Aitch Ess Bee See

The credit cards arrived. Hooray! I never thought I'd be quite so happy at something as mundane as a credit card arriving. But it's surprising how many things are made easier by having one. It's very common in the US to require the ZIP code of the credit card billing address for automated transactions (like paying for petrol at the pump), so having a UK credit card is quite limiting. Also, although online banking is a real boon (and you don't get to say 'boon' much these days), it's still a bit of a pain to remotely deal with UK banking. We'll start to build up a US credit history, too, which will make it easier for us to get access to (and a better choice of) financial services in a year or so. Onwards and upwards. By the way... HGTV rules! We're hooked on Design Star.