What to do?
Mrs.Mechmoggy is on the verge of accepting a new job in B'ham, the catch is the financial headquarters is in Kent and if she does accept the job she'll, no we'll, be expected to move there in a year or two. I don't want to stand in the way of her career and I hear that Kent is lovely but......I dunno. 🙁
Kent is great, but a lot more expensive that Birmingham when it comes to buying a house.
Plus prices on one side of Kent can be completely different to the other side. If we sold out little terraced house in Dartford and moved about 50 miles further out from London then we could probebly get a 4 bedroomed detached for the same money....
write down all the positives to this move on the left side of a sheet of paper, and all the negatives on the right hand side. This will give you an idea what the balance is, would this move be a positive or negative. Look at the big picture, job, housing, cost of living (food, fuel, petrol, rent, mortage, proximity to stores), transportation, house and car insurance rates, distance to family, commuting, school for your children, child care, church, future job growth for both of you, your own job future--what will you be doing? your job status? Bored now? Time for a new adventure?
Thankfully for us Keo, a lot of those things don't vary by that much between the regions.
Remember, you could fit the land space of England into most of the States of the US.
Good point though, I think the key ones are Property Prices (Rented or Bought) and Motor/Property Insurances
Things like Motor Fuel, Food/Groceries, Utilities and Mortgages don't really change that much at all.
Obviously the location of schools, public and private transportation networks and stores need to be considered but Kent is pretty well equiped as a whole, even in the villages nowadays.
As far as Church goes, if it's good old Christain faster, son and the holy ghost then you won't have any problem there and most other denominations are pretty well covered unless you're planning on going right out in the sticks.
Childcare is a biggy, though I seem to remember that it doesn't effect the moggy's at this time.
Mechmoggy, if you want anything specific on Kent then you might try the Kent website run by the Kent County Council
Also, if you want anything specific, drop me a line and I'll see if I can help out.
We're putting the decision off till the weekend. Think I'm just frightened of change. If I remember correctly there are always engineering jobs being advertised for Kent, so work for me shouldn't be a problem, except I'll have to loose my partnership stake in my business, but I've been thinking about a change soon anyway.
If I were you Mech I'd go for it. Besides, in a country like ours it's not a massive move to make.
I would always say it is better to take the risk than to ignore it and be constantly wondering 'What if?' If it turns around and bites you on the ass then at least you will have given it a go.
Besides, no one has a 'Job for Life' anymore so chances are you'd be looking to move on sometime, why not use this as the ideal opportunity to broaden your horizons at the same time. 🙂