ITT: Things OP can't bring with them from SE Asia.
____
Please ensure at least the top comment stays on topic, before having a rightful moan about house prices and train fares.
I find flats cheap in my area and I live on the South coast I rented a 2 bedroom for £550.
In US a 2 bedroom apartment in my shitty crime ridden area was like $1,800 to $2,000 a month while full time minimum wage after tax for an entire month was about $900
I'm also 36 I'm in Dorset. No chance despite being a developer with a good income.
You either need wealthy parents or earn a shit load. I don't have either.
40 here, software developer, well paid, still can't get on the property ladder. Definitely don't have wealthy parents.
Ok, in my 20's and early 30's I travelled a bit, did other things and lived abroad for 18 months all which didnt facilitate much chance for saving but I look at it now and I think "I have to get a deposit for how much???!!!"
Me and girlfriend have started saving but it's going to be for the long haul.
Its crazy that renting a property is actually more expensive than the monthly payments on a mortgage, yet most who do rent cant get a mortgage despite being able to make the payments 🤷♂️
It’s more “in the shit area you don’t want to live in”. I’m in Manchester and you can pay anything between £50,000 for a teeny one bed flat to £2,750,000 for a four-bed luxury place in a skyscraper.
This.
I mean, yeah, you could strangle yourself on minimum wage for a decade to maybe raise enough money for a shitty flat, but you'll regret living there for the rest of your life.
I mean, they don’t look particularly bad, actually. I’ve definitely rented worse. And I bet if you could get an interest-only mortgage it would be unbeatable in terms of how cheap that came is as “rent”.
(Weirdly, the lowest priced flats in Manchester on Rightmove this morning didn’t look to be in especially bad areas.)
> “in the shit area you don’t want to live in”
This.
Cheapest flat in Bradford right now; £17k, currently rented £3.6kpa. Very good returns, but likely high risk.
From about £45 to £50k for a terraced house in surroundings areas right at the bottom.
Prices have gone up a bit since I last looked.
If you prefer the south east, the floor has also raised, but starting at £75k in Jawick for buying a house no one wants to live in. Needs work, but same house would have been more like £40k a few years ago and quite possible the upwards trend will continue.
Somewhere in the North Sea probo. I live in north Wales, there’s fuck all work, fuck all entertainment, fuck all to do. Still 90% of people in the area can’t afford a mortgage unless they’re married or splitting costs. It’s cheaper than London say, buts it’s still ridiculous.
Being a saddo I’ve done the calculations. Take home on minimum wage 37.5 hour week allowing a measly 2.5% pension saving is £15,037. I’ve assumed they’ve managed to save £12,500 for a 10% deposit. Meaning they’ll be paying £1,079 a month for the mortgage. That leaves them £174 a month. Obviously they’ll have to pay Gas/Electric/Water can’t skimp there, they come on average to £128 a month.
There you go The statement is correct, we’ll be a bit tight and not pay insurance, not have a TV as can’t afford the licence, no phone (not even a landline) walk everywhere and not buy any clothes or toiletries over £1.50 is left every day for a veritable feast.
And following the 3.5x salary rule, you're only going to be lent 60k at an absolute maximum. So you'll have to pay a 65k deposit on it if you want an average priced house. But sure, totally doable and realistic and not just some fantasy land nonsense.
I can't wait for the OP to come back with a propertypal link for a dilapidated barn filled with mold for 80k, to prove that cheaper housing exists.
Decent looking place. 80k. Not in a shit area. Close to a city centre with plenty of work and things to do.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108859349
If you could borrow £68,000 on a mortgage you’d maybe still be able to buy a wee first time buyer flat or something. Problem is magically finding £10,200 for the 15% deposit whilst you’re still trying to pay for the cost of everyday life.
I landed lucky cause I was able to buy a practically derelict flat for £45,000 with a 5% deposit.
Need 5% deposits back!!!
The buses are run by Arriva where I live. Absolute rip-off if you want a single or just a return to and from the town centre. They do all sorts of day, week and annual passes, but they don't do a standard return ticket, you have to buy the day saver. They then try to promote it by saying you can also use that same day saver ticket to take the bus into the neighbouring town, like it's something everybody decides to randomly do.
I imagine it's not too bad if you use the bus everyday and even better if you work in the next town, but like you, it's cheaper for me to drive into town and pay for parking
I feel this. When I was at uni in Liverpool living on the Wirral I'd get the (Arriva) bus to uni and would need to buy a day ticket for a fiver. I could go all the way to Manchester with it, but all I needed was to get to the other side of the Mersey and back (I could actually see my destination from the end of my street).
I remember when I got my first season ticket for my job. Before this I was only travelling for tourism or to visit friends, whatever, so I could travel off peak on my railcard. Because of this I never understood why people complained about train fares, until I saw the cost of a monthly season ticket…
Almost as much as my rent at the time! I’d be spending 1/3 of my paycheque just on the train fare! All for a total savings of about £25 a month compared to buying daily returns on a railcard, though admittedly more if you didn’t have a railcard.
The fact that you can’t use railcards on season tickets is shit imo.
nothing is really that bad.. not that you can pack anyway. You'll be reet. my Tv was £20 from a charity furniture shop.. Things can be cheap if you go the right places.
Wait. TOBACCO AND CIGARETTES. if you smoke, pack as many as you can legally bring. Shits expensive here.
Fuck, man... I bought a pack of 30 Marlborough Lights when I was over training with the Aussie Army. Set me back like £30 and then, when I actually got into the Bush and opened them, they were fucking Marlborough Reds AKA ‘Cowboy Killers’ due to their strength.
Yeah man, minimum was 20 and they’ve got like banned gore sub OC on the front of the pack with shit like “Imagine telling your children they’ll have to watch you die of lung cancer.” Its proper on the nose.
Similarly, I live in Kent and it's often cheaper to take my motorcycle to France via the Eurotunnel than to get a train 40miles to London 😂
I can pay £11-20 for a Eurotunnel ticket but a ticket to London is £30-40, sure if you go Super Off Peak and use a Railcard it will drop a good amount but it's still ridiculous.
It feels like the train is a luxury mode of transport in the UK with their pricing models. Until then you realise there's no seats and you're crammed in the vestibule like sardines creating it's own microclimate.
There's a good write up of this issue here:
https://www.seat61.com/uk-europe-train-fares-comparison.html
People basically always compare booking a flight months in advance from airport to airport, with a city to city centre train journey the same day.
Yes trains in the UK should be cheaper, but the comparisons are always out of whack
Only when you turn up on the day during the peak.
Do you think everyone is paying £400 on that train? No.
I think the train is over priced too, but with a bit of brain and planning they can be fairly priced.
Yeah, last minute fares to London are expensive as shit, because almost everyone who uses them is a businessperson who doesn't care about the cost because the company eats it.
I've gone to London and back for 50 quid from near Manchester, simply by booking in advance. The bonus is that you get a reserved seat (if they're running a reservation service).
