{Ask Mary} What is a TV License?

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Kate G. asked:: "A TV License??"

Answer::

You must have a TV License in the UK if you watch or record programmes on a TV, computer or other device as they're broadcast. A TV license (or broadcast receiving license) is mainly used to fund the BBC.

The cost per household is £145.50 (£49 for black and white tv sets) per year. You can pay weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly.

You can be fined up to £1,000 if you watch or record live television without a TV License.

When I first moved here I thought this was the dumbest tax I had ever heard of. I still think that.  But, along with the license you receive all the BBC channels/radio stations and a handful of other channels. It's like basic cable accept they make you pay for it. We could just not have a TV, computer, tablet or mobile in the home. Don't think I haven't considered it!  Now it is just part of our budget and I don't notice.

I don't want you to be fined so when you move to the UK you must obtain a TV License ASAP.

You can get one here::

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/

ps. There are some great discussions/comments on my Facebook page about this. Great insight!

Finding a Rental Property in Scotland

 

The laws and customs relating to rental accommodation vary widely across the world. For this reason it is important to study up before you plunge in. You can go to gov.uk for specific laws on private rental properties in Scotland.

I get countless emails asking me what good sites the locals use to find properties for rent. Here are the most widely used sites {and ones I have personally used}:

www.s1rental.com

www.rightmove.co.uk

www.zoopla.co.uk

You will need to be open minded when viewing properties here in Scotland. They probably won't be as big as you are used to. The average size home in America is 2,300 sqft, the average home in Great Britain is 818 sqft. Keep this in mind when you are packing your furniture.

It is fairly standard practice that a landlord will not rent to a person without having viewed the property. This just means that you can't rent a property in Scotland while you are still living in America {or any other country}.  A lease is not signed here until the day you move in. The landlord will want to see your face.

So, what do you do? You need a place to live. I'm going to give you my best advice.

+ If you are lucky enough to have connection in Scotland ask them if they would help you. They can view the properties and make the arrangements for you. Then you would be able to move straight into your new home the day you arrive. If you are indeed lucky enough to have this option make sure to thank them. It will be a lot of work on their part.

+ Find a Leasing Agent that will work with you. Ask them to prepare 10+ properties to show you in a 1-2 day period when you first arrive in Scotland. You will view them all in one go. Decide on a property and set your move in date for in a few days or weeks. This means you will need to book a hotel/hostel for those days/weeks when you first arrive.

+ If you aren't wanting to stay in a hotel/hostel you can look for short term holiday rental. You will be able to rent for as many weeks as you wish.

+ If you are being transferred with your company they will probably be taking care of all the arrangements for you. You lucky dog!

+ Depending on your circumstances you may have to pay your 6+ months rent upfront. These situations can happen when attending school abroad or when you do not have a job. The letting agency will just need a confirmation of your payment. Be prepared to shell out at least 6 months rent if need be.

+ Keep in mind different areas have different council tax bands. These will be stated in the property listing. It will be a letter {ex: Council Band A, B, D, etc}. That letter will be associated with a price. Council tax is a local taxation on every household. It covers water, sewage, trash pickup, etc. The cost depends on where you live. When deciding your budget for your rental home also remember you will need to pay council tax on top of that which can be anywhere from £99-£300 per month {or more}. You can see more {here}.


Although intimidating, it is worth it to take the time and effort to secure yourself the right property to make you happy in Scotland. I hope these tips helped in some way.

{British Recipe} Sausage Mini Frittatas

I love breakfast. It is definitely my comfort food. Eggs, sausage, bacon and pancakes just make me feel better. Let's not forget the cold glass of orange juice. Savoury breakfast are most popular here and now you can have a taste of Scotland in the mornings too.

These mini frittatas are so easy to make. I'm addicted. Frittatas for everyone! I hope you like them.

