I am terrified. This is probably the sleep deprivation talking, but tonight I have been coming over terrified over and over. I was letting it out by kind of yowling like a cat in pain, but that scared the baby (and occasionally, my husband) so I’ve stopped. But, man, it just rises up inside me and it’s hard to contain.
How is this going to work? How is it ever going to work? When we started on this journey, the people we talked to were discussing salaries that were fabulous — two or three times (in $-dollars) what M could ever make over here (in £-pounds). Very very workable. A nice, comfortable (but not extravagant), normal life, and we could afford for me to stay home with the kids. And with the house prices in the US being so much lower than they are over here, we could have a house big enough for the four of us to live in without tripping over each other. Big enough for us to all sit at the table at once, without one of us having to eat on the couch — imagine that! We had this info from several sources, all of them reliable, all independent. And so we began the visa process.
But now… now we have the visa, so there is a clock ticking. And my mom — who is networking hard for us, talking to every plumbing company in town — is suddenly finding all the salaries are considerably lower than what we were told before. Lower by about half. HALF!!! I don’t know what to do. I never expected to move over there and live in the lap of luxury, but I wanted to be able to break even at the end of the month! We’ve drawn up a budget — realistic but incredibly tight — and these salaries aren’t even covering that.
Combine that with the intimidating complexity of private healthcare, the pitiful vacation allowances, the sheer cost of moving from one continent to another, the pain of leaving family and friends, the place that has been home to me my whole adult life and the only place M has ever known, and I am terrified.
Suddenly, I am reconsidering everything. Do we stay or do we go? If we stay, how will that work? We can’t afford the cost of living here. If we go, will it work? Are these huge problems all illusions, frightening to look at but that disappear when you reach out to grab them? I don’t know what to do, or which way to turn. The most terrifying thing is the unknown, and the unknown is at the very core of this move. And so I sit, and waves of fear wash over me, and I want to let out a yowl that rises straight from my gut.
That does sound scary! Without knowing exactly where you’re going or what the salary might be, I can’t give specific reassurance. But having survived Eric being in school forever, and now making a quite mediocre salary in a nation that taxes heavily, well, we do make it.
What is the average salary in the area where you’ll be? Would he be making significantly less?
I’m not sure what the “average” is… that’s what we were trying to research — average salaries for plumbers in the area — and what we’re finding now is significantly less than what we were told before.
I’m pleased to hear that you are able to make it on a mediocre salary. That does give me hope. I’m also hoping that there’s more to these salaries than meets the eye. Several companies have talked about commission and bonuses, which are things that just don’t come into play for plumbers in the UK (our part of the UK, anyway). I find the idea of commission for a plumber a little dubious anyway…
From my experience, you never really know how a new salary in a new area (new cost-of-living) is going to work until you take that leap and start living on it. But that’s a scary leap to take. :-X
Just wondering, how heavily does Canada tax? Is it comperable to the UK?