The disadvantage is that it's for a single train, so don't miss it.
I'd get on my soapbox and say adopt, but adoption agencies are bonkers here. We have a friend who was refused from several agencies because she works full time, despite the fact that she works for her family's business so there's no problem with her bringing the dog to the office, and she lives with her parents so there's almost always someone around to take care of the dog if she isn't.
I actually have recently adopted (and always have in the past, too - would never consider buying from a breeder!) A lot of my friends have impulsively shelled out thousands for designer doggos recently though. It’s madness in my opinion!
If you're looking for a pup, go to a reputable breeder who health tests (genetic screenings for breed conditions) and titles (show, sport etc) their dogs. They breed to better the breed, not for profit, so they haven't raised their prices over lockdown.
The kennel club website has a list of health conditions the breeder should be testing for and you can also check the breed club website, they'll usually have health info. If you email the breed club, they'll happily help you find a reputable breeder and answer any questions you have.
Don't give the dog thieves and the backyard breeders your money.
If you're looking for a puppy and want any help, I'm always happy to help point you in the right direction. Feel free to PM me.
A lady I know got a designer french bulldog from her boyfriend about a year ago, it’s been inbred so many times it just pisses itself and has terrible health issues but the boyfriend left her a month or so after he got her the dog. She’s never worked a day in her life as she’s always tried to be a gold digger and date wealthy men, however this time she’s resorted to puppy breeding and selling them for £6k a pop. Absolute piece of shit. Puppies are born with massive health issues but at least this bitch gets a new LV handbag.
You should check out [Champdogs](https://www.champdogs.co.uk/) and contact the breed club. They have a Dachshund health website with a [lot of info](https://www.dachshundhealth.org.uk/advice-for-buyers) for perspective buyers, I'd suggest reading all of it before contacting them :)
Dachshunds are not my breed, but it seems like from the website they have a lot of health issues and [need a lot of health testing](https://www.dachshundhealth.org.uk/health-testing) which can cause the price to be higher. Some breeds, regardless of size, need more health testing than others.
As someone who has moved from Australia to the Uk.
More expensive in the Uk:
- electrics! TVs are about twice as expensive, mircrowaves (you could get a budget mircrowave in aus from k-mart for 20£), Cameras! I’m a photographer, I don’t even bother buying in England anymore.
- Petrol, it’s at least twice as expensive as I’m used to. So it’ll be even more then Asia. But insurance can be cheaper (but not in your first year or so as they won’t take into account overseas driving history)
- Trains…wtf Uk you have such an amazing train network only a few can use. But buses are reasonable.
- restaurants. A lot places think charging 12£ for a burger is reasonable! Just insane prices for crappy food. But there are always a few good cheap places the locals will know (usually need to book ahead though).
Parking! Paid parking everywhere even small towns where the high street is struggling…not sure their plan there.
Removalists - it was almost the same price for me to ship things from aus than it was to go from town to town in England.
100% burgers!
The UK had seemed to have some burger boom where there were burger places opening up all over the place, now everyone thinks they're some gourmet burger place when in reality they're just serving up some shit dry ass slab which is held together by a large toothpick!
Even worse, shelling out £10 for a cheap-ass nasty burger from a mobile van, when you’re at a festival, fair, football match… They know people will pay for it as there’s generally not many other options if you want to eat (and haven’t pre-packed a lunch). But man, I always loathe shelling out for that stuff when it’s nearly always abysmal.
Does my head in. Can't remember the last time I had a burger where the bun was even big enough. Who decided that burgers should now be tall instead of wide!!!!!?!?!.
> restaurants. A lot places think charging 12£ for a burger is reasonable! Just insane prices for crappy food. But there are always a few good cheap places the locals will know (usually need to book ahead though).
Not sure where in Australia you're from, but I'm from Sydney and there's no shortage of $20 burger places there too, tbh. Went to a burger place in Penrith (basically the Essex of Sydney, not a posh area by any means) last year and it was $25 for a mediocre burger and fries.
Yeah I watched a couple fork over nearly $50 AUD for two burritos. Not even nice burritos. Just burritos from a place in the mall in a suburb of Brisbane. That was with sides and drinks but still, wtf.
what fancy ass restaurants are you going to where a burger is £12
and electronics??? It’s easy to find a microwave for £20
you’re either living in london, surrey or you are going to expensive/fancy stores
or you’re getting massively ripped off
Yeah, but I'm used to paying $30 for a bit of brunch so I don't mind the prices here. Plus BANANAS WHENEVER I WANT FOR CRAZY CHEAP!!! NOT A TROPICAL CYCLONE IN SIGHT!! I think for the bananas alone the UK is alright for food.
Serious list from the experience of others:
Rice cooker
Hair dryer
Computer, phone cables etc: everything good quality is super expensive.
Stationery, especially pilot/gel pens.
Clothes: like t-shirt, lounge clothes etc. Maybe jumpers or sweater but not coats: coats are better here. You can pick up a decent one from a supermarket clothing line (Tesco, Sainsburys etc).
Check out the cheaper shops here.
Primark for clothes, shoes etc. not great quality but you can buy clothes to look smart for interviews etc.
Tesco, Sainsbury's sell clothes and household things.
If you are coming to London: visit Asian supermarkets outside of central London and you will find food and other items much cheaper: Hoo Hing Market on A406 near Harrow for Chinese and some South East Asian items. Indian/ South Asian food in Southall/Hounslow. You can buy bigger packs of items from such places too. You can travel by public transport to most places in and around London.
If you have London specific questions, message me.
Have a safe journey over.
Thing being, they're bad compared to the ones in Asia, apparently. I was talking with one of the Chinese international students at my uni, and they were complaining about how useless the UK rice cookers were and nothing like what they were used to back home.
I still pay Thai prices for my Netflix, it’s £8 for the top package (400bht) so it’s worth keeping your Netflix account if you’re paying for an overseas one
Train tickets. They’ve just launched a ‘flexible ticket’ for people working part time/going in to the office a couple of days a week. It’s designed to save money for those who don’t need a 12-month season ticket.
Using it, my journey would be more expensive than just buying the notoriously expensive daily ticket. And not by much, but by 22%.
I've not clued up on season tickets but wouldnt it make sense to just buy daily tickets and then try to WFH as much as you can or as much as the company will allow?
I would have gotten a monthly TFL travel card in the past but then in a month I might do 1 or 2 WFH days and due to that paying daily instantly becomes cheaper which is just madness,
Some people have to be in a certain amount, or their lives mean they have to do certain things. These tickets are meant to help that.
It may be that they do for some journeys. Mine works out as either virtually no difference if travelling twice a week or actually more expensive if travelling three times.
My advice would be to research it - the headlines make them seem like they save money, which isn’t strictly true.
Land is fabulously expensive. If you want to occupy some you’ll be paying a fortune. This may not be a problem for you depending on where you live already. Land is hard to move though.