Ingredients::

1 1/4 cups cooked sausage
1 apple finely chopped
1 lemon
4 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
3 TBSP grated cheddar
4 TBSP of sultans {raisins} optional
2 large potatoes peeled and finely chopped
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper

Makes 12

Directions::

1. Place the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook until tender then drain in a colander.

2. Peel and dice the apple and place in a bowl of cold water. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the water - this will stop the apple turning brown.

3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and grated cheese until thoroughly combined.

4. Add the cooked sausage, apples, sultanas and potatoes to the bowl and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix gently until combined.

5. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5 (375 F)

6. Line a muffin tin with muffin cases. Divide the mix into the muffin cases and bake for 12-15 until cooked through. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

ps. Check out these British Bacon Roly Polies. They're amazing! 

5 Common Expat Mistakes

 

I've been living in Scotland for 6 and a half years. When I moved here there weren't blogs or books to read on moving to Scotland. I didn't know anyone who had moved abroad and so I learned everything the hard way. These are mistakes I have made myself but also I have seen expats make these mistakes time and time again. I want to help you be a little more prepared than I was. I don't want your transition to be as rocky as mine was. If I was to make this move for the first time (knowing what I know now) these are the first things I would do differently.

1. Not Doing Enough Research. You should be researching everything about your new country. No question is too small. No question is to silly. No  question is stupid. It might be to the people who know the answers but they know them because they've lived it. Go ahead and ask. No aspect of your research is too small. I've seen expats come and go here in Scotland that are fined for not paying council taxes and for not having a TV license. Why? They didn't even know about them. Research the customs in your new country as well as the everyday things. Learn as much as you can. Knowledge is power. Especially when you move abroad.

*In the UK, a TV licence is an annual tax that must be paid by any household that uses a TV to watch or record TV shows as they are being broadcast. The revenues are used to fund the BBC.

2. Unrealistic Expectations. It goes without saying (I hope) that you will be excited about your move abroad. Who wouldn't be?! What an exciting adventure! Until you get here and you relize that living abroad is very different from visiting on holiday. Be aware that it takes several months to start feeling more comfortable. I didn't say at ease or even comfortable. Just more comfortable than when you arrived. Everything will be much different than you pictured. There is a period of time you need to give yourself to come to terms with your new life.

3. Getting bored. Seriously. This happens. Before I moved here I had an Eat Pray Love experience pictured in my head. What I got was sitting in my pj's and watching TV for most of my first year. Really. Make yourself a list of things to do and things to see. Slowly check off items on your list. Make sure you keep yourself busy. Give yourself something to do.

4. Comparing Cultures. This is one of my pet peeves after living in Scotland for 6+ years. I absolutely hate it when expats move here and all they seem to do is compare their new life to their old one. They can't help it. Everything is different. But instead of using the word different they use the word weird. I don't like that word. It's just different that's all. Most expats come over here expecting to have an American experience in Scotland. They want the feelings/experiences you get on holiday. Sure you can have that but it's just going to be different because you live here. You aren't on a break from your life back home, you are living it. Stop comparing and embrace the differences. Can't find your favourite ingredient? Try a new dish with ingredients from your new country. You're going to have to live a little differently because you are indeed living in a different country. Stop comparing. Move on. Embrace the differences.

5. Restricting your social interactions with expats only. I'll go the other way too and say restricting yourself to socializing only with people from your chosen country isn't a good idea either. You need a balance. It's nice to have a few friends from your home country to converse with and know they understand what you're talking about but also it is important to make new friends and you never know, that kindred spirit could be just around the corner. You've just not opened yourself up.

There are oh so many mistakes expats make when they arrive in their new country and I'll be sharing more of those in the coming weeks. If you're an expat what is one mistake you made?

This is Crovie, Aberdeenshire

 

This weekend we had the most brilliant weather. It was literally scorching! Luis was off work on Friday so we decided to check out an old fishing village. The whole drive was on country roads. Sheep and cows dot the countryside as well as crumbling ruins of I'm sure were once cottages or old farm buildings. We caught glimpses of the North Sea on our way.

