alexleeson

Hi All,

I have heard so many things about cost of living increasing in the last year or so in the UK.

For those in the UK and that have moved back - what I really wanted to get is a clear idea of how much does a comfortable lifestyle cost in the UK? I am thinking of moving to Berkshire and travelling into London by train. I have one child (four years old). My wife will not work (hoping for another child).

By comfortable I mean - a normal 3 bed house(will rent initially), 2 cars, transport to London, council tax, utilities, groceries, private health, entertainment (not excessive, just the odd cinema, theatre, restaurant), a summer and winter holiday plus savings.

Question 1: How much do all these things cost these days?

Question 2: What kind of salary is 'comfortable'? I know its way above average salaries, but my initial guestimate is 80k, am I really far off?

Thanks..

sans

Hi Its a bit hard to say unless you live in Berkshire We have resently returned to Lincolnshire after being away for 14mths.............We have not seen much difference in costs, from when we left and £45k with 2 12yr olds is comfy for us here

DebraH

where abouts in Berkshire are you thinking of? I'm near Wokingham.
for house prices check out rightmove.co.uk - can give you some idea and they also list rentals.
Cinema my local Odeon is Adult: £7.40 Under 15 (At all times): £5.00
rail travel is dear IMO compared to what we paid in oz.

thatman

£45k a year is just comfortable?

thank goodness I don't live in the UK

sans

Mmm Why does JUST comfortable make it sound worse then COMFY

Reading fan

Hi,

We are living in Newbury, Berkshire and we are currently renting before moving back to Aus in Nov. You can expect to pay around £1300 pm for a decent rental or £1100 in a not so nice house. When we had to rent last year it was at the time of all the flooding around here and we had the choice of one house - £1800 pm it kills me. School catchment obviously goes hand in hand with higher rents.
Friends travel to London on the train and she reckons the cost is huge apart from the crap service - never manages to get a seat - she has looked at relocating but to no avail.
We went out for a Thai meal on sat - meal for 2 no dessert inc bottle of wine £60.00 - 2 starters and 2 mains.
We try and ski every year usually France family of four in sc apartment inc everything - probably £4000 for a week.
Our council tax is £220 pm
Gas and elec £200 pm (for both)
We had a week in Turkey at mediocre resort - £3000 a week (roughly).
Can't help you on the groceries - I have no idea how much I spend I think it would frighten me if I worked it out - all I know is that quick pint of milk/loaf of bread always seems to cost me about £20 everytime I just pop in for a couple of bits.

Hope this helps a bit.Good luck

Tableland

I think you might need £3000 - £4000 a year for the train, but check this because seasonal prices, offers, etc., might make things more like it. I think the train is very expensive. Go on the national rail enquiries website for a more accurate figure, but seriously I think it will be about 4k a year and you probably won't get a seat most days.

Tootsie Frickensprinkles

80k is going to provide with you with a tad more than comfortable. To put that in context - 80k will net you about 4.5k a month

Alot does depend on how much of a mortgage you would eventually need though. If you have a decent amount of equity to bring back you'll be okay anyway. Head of the Nationwide said today he expects to see a total of 25% come off house prices over the next 18-24 months from the high of last autumn.

A normal 3 bed (semi) in Berks, (maybe not a newbuild) will probably be band D, E, or F so council tax of between 1200 and 1800 ish a year. Highest bands are about 2200. You pay for 10 months a year.

You can check rents of what you want yourself

2 adults + young child supermarket and household bill is going to come in at somewhere between 250 and 400 a month depending on what you eat and how much you cook your own.

We run a 3 bed semi on a duel fuel cost of about 800 a year, with a young kiddie I would expect it to go up to maybe 11 or 1200. It really depends on your personal usage habits.

Water will come in at 2-300.

Adult cinema tickets around 7 quid, resturants vary wildly we can pay anything from as little as 15 up to 50 per head for 2 courses and wine. More curry than we can eat and a few pints at our local comes in about 40 inc tip.