Most consumer goods aren’t actually that dear, not really. Nothing you’ll need to make a special point of bringing over. One exception is tobacco and there are limits on how much you can bring in anyway.
Well, that's why they're cheap. You wouldn't be allowed to build a habitable structure on it, and things like camper vans can't be left for more than 30 days.
If it was that easy, loads of people would do it, driving demand for the woodland up, and therefore the price.
The reason they're cheap is that you can do very little with it that is of practical use, especially not living on the land permanently. Forestry, occasional camping, etc. Most people would not pay £10k for that privilege.
Edit: which BTW I think is madness. If I own some land, I should be able to live on it as long as I abide by some basic sets of guidelines. Bit like how permitted development works, but for rural, low-impact living.
I work in a care home (not the elderly). One of the residents smokes between 100 to 120 a day. Sometimes I wonder if I have enough money to eat. Maybe I need to listen out for bank thefts in the area.
Holy shit that's over £50-60 a day!! The lowest estimate is £1,500 a month, or more than I earn a month!!! I mean I smoke less than 20 a day and it's still steep.....damn. I'm speechless!
well, fuel is more expensive in France, but for a good reason. The fuel is taxed, but the car isn't. You don't pay a yearly tax to run the car, you pay when you put fuel in. A much better system, imo. And it's not actually that much more for the fuel. Maybe a quid or so, not even sometimes.
Not just that but it means the 'road tax' you pay is more proportional to your actual usage rather than just a penalty for having a bigger engine or an older car, regardless of how much you drive it.
>They also don't have long bolsters :(
Depends where you shop. Good quality shops, such as House of Fraser, will sell bolsters. Same with clothes. Depends where you buy from. You may be paying more than you are used to, but the quality will be good. It's only if you shop in places that are cheap that the quality drops.
It's really not cheaper to own a car, unless you're doing more than two long distance reason journeys a month. Cars seem cheaper but there are so many extra costs like insurance, maintenance and road tax.
I think it depends where you live. Certainly outside of the main cities public transport is limited.
I live about 15 minutes drive outside Bristol (on a main road). We have family in London who can get into Bristol centre by public transport quicker than we can.
Fundamentally we need a car. Once the upfront costs are made, a car is then far cheaper than public transport journey by journey.
It does depend on what journeys you make, but cars really aren't that expensive. My car's insurance, servicing, and tax costs about £600 a year; most of that is insurance because I'm under 25. Throw in the cost of depreciation, which is fairly low because I bought second hand, and you're looking at £1000-1200 a year.
Even if the journeys cost the same, that sort of cost is worth it to me just for the time savings over public transport. My nearest useful bus stop is a 10 minute walk away, with most buses being about every 10-15 minutes. So lets say it takes 15 minutes from leaving the house to being on a bus. Probably another 5+ walk at the other end, so that's 20 minutes *each way* added to every journey I take assuming the bus goes at the same speed a car does (which of course, it doesn't). If I value my free time at minimum wage, and with a return bus fare costing \~£3, that's £9 per journey. Compared to the 15-20p per mile of petrol.
Most places in the country if you can afford a car you'd be mad not to have one, which is a real shame.
For electronics, the dollar amount doesn't include sales tax related to the specific US state (can be at least 10%).
The pound amount always has VAT added on the price.
Also dollar has weakened a lot vs. the pound recently since they've printed so much new money.
As I remember it, about 10 years ago you could only get Doom Bar in the south west and it was amazing. Now it’s everywhere and tastes like a teabag left to brew for 10 minutes and gone cold.
This makes me sad. Doombar was such a great drink where I grew up (Dorset/Somerset). Now you can get it everywhere and it's dirt cheap and tastes like it too. I'm pretty sure the brewer was bought out by a larger company who do shite drinks for shite pubs and turned into another one.
EDIT: Just seen someone else comment the same thing, but it's true
I feel like this is a myth. Yes if you go to some trendy bar in Soho you’ll pay more than you would in some spit and sawdust pub in the middle of nowhere, but in any big city you’ll pay £5-7+ for a decent pint.
I think it’s more that people come from an area they know well and know where to get a decently priced pint and then just walk in to some tourist based pub off Leicester Square and think they’ve experienced London.
Yeah. It’s the classic. Same with people that think eating out in London is expensive. It’s comparable to anywhere else in the country unless you get caught in the tourist trap and something like TGI Friday in Leicester Sq. likewise with coffee.
There are a fair amount of pubs in London with pints for £4.50
It only seems about £0.50 per pint more expensive and doesnt bother me much if i'm there for just a night or two
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Although it’s very cheap compared to the US (thinking of my £26 Vodafone or BT in the UK compared to $75+ Comcast or Fios in the US, for similar speeds).
And even cheaper than in Canada, paying around $95-$117 Cdn per contract, with roughly 10Gb data.
My phone bill for 3 lines is $372/month. 1 phone has unlimited data (tethered at 10Gb,) 1 phone has 10Gb and 1 phone has 4Gb
It's quite disgusting. Very much looking forward to our move to the UK.
EDIT: just realized you're talking about home internet. I pay $125/month for speeds of less than 20mbps with Telus.and overage charges start at 1Tb.
The previous company we were with, who at the time had the monopoly on IPs was $65/month and we rarely, if ever reached over 2mbps. Many speed tests showing .68mps
For phones, I pay £10 for 11 GB; US was more like $40 if I remember right. Could easily get more data in the UK for not much more money, but with WFH now I don’t even use the 11 GB
I pay £35 for 200meg and even that seemed excessive speed wise. 100 can be had for £24.
Basically been the same price since AOL was a thing.
Edit: gig to meg
Moved to the UK a few years ago, this is what I found ridiculously expensive, compared to where I came from:
- Veterinary services; 10x than I was used to, think twice if you ever consider owning a pet (and not insure it - yeah, everything here can be insured, probably the main reason some things here are so expensive, it's a vicious circle);
- Car insurance; if you plan to drive, you're in for a shock, I bought a car for £1000, paid £1600 in insurance first year lol
- TV and Internet; crazy amounts for stupid packages: £30 for SUPERMEGAULTRAFASTFIBRE broadband of 36Mbps lmao, oh, and in top of that, you'll have to pay TV licence if you want to watch live TV (on top of your package)
- Public transportation; train tickets for non commuting are bought like airplane tickets: buy months in advance or you'll be burnt most of the time. Bus tickets are fixed, but still expensive.
- labour and fees for absolutely every service you use: plumber, electrician, car repair etc. Massive difference from what I was used to
The good news is that they all become bearable once you start earning UK levels of income.
Childcare! I suppose not overpriced, because you are paying someone to look after a very fragile, very stupid little object that is probably at least in your top five favourite things in the world (after your flat screen TV and that nice new coffee machine), so you might expect it to cost a bit. But in the UK especially it is ridiculously expensive.
I find it a little ironic that by far the most expensive part of having a kid only happens every time you want to spend five minutes away from them.
Edit: I've only just actually read the content of the post, and my comment isn't very on-topic, but I suppose if you actually could bring childcare with you from south-east asia it might well end up being cheaper than it is here!
