Relocating to England – A Financial Diary
Hey folks, here’s a scoop from my first few weeks in England, mostly about money – not really the spending part, more about how to access it and get by.
So, I started using this service called Wise, which sends and holds money like a bank account. It’s been subtly helpful in odd ways I had not originally intended. Although it technically works as a bank account, not everything in England plays ball with it. For example, when I tried to set up my phone on my second day, they wouldn’t accept it as payment. So, I had to pay cash for the first month and now wait until I open a genuine bank account.
Setting up a real bank was kind of a funny process. You need a residential address for it, but to rent a place, you need (you guessed it!) a bank account – pretty ironic. One bank, Barclays, works around this. You simply download their app and complete the application from your new home. Their system uses your phone’s GPS to confirm your location. But (and there’s always a but), you need a UK Apple account to download it.
Switching countries on your Apple account sounds easy, but you need zero balance and no subscriptions before doing it. So, when I tried to switch, I realized I had a $25 gift card pending and an active Apple + subscription. So, I purchased another international adapter with my remaining gift card amount and cancelled my Apple + subscription.
But, Apple + doesn’t end immediately upon cancellation, it lasts until the end of the billing cycle – three weeks out in my case! So, there goes the plan of opening my bank account that evening.
My travel-friendly credit cards (both Visas), turned out to be pretty unhelpful when shopping online in the UK. This ‘Verified by Visa’ feature sends a confirmation text to my American number which means I need to keep toggling my American SIM card and pay $10 to accept those texts – very inconvenient!
While these cards work hassle-free in physical stores and for public transportation, they’re a nightmare for online shopping. Hence, holding onto my Wise card was a lifesaver, especially for ordering life essentials online.
You’d be surprised how deceiving “travel-friendly” claims can be. Kudos to my Visa cards for teaching me that lesson.
So, that’s my story of American-to-England cash hurdles for now. Tell me about yours. Have you moved countries before? What unexpected money issues did you face?