Moving to UK, where do I start? Please help!

happy_winner

Hi there,
I just joined this site and boy, oh boy so much information. This thread might most appropriate in my case. I am Canadian and planning to join my UK husband (in Ilford) within 3 months.
I can't count on my husband as I am the practical one, and the one who tries to cut corners when it comes to budgeting.
We have to start from scratch it is basicaly from fork and spoon. I am wondering if you can share some tips about discount stores (I got list of charity shop, so that will be my first shopping adventure.
I am so used here in Canada to different points, airmiles, coupons and other loyalty programs and would like to find out if you have them in UK.
Do you know where I can get any freebies? Do you have Garage/yard sales.What is the most affordable grocery store in Ilford?
How much is the transit to get to London, what is the best affordable way to get there. Working in a hotel I will look for the same industry, but will take any job to begin with.
Thank you all in advance for all your help.
Happy Winner

elle_gee

You should check out FreeCycle Closest to garage/yard sales we have are probably "car boot sales".

For supermarkets, we (as in the UK, not sure about Ilford specifically) have, in order of rough general price ranges, highest first, Waitrose, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Somerfield, Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Netto and Aldi. They'll all have websites for you to view. Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Waitrose all do online grocery shopping for home delivery.

For loyalty points, see Tesco's Clubcard and Sainsbury's (and others) Nectar card. Also Boots Advantage Card for health and beauty type things.

Hope this helps for now. Will come back with more as I think of it

before_hollywood

nearest thing we have to garage sales are car boot sales, basically its large fields with people selling their garage sale type items off tables, the car boot part comes from the fact stuff is usually still in the car boot too

i did one a few days ago and had to give up as it was raining lol

morrisons supermarket is good for buy one get one free offers, i personally dislike tesco as they monopolise everywhere they are

happy_winner

Thank you very much. I will recearch all these stores. Here in Canada we are into collecting airmiles it helps with flight tickets. I had a round trip to California once.
What means Nectar card?

elle_gee

Nectar card - you collect points whilst shopping at various places

I think you can collect airmiles with Tesco Clubcard

TheEffect

Make sure you get a National Insurance Number, as you can't work without one.

elle_gee

To search for jobs - JobCentrePlus

For assistance on all things government related/controlled - Direct.gov

For info on income tax and national insurance - HMRC (sorry, I don't know how it works in Canada )

happy_winner

Yes, I realize that, do you how long it takes to get one. My husband is sponsoring me, I applied for my UK settlement Visa a couple weeks ago. They say it take up to 3 months to get your legal papers.

TheEffect wrote: »

Make sure you get a National Insurance Number, as you can't work without one.

TheEffect

happy_winner wrote: »

Yes, I realize that, do you how long it takes to get one. My husband is sponsoring me, I applied for my UK settlement Visa a couple weeks ago. They say it take up to 3 months to get your legal papers.

Up to 3 months, to cover themselves in any delay. I'd say within 4-6 weeks.

elle_gee

I think it depends on the area, how busy they are and how soon you can get an appointment - sometimes you require a face-to-face interview to get the NI number.

ChrisCobra

Good luck with the move , still trying to figure out why you would want to go to the UK tho , canada is probably better