... If you WAnt to commute 2 hrs each WAy to work you can find much cheaper. On top of federal income tax (roughly 25-28%), CA has 13.3% state tax, highest in the country. As Liam mentioned, 1% property tax and the additional add on; homeowners insurance, homeowners association (pays for community pools,parks) which could be $150-$400/month, earthquake insurance (still WAiting the the "big" one to happen, ect). I commute depending which office I work at anywhere from 20-55 miles each WAy. Current petrol prices $2.65/gallon. I do find in Ireland they tend not to ...

You'd have to wonder will this be much of an issue as time passes (in general, not for your family). After all, so many people travel and move all over the world these days, therefore 'diluting' any culture that Did exist. Maybe in Ireland, where there hasn't traditionally been a lot of inward migration, this will take a while to have any long term affect. But, in places like the US, Australia, Canada, UK, where a large portion of people are from elsewhere, I think TCK's would be very much the norm. In southern CA, the percentage of people who have any sort of family ties to the Area is pretty small. The culture is essentially re-forming continually. I hope your daughter adjusts well, Megan. I'm sure she'll grow out of the 'sass' within the next 10 years 🙂

So, because we can't seem to manage going ONE DAY without a hot mess, my husband had a minor car accident. He WAs in stopped rush hour traffic, in his lane, and a motorcycle weaving in and out of lanes hit him. Again, he WAs stopped. Garda arrives, the motorcyclist claims he has no memory of what happened. He is fine, mind you. The rear bumper of my screaming Japanese car is not. Tail light knocked out, as well. Garda took the report, everyone went on their WAy. Husband immediately phones our insurance. They instruct him it's up to the motorcyclist' ...

Hello! My husband and I will be relocating to Ireland in the early part of 2016 with our two young boys. At the time of our move, our oldest will be 3 turning 4 in June and our youngest will be 1 turning 2 in November 2016. My work will be in Carlow, while my husband will be home-based with an office in Cork, so we are considering living in Wicklow or the surrounding Area. We are trying to find out some more information on school and daycares/preschool. What is the earliest age that children start attending school? And are there preschools or daycares that are better than others? Currently both boys attend an at-home daycare, however we are not opposed to daycare centers or preschools. Any help, advice, comments would be extremely helpful.

I definitely feel your pain @redhead. I have young kids too, and getting them into good schools in an Area we WAnted to live, WAs an issue for us too. I hope everything falls in to place for you and your daughter. One thing I'd like to point out is that Ireland is still a little behind the times with regard to mixed gender schools. They are becoming more and more common, but the heavy influence the Catholic church had on Ireland in days gone by, still looms. Many towns will only have all boy or all girl secondary schools, so keep that in mind when looking. S ...

i am new to the forum- but i am jumping in ! when we move to ireland- my daughter and i Discussed what we WAnted to do first- it goes as such- WAlk about our village, go to the butcher, get fresh bread, cheese shop, the post office, local pub, etc.... and introduce ourselves, next explore other local shops & servives, take the dogs for WAlks, go to the closest shore line, explore what surrounds us and our new home- i agree with cfin- moving anywhere new is a culture shock- the move to ireland will be a big one- and i for one, dont WAnt to zip off and ...

... Difficulty getting a 40 foot container right to your door. When my shipment arrived in Ireland from the states, the individual pallets were send to a central WArehouse via 'large' truck (with other goods). From there I had to go and collect it (and unpack it from the pallets) and put it on a much smaller truck to get it to my door. In hindsight I wish I had paid movers to bring it to my door, but they would've still had to have done the same. There is no WAy a large container truck can get to most housing estates, or suburb Areas without breaking down the c ...

hi everyone, i have read an article here about how a family moved from michigan to ireland and decided to use pallet/ cargo instead of the 20 or 40 foot shipping containers. great article- but we have too many items and must use - hate to admit a 40 foot shipping container!!! i expect to live in ireland for a long time - so my whole world will be shipped over to county down Area or county wexford- 2 totally Different places i know... but so much rides on a school for my 16 year old daughter who needs a school that offers drama, choir and maybe dance, community theatre, classes for acting etc... this is why i ask about shipping containers, ports, quotes, and... i have read that some Areas, streets, towns may require permits & fees and some downtown city centre Areas dont allow containers at all...because a container maynot be able to unload on the small and busy streets. all advice says to call and get lots of quotes- which i will do- but are their companies any of you have dealt with that were wonderful or not so great?

hi everyone! i really could use some advice regarding school transfers from usa to northern ireland / county down Area. i have a 16 year old, homeschooled for grade 9 and 10- she is currently making up credits to continue on to 11th grade- (credits are used i guess like points) how are kids that transfer able to get into a secondary school, when so many of the schools advance kids from their prior primary school.? seems like there has to be a special connection to apply- from what i have read- there are many types of secondary schools- how do we choose? i have read that Different schools offer Different subjects , career choices, some special Areas of study etc... are the grades equivalent? she is 16, and should be going into 11th grade ( in the usa) example in the usa- by the time a child reaches 11th grade- that child should have accumulated at least 12 credits, thats all the basic math, english, history, gym and science etc... how do usa credits apply to school in northern ireland/ireland? will my teen have to take a entry level test/ tests? if she takes the tests, what if she isnt accepted at school? or we move before being accepted to a certain school? or we arent able to be there at the start of the school year? i could go on with the questions.. maybe we should start here... thank you