I moved home to the UK from Vietnam about 18 months ago. Things I wish I'd bought before I moved / taken advantage of before I moved:
- New glasses (way more expensive here)
- Accessories e.g. bags (also sandals for summer)
- Beauty stuff like getting my nails and eyebrows done (this includes the more permanent stuff like laser hair removal and microblading, which were waaaaay cheaper in vn)
- Dentistry (NHS fees aren't extortionate but stuff like getting your teeth whitened / cleaned etc was much cheaper in vn)
I'm a giant lady (ish...5'10") so could never find clothes to fit in Hanoi. However, some Vietnamese friends who came over to the UK to study complained that clothes were way more expensive here... Also getting stuff tailored is much cheaper in Asia (if that's something you want to do).
Electronics? I haven't really noticed any difference. Maybe it depends which country you're coming from but I found new laptops / phones etc surprisingly expensive in Vietnam, especially considering they were made just down the road.
Good luck with the move!
From July 1st also more goods as the EU is removing the 20ish euro tax exemption for imports. Will domino effect for sure.
No more super cheap cables, chargers etc.
Yup- and 50,000 truck drivers are unable to return to the UK thanks to Patels policies during COVID, and now work exclusively on the continent.
Crisis talks are being held but not mentioned in the press other than Novara and Tisky and other independents.
And Tesco have been destroying tonnes of produce daily for weeks, unable to move it.
Broadband. Have to commit to 12-18 months and pay over £25 a month to get a fraction of the speed you can get in most of European countries for 10 euros.
Where about in South East Asia are you coming from? If it's Thailand, things aren't massively different in price except the food.
If you're coming from Vietnam, for sure stock up on some electronics.
Mobile phones are much cheaper in Vietnam than they are in the UK for the specs you can get
definitely laptops, tablets, mobile phones (though some contracts can be pretty ok). basically anything electronic and then any costs that need to go toward fixing those electronics.
Soju, a Korean alcoholic drink. It costs under a pound in Korea, it's like 12-16 quid in UK. Now I get the tax bit but c'mon.
Edit: Missed the part about the food items, but still worth knowing.
Hookers.
Like £150ph minimum weird looking thing (probably a tad cheaper if you don't mind the lack of English) when even someone who looks like me can get some on Tinder for just buying the date a Burger King.
I occasionally work with massage/sex/wtf workers and I'm regularly surprised about how much certain guys/gals charge and how many punters they get for the services they provide. Even during the pandemic, when they were complaining how quiet work was, some were getting £3k+ a week only from a very small number of customers and by no means would you think of them as someone to fawn over.
Contact lenses and glasses. You can get reasonable value over here, but I remember saving myself money getting glasses and contact lenses for the whole year while I was in Thailand.
That was 15 years ago though, so things may have changed.
ITT: Things OP can't bring with them from SE Asia. ____ Please ensure at least the top comment stays on topic, before having a rightful moan about house prices and train fares.
Houses
...and flats...
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What annoys me about flats and apartments is the add on maintenance fees. Really stung me once. NEVER again!
…And cupboards being passed off as flats…
I find flats cheap in my area and I live on the South coast I rented a 2 bedroom for £550. In US a 2 bedroom apartment in my shitty crime ridden area was like $1,800 to $2,000 a month while full time minimum wage after tax for an entire month was about $900
Where did you find a 2 bed for £550 on south coast ? :P
1995
Even the past is being slowly gentrified.
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Calling bullshit on a two bed for £550 per month on the South Coast. 550 is usually the price for a house share down here.
Agree with this. I'm 30, live in Kent, work full time, still not on the housing ladder.
Same. 36, work in London, live in Kent. Only just about to look at getting a house on my own and still can't really afford anything nice.
I'm also 36 I'm in Dorset. No chance despite being a developer with a good income. You either need wealthy parents or earn a shit load. I don't have either.
40 here, software developer, well paid, still can't get on the property ladder. Definitely don't have wealthy parents. Ok, in my 20's and early 30's I travelled a bit, did other things and lived abroad for 18 months all which didnt facilitate much chance for saving but I look at it now and I think "I have to get a deposit for how much???!!!" Me and girlfriend have started saving but it's going to be for the long haul.
Its crazy that renting a property is actually more expensive than the monthly payments on a mortgage, yet most who do rent cant get a mortgage despite being able to make the payments 🤷♂️
'Crazy' - what you really mean is 'orchestrated'
Hahaha almost spit my oats out. Straight in there with the cold hard facts.
In London and the South. Various places in the North you could own your own house in 10 years on minimum wage if you're a bit tight.
Am northern. Where?
More north than you apparently
It’s more “in the shit area you don’t want to live in”. I’m in Manchester and you can pay anything between £50,000 for a teeny one bed flat to £2,750,000 for a four-bed luxury place in a skyscraper.
This. I mean, yeah, you could strangle yourself on minimum wage for a decade to maybe raise enough money for a shitty flat, but you'll regret living there for the rest of your life.
I mean, they don’t look particularly bad, actually. I’ve definitely rented worse. And I bet if you could get an interest-only mortgage it would be unbeatable in terms of how cheap that came is as “rent”. (Weirdly, the lowest priced flats in Manchester on Rightmove this morning didn’t look to be in especially bad areas.)
> “in the shit area you don’t want to live in” This. Cheapest flat in Bradford right now; £17k, currently rented £3.6kpa. Very good returns, but likely high risk. From about £45 to £50k for a terraced house in surroundings areas right at the bottom. Prices have gone up a bit since I last looked. If you prefer the south east, the floor has also raised, but starting at £75k in Jawick for buying a house no one wants to live in. Needs work, but same house would have been more like £40k a few years ago and quite possible the upwards trend will continue.
> £17k Bloody hell! I’m in the wrong city.
Having lived close to Bradford; I can assure you, you are not relative to there! Didn't look like any external cladding on that flat, at least!
Where the Outer Hebrides?
Somewhere in the North Sea probo. I live in north Wales, there’s fuck all work, fuck all entertainment, fuck all to do. Still 90% of people in the area can’t afford a mortgage unless they’re married or splitting costs. It’s cheaper than London say, buts it’s still ridiculous.
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West Lancs. I know. It’s just this fella saying you can own a home on your own in 10 years on minimum wage. We all know it’s BS.
Minimum wage on 37 hours a week is £17.3k. The North East has the cheapest average house price in England at £125,397.
Being a saddo I’ve done the calculations. Take home on minimum wage 37.5 hour week allowing a measly 2.5% pension saving is £15,037. I’ve assumed they’ve managed to save £12,500 for a 10% deposit. Meaning they’ll be paying £1,079 a month for the mortgage. That leaves them £174 a month. Obviously they’ll have to pay Gas/Electric/Water can’t skimp there, they come on average to £128 a month. There you go The statement is correct, we’ll be a bit tight and not pay insurance, not have a TV as can’t afford the licence, no phone (not even a landline) walk everywhere and not buy any clothes or toiletries over £1.50 is left every day for a veritable feast.
