# Job lined up, now what? help!! nervous and excited!



## baronne (Aug 31, 2010)

Hi,
I'm new here in the forum, so 'ello 'ello!
We've been thinking of relocating to Cyprus, and I'm now in the fortunate position of having a fairly decent job lined up. The trouble is, we don't have much here in the UK in the form of savings, etc.
This is all becoming a whirlwind which we know we want to ride, but are having our doubts of course:
- We've never been to Cyprus, but from what we've researched it looks great!
- We'd probably need to be located near Larnaca as this looks like a reasonable commute to/from Nicosia.
- Are there some decent english speaking schools in/around Larnaca for our 5 year old?
- Any recommendations for areas around Larnaca to rent?
- We'd need to get a car or two as soon as possible - one for me and one for my wife to go "exploring" with baby (4 months).

If I let this opportunity go, there may not be another for a long time and then it's stuck in the UK again, kids getting older (and wiser apparently!), wife and I getting more and more bleak with the lack of lifestyle in the UK (and weather, and politics, and education, and crime, and...... )

... I'm sure I'll have more questions soon!


baronne


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

baronne said:


> Hi,
> I'm new here in the forum, so 'ello 'ello!
> We've been thinking of relocating to Cyprus, and I'm now in the fortunate position of having a fairly decent job lined up. The trouble is, we don't have much here in the UK in the form of savings, etc.
> This is all becoming a whirlwind which we know we want to ride, but are having our doubts of course:
> ...


It sounds exciting, but I would ask how fairly decent is decent? Presumably your wife cannot work with a four month and five year old to look after and most young families need at least two salaries to survive here. Kids and cars are expensive to maintain. Private education is expensive, as is the cost of living (despite the broad opinion on this, young families always in my experience, judge the col to be towards the high end). You also have to factor in medical care, future opportunities with the kids, culture shock and the whole gamut of potential problems from unscrupulous employers to dodgy landlords. In short do lots of homework before taking the plunge. If decent is really quite decent, you should be OK, but you need to make sure you'll have enough to give yourselves a fighting chance.

Good luck!


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## Toxan (Dec 29, 2010)

Researc, ask lot's of questions and if possible have something in the UK to fall back on. Fire away with your questions, there are enough people on the Forum to help you.


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## baronne (Aug 31, 2010)

kimonas said:


> It sounds exciting, but I would ask how fairly decent is decent? Presumably your wife cannot work with a four month and five year old to look after and most young families need at least two salaries to survive here. Kids and cars are expensive to maintain. Private education is expensive, as is the cost of living (despite the broad opinion on this, young families always in my experience, judge the col to be towards the high end). You also have to factor in medical care, future opportunities with the kids, culture shock and the whole gamut of potential problems from unscrupulous employers to dodgy landlords. In short do lots of homework before taking the plunge. If decent is really quite decent, you should be OK, but you need to make sure you'll have enough to give yourselves a fighting chance.
> 
> Good luck!


I'm looking at a salary of around €38K per annum which includes health care and the company is a global company. Anything less I think won't be financially viable...

You are correct in saying that my wife won't be able to work for a little while, but I estimate that we'd be able to survive on a monthly basis including private school fees for the 5 yr old.

My main concern is that we don't have a great deal of available cash at present after being unemployed here in the UK for some months. I haven't begun to fathom how much exactly it'll cost us to relocate - I'm yet to confirm with the company what the options are for relocation, some assistance will really help the transition


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## zin (Oct 28, 2010)

€38K per annum will get you by but you would probably need your wife to bring in an income to be comfortable.


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## zeeb0 (Oct 29, 2010)

Hi,

Wow you sound exactly like me one year ago.. apart fromt he fact i have more kids 

I was also offered a job and thought wtf... Overall im now happy we took the plung but it hasnt been a smoothe ride and at one point i actually returned tot he UK.

Ok the salary is ok and muh better than average but it isnt exactly great. I think you will seriously need to forget private schools unless maybe another member of the family (nan or something) pays. Private schools are all around 5k a per kid and have many many hidden extras... also if you intend of to stay your kids will need to speak greek. 

From my own personal oppinion i think you should consider a local greek school but not in nicosia, your kids are still very young and should cope ok (but dont do it in nicosia).

