HumphreyC

That bad? Jeeze.

Beer in London when I lived there was chucking expensive relative to wages (and it kept going up) but there were some bargains to be had at certain pubs. The one I always used to go to was the Lyceum Tavern on the Strand. There are usually aggressive tramps outside but I always thought it was cheap but good. Exchange rate right now is a bit better than it has been so dollars will go a bit further.

Right now I buy all my beer in New Hampshire. Mason NH has a gun shop, a farmers stand and a massive liquor store in close proximity.

HumphreyC

Where is it if you don't mind me asking ? The misses and I are planning a road trip to Vermont to go leaf peeping and i'm looking for pit stops along the way.

Malashaan

Phat Kats Tavern in Lyndonville Vermont. I'm flying out at the end of the week, feel free to message me if you fancy meeting up for a drink whilst leaf peeping

tonrob

Beer served in bars in the US is almost always bad value when compared to the UK (it also goes without saying that I'm talking about proper beer that's actually worth drinking).

In Boston, for example, it's quite normal to pay $6 a pint for a decent craft beer. The first calculation would be to convert that to a British pint equivalent, so $6.00/473*568 = $7.21. Then add in a typical $1 tip (as service is already included in the cost of your UK pint) - so now it's $8.21. At today's exchange rate that's £5.18 a pint, and that's assuming you get a reliable full U.S. pint at your chosen Bostonian establishment (definately not a reliable assumption to make, whereas the UK has improved drastically in this area over the last 10 years or so IMO).

Some places are more expensive than Boston (e.g. NYC many places approaching $7 and/or making 14oz 'pints' the norm) but I also recognize that many parts of the country (e.g. out West) are cheaper. Here is a rough rule of thumb then based on the calculations above:

US pint/UK equivalent

$7.00 - £5.95
$6.00 - £5.18
$5.00 - £4.42
$4.00 - £3.66
$3.00 - £2.90

The average cost of a pint in the UK a year ago was £2.68 although in my experience of heavy drinking throughout the London area within the last 12 months £3.50 is more likely as an average in the capital. London therefore has some way to go before it catches up even with Boston, let alone New York, and the rest of the UK is significantly cheaper than my experience of drinking in a number of places across the U.S. Save the Otter Creek/VT example cited earlier there aren't many places even out on the west coast that you'll get a decent beer below, say, $3.50 outside of a happy hour.

The one exception I can think of is if you're prepared to drink crap. I'm sure there are places that serve up BMC etc. for cheap, whereas in the UK slop like Stella, Heineken, Grolsch etc. is somehow considered 'premium' (aah.. the power of marketing) and charged for accordingly.

Englishmum

My annual housing tax (ie. Council tax) in New Jersey for a modest 3 bedroomed house (in a commuter town in the NYC metro area) is $13750 per year...

The annual Council tax on our little 3 bedroomed house in Essex, England (Greater London commuter village) is 1500 pounds per year.....approx US$ 2378...

(conversion rates on http://www.xe.com)

HumphreyC

Sometimes the piss is actually more expensive than the decent beer.

Sounds pretty dear. Round here in central MA my local serves it up at $3.00-$3.50 pre tip. Thought it was pricey on the Cape at $5.00

True; though having said that, in my last month in the UK my mate got slung out of the Olde Cheshire Cheese for causing a scene when his pint was under filled.

Totally uncivilized!

Stella is utter piss. I have been busy informing the locals that it's true name is 'wife beater'.

Bloody hell, the average is about $2500-$3500 round here. Does most of that money go on the schools?

HarryTheSpider

What the hell is housing tax?!

I hadn't factored that in when working out the finances!

Harry

SultanOfSwing

In a nutshell, you have to pay property taxes on any house or land you buy. The amount varies depending on the town/village/city you live and the size of the lot/house layout.

We pay roughly $3,500.00 per year for our house, and we have rolled that into our mortgage payment. That is pretty much standard for where we are, but there are areas where taxes are over $10,000.00, and then again, I've seen houses out west in IL with taxes of $500.00/year.

AmerLisa

Property taxes and you pay that on a property you own. If you rent its figured into your rent. The downside of renting is that you can't claim it on your income tax.

Yorkieabroad

Bit of a while ago, but we lived back in the UK for 6 months back in 2005, from July - the New Year. At that time I was mega piffed off with the US, and keen to move back, so out of interest, I kept a pretty close eye on our costs, and adjusted for mortgage etc. The long stretch gave us a good chance at comparing "lifestyle" costs rather than just visit/holiday costs. It was also long enough to cover change of season (new clothes for kids), kids vaccination requirements etc etc, and we stuck the kids in pre-k equivalent to what they were in here. All in all, we basically lived a "normal" life there as we would here, albeit the "normality" differs between the 2 countries. All in all, we spent about 25% less in the UK than we would have done if we'd stayed here. Think I've binned the papers, but from what I remember the main savings were on property tax, groceries, petrol (yes, really) insurance, medical and daycare.