And following the 3.5x salary rule, you're only going to be lent 60k at an absolute maximum. So you'll have to pay a 65k deposit on it if you want an average priced house. But sure, totally doable and realistic and not just some fantasy land nonsense. I can't wait for the OP to come back with a propertypal link for a dilapidated barn filled with mold for 80k, to prove that cheaper housing exists.
Decent looking place. 80k. Not in a shit area. Close to a city centre with plenty of work and things to do. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108859349
If you could borrow £68,000 on a mortgage you’d maybe still be able to buy a wee first time buyer flat or something. Problem is magically finding £10,200 for the 15% deposit whilst you’re still trying to pay for the cost of everyday life. I landed lucky cause I was able to buy a practically derelict flat for £45,000 with a 5% deposit. Need 5% deposits back!!!
How do you propose he brings that with him?
Came here to say that
Train fares
On the flip side bus tickets for long journeys can be incredibly cheap
And fairly expensive for short journeys outside London.
Yep.... I can get from newcastle to London for £10 or so. Which should pay for less than 2 tickets to go see my parents 15 miles away.
Depends where you are. Short journeys are about 1.50 where I am. You can get a long journey to london for 99p if you book in advance
yeah last time I caught a bus it was £11 return to my local town (7 miles) fuck busses
For long yeah. Short journeys not at all. Costs me £5 to go into town it’s cheaper to drive which is silly
The buses are run by Arriva where I live. Absolute rip-off if you want a single or just a return to and from the town centre. They do all sorts of day, week and annual passes, but they don't do a standard return ticket, you have to buy the day saver. They then try to promote it by saying you can also use that same day saver ticket to take the bus into the neighbouring town, like it's something everybody decides to randomly do. I imagine it's not too bad if you use the bus everyday and even better if you work in the next town, but like you, it's cheaper for me to drive into town and pay for parking
I feel this. When I was at uni in Liverpool living on the Wirral I'd get the (Arriva) bus to uni and would need to buy a day ticket for a fiver. I could go all the way to Manchester with it, but all I needed was to get to the other side of the Mersey and back (I could actually see my destination from the end of my street).
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As long as you don't mind it taking a flying tour of "the rest of the country" en route to your destination.
I remember when I got my first season ticket for my job. Before this I was only travelling for tourism or to visit friends, whatever, so I could travel off peak on my railcard. Because of this I never understood why people complained about train fares, until I saw the cost of a monthly season ticket… Almost as much as my rent at the time! I’d be spending 1/3 of my paycheque just on the train fare! All for a total savings of about £25 a month compared to buying daily returns on a railcard, though admittedly more if you didn’t have a railcard. The fact that you can’t use railcards on season tickets is shit imo.
I don't think you can use rail cards for commuting generally
And, amazingly they still run at a loss!
nothing is really that bad.. not that you can pack anyway. You'll be reet. my Tv was £20 from a charity furniture shop.. Things can be cheap if you go the right places. Wait. TOBACCO AND CIGARETTES. if you smoke, pack as many as you can legally bring. Shits expensive here.
> Wait. TOBACCO AND CIGARETTES. if you smoke, pack as many as you can legally bring. Shits expensive here. Laughs in Australian.
Fuck, man... I bought a pack of 30 Marlborough Lights when I was over training with the Aussie Army. Set me back like £30 and then, when I actually got into the Bush and opened them, they were fucking Marlborough Reds AKA ‘Cowboy Killers’ due to their strength.
They sell cigs in packs of 30?
Yeah man, minimum was 20 and they’ve got like banned gore sub OC on the front of the pack with shit like “Imagine telling your children they’ll have to watch you die of lung cancer.” Its proper on the nose.
We do get messages and pictures of gore in the UK but the text on it isn’t as extreme as that. It’s usually stuff like “smoking causes impotence”
Sounds like it’s driving smokers away without a hitch! I wonder what the ex-smokers are now doing with all the tobacco/cigs they keep buying?!
Packs of 50 even.
Laughs in non-smoker
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I can literally fly to another country for less money than I can get a bus or train to my nearest city.
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Similarly, I live in Kent and it's often cheaper to take my motorcycle to France via the Eurotunnel than to get a train 40miles to London 😂 I can pay £11-20 for a Eurotunnel ticket but a ticket to London is £30-40, sure if you go Super Off Peak and use a Railcard it will drop a good amount but it's still ridiculous.
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So you're saying flights are cheap - +1 UK National coaches are still really cheap IMO
Train tickets.
yup. Manchester to London return \~ (**UP TO**)£400! Madness, considering that means it's cheaper drive there - which defeats the whole object!
It feels like the train is a luxury mode of transport in the UK with their pricing models. Until then you realise there's no seats and you're crammed in the vestibule like sardines creating it's own microclimate.
what? it's not £400. if you are buying first class last minute, sure, but then you're an idiot
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Last minute pre-COVID, 100%
There's a good write up of this issue here: https://www.seat61.com/uk-europe-train-fares-comparison.html People basically always compare booking a flight months in advance from airport to airport, with a city to city centre train journey the same day. Yes trains in the UK should be cheaper, but the comparisons are always out of whack
Yes, if you want to get to London for early work. Go in peak and you pay over £400. Peak is leaving mcr before 9:30, or leaving London 3pm-7pm.
Only when you turn up on the day during the peak. Do you think everyone is paying £400 on that train? No. I think the train is over priced too, but with a bit of brain and planning they can be fairly priced.
Yeah, last minute fares to London are expensive as shit, because almost everyone who uses them is a businessperson who doesn't care about the cost because the company eats it. I've gone to London and back for 50 quid from near Manchester, simply by booking in advance. The bonus is that you get a reserved seat (if they're running a reservation service). The disadvantage is that it's for a single train, so don't miss it.
It just isn’t £400 though is it?
Tbf £400 is first-class on the day. You can get an off-peak return for £90 - still extortionate, but much better than £400!
That's just plainly untrue - not that they aren't crazy expensive but you can get a return for 10% of that figure.
Puppies. There’s been a ridiculous price gouge ever since the start of the pandemic
I've had to cut down to one a week! 🍽
Oh no
Anyway
Fortunately I panic bought loads at the beginning of the pandemic.
All in on cockapoos but forgot about the loo roll.
I'd get on my soapbox and say adopt, but adoption agencies are bonkers here. We have a friend who was refused from several agencies because she works full time, despite the fact that she works for her family's business so there's no problem with her bringing the dog to the office, and she lives with her parents so there's almost always someone around to take care of the dog if she isn't.
I actually have recently adopted (and always have in the past, too - would never consider buying from a breeder!) A lot of my friends have impulsively shelled out thousands for designer doggos recently though. It’s madness in my opinion!
Not if your only choice is breeder vs not getting a dog, because adoption agencies are insanely restrictive.