Crovie is unique. The shelf is so narrow there is only room for the cottages and a small foot path. There is a fantastic view point at the top of the cliffs that took my breath away. The peace and quiet that surrounded this village was amazing and I can't wait to go back.

We wanted a closer look so we walked down the path and a set of steep steps to get down to the village. We found a group of kids kicking a ball around and every cottage had wet suits hanging from their clothes line. We saw children climbing on a large boulder, barefoot, and then sat back on the rock and pulled out their book from their back pocket and started to read. There were more kids and parents hanging out of the dock and getting into the water.

A cute older couple stopped us to chat for a bit and I asked them if the water came right up to the path and she said it did. She told me there was a big gale the other day and the waves were crashing on her roof! Then she said, "It makes this an interesting place to live." I now have a desire to stay here for a week to experience such a thing.

There was a storm surge here in 1953 that was so large it washed away the path leading to the other side of the bay into Gardenstown. The damage to the fishing industry was so great most of the people living here just packed up and moved across the bay--leaving Crovie one of the most well preserved fishing villages in Europe. The cottages here mostly make up holiday rentals now. I am itching to stay here!

What do you think? Would you stay here during a storm?

9 Different Ways You Can Move to Scotland

The number one email I receive is about obtaining a VISA to live and work in Scotland. I've addressed this topic very briefly {here and here} many years ago. I went back and read those old posts recently and realized that they aren't that informative. Mostly because I didn't know very much about it at the time. Sorry! Times have changed and I want to share what I know with you.

I am living in Scotland on a Residence Visa. I'm the lucky one who married an EU member. We both have the legal right to live and work anywhere within the European Union--that's 28 countries! But most people don't have that option and are looking for other ways to live and work abroad.

I can not stress enough the importance of doing this legally. There is a lot of red tape but you must do it correctly or you could be in some real trouble. I've known people to arrive here and in the end they had to pack up and move back to the US because they didn't do things correctly. I can't even imagine the costs involved. If you need to hire an immigration attorney then do it. But do your homework. Dot every i and cross every t on those forms. It all matters.

I mostly get emails about obtaining a Work Visa. Those are hard to get. Let's say you're an American and you want to live in Scotland. You think you can just apply for a job in the country of your choice and this said company will hire you and become your sponsor. They will provide the funds and job to warrant a Work Visa. This is very unlikely but it can happen. Let me explain. For a company to do that they have to prove to the government why they couldn't get someone within those 28 EU countries to do the job. Let's be honest anyway, they can most likely find someone to do the job within their own geographic boundaries.

The last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from going for their dreams so I am here to help you think outside the box. I want YOU to live in Scotland!

Here are some ideas to get you to the UK::

+ Study Abroad. Have you wanted to go back to school? Well, maybe doing it in another country is just the adventure you are looking for. You can even obtain a Student Visa for just a few small courses. If you are already in school your current university will have study abroad programs where you can spend a semester in another country. Do it! You won't regret the experience.

+ Volunteer for a UK charity. This will be unpaid but a great experience if you save your pennies.

+ Do you have a grandparent that was born in the UK? Then you could be in luck!

+ Dreaming of starting your own business? Doing it in the UK could give you the VISA you want.

+ Apply for work at a Fortune 500 company in your home country. Oil companies are a great place to start. Aberdeen, Scotland is the Energy Capital of Europe {wink wink}. It may take you a few years to get where you want but some good planning could have you jet setting throughout the world on the companies dime.

+ Have you ever thought about being an Au Pair? Many busy families are looking for caregivers to help in their home and prefer someone from another country to give their kids a diverse upbringing.

+ Did you know you can obtain a Visitor Visa and stay in the UK for up to 6 months? Save your money and you can have the experience of living in the UK for a short period of time.

+ Intern Abroad. This will look great on your resume!

+ There are a whole host of Work Visas available. You never know, you just might qualify!

Are any of you planning the move? Share with us how you're doing it in the comments!