To reduce generalisations, this was a move from a decent part of Houston (Katy) to a nice part of North Yorkshire.

washsaint

Having just been stung for 'handyman' services I have to say that $80 per hour is quite outrageous......back in the UK for local tradesmen (not handymen) I was paying around 30 GBP an hour.

Having a catflap fitted has just set me back $280 in labor! Factor in healthcare costs and we believe that NoVa and back home in the UK is about the same, maybe NoVa slightly higher.

Not much in it, in my view

CTland

We have been in CT ten years but have progressively felt worse off...here is my 2 cents worth on some of the less obvious comparisons:
Salary: Factor in that you will be working longer hours here and be given 25 to 30% less holiday time meaning a lower than expected remuneration per hour. Also annual reviews don't seem the norm..every few years have to go in a get in a big fight just to keep up with inflationary cost of living!
Company Car: Yeah right! car allowance hasn't changed in ten years
Property taxes: Have been a killer, now up to almost $10k per year
Utilities: Another creeping killer not helped by hideously under insulated homes and typical heating systems that are a good 20 years behind UK standards of efficiency
Property Maintenance: Like poster above says try paying less than a $100 for a plumber to come out for a ten min job. Also in this part of the country (with the tendency for wood houses) be prepared for considerable chunks of time to be spent on exterior annual maintenance...or be prepared for the exorbitant cost of labour.
Healthcare: We started off with pretty reasonable coverage ($30 copays etc) but have seen this benefit whittled down every year to the point where we have what I think is called 'donut' coverage (we pay a good chunk of costs after small amount of initial coverage and then are covered for catastrophic bills)
College: In my opinion the big cost difference overlooked by most- be prepared for $25to $55k per year per child for a four year degree...and good luck with Grad school thereafter!

So my view is that true cost of living (in north of UK) versus where we are now is a no brainer!

HumphreyC

Have to factor in what the average wage is in your region though; the local prices will usually reflect that. I recall when I was living in Nottingham UK everything was pretty darn cheap however wages were a lot lower than the South East so whilst things were cheaper I struggled to afford them. As a result I took a job in London on a higher wage. The cost of things became exorbitant but I was still better off and had a better standard of living because my wage was better relative to the local cost of goods and services. It might be cheaper in the North of England but I wouldn't necessarily benefit from moving there because I would probably take a big hit on wages so I would be relatively worse off.

Exumab

INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE!
Most things do in fact cost twice as much as in the U.S. The problem is that the dollar is worth less than the pound. "Loosely" you can think of it as a pound being worth $1.50 or more depending on the current rate of exchange. As a cost "example", a pack of cigarettes in the U.S. costs about 7.50 in the UK they cost $12.00. Alcohol by the bottle and drinks are also expensive.

Your best bet is to change your currency to pounds before you go. Watch out! I would avoid using the little outlets called "Banque De Change" you will see at the airports or on the street. They usually don't give you a good rate of exchange.

Do your research. Go on the internet and look up first trip to london information websites. Also British Railway train fares and destinations, London Underground fares and " Cost savings travel passes or tickets. Taxis are also expensive so think underground and bus when necessary or be ready to splurge.There is an "Excellent" magazine called "Time Out" London which will probably give you all the information you could possibly want about what is going on, where and when, location addresses, prices the lot. I consider it a must have! All things considered the more information you gather about your destination over the internet, the better prepared you will be. You really don't want any nasty surprises.

Check the luggage weight rules for your airline ticket and weigh your bags at home to make sure you are not over the EXACT" allowed weight. Overweight charges can be hundreds if you get careless about that. Also make sure exactly what charges you are expected to pay at the airport in addition to your stated ticket charges like airport fees etc.
The airlines are hitting people with buried charges at check in so be very careful.

Also, if you do any shopping, buying things remember that they have a VAT (Value Added Tax) which is added to the stated price so you want to determine what that is and factor it in. When I was there the clerks in the store told me I could fill out a form and I would be refunded the VAT at the airport when I left. FORGET IT! The clerk says you get the forms at the airport the airport says you have to get them from the store where you made the purchased. It's a scam.

BE ON YOUR TOES! Stay alert! The British are as honest as anyone else and wonderful fun but as with every place in the world, you have to stay safe. "COUNT YOUR CHANGE CAREFULLY"and be aware of what is going on around you especially in the underground. They have pickpockets. Sorry to have so much to say, just trying to give as much info as I can. Have a great, Safe Trip! Any questions let me know.

Sally Redux

VAT in the vast majority of cases is included in the price shown. There is a system for claiming back the VAT and it is not a 'scam', there are some rules though.