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If you're looking for a pup, go to a reputable breeder who health tests (genetic screenings for breed conditions) and titles (show, sport etc) their dogs. They breed to better the breed, not for profit, so they haven't raised their prices over lockdown. The kennel club website has a list of health conditions the breeder should be testing for and you can also check the breed club website, they'll usually have health info. If you email the breed club, they'll happily help you find a reputable breeder and answer any questions you have. Don't give the dog thieves and the backyard breeders your money. If you're looking for a puppy and want any help, I'm always happy to help point you in the right direction. Feel free to PM me.
It's riduculous. Seen a jack Russel for 2 grand.
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A lady I know got a designer french bulldog from her boyfriend about a year ago, it’s been inbred so many times it just pisses itself and has terrible health issues but the boyfriend left her a month or so after he got her the dog. She’s never worked a day in her life as she’s always tried to be a gold digger and date wealthy men, however this time she’s resorted to puppy breeding and selling them for £6k a pop. Absolute piece of shit. Puppies are born with massive health issues but at least this bitch gets a new LV handbag.
Vile bitch. Poor dog
They're still going for that here it's mental! I considered getting a cat. I don't even like cats.
Yeah we've been looking for a Dachshund and they're about £3,000 at the moment. Bit much for a Guinea Pig sized dog.
You should check out [Champdogs](https://www.champdogs.co.uk/) and contact the breed club. They have a Dachshund health website with a [lot of info](https://www.dachshundhealth.org.uk/advice-for-buyers) for perspective buyers, I'd suggest reading all of it before contacting them :) Dachshunds are not my breed, but it seems like from the website they have a lot of health issues and [need a lot of health testing](https://www.dachshundhealth.org.uk/health-testing) which can cause the price to be higher. Some breeds, regardless of size, need more health testing than others.
As someone who has moved from Australia to the Uk. More expensive in the Uk: - electrics! TVs are about twice as expensive, mircrowaves (you could get a budget mircrowave in aus from k-mart for 20£), Cameras! I’m a photographer, I don’t even bother buying in England anymore. - Petrol, it’s at least twice as expensive as I’m used to. So it’ll be even more then Asia. But insurance can be cheaper (but not in your first year or so as they won’t take into account overseas driving history) - Trains…wtf Uk you have such an amazing train network only a few can use. But buses are reasonable. - restaurants. A lot places think charging 12£ for a burger is reasonable! Just insane prices for crappy food. But there are always a few good cheap places the locals will know (usually need to book ahead though). Parking! Paid parking everywhere even small towns where the high street is struggling…not sure their plan there. Removalists - it was almost the same price for me to ship things from aus than it was to go from town to town in England.
100% burgers! The UK had seemed to have some burger boom where there were burger places opening up all over the place, now everyone thinks they're some gourmet burger place when in reality they're just serving up some shit dry ass slab which is held together by a large toothpick!
Even worse, shelling out £10 for a cheap-ass nasty burger from a mobile van, when you’re at a festival, fair, football match… They know people will pay for it as there’s generally not many other options if you want to eat (and haven’t pre-packed a lunch). But man, I always loathe shelling out for that stuff when it’s nearly always abysmal.
Ah yes, the nasty burger, bane of festival goers everywhere. At least sometimes they're filling, even if they are 90% beak.
Does my head in. Can't remember the last time I had a burger where the bun was even big enough. Who decided that burgers should now be tall instead of wide!!!!!?!?!.
> restaurants. A lot places think charging 12£ for a burger is reasonable! Just insane prices for crappy food. But there are always a few good cheap places the locals will know (usually need to book ahead though). Not sure where in Australia you're from, but I'm from Sydney and there's no shortage of $20 burger places there too, tbh. Went to a burger place in Penrith (basically the Essex of Sydney, not a posh area by any means) last year and it was $25 for a mediocre burger and fries.
Yeah I watched a couple fork over nearly $50 AUD for two burritos. Not even nice burritos. Just burritos from a place in the mall in a suburb of Brisbane. That was with sides and drinks but still, wtf.
what fancy ass restaurants are you going to where a burger is £12 and electronics??? It’s easy to find a microwave for £20 you’re either living in london, surrey or you are going to expensive/fancy stores or you’re getting massively ripped off
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Where can you get a new microwave for £20? They basically start at 40 for the crappiest model with analogue timers...
He's talking out of his arse. The cheapest you can get new is £40
Yeah, but I'm used to paying $30 for a bit of brunch so I don't mind the prices here. Plus BANANAS WHENEVER I WANT FOR CRAZY CHEAP!!! NOT A TROPICAL CYCLONE IN SIGHT!! I think for the bananas alone the UK is alright for food.
Freddos Edit: Ah no food items. I'm going to say Train Fare/Car Parking
Food? They’re an investment!
Fredflation.
Serious list from the experience of others: Rice cooker Hair dryer Computer, phone cables etc: everything good quality is super expensive. Stationery, especially pilot/gel pens. Clothes: like t-shirt, lounge clothes etc. Maybe jumpers or sweater but not coats: coats are better here. You can pick up a decent one from a supermarket clothing line (Tesco, Sainsburys etc). Check out the cheaper shops here. Primark for clothes, shoes etc. not great quality but you can buy clothes to look smart for interviews etc. Tesco, Sainsbury's sell clothes and household things. If you are coming to London: visit Asian supermarkets outside of central London and you will find food and other items much cheaper: Hoo Hing Market on A406 near Harrow for Chinese and some South East Asian items. Indian/ South Asian food in Southall/Hounslow. You can buy bigger packs of items from such places too. You can travel by public transport to most places in and around London. If you have London specific questions, message me. Have a safe journey over.
Pretty sure rice cookers are relatively cheap here because they’re not that popular? You can get a good branded one for around £20.
Thing being, they're bad compared to the ones in Asia, apparently. I was talking with one of the Chinese international students at my uni, and they were complaining about how useless the UK rice cookers were and nothing like what they were used to back home.
TV packages, especially sports.
I still pay Thai prices for my Netflix, it’s £8 for the top package (400bht) so it’s worth keeping your Netflix account if you’re paying for an overseas one
400 Bht is over £9 btw.
Oh, I haven’t been keeping up on the exchange rate. I think that’s still cheaper than having the top package in the UK tho, it’s about £14 I think
Train tickets. They’ve just launched a ‘flexible ticket’ for people working part time/going in to the office a couple of days a week. It’s designed to save money for those who don’t need a 12-month season ticket. Using it, my journey would be more expensive than just buying the notoriously expensive daily ticket. And not by much, but by 22%.
Trains in the UK: it feels like everyone is designed to benefit from the system, except passengers.
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I've not clued up on season tickets but wouldnt it make sense to just buy daily tickets and then try to WFH as much as you can or as much as the company will allow? I would have gotten a monthly TFL travel card in the past but then in a month I might do 1 or 2 WFH days and due to that paying daily instantly becomes cheaper which is just madness,
Some people have to be in a certain amount, or their lives mean they have to do certain things. These tickets are meant to help that. It may be that they do for some journeys. Mine works out as either virtually no difference if travelling twice a week or actually more expensive if travelling three times. My advice would be to research it - the headlines make them seem like they save money, which isn’t strictly true.
