someone from foreign land, need advice

swingjune

Hello everyone :hello:

(Not sure, where is the best place to put this thread)

I love this website:T, it suits us down to the ground cos hubby and I are money saving fanatic;) So, here is a quick introduction of ourselves .........

I am a kiwi and hubby is a Dutch (with a EU passport) , currently we are living in NZ. In a couple of month's time, hubby will be starting work in UK as a Senior Software Developer. Hubby will be earning GBP 50k before tax and we will be bringing an equity of GBP 120k, after selling our family home.

We know that living in UK is different from being a tourist there and now, we need to do a lot of research about banking/credit/mortgage systems, housing prices, utilities companies and etc. For example, I still could not get my head around "what is APR ?" - I need explanation in layman term:o

Being prudent with our finances, in NZ we have a bank account that DO NOT have bank charges for banking transactions cos' we do everything online. We have a basic credit card that charge a membership fee of NZ$20 pa for principal holder and NZ$10 pa for spouse.

I have researched the house prices within 10 miles of hubby's workplace and we could get a three-bedroom house for less than GBP 200k - that is brilliant, I can be a lady of leisure :rotfl:

We don't like to go through the hassle of changing bank, so we want to start with a UK bank account that meet our needs - appreciate any recommendation:beer:

We are looking forward to the move :wave:

themaccas

Hi SwingJune
Welcome to mse and to the UK:hello: The 'APR' is annual percentage rate, basically the amount of interest you pay, we love anything 0% (interest free)on here!! However always check the amount of interest you will have to pay rather than rely on the APR. A couple of years ago I bought a car and was shopping for a loan, the garage offered me an APR of 9% whilst an online bank offered 6.9% however the total difference in cost of interest over the 2 years was only £25 .

You will find that banks don't charge anything to keep an account here unless you go overdrawn, although there are whispers that could change and as far as coming from abroad, that should not be a problem either, the UK has seen a massive influx of eastern europeans and the banks are well set up for opening accounts for people from other parts of the world.

Just a word of warning, do as much research on areas to live as possible, wait until you have been here a few months before commiting to buy.

swingjune

Good morning UK :wave: (evening here)

Thanks themaccas, for your explanation on APR and advice about researching on housing :beer: We intend to rent for a while to get a good feel of the area. By the way, we are heading to Cambridge. Hubby's office is at the science park. I love to live in one of those villages (via google maps) around Cambridge .......... can't wait to smell the cow dungs :rotfl:

As a true blue money savers, we have started writing down our UK budget. It seems that we could get a decent house without having a high mortgage.

So far, I find that HSBC and RBS seem to offer the banking account, close to what we got here. Did I miss any other banks :question::huh:

themaccas

ooooh you're going to be very near me!!

It sounds like you have done loads of research already, I would also look at Barclays Bank and Halifax. Halifax in particular have some great accounts - a high interest current account and an ultimate reward account which you £10 a month for but includes loads of benefits - free mobile phone insurance, free world wide annual travel insurance, lost card/passport driving licence insurance and many others - their website will tell you.

If you want any info on areas to live that you have seen, pm me and I'll let you know.

RAS

Hi

if you are heading to Cambridge, you need to think about travel to work if you go outside the city. There are a limited number of trains (two routes into London and one up to Ely) and I do not know the bus routes now.

The area is very cycle friendly (flat and lots of facilities), but the trains are not. Cycles are banned from most commuter trains.

themaccas

Oh and Nationwide Building society bank accounts are a favourite on this site, the advantage there is you can withdraw money abroad and not be charged for the privilage.

AN alternative would be to have a bank account elsewhere and then have either a Nationwide, Post Office or Audi credit card as you can use these cards abroad without be charged a fee.

Crown

Hi Welcome to the site

Just wanted to add that Martin (the guy who set the site up!) does a regular round up of the best accounts available. I would say read his article on the main site and have a look across at the current account forum what can be found further down the main forum list.

Also if you havent already done so sign up for the weekly email where there is normally a video link where he talks about the best deals and loopholes available at the moment.

Best of luck with your move and hope to see you around the site

swingjune

themaccas wrote: »

............ but includes loads of benefits - free mobile phone insurance, free world wide annual travel insurance, lost card/passport driving licence insurance and many others - their website will tell you.

WOW :eek: :eek:we love freebies :T:j

We are looking at some villages near the train route so that we can have an option to take the train to London instead of driving there.

swingjune

Good morning everyone :wave:

more :question: :question:

What is AER ?

What is the different between APR and AER

Do you have website like this http://www.interest.co.nz/term2.asp that compare the mortgage/personal loan interest rates, term deposit rates, bank charges; among banks and finance companies.
:beer:

Crown

swingjune wrote: »

Good morning everyone :wave:

more :question: :question:

What is AER ?

What is the different between APR and AER

Do you have website like this http://www.interest.co.nz/term2.asp that compare the mortgage/personal loan interest rates, term deposit rates, bank charges; among banks and finance companies.
:beer:

Hi

AER is Annual Equivalent Rate. It would take to long to give a proper answer when someone else has already done a good explanation.

Here

As regards to a alternative website have you seen or heard of the Motley Fool sites? The UK version is http://www.fool.co.uk

swingjune

Crown wrote: »

Hi

AER is Annual Equivalent Rate. It would take to long to give a proper answer when someone else has already done a good explanation.

Here

As regards to a alternative website have you seen or heard of the Motley Fool sites? The UK version is http://www.fool.co.uk

Thanks for the info.

The Motley Fool sites seems to feature just a selected few banks and finance companies ............. a bit disappointed.