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My local gas station here in Glasgow, Scotland has unleaded petrol and Diesel right now for, what in US dollars and gallons, is $9.37 a gallon. Yes, OVER NINE DOLLARS A GALLON for gas. 60% of it is government taxes so I just can't take it any more. I have to go back to biodiesel production for myself, which means getting a new car since last fall I did something insanely stupid and splashed out on a CR-Z. I love the car, I really do, but payments and that kind of money for gas is just killing me.

I could have moved myself, and my new business to the United States for less than what I've spent on automotive costs in the last 12 months. And coming from Europe, I sure as hell wouldn't be bitching about US gas prices.

I think I've now had enough of Europe and its insane prices for everything and all the disincentives in place now for car ownership. I had to give up my passion for flying a few years back because it got so damned expensive, and I won't let my passion for driving go the same way. So starting this evening, I'm going to make plans to just move to the US.

My local gas station here in Glasgow, Scotland has unleaded petrol and Diesel right now for, what in US dollars and gallons, is $9.37 a gallon. Yes, OVER NINE DOLLARS A GALLON for gas. 60% of it is government taxes so I just can't take it any more. I have to go back to biodiesel production for myself, which means getting a new car since last fall I did something insanely stupid and splashed out on a CR-Z. I love the car, I really do, but payments and that kind of money for gas is just killing me.

I could have moved myself, and my new business to the United States for less than what I've spent on automotive costs in the last 12 months. And coming from Europe, I sure as hell wouldn't be bitching about US gas prices.

I think I've now had enough of Europe and its insane prices for everything and all the disincentives in place now for car ownership. I had to give up my passion for flying a few years back because it got so damned expensive, and I won't let my passion for driving go the same way. So starting this evening, I'm going to make plans to just move to the US.

I didn't make plans, but then I met this woman online and decided that I really wanted to pay more for my healthcare, drive instead of using public transport and shovel snow in winter. But there's always pumpkin pie, root beer and cheaper football to make up for it. Not to mention that the Prius was much cheaper here.

I think I'd recommend the Pacific Northwest to you. Plenty of rain there to make you feel at home.

You could also try Venezuela. Petrol's pretty cheap there too. ;)

Sorry to hear that Gordon.
Search out the economics of the state you wish to move to. Illinois is in dire straits and has just raised personal and business income taxes by a large percentage. Also with a business, workmen's comp rates can be a killer too.

Sorry to hear that Gordon.
Search out the economics of the state you wish to move to. Illinois is in dire straits and has just raised personal and business income taxes by a large percentage. Also with a business, workmen's comp rates can be a killer too.

We're number 1! (In business-unfriendliness. At least according to Forbes. But then, it's Forbes and I'm not sure that I'd want to live in a place that Forbes rates number 1.)

I'd do a complete cost analysis before making that move. Workman's comp, health insurance, business and property taxes may well make it a wash, despite our $3/gallon gas.

I'd do a complete cost analysis before making that move. Workman's comp, health insurance, business and property taxes may well make it a wash, despite our $3/gallon gas.

In the process of doing that just now. Doing business in the UK is a hell of a lot more expensive than it would be in the US. With now 20% sales tax (VAT), the extreme fuel costs, and the massive inflation on all goods, especially food is at tipping point for me. I hate to pounce on the misfortune of good people, but with the way the real estate market is in the US, i can buy a house there for half there than what I can here.

Even with US health insurance costs, when I take everything into account, its still cheaper for me to live in the US. The national insurance system we have in the UK is a good, fair system where both employee and employer pays contributions to it, taken from paychecks. It surprisingly works out cheaper, at least for me, on private healthcare systems. Even though I wish you guys had the same type of national system we do :p

@ItsNotAboutTheMoney: Yeah the north-west would most likely be ideal, either that or the north-east. I don't usually take too well to the heat. Lived in NYC in 2005 for 3 months where it was 105F for an entire month in the city there, I had heatstroke twice and lost 20 pounds by the time I went back home. I suppose I would adjust eventually. Also been considering the midwest states, nice flat plains, because as we all know here, hills hurt mpg.

@msirach: Yeah the tax hikes in Illinois of 60%+ would turn me off to moving there.

It'll take a while to save up for it, get all the papers sorted out for it, so maybe a few years, but this isn't the type of thing that one would want to rush into without a plan. So the CR-Z will be gone as soon as I can produce and stock up on biodiesel, and get a nice little diesel again.

Time to move to Canada:D

There is Florida. Warm in the south, dirt cheap housing right now and no state income tax,
6% sales tax. Gas is probably about 10% more expensive on average but on the other hand no snow or need for winter cloths or snow tires. I figure Florida's economy should start to turn around in the next 18 to 24 months.