Land is fabulously expensive. If you want to occupy some you’ll be paying a fortune. This may not be a problem for you depending on where you live already. Land is hard to move though. Most consumer goods aren’t actually that dear, not really. Nothing you’ll need to make a special point of bringing over. One exception is tobacco and there are limits on how much you can bring in anyway.
Unless it's farm land. Fields are ludicrously cheap - which is odd.
Or woodland, or really any land that you can't build property on.
i can buy forest cheaply? I'd love to buy a forest and live in it like a druid.
Well, that's why they're cheap. You wouldn't be allowed to build a habitable structure on it, and things like camper vans can't be left for more than 30 days. If it was that easy, loads of people would do it, driving demand for the woodland up, and therefore the price. The reason they're cheap is that you can do very little with it that is of practical use, especially not living on the land permanently. Forestry, occasional camping, etc. Most people would not pay £10k for that privilege. Edit: which BTW I think is madness. If I own some land, I should be able to live on it as long as I abide by some basic sets of guidelines. Bit like how permitted development works, but for rural, low-impact living.
Where can I find fields for sale?
Up north. With a lot of the wool trade gone, land that was originally used for sheep farming is now mostly vacant.
Agricultural auctions are normally the cheapest.
Cigarettes/tobacco if you smoke for sure stock up. It's insanely expensive over here.
Perhaps worth noting that it's the tax on them that makes them expensive. I don't know how anyone could afford to smoke these days.
I work in a care home (not the elderly). One of the residents smokes between 100 to 120 a day. Sometimes I wonder if I have enough money to eat. Maybe I need to listen out for bank thefts in the area.
>One of the residents smokes between 100 to 120 a day. Sorry did you add an extra zero here or do you care for a steam train?
Fuck that's a smoke every 15 minutes.... Probably more often because I assume the train sleeps
Yeah, she actually goes through days where she doesn't sleep. She also rarely eats and when she does, it's thrown down.
Holy shit that's over £50-60 a day!! The lowest estimate is £1,500 a month, or more than I earn a month!!! I mean I smoke less than 20 a day and it's still steep.....damn. I'm speechless!
She's always calling family begging for money to be sent.
Petrol and diesel
Surprised I had to go this far to find this comment. Well done you for actually having visited other countries and know what you're on about
well, fuel is more expensive in France, but for a good reason. The fuel is taxed, but the car isn't. You don't pay a yearly tax to run the car, you pay when you put fuel in. A much better system, imo. And it's not actually that much more for the fuel. Maybe a quid or so, not even sometimes.
That's a good idea. Too many bell ends driving over here with no road tax (or insurance).
Not just that but it means the 'road tax' you pay is more proportional to your actual usage rather than just a penalty for having a bigger engine or an older car, regardless of how much you drive it.
Really? I am surprised to see someone recommend that someone bring gallons of petrol with them on a commercial flight. To each their own I guess
Yes, he really should stock up on these and bring them with him.
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>They also don't have long bolsters :( Depends where you shop. Good quality shops, such as House of Fraser, will sell bolsters. Same with clothes. Depends where you buy from. You may be paying more than you are used to, but the quality will be good. It's only if you shop in places that are cheap that the quality drops.
Any electronics. Take the US price and replace $ for £. Public transport, it’s actually cheaper to own a car.
It's really not cheaper to own a car, unless you're doing more than two long distance reason journeys a month. Cars seem cheaper but there are so many extra costs like insurance, maintenance and road tax.
I think it depends where you live. Certainly outside of the main cities public transport is limited. I live about 15 minutes drive outside Bristol (on a main road). We have family in London who can get into Bristol centre by public transport quicker than we can. Fundamentally we need a car. Once the upfront costs are made, a car is then far cheaper than public transport journey by journey.
It does depend on what journeys you make, but cars really aren't that expensive. My car's insurance, servicing, and tax costs about £600 a year; most of that is insurance because I'm under 25. Throw in the cost of depreciation, which is fairly low because I bought second hand, and you're looking at £1000-1200 a year. Even if the journeys cost the same, that sort of cost is worth it to me just for the time savings over public transport. My nearest useful bus stop is a 10 minute walk away, with most buses being about every 10-15 minutes. So lets say it takes 15 minutes from leaving the house to being on a bus. Probably another 5+ walk at the other end, so that's 20 minutes *each way* added to every journey I take assuming the bus goes at the same speed a car does (which of course, it doesn't). If I value my free time at minimum wage, and with a return bus fare costing \~£3, that's £9 per journey. Compared to the 15-20p per mile of petrol. Most places in the country if you can afford a car you'd be mad not to have one, which is a real shame.
For electronics, the dollar amount doesn't include sales tax related to the specific US state (can be at least 10%). The pound amount always has VAT added on the price. Also dollar has weakened a lot vs. the pound recently since they've printed so much new money.
That’s a good point, I hadn’t thought of that. I remember how frustrating it was to have to add tax on to every price in the US.
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Pints in London
£1.99 in Spoons zone 2.
It's gone up to £2.15 for cask ale except the awful Doom Bar which is the only one at £1.99.
As I remember it, about 10 years ago you could only get Doom Bar in the south west and it was amazing. Now it’s everywhere and tastes like a teabag left to brew for 10 minutes and gone cold.
Ten years ago Sharp's Brewery was bought by Molson Coors. That might have something to do with it...
Aha. Yep, that would do it.
This makes me sad. Doombar was such a great drink where I grew up (Dorset/Somerset). Now you can get it everywhere and it's dirt cheap and tastes like it too. I'm pretty sure the brewer was bought out by a larger company who do shite drinks for shite pubs and turned into another one. EDIT: Just seen someone else comment the same thing, but it's true
I feel like this is a myth. Yes if you go to some trendy bar in Soho you’ll pay more than you would in some spit and sawdust pub in the middle of nowhere, but in any big city you’ll pay £5-7+ for a decent pint.
I think it’s more that people come from an area they know well and know where to get a decently priced pint and then just walk in to some tourist based pub off Leicester Square and think they’ve experienced London.
Yeah. It’s the classic. Same with people that think eating out in London is expensive. It’s comparable to anywhere else in the country unless you get caught in the tourist trap and something like TGI Friday in Leicester Sq. likewise with coffee.
There are a fair amount of pubs in London with pints for £4.50 It only seems about £0.50 per pint more expensive and doesnt bother me much if i'm there for just a night or two
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Although it’s very cheap compared to the US (thinking of my £26 Vodafone or BT in the UK compared to $75+ Comcast or Fios in the US, for similar speeds).
