Dreaming of a new life in Norfolk.

greenbee

norfolkdream wrote: »

I am so sorry greenbee, I completely missed your post. The job prospect is the let down, it seems a place to retire realistically. I am thinking to move more inland but close enough for a quick drive to the sea (or a long walk!) and close enough for working. I have 6/7 years to investigate

There may be more jobs now than there were when I left. And it depends on what you do and which area you are in. There must be plenty of work for estate agents along the coast :cool:

Enjoy the investigation

norfolkdream

I could never be an EA I have looked at jobs available, nothing close by.

borkid

norfolkdream wrote: »

Is there anyone in Norfolk that has already made the move that can give me pros and cons about living there?

I live in south Norfolk. We moved here when my OH retired so didn't need to worry about work.
Pros
Quiet roads and therefore shorter travel times than you would expect. Even travelling across the county , as I do for my music lessons, it isn't 'hard driving, infact quite relaxing.
Can source food from local farms. Good range of supermarkets.
Villages where you know your neighbours.
My neighbour has just moved from west of Cambridge and has commented on how cheap the petrol is here compared to Cambridge.
House prices relatively cheap.
Wide range of entertainment.
No street lights in the villages ( some people might find this a con)
Fantastic skies and scenery. Norfolk is not totally flat, try cycling and you'll soon find out!
Freindly people
Cons
Internet speed sluggish but fibre is soon to be here ( will believe that when it arrives)
Depending on where you choose to live you might have to drive to most places.
Rural places have no gas ( oil here but for me it isn't a problem)


I am biased and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, have lived in Shropshire, Lancashire, London, Surrey and Hertfordshire and this is by far the best place I lived in.

Warning though about north Norfolk it can get very busy in the summer months and the house prices are higher.

greenbee

borkid wrote: »

Warning though about north Norfolk it can get very busy in the summer months and the house prices are higher.

It's definitely got more expensive. Used to be Islington-on-Sea, now it's Chelsea-on-Sea!

There are villages with gas. My parents miniscule village has mains gas, mains sewerage and 15MB internet. I'm in Hampshire, have oil, shared sewage treatment and 6.5MB internet. But I'm closer to London by train...

norfolkdream

Thanks Borkid, thats all really interesting to know.
I have looked at house prices and where I have been looking doesnt look too bad, I know that the grocery shopping trip wont be round the corner.
The oil thing worries me, not sure how I would cope with that, have always wanted a wood burner though
I also thought about the internet today, I have just changed over to fibre here and its fab! Would definitely miss that

In an ideal situation I would love to work from home and have a few ideas but its taking that leap into it. If I am definitely mortgage free and have some savings to fall back on this may (in my wildest dreams) be an option.
No street lights is a downside for me, I like to see where I am going, especially walking the dog.
The village feeling is something I would love, everyone looking out for each other. Living in a town I have to be ashamed to say I only know my immediate neighbours. I could walk past someone that lives 2 doors down and wouldnt even know them!

It is so nice driving in country lanes and taking in all the scenery, especially on a sunny day.

You are making me jealous now borkid How long have you been there?

Greenbee, I couldnt live without my internet connection and gas but I guess that is what I am used to.

gallygirl

Re your plans about working from home - what can you do NOW to get things underway? Is there anything you could do in a smaller way to get a feel for it? Or if you're already doing something, could you realistically extend this in some way? Remember if you have no mortgage to pay and overpay you'll need a lot less income :T.

norfolkdream

Hi GG, yes I have already worked out how much I would need to live on BUT I would also like to put money aside for pension as well.
I do something already as a 'sideline' but not properly and definitely couldnt live off it when mortgage free. I was thinking of the things I would need to do to make it a proper thing and have already thoiught of things I can start doing to get this in place now. Its just working a normal job and being a single parent gets in the way at the moment. But its in my head lol
(I know! those pesky excuses )

greenbee

Lots of jobs allow you to work from home, even as an employee. My boss has no clue where I am - as long as I have internet and/or a mobile signal as needed I'm fine. And can get to an airport reasonably easily.

Oil is fine, but you do have to a. pay in advance rather than monthly in arrears like you do for gas and electricity and b. keep an eye on the levels so you top up before you run out! Most areas have co-ops for oil, where you can take advantage of bulk discounts.

No streetlights is wonderful! You get to see the sky and the stars. On a really miserable night you might want to use a torch, but if the moon is out you don't need one. It takes a bit of getting used to.

Definitely do your research - spend holidays exploring the areas you like and think about them from the point of view of how you would manage if it was 'home'.

norfolkdream

I think finding a job where I get paid by someone else would be better rather than work for myself as that wouldnt be so terrifying.

Having seen that GG is close to payout on onepoll I decided to check mine, havent been on there for probably more than a year and I was at £37.50 :T
There were a few polls to do but got chucked off about half of them. I am now at £38.25 Must remember to keep checking it daily again. The thing is it gets depressing when you start again!
Does anyone use mumpoll on there, never seen that before.

borkid

norfolkdream wrote: »

Thanks Borkid, thats all really interesting to know.
I have looked at house prices and where I have been looking doesnt look too bad, I know that the grocery shopping trip wont be round the corner.
The oil thing worries me, not sure how I would cope with that, have always wanted a wood burner though
I also thought about the internet today, I have just changed over to fibre here and its fab! Would definitely miss that


No street lights is a downside for me, I like to see where I am going, especially walking the dog.
The village feeling is something I would love, everyone looking out for each other. Living in a town I have to be ashamed to say I only know my immediate neighbours. I could walk past someone that lives 2 doors down and wouldnt even know them!

It is so nice driving in country lanes and taking in all the scenery, especially on a sunny day.

You are making me jealous now borkid How long have you been there?

Greenbee, I couldnt live without my internet connection and gas but I guess that is what I am used to.

We've been in Norfolk 11 years 2 years in our current house.

Ordering oil isn't a problem, we are in an oil club and they email me once a month when they put in a new order. So far since last June I've only used 1/2 a tank so have plenty left. I'll probably order in June when oil tends to be a little cheaper. We put aside a certain amount per month for oil so apart from the first fill then we have the money ready.

We actually have a fantastic village shop and alot of the prices are on a par or cheaper than supermarkets, they just don't have the same choice. He gets in as much local stuff as he can. Just to give you an idea it is the only place ( including supermarkets) apart from Waitrose and specialist coffee shops where I can get decaff coffee beans! The local butcher delivers a selection of meats every day and the eggs come from local farms. He stock local Norfolk and Suffolk cheeses as well as the usual cheddar etc. And on top of this it's open from 6am to 8pm every day apart from Xmas day. We also get our cash from there as there is a small sub post office which has nearly the same opening hours as the shop.

Fibre is supposed to be comming to Norfolk soon, some places are due this spring. Probably by the time you move it will have full coverage.

Knowing others in the village is great but don't forget it has a downside and there are no secrets! New neighbours have just moved in and I knew their names, occupations, hobbies before I'd even met them.

The night sky is fantastic just take a torch with you when you go out at night if you are worried.