Update: After considerable lobbying from consumer groups, the US Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection has amended the rule requiring evidence of independent income when applying for consumer credit, replacing it with a declaration of household income. This is excellent news for accompanying partners in the United States who had been denied access to [...]
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I’m not a real estate professional, so the good news is that I’m not going to try and sell you a home. Predictably though, I have made plenty of mistakes when it comes to expat housing, and have spent long hours with more seasoned expats discussing what they have learned and what [...]
It’s a time of turmoil in the Defining Moves household. After 14 years, we are finally selling our family home in Wales and transferring our home status to the US. It’s a funny feeling – despite living in six different homes since leaving, the process of finding and buying a new home away from “home’ [...]
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Yes, I know Buddha only taught four noble truths, but I don’t have his powers of concise thought..
1. It sounds far more glamorous than it is. The leisure industry has been brainwashing us for years about the wonders of travel, whether domestic or international, focusing our attention on the turquoise sea, the golden beaches, [...]
Continue Reading →One of the downsides of wandering the world at a very slow pace is the difficulty in managing finances long-term, when your needs, expenses and income radically change every three to five years. So here are my favorite ways to maintain financial sanity, and best of all, they’re free.
Self-made spreadsheet from OpenOffice
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When you are a relocating trailing spouse, cultural orientation comes in many forms. I had a British driving moment yesterday, which bearing in mind I’m in the US, is not such a good thing. I was turning out of a petrol (gas) station, and without thinking, ended up on the left side, much to the [...]
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Choosing a neighborhood is partly to do with practicalities, and partly to do with your own preferences, all of which are different for every person or family.
Go for a drive
This is my personal favorite, and the one I do first when choosing locations. Getting in the car (or on a bike, [...]
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