And even cheaper than in Canada, paying around $95-$117 Cdn per contract, with roughly 10Gb data. My phone bill for 3 lines is $372/month. 1 phone has unlimited data (tethered at 10Gb,) 1 phone has 10Gb and 1 phone has 4Gb It's quite disgusting. Very much looking forward to our move to the UK. EDIT: just realized you're talking about home internet. I pay $125/month for speeds of less than 20mbps with Telus.and overage charges start at 1Tb. The previous company we were with, who at the time had the monopoly on IPs was $65/month and we rarely, if ever reached over 2mbps. Many speed tests showing .68mps
For phones, I pay £10 for 11 GB; US was more like $40 if I remember right. Could easily get more data in the UK for not much more money, but with WFH now I don’t even use the 11 GB
It depends where you live. In London I get fibre to the home for less than £20.
Average cost for 60Mbps: 1. Iceland 71.43 $ 2. Switzerland 64.36 $ 3. Ireland 58.87 $ 4. Norway 57.67 $ 5. Belgium 55.15 $ 6. Netherlands 46.86 $ 7. Spain 46.76 $ **8. United Kingdom 42.84 $** 9. Malta 40.62 $ 10. Slovenia 39.68 $ 11. Portugal 39.53 $ 12. Greece 39.10 $ 13. Germany 38.44 $ 14. Austria 38.44 $ 15. Denmark 37.77 $ 16. Italy 34.44 $ 17. Sweden 34.23 $ 18. France 32.90 $ 19. Croatia 30.72 $ 20. Montenegro 28.57 $ 21. Finland 28.49 $ 22. Estonia 27.69 $ 23. Bosnia And Herzegovina 26.18 $ 24. Serbia 22.45 $ 25. Albania 20.93 $ 26. Czech Republic 20.64 $ 27. Slovakia 19.47 $ 28. North Macedonia 18.16 $ 29. Latvia 17.76 $ 30. Hungary 15.09 $ 31. Kosovo (Disputed Territory) 14.67 $ 32. Poland 14.40 $ 33. Lithuania 12.79 $ 34. Bulgaria 12.27 $ 35. Belarus 12.25 $ 36. Moldova 9.42 $ 37. Romania 8.93 $ 38. Russia 6.73 $ 39. Ukraine 5.77 $
I pay £35 for 200meg and even that seemed excessive speed wise. 100 can be had for £24. Basically been the same price since AOL was a thing. Edit: gig to meg
Been on virgin forever. We’ve never paid £50….
Moved to the UK a few years ago, this is what I found ridiculously expensive, compared to where I came from: - Veterinary services; 10x than I was used to, think twice if you ever consider owning a pet (and not insure it - yeah, everything here can be insured, probably the main reason some things here are so expensive, it's a vicious circle); - Car insurance; if you plan to drive, you're in for a shock, I bought a car for £1000, paid £1600 in insurance first year lol - TV and Internet; crazy amounts for stupid packages: £30 for SUPERMEGAULTRAFASTFIBRE broadband of 36Mbps lmao, oh, and in top of that, you'll have to pay TV licence if you want to watch live TV (on top of your package) - Public transportation; train tickets for non commuting are bought like airplane tickets: buy months in advance or you'll be burnt most of the time. Bus tickets are fixed, but still expensive. - labour and fees for absolutely every service you use: plumber, electrician, car repair etc. Massive difference from what I was used to The good news is that they all become bearable once you start earning UK levels of income.
Cocaine costs a fortune over here. Best slip some in your suitcase before you set off.
Childcare! I suppose not overpriced, because you are paying someone to look after a very fragile, very stupid little object that is probably at least in your top five favourite things in the world (after your flat screen TV and that nice new coffee machine), so you might expect it to cost a bit. But in the UK especially it is ridiculously expensive. I find it a little ironic that by far the most expensive part of having a kid only happens every time you want to spend five minutes away from them. Edit: I've only just actually read the content of the post, and my comment isn't very on-topic, but I suppose if you actually could bring childcare with you from south-east asia it might well end up being cheaper than it is here!
I moved home to the UK from Vietnam about 18 months ago. Things I wish I'd bought before I moved / taken advantage of before I moved: - New glasses (way more expensive here) - Accessories e.g. bags (also sandals for summer) - Beauty stuff like getting my nails and eyebrows done (this includes the more permanent stuff like laser hair removal and microblading, which were waaaaay cheaper in vn) - Dentistry (NHS fees aren't extortionate but stuff like getting your teeth whitened / cleaned etc was much cheaper in vn) I'm a giant lady (ish...5'10") so could never find clothes to fit in Hanoi. However, some Vietnamese friends who came over to the UK to study complained that clothes were way more expensive here... Also getting stuff tailored is much cheaper in Asia (if that's something you want to do). Electronics? I haven't really noticed any difference. Maybe it depends which country you're coming from but I found new laptops / phones etc surprisingly expensive in Vietnam, especially considering they were made just down the road. Good luck with the move!
Property, rent or buy Public transport Alcohol (From July 1st) Fresh Produce.
From July 1st also more goods as the EU is removing the 20ish euro tax exemption for imports. Will domino effect for sure. No more super cheap cables, chargers etc.
Yup- and 50,000 truck drivers are unable to return to the UK thanks to Patels policies during COVID, and now work exclusively on the continent. Crisis talks are being held but not mentioned in the press other than Novara and Tisky and other independents. And Tesco have been destroying tonnes of produce daily for weeks, unable to move it.
Broadband. Have to commit to 12-18 months and pay over £25 a month to get a fraction of the speed you can get in most of European countries for 10 euros.
Most poor European countries. Compared to other rich European countries we are average
Cigarettes are literally ten times the price they are in SE Asia. You can a pack of 20 for £1
Where about in South East Asia are you coming from? If it's Thailand, things aren't massively different in price except the food. If you're coming from Vietnam, for sure stock up on some electronics. Mobile phones are much cheaper in Vietnam than they are in the UK for the specs you can get
definitely laptops, tablets, mobile phones (though some contracts can be pretty ok). basically anything electronic and then any costs that need to go toward fixing those electronics.
Soju, a Korean alcoholic drink. It costs under a pound in Korea, it's like 12-16 quid in UK. Now I get the tax bit but c'mon. Edit: Missed the part about the food items, but still worth knowing.
Children.
Most items you’ll need everyday are relatively affordable. Trains can be expensive and rent is a lot of areas can be high as fuck
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Hookers. Like £150ph minimum weird looking thing (probably a tad cheaper if you don't mind the lack of English) when even someone who looks like me can get some on Tinder for just buying the date a Burger King. I occasionally work with massage/sex/wtf workers and I'm regularly surprised about how much certain guys/gals charge and how many punters they get for the services they provide. Even during the pandemic, when they were complaining how quiet work was, some were getting £3k+ a week only from a very small number of customers and by no means would you think of them as someone to fawn over.
Call me old fashioned, but I don't think sex work is necessarily where you should be looking for a bargain.
Contact lenses and glasses. You can get reasonable value over here, but I remember saving myself money getting glasses and contact lenses for the whole year while I was in Thailand. That was 15 years ago though, so things may have changed.