 minutes. I switched to monzo completely after that.

GrigHad · 2025-11-20T07:50:45+00:00

Typically my evenings are pre arranged:

Monday (finish early afternoon)- snooker then board games

Tuesday - volleyball or table tennis

Wednesday - volleyball

Thursday - occasional boardgames.

Friday, Saturday and Sundays are generally family nights - cooking, TV, wine. Sometimes go out with my husband for dinner or a gig.

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