Even with US health insurance costs, when I take everything into account, its still cheaper for me to live in the US. The national insurance system we have in the UK is a good, fair system where both employee and employer pays contributions to it, taken from paychecks. It surprisingly works out cheaper, at least for me, on private healthcare systems. Even though I wish you guys had the same type of national system we do :p


The thing to remember about private insurance-based health-care is that it's always cheap for the younger and healthy but the costs rise rapidly once you're old and/or sick. <rant>The "system" makes people seek and hang around in sinecures just for the health benefits at least until they hit Medicare age.</rant> Anyway, when figuring your health costs, take expected future insurance rises into account.

Also, you have to take co-pays and deductibles into account. The cheaper your insurance the bigger the co-pays. My wife has good insurance and pays $50 for ER visits, $15 for doctors visit, $10 on generic prescriptions, $45 on brand-name prescriptions. It can add up: my wife has 2 generics and a brand-name.

(By comparison in the UK, there's only a prescription co-pay and you can pay for a "season ticket" that covers unlimited prescriptions so there's an effective annual cap of #104 or $165 in today's money.)

And don't forget dental costs. I know it's gone up in the UK, especially with more use of private dentistry but I'm sure it's still more expensive here.

It'll take a while to save up for it, get all the papers sorted out for it, so maybe a few years, but this isn't the type of thing that one would want to rush into without a plan. So the CR-Z will be gone as soon as I can produce and stock up on biodiesel, and get a nice little diesel again.

Well, I will say that in the coming years should be able to carve a niche as a driving instructor who teaches stick and economical driving.

Well, I will say that in the coming years should be able to carve a niche as a driving instructor who teaches stick and economical driving.

I could on the side and have been doing so as part of my lesson plans and driver re-education since I got my instructor badge, but the whole reason I became an instructor was to fund the start-up of my new business I've wanted since I got out of college. By trade I'm a software engineer and that is where my heart and talent really lays. Less stress writing code anyways, been instructing only a couple of years and I've got the grey coming in already, and I'm only in my mid twenties. :rolleyes:

I could on the side and have been doing so as part of my lesson plans and driver re-education since I got my instructor badge, but the whole reason I became an instructor was to fund the start-up of my new business I've wanted since I got out of college. By trade I'm a software engineer and that is where my heart and talent really lays. Less stress writing code anyways, been instructing only a couple of years and I've got the grey coming in already, and I'm only in my mid twenties. :rolleyes:

Well, in software your route in might be through H1B work visas. The visas are job-tied and jobs using H1B can be a bit ****ty, so people put their heads down, do their time and then apply for permanent residence and look for something better.

If you end up with a crappy job at first you'll want it to be in a location where Permanent Residence applications are processed more quickly. Although they've restructured things now so the processing load is more evenly distributed, when I applied the Northeast was definitely the place to be. The USCIS site shows processing times and I also found the Visa Journey (http://www.visajourney.com/) site was a helpful source of information.

I came here on a K1 (marriage visa) so I don't have personal experience of H1B. My process from petition to conditional permanent residence took less than 1 year.

Since you're from the UK with a good income (and no criminal record, I hope ;) ) getting a visa and residence should be easier for you than for others. Don't bother looking at the green card lottery (Diversity Lottery) since that only applies to countries with low numbers of immigrants and the UK is high on the immigrant list.

Well, in software your route in might be through H1B work visas. The visas are job-tied and jobs using H1B can be a bit ****ty, so people put their heads down, do their time and then apply for permanent residence and look for something better.

If you end up with a crappy job at first you'll want it to be in a location where Permanent Residence applications are processed more quickly. Although they've restructured things now so the processing load is more evenly distributed, when I applied the Northeast was definitely the place to be. The USCIS site shows processing times and I also found the Visa Journey (http://www.visajourney.com/) site was a helpful source of information.

I came here on a K1 (marriage visa) so I don't have personal experience of H1B. My process from petition to conditional permanent residence took less than 1 year.

Since you're from the UK with a good income (and no criminal record, I hope ;) ) getting a visa and residence should be easier for you than for others. Don't bother looking at the green card lottery (Diversity Lottery) since that only applies to countries with low numbers of immigrants and the UK is high on the immigrant list.

You just saved me a heck of a long time doing research on it! Thank you good sir! I might go the road of getting a crappy job like you suggested, then restart up my company later. Not going to make any hasty decisions though just yet. Have to make sure I have a solid plan and that finances are in order. After the CR-Z is gone, I have no more debt, so thats a huge relief.

And no :p Definitely no criminal record :p