Anyway i can bore you with the details for ages but you may wanna pm me to talk specifics. 

Ok here are some numbers to help you:
Rental in larnaca area 600+ euros for a decent sized house
commute to nicosia 200+
average weekly shop 100 (depending on taste.. we are lidl warriors and mainly eat pasta)
Utilities - you can rent one with counciltax etc included and only pay elec and water..

I say do it! england is pants and getting worse.. and if it makes you feel better, when you subtract the burned i still carry in the UK I think im on less than u.


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## zany (Sep 19, 2009)

Another option would be to just come here with your personal belongings find a furnished or part furnished house and have a trial period to see if you like it here. There are lots of expats in Larnaca area so I'm sure you will all find friends. Good Luck!


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## baronne (Aug 31, 2010)

zeeb0 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Wow you sound exactly like me one year ago.. apart fromt he fact i have more kids
> 
> ...


thanks! I'll bare some of that in mind... I've got a lot of planning and researching to do... I'll certainly PM you! cheers..


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

baronne said:


> thanks! I'll bare some of that in mind... I've got a lot of planning and researching to do... I'll certainly PM you! cheers..


I recently returned from a business trip to the UK which reminded me how lucky I am to live here - both countries rip you off, but at least here they're a bit more open about it and there's some room for manouvre (and you're not freezing to death as you're being fleeced). But I would still advise extreme research and caution where the children are concerned. Check out the thread on schooling for advice - I can also give PM advice on schools in the Larnaca area.


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## baronne (Aug 31, 2010)

I've bottled it. Feels like the worst thing I've ever done, but under the circumstances we have too much debt burden in the UK and I feel my salary would just about cover us, not leaving any room for "what if'" and "gotcha's". 

I've taken the view that I need to take a more sensible approach rather than dive in there adding to our debts ultimately and just about surviving. 

....so it's all on hold for now.    :confused2:


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## Toxan (Dec 29, 2010)

baronne said:


> I've bottled it. Feels like the worst thing I've ever done, but under the circumstances we have too much debt burden in the UK and I feel my salary would just about cover us, not leaving any room for "what if'" and "gotcha's".
> 
> I've taken the view that I need to take a more sensible approach rather than dive in there adding to our debts ultimately and just about surviving.
> 
> ....so it's all on hold for now.    :confused2:


A wise decision considering your circumstances. Take more time and do more research. Good luck.


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## baronne (Aug 31, 2010)

zeeb0 said:


> A good choice i suppose... Although the other option would be to get a massive unsecured load and then leave the UK for good and start a new life as a loaded dude.
> 
> If you did this i guess the north would be best as that is where all the crims go..


cheers zeeb0 ... mostly unsecured anyway.... but nah, I'd prefer to be in the South. ;-)


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

baronne I think you have made a wise decision. It dosnt mean that you have to forget the dream all together. Just put it on hold until you have got any debts in the Uk paid off and some more money behind you. 
Certainly don't listen to anyone who advocates you doing anything which is dishonest. You have your family to think about and don't want to risk getting into any sort of trouble.
Good luck for the future, I hope you get your dream some day.

Regards
Veronica


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## lora (Jul 24, 2010)

Hello! you should DO IT! lifes too short. Give it a try. Whats to be will be. 
I had my chance TWICE to move over to Cyprus but all i kept thinking was "what if it doesnt work?" what if what if what if.....Now that I am older, my what ifs ,are fast turning into " if only... if only"
Your children are young,so they will pick up the language easily.
My husband and I dont have two pennies to rub together,but we are going to take the plunge and 'go for it'. Good Luck! from Lora xxx


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## baronne (Aug 31, 2010)

believe me, this chapter is not closed yet... I am looking at ways of making this work.... so hold thumbs!


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## lora (Jul 24, 2010)

*new life*



baronne said:


> believe me, this chapter is not closed yet... I am looking at ways of making this work.... so hold thumbs!


ok. you need to set yourselves a target. eg pay off your debts first as there's nothing worse than having something like that burdening you. When you have cleared all financial dealings, then you set yourselves a time to go. You mentioned a job awaiting you? Will it still be there though?
Maybe put this on hold for a short time.
Remember, "everything for a reason" and "every cloud has a silver lining"
This will happen for you both,because if it's something you both really want, YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN.
All the best
Lora x:


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