Hi,

I got an e-mail reminder that I'd been absent from the forum for some time. It's hard keeping up with about ten forums.

Anyway, I'm Gerry from Manchester, and despite being born here, and living here for the last eight years, I've still spent less time in the UK this time around than I have spent in my adopted home country, Syria.

I've been away for a total of 27 years, and that's more than half my life. I have lived in Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Syria and Scotland.

We're here in the UK for some time until both the boys finish full time education, but we're off soon after that.

So though I am cheating a bit because right now I am not an expat, I'm here in body, but not in soul.

Don't get me wrong. The UK (England, to be specific) is a fantastic country for anyone who is in small business, who wants to network, who wants to borrow as much money as they wish backed by property, and who loves performing infrastructure - telephone, internet, roads, rail, buses - yes despite the moans about public transport, you wouldn't want to try it in some of the other countries I've lived in. But the weather, dark winter afternoons and nanny-state subtle changes to our living freedoms are a little oppresive, and I get a kick out of travelling to other countries where, as a dumb foreigner, you can get away with a lot just by pleading thick.

That certainly was not my experience of the UK for small business although I haven't been to some of the places that you have visited.

I ran a small business in the UK for over 10 years and each year there was more and more red tape and that was making it less and less profitable and some years the tax changes meant we had no idea where we stood.

We left the UK in July 2007 and so far the only things we've missed are fmaily and friends.

Regards,
Karen

__________________
Fed up with money slipping through your fingers? Visit Money-Magnets.net to discover how you can create wealth in any economy and in any country!

Hi Kaz,

I do admit that not everyone in small business is as lucky as we have been. We brought global IT and management skills into the UK and I had been able to consult as a contractor to FTSE 100 companies, as well as joining the BTL brigade for private investment. For those kinds of business, the UK tax and compliance regimes are more reasonable than I had expected on arrival in 1999. I didn't have high expectations, having left in 1979 witnessing 10,000 tons of black bin liners on the streets of London. When you've been away that long, it's remarkable how it's changed.

But I do agree with you. We'll be off like a shot as soon as the youngun's education is complete.

Hi Gerry,

I was an IT contractor for some very big companies and also have BTL property (and we still have them) but other tax regimes are still friendlier than the UK one.

And as for bin liners where we used to live they were only collecting the wheelie bins every two weeks and if the lid didn't shut properly then the bin wasn't collected at all. So we were seeing green wheelie bins out rather than black bags I don't know what it would have been like last summer since we left then and the weather wasn't very hot when we did but there were worries about health hazards.

Okay whinge over

The UK is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there any more

Regards,
Karen

__________________
Fed up with money slipping through your fingers? Visit Money-Magnets.net to discover how you can create wealth in any economy and in any country!

Hi Kaz,

When they reported the 500,000 new immigrants last year, they didn't include all the new friends we have around our nice new collect-twice-a-month wheelie bins. That's about 100 million new rats, too.

As well as the 500,000 new immigrant figure and rats, they forget to include all the illegals - I suppose they don't know this figure, so best forget it.

__________________
www.expatsinargentina.ning.com

A wonderful place to live

They only collect garbage twice a month in the UK? Ouch. Even in the US it's usually once a week.

They have also started weighing rubbish and using tiny microchips in each bin to check what is being thrown away. If you throw away too much, you get charged extra (even though you are already paying for rubbish removal in your monthly council tax). If the bin lid doesn't shut, they won't collect. If you put bags on the floor they get left. People really don't know what is happening in the UK. In some local councils, the dustmen won't pick-up black bags in case they hurt their backs

It really has become a joke. Here in Argentina they collect the rubbish six days a week. Even on holidays i.e. Christmas and New Year's eve.

__________________
www.expatsinargentina.ning.com

A wonderful place to live

Some UK councils started this since they said it would help with recycling. So some councils collect weekly and some every other week.

As Michelle says when we left they were talking about putting microchips in the bin and if the bins were too heavy then they would be moved even though the bins have wheels and the bin truck actually lifts them.

Where we are in Australia you have to put the bins close to the kerb and then the bin truck comes up to it, an arm comes out the side of the truck and lifts it in. I think the garbos (garbage men) thought we were crazy to watch it, but it's a better design than ones in the UK, however here the cars are usually parked off the road whereas in the UK they may not be.

Regards,
Karen

__________________
Fed up with money slipping through your fingers? Visit Money-Magnets.net to discover how you can create wealth in any economy and in any country!

Did anyone read the article yesterday in the Daily Mail about 80 million rats living in the UK 1.3 per head of population....................This new rubbish/re-cycling system really is working

Michelle

__________________
www.expatsinargentina.ning.com

A wonderful place to live