Cost of living differences

We live in central London and moved from Boston.  While Boston was relatively expensive by US standards, London is significantly higher for a very similar lifestyle. 

I worked for the same organisation in the US and the UK. In the US I would have been earning twice (literally) as much in a cheaper area. 

Here my monthly income wouldn't have even covered the rent and council tax in our very crappy one bedroom.

Food I think works out about the same.  I know this because we are always debating moving back and we compared my food bill with the prices from my local Wegmans.  Some things were more expensive here, some things cheaper and we make almost all our food from scratch. 

In the US I would have been earning twice (literally) as much in a cheaper area. 

This!!!

I dunno, I can't seem to figure out why I get to the end of the month with no money these days. 
 
I had no issues in the US -could get to the end of the month with money to spare- I could drive a brand new car, live in a very nice gated community with a pool, health club,etc; take taiji and boxing classes, go out and about every weekend, go out for expensive meals, take weekend trips away, have all the latest and greatest gadgets, etc...     Though this kind of lifestyle actually makes me shudder now, I now prefer and advocate a much simplier existance for myself,  but that said, I can't aford that kind of life now at all even if I wanted!!!!

I am currently doing an obsessive budget to figure out where I am going wrong.   

Well, prices in the US have gone up significantly just over the summer. There was a piece on the news about how much outfitting a kid for school would cost this year. Evidently retailers are charging 10% more on average. A&F is now charging between $70 and $80 for their popular jeans for teens. And pretending that there are wonderful new features to justify the higher price.
So those of you who have lived away from the US for a while might be shocked by the higher cost of living. It seems to me every week I am spending more and more just for the basics of groceries, gas (altho that is supposed to be going down), a cup of coffee, etc. Living on retirement income here would mean seriously cutting back on spending.

I did my food comparison about two months ago.  I think the issue with US/UK food is that in the US you buy in larger quantities.  So one pound of carrots in the UK/US costs the same, but I would rarely buy one pound of carrots here because where am I going to put them?

In the US I would have a freezer larger than my foot in which to freeze things.

Also, since when is A&F a good example of where to get clothes for back to school? 

Also, since when is A&F a good example of where to get clothes for back to school? 

Well, yes. But I think the point is still valid. If the top-end retailers are raising their prices you know the cheaper outlets are going to go up as well.

So those of you who have lived away from the US for a while might be shocked by the higher cost of living. It seems to me every week I am spending more and more just for the basics of groceries, gas (altho that is supposed to be going down), a cup of coffee, etc. Living on retirement income here would mean seriously cutting back on spending.

This. Although the grass is always greener, no matter where you are, right?

my cost comparisons are very current as i have just spent a month in the US, in NY, DC, Virginia and NC.  i have shopped for food, clothing, shoes and household goods, and have eaten out in restaurants often.  London is still noticeably more expensive.

I appreciate everyone's opinions. My plan is to move to London next spring and everywhere I am seeing, rates of living are high (also according to my friends living in London now). I lived in Los Angeles for 9 years, so the rates are somewhat comparable. I now live in Florida, which is cheaper rent; but not cheaper food. I am looking into different options because I don't want to live to pay the rent if that makes sense to everyone; but, not needing a car is a definite plus, as I just had a $600 repair today.

not needing a car is a definite plus, as I just had a $600 repair today.

This!!! So looking forward to being sans car. 

Things are galloping up in the UK, too. Especially food prices.

My husband is one of those guys who...oh, I might as well come right out and say it. He's mean. We live well, but he knows the price of every one of our staple groceries. And I mean, he knows the price of those staples at every one of our local shops. He cries bitterly when a can of butterbeans goes up 3p.

Lurpak butter, which we've been able to get at £1 on offer for the past several years, went to £1.70 in the last few months (and even the store brand is over £1). The hoity toity fresh squeezed orange juice we buy jumped from $2 to £2.60 last week. I'm sure he could dredge up dozens of examples like that.

My point is, not only are things going up, but they are going up in big jumps. And suddenly. It's almost as though retailers have been absorbing the inflationary hit for a while and finally couldn't any more.

The flour, store brand, went in a period of a year from .67-1.40 and then back to .85.

That probably has to do with the UK getting most of its flour from Russia. 

Hi

Cheers - You must be looking at some salaries/wages that are being offered at the upper most scale of things to 'not be able to get over the high wages' feeling! to put that into perspective, only 9-10% of the UK's 27-29 million people workforce pay the higher 40% tax rate. 90% of the workforce earns less than the threshold of around £39K. Average UK salaries are £23-25K per year, in the USA the same figure is around $40,000 and when you look at them both, that's broadly the same.

There's quite a few threads about this, and yes, I'm guilty of commenting on each one (almost!) but I tend to do so on the 'higher level' of things. If you look at the various indices between Cost of Living, Quality of Life, Standard of Living, then overall, the UK has a higher cost of living, a lower quality of life and a lower standard of living in direct comparison to the US.

As in this thread, peoples individual circumstances can and often do completely buck that trend. In many instances where that happens, it's often down to more 'comrpromises' being made whilst here compared to when they were in the US, be that giving up car use, moving to a smaller property and perhaps going to a much cheaper area.

Just to pick up on some points, the reasons many staple and basic necessities are going up in price so visibly, is that these companies, small and large, are now realising they have to pay their way much quicker in order to stay in business. Large overdrafts and company credit as well as other businesses being more pro-active in having their invoices paid mean businesses are having to 'wake up' to their responsibilities and hence, they've had to increase prices in order to do that.

It's also likely the UK will continue to see price rises and more of the population seeing their take home pay going to basics and mandatory costs for a good few years yet...

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Not having a car works well in London.  It also works well if you don't want to do anything outside of London.  Otherwise, you need a car.

For example: My husband and I wanted to go to historic house for St George's Day

It is 45 minutes by car.

Let's say 30.00 for gas (probably less, but whatever)

Before we had our car it took us:

30 minutes to get to the train station
5 minutes for the train (timed that one well)
45 minutes into London
20 minutes on the Underground
15 minutes waiting for the train
45 minutes to the nearest big city
25 minutes by taxi
Total time: 3 hours
Cost: 72.00 for the train
        24.00 for the taxi
        (we both get weekly bus passes, so I will leave that cost out)
Total cost: 96.00  

Now, it could be faster and cheaper, if there was a cross country route for trains, but there isn't really.  They all go down to London and then out again, forming on that day a V when it could have been a straight line across.

Not having a car works well in London.  It also works well if you don't want to do anything outside of London.  Otherwise, you need a car.

For example: My husband and I wanted to go to historic house for St George's Day

It is 45 minutes by car.

Let's say 30.00 for gas (probably less, but whatever)

Before we had our car it took us:

30 minutes to get to the train station
5 minutes for the train (timed that one well)
45 minutes into London
20 minutes on the Underground
15 minutes waiting for the train
45 minutes to the nearest big city
25 minutes by taxi
Total time: 3 hours
Cost: 72.00 for the train
        24.00 for the taxi
        (we both get weekly bus passes, so I will leave that cost out)
Total cost: 96.00  

Now, it could be faster and cheaper, if there was a cross country route for trains, but there isn't really.  They all go down to London and then out again, forming on that day a V when it could have been a straight line across.

I think you will say that was an exceptionally expensive trip.
May I ad to the £30 for gas, road tax £30, annual safety inspection £32, £600 for insurance, car maintenance £300, drivers license £600.

Just having some fun with your numbers.

I don't think that was your point, only that you had to go the long way and also the time factor.

Cheers