jambo_2004

Apple is more popular over here than the UK, but generally computer prices in all areas fluctuate every minute of the day so they are not really a good example. In my opinion it all depends on which state you live in as well, since cost of living and average income varies from state to state and the average take home pay is not the same either.

In a state where the take home pay was decidedly less than someone in Britain then that Apple computer would be an expensive buy. In my experience most things are about the same price, some things are cheaper, but some cost more…for example mobile phones in the U.S are way over-priced compared to Britain.

You can buy a pay as you go in the UK for about 20 quid, you get a phone and number with it. Over here it will cost you 3 or 4 times that amount for something similar. My brother just told me about a 50 pack of blank DVD-R’s he bought for about 12 pounds in Britain. I bought the same ones here for 50 bux.

sohosid

True....although there are huge wage differences in the UK too....what may be affordable in London may not be if you work in for example Liverpool. The prices I quoted are web-based prices, so the same wherever you are in each country.....

Ahhh yes....I'd love to know where he got that deal....that sounds wonderful....haven't seen anything even approaching that here...the closest is a place called 7dayshop.com (cheapest for virtually everything) and their price for 25 DVD-r (spindle pack) is 12 quid....and it's a make I wouldn't touch with yours!!!!!

I'm sure that there are internet suppliers in the US that could get you a similar deal....

jambo_2004

Can't remember the website he got them from, I know they werent naff discs though, they are RITEKs, which are well respected among certain communities (nudge nudge wink)
Closest I can get to that price is 32 bux...but not RITEK...I buy a brand called MATRIX...never had a failure with the 100 I have bought...well maybe one or two but that was me opening a program during the burn and not the discs.

nathan barley

Where do you shop, Best Buy?

You can get a 50 pack of decent quality, well rated DVD-r 4.7's from NewEgg for $27; just shy of 15quid.

Electronics do tend to be cheaper here. My iRiver iHP-120 cost me $300 five months ago. It's selling in the UK for 250 quid at the moment.

From Dabs.co.uk: Athlon 64 3200+ Retail 199.00 Pounds / $373
From Newegg.com: Athlon 64 3200+ Retail $282.00 / 150 Pounds.

Yorkieabroad

Herds of Wildebeeste????

Oops, no that was Torquay.......

Taffyles

Just spent 3 weeks in UK and I'm sorry but I found so many things cheaper over there- especially food. Compare the price of bread- decent bread that is. And get this one- in Sainsbury's, Southend on Sea, Essex- a pack of 7 beautiful Florida oranges for £1. Here in sunny Florida, oranges are nearly a $1 EACH in my local supermarket, and they look like the bloody windfalls (probably are). I was blown away by the quality and prices of fruit and veg in UK- and I didn't find eating out expensive at all.

Silly comparing electrical stuff, compare the price of electricity, car insurance, health insurance. However I bought my mum a Dyson animal vacuum - £149 in Wales. Bought the same machine for myself here when I got back $550.
The house next door to my Mum's sold for £70,000 (3 storey with stunning views from all windows over the valley) whilst I was there, and it was only that high price because it has recently been completely refurbished (courtesy of council grant). Of course this is in the Welsh valleys (not in Leeds), which are growing more and more beautiful now that the coal pits have gone. Jobs, in Bridgend the nearest big town I could be earning double what I was earning here in FL. (fair to say, my husband earns a higher wage here than he would in UK, at least when he left over 12 years ago- I'm not so sure if that would be the case now). I've thought for the last 12 years though that if we had his wage in UK we'd be rich- we aren't here.

But I'm making a mental note to never visit Leeds.

Ben

This is when you have to learn to shop around in the US and watch a full year on how to shop in the US. My hubby has a stack of these and I picked them up from Best Buys on black friday (the day after Thanksgiving when the major sales start). Got 100 (2 50 packs) for free (except for tax) and he has only had 2 duds out of the whole lot! They had an offer on of buy one get one free and a mail-in rebate which covered the cost of the one pack before tax. OK, it isn't the brand that you mentioned but from the list of brands he told me to look for which were good, this was on them.

I am spending much less on food in general here than I did when we first arrived over 5 years ago. OK, back home you can go to a supermarket (Asda or Tesco for example) and get all your shopping for the week in one go and I haven't found a supermarket here where you can do the whole lot in one shop AND get good prices for fruit and veg, meat AND other groceries. But once you get over this fact and start to shop like the locals do and split your shopping up between different stores, you start to save money. I get my general groceries from one store and my fruit and veg from another. I will get meat from different places and we also have a Pepperidge Farm discount shop locally.

And other shopping, in general, I am managing to spend less than we did in the beginning. If you want to get your prices down to what they were in the UK then you have to change your shopping habits of when and how you do your shopping for everything, including clothes.

doctor scrumpy

The ONLY reason I moved to the US was my wife could not move to the UK. ( Various reasons including family, work etc ) Guess it is homesickness kicking in, but I struggle to adapt to the differences a lot more now than I did earlier in the year.

Ash UK/US

I disagree on that one... it is cheaper in the UK and better quality.

Ash

RoB1833

And you have at least some idea of what you're eating as far as growth hormones, etc!!!

veryfunny

So I guess not missing your family and real friends is not an issue with you. I like it here too but there are things I miss back home.

Lizzi

I find the food in general here is pretty yukky, yoghurts, bread, cheese, milk, cream etc. Anything in the dessert line is horribly over-sweetened. Fruit and veg are very expensive in my opinion and not brilliant quality half the time. However I think the chicken and beef is good value and the americans do a much better burger than the crappy Birds eye ones I used to buy in the UK.

I find the electronics stuff cheaper here, although they don't necessarily last either. It's all swings and roundabouts, I'm not crazy about living here, but I'm glad you like it here Dant3 and you're happy in LA.

Taffyles

True- the labelling in UK is far, far better. One glaring difference is the labelling of genetically modified foods. In UK they have to be labelled- not so in the US, genetically modified foods are not labelled here- you don't know if you're eating them or not.

Yorkieabroad

I read somewhere that you could tell from the codes on the food - you know bananas are 4011 or whatever - well if its a 5 digit code, the first digit shows its GM if its an 8 or organic if its a 9, or something like that. Not exactly clear, and I can't remember what the actual numbers are. And I don't know whether its compulsory or optional. Useful eh!

Ray

My 10 reason to love America

1. The wife is here
2. The death penalty is in 38 States
2. Gas guzzling trucks are available
3. Guns are available and plentiful to most.
4. Krispy Kreme Donuts
5. Newspapers are insular, who cares about another state/country
6. TV news is biased.. saves me having to think
7. There is no snow in Florida
8. Plenty of illegals to work in the Yard for a pittance
9. Nobody can fail the Driving test
10. Sales tax is 6% not vat at 17.5%