Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

seven-day-weekend

missile wrote: »

I am sorry for the offence, as I said none was intended.

!No pasa nada!

Apology accepted!:beer:

droopsnout

missile wrote: »

However, I know of several who are, do you?

Nope.

But this has distracted us from what was being discussed: whether a separate ex-pat forum would be beneficial.

seven-day-weekend

Agree with you droopsnout.

The one couple I know about who are committing Benefit Fraud live about 100km away from me, I don't know them personally and the only reason I know about it is the woman's mother is my husband's cousin and she told us about it.

No-one here that I DO know commits Benefit Fraud AFAIK.

Yes a separate expat forum would be nice - where could it best go? A little board all on its own in the 'Money Saving for who and where you are' section?

missile

As is the way with forums?

The subject of this thread is Living abroad tips and hints for money savers Maybe you ought to start a new thread?

droopsnout

You may be right, missile ... We do tend to cram anything on this thread that is remotely ex-pat oriented.

But this does seem a good time (as Savvy_Sue has inadvertently opened up a debate) to discuss whether a separate forum within MSE would be good, and then it would seem more natural to have all flavours of threads there, from cashback sites to life insurance, all for ex-pats around the world. Plus there could be a specialist thread (or threads) for each country with members living there. Depends how it develops, but I rather like the idea that I can talk to "buddies" in Spain, Italy, the States, and elsewhere in this one thread.

The starting point, of course, was that this thread shouldn't really be hidden in the Silver Savers department. Loads of young families are emigrating, and they may be in just as much need of advice as us wrinklies. Why should MSE draw the line at the over-50s?

I'm sure that Sue is consulting folk!

missile

I would agree that an expat section may be useful, but that is up to those who run this site. IMHO, the theme of these forums is all about money saving and Martin has a UK focus. There are many other very good forums dedicated to expat communities.

I do not like to think of myself being classified as an over 50 and wrinkly, but there are many issues which affect those nearing retirement which may be of little interest to younger people.

I see nothing wrong in young families who have something to say posting here or in any other thread. They are entitled to have an opinion / or if they want help or advice etc. I would refer you to post #1 by Edinburghlass.

There is a lot of very good information in this thread, but for a newcomer it is difficult to find. If you want to attract a broader audience to discuss issues affecting expats general, a post in Travel, Trips & Holidays might be more appropriate?

droopsnout

I think these questions have already been addressed.

If Martin wants more people to read about moving abroad, this thread needs to be moved elsewhere. If that is as a new forum with accompanying, more specialist threads, then fine.

But if he is not interested in UK subjects overseas, then this thread will stay here.

I can't say that I'm going to get excited about it one way or the other, as it's not the be-all and end-all.

I don't think links from other areas of the Board are all that effective in sending people this way, though I'm sure it does happen. A separate, clearly defined forum for money-saving abroad would be found by more potential and existing ex-pats than if bits and bats are scattered all over. And I certainly don't have time to go hunting everywhere.

Savvy_Sue

droopsnout wrote: »

But this does seem a good time (as Savvy_Sue has inadvertently opened up a debate) to discuss whether a separate forum within MSE would be good,

<snip>

The starting point, of course, was that this thread shouldn't really be hidden in the Silver Savers department. Loads of young families are emigrating, and they may be in just as much need of advice as us wrinklies. Why should MSE draw the line at the over-50s?

Deary me what DID I start! :rotfl:

If I'd had more time, when I posted my first "it's a UK moneysaving site" I would have given a link to where I got that 'official' response from. Because it is something which has been raised before on the Site Feedback board, perhaps most recently here, where you can see what The Great Man Himself says.

But I hope I can be forgiven for NOT having done so, because it was 2 am when I posted that. And it was certainly NOT my intention to suggest that we don't give a stuff about you 'old codgers'.

droopsnout wrote: »

I'm sure that Sue is consulting folk!

I certainly will be now!

Meanwhile if we could get back to the chit chat and tips and hints? I'd be grateful ...

EdInvestor

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Because it is something which has been raised before on the Site Feedback board, perhaps most recently here, where you can see what The Great Man Himself says.

That's why my suggestion focussed on investing offshore rather than living offshore - the financial concerns will often be the same whether people are already located offshore, just thinking about it, returning from a period abroad, buying or selling property abroad or looking at broader moneysaving opportunities.

To my mind for instance, moneysavers wanting help about buying overseas property will often get better insights from people already living abroad than from people who know about UK property, but have no experience buying overseas.

Savvy_Sue

EdInvestor wrote: »

To my mind for instance, moneysavers wanting help about buying overseas property will often get better insights from people already living abroad than from people who know about UK property, but have no experience buying overseas.

And I would agree with you, although I think there are websites which address such questions. Obviously their chat forums (fora?) - if they have them - are nothing like as good as this one, but they're set up for that purpose, which this one isn't.

As it happens, before I disappeared to watch Apparitions, I went and did a search on the Site Feedback board for 'abroad'.

Martin's response in the thread I pointed to above is fairly standard, ie he's said it more than once, so (please don't shoot the messenger!) I don't think he'll be changing that any time soon. And I've been thinking about that, and I hope you'll all agree that one of the strengths of the site is not JUST the chat (even though that's what some of us do most), but also the articles, which are all thoroughly researched, and then discussed on the Chat Forum.

The Chat Forum is in some ways a bit like Topsy: it just growed. It's almost organic. Things change. This thread may be moved if it seems like there's a better place for it. It just started on this board because there were a fair few questions from us Silver Savers.

So, we have a well researched body of articles relevant to and limited to how things work in the UK, and a touchy feely body of posters. Researching moneysaving in even one other country - where do you start? HOW do you start? Yes you can pick the brains of knowledgeable posters, but even knowledgeable posters can be wrong. Or biased.

So instead we have threads like this. We have a humungous New York thread on Travel. We have Quick Questions on Anything in Old Style. In each case a lot of knowledgeable and friendly people pool their expertise in answer to people's questions. There are other examples elsewhere I probably don't know about. You'll say that the difference is that both those are in a logical place, and this one isn't, although I'd say you certainly don't have to be an Old Styler to ask a Quick Question. It's not a perfect analogy but it's the best I can think of. If you look at the Site Feedback board you'll see an ongoing discussion about whether any Benefits questions should be on the new-ish Disability & Dosh board, or whether they should all be on the Benefits Board, and can someone Sort It Out please. And I'm sure we will ...

Anyway, I'm at risk of being completely Off Topic here because really this sort of thing should be on Site Feedback, so I shall ask Edinburgh Lass and the MSE Team to take a look. You may find a separate thread starts on Site Feedback, in which case I'll keep you posted.