Immigrating to the UK

Dave said:
Plenty of car dealers that specialise in cheaper cars, have a look on Autotrader (there's a website and an app), you can normally pick up a decent car with long or full MOT for £2500-£3500. You don't need ID to buy a car here.
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This is definitely the way to go in my experience/opinion. When I got here three and a bit years ago I bought an old Mazda 3 for £1600 lol.

Thought it would just tide me over for a year or so until I could get finance, but I still have it. In that time it has never broken down and has cost me around £1000 in routine maintenance. Passed two of the three MOTs it's had at first attempt.

I'm forever on Autotrader and Cargurus looking at some nice stuff (amazing deals on some barges and I don't care about fuel consumption due to the low mileage I do), but haven't been motivated enough to push the button.

Admittedly I've only done 12000 miles in it since I've been here and if I was using it for commuting I'm sure I would have swopped it for something newer, but there's simply no need to - I'm driving the thing once or twice a week at present. And as soon as it needs any kind of expensive fix, which it's bound to in the next year or two, it will be uneconomical to repair and will therefore have to go.

Good thing is that "Know Your Car" app, where you can track MOT results/advisories and reasons for failure etc. And also make sure that mileage makes sense.
 
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Dave said:
I’d make the comment that Giffgaff is the most backward of MVNO’s on the worst network in the country (o2).

As a decent prepaid package I’d look at either Smarty (@Sinbad can confirm how he finds 3UK as he is on ID Mobile which is also a 3UK MVNO) or Lebara (which runs on Vodafone and had very cheap specials all the time). Both also offer all the modern network features like 5G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi Calling etc.

Edit
Just checked Lebara, current offer is £1.49 a month for the first 6 months on their 12GB plan.


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I have decided to go for Smarty Unlimited.
 
Sinbad said:
Initially your choices will be very limited.

If they will take your lease as proof of address then you are golden. If not, the only bank I found willing to open an account was Lloyd's. They will post you a security code and then you use that to open the account.

Imho there's not much to distinguish all the banks. All their offerings are pretty vanilla.
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You can open a digital bank account with Monzo or Chase. I still use my Monzo for my wages but now have a NatWest Account.
 
Decathlon has reasonable pricing. If you want to do instore shopping MK isn’t far from where you will be iirc. Wide range of stores at the Centre and surrounds.
 
killerbyte said:
I am heading to Halfords to buy thermal stuff for cycling to work. Will be the coldest 2.5km of my life
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If you do order clothing online just be sure to check return policies from online shops prior to order. Amazon is amazing in that department, I normally order 2/3 different sizes/colour and just send the stuff back the same / next day.

Some online retailers require you to physically print a label (I mean who still owns a printer), plus pay for postage to send it back. Some even charge a handeling fee for returns too. It can add up very quickly if you ordering heavy coats etc.
 
Sent my SA license ( and UK Biometrics card ) to be swapped on the 10th Jan

Got my Biometrics card back (I sent a self addressed special delivery bag with the application) today, license should arrive in a day or 2
 
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