Cars, again varies wildly. I'm about to buy a small runaround and its going to cost me about 80-90 a month, all in. Buy a big car and the tax alone will be 200+ a year. Petrols about 110 ltr at the mo.

Commuter tickets are not cheap.

Friends had a 2 week all inclusive in Spain for family of 4 June half term for 2 grand, summer peak times will cost more when kids are school aged. You can grab great deals whilst not tied to school holidays for all sorts of destinations.

Mobile contracts run between 30 and 40 for high usage. My PAYG costs me about a fiver a month for necessary calls.

A virgin unlimited 8meg fiber optic connex, cable package and phone line is currently bundled at 30. Sky plus packages are about double. TV license 11pm.

You can check out JL, M&S, Boots, Next, Argos etc etc all online for costs of stuff.

I have friends with 2 kids in Herts that run a 180k mortgage, a Z4 and a 4x4, have 3 or 4 holidays a year (at least 2 abroad) and live very, very comfortably on less than the 80 you suggested.

hudd

Hi alexleeson

I worked in Thatcham, near Newbury until May, but lived in Wantage, Oxfordshire. I moved to Kent due to better paying job and lower living costs.

My package was @£60K, single income. Issue for us was high rent i.e £900/mth for 2 bed house. Rent for 3 bed detached house was £1200+ month( more than double my mortgage payments now in 3 bed house on quarter acre plot in Kent).
It cost us about another £1100/mth for food, utility bills, insurance, council tax, petrol and running 2 cars(also I got a company car as well).
We got used to budgeting when we moved to Canada due to signifcant drop in income, so we are still careful even through I make a decent salary.

We could save £500+ plus each month.

Food prices have jumped in the last year and find we tend to shop in discount stores/freezer centres to keep costs down. I would say using Lidl/Netto can save 20% on your food bill.

Costs at Lidl i.e 6 pints milk £2.20, Whole meal loaf 48p, pizza -small £1, 4 cans baked beans 99p, Medium chicken £3, own coke/lemonade 2 litres 23p, 8cans of Begium beer £5.50.

We are a family of 4 with 13 and 15 year old boys living in 1970's 3 bed detached house about 1500 sqft.

Our current costs: Council Tax £135/mth, Gas £60/month, electricity £35/mth, internet/phone £24/mth, house insurance $22/mth, mortgage life insurance £16/mth, mortgage £560/mth, diesel £120/mth, car insurance(s) £25/mth, groceries £500-600/mth. Other costs i.e car maintenance, kids clothing, our clothing, house hold repairs/refurbishment are variable.
We have no personal loans/credit cards/HP bills to pay off, so not hit by the so called Credit Crunch.

We pretty confortable on a single income of £60K. Once the wife works we will be pretty well off. I had friends who have made £100K+ but always complained they are broke. I would say living in the area you are looking at, your main issue is rental/housing costs.

regards

hudd

Tr1boy

We're pretty glad you don't as well.

Bijilo123

Funny reply.

thatman

Why should you be glad I don't leave near you tr1boy - you know nothing about me. Perhaps the time of posting and your silly gesture had something to do with it.
I was passing a comment that I was glad I didn't live in UK if £45k was a comfortable amount to live on in S of England. People I know who live in the Midlands earn and live on quite alot less than that.

onepearlyb

Now, now Thatman - Tr1boy was only having a laugh. I and other's get the jist of what he meant in response to your post.
Lets all just lighten up a touch,eh? It's only a web forum.

Tr1boy

It was your comment that was silly rather than my 'gesture'. You take the time to post a comment on a board that is for folks moving back to the UK. Your comment added nothing to the conversation, other than a typical Pavlovian response from the Godzone. You get called on it and are now trying to justify your comment, which has no justification on this board. Why on earth do you think that people are struggling with the emotional and logistical nightmare of moving yet again, want to hear that you are glad you don't live in the UK?

There are some great people on this board that are fully supportive of people who want to move back but have no intention of moving back themselves, and yet are still able to compose some constructive comments, minus the thinly veiled gloating.

onepearlyb

I'm with Tr1boy on that one.
Very well said.