Which is really financially easier - US or UK?

I'm a newbie here with no plans on moving to the UK anytime soon, but I'm interested to get some first-hand experience on costs of living on both sides of the pond. A lot of people that I've talked to claim that because of the services provided by the UK (and much of Western Europe for that matter) governments it makes it easier financially for a typical family. On the other hand, after being a lurker on UKY for awhile it seems that many say the cost of living is generally higher in the UK and disposable incomes are on average higher in the US.

So, for those who have lived in both countries in your opinion which is financially easier?

The US is much easier financially I think, for me, as an engineer, I would earn a much higher salary and I always had disposable income.  I struggle at the end of the month in the UK, though I know I could live more frugally than I do.  I am going to try find a house share over the summer to ease my burden.

That said, I've noticed this time around on a visit to the US that everything price wise has gotten really expensive. Food, clothes, odds and sods, everything.   Copays on health insurance and Rx's are going up and up as well.  So I am not sure anymore. Gas is still much, much cheaper in the US. 

That said, I've noticed this time around on a visit to the US that everything price wise has gotten really expensive. Food, clothes, odds and sods, everything.   Copays on health insurance and Rx's are going up and up as well.  So I am not sure anymore. Gas is still much, much cheaper in the US. 

I noticed this my last visit also, I had a bit of sticker shock. Where I used to feel like things were often priced in a way of £1=$1 I found this was definitely not the case anymore, especially basics like groceries seemed way more expensive then I remembered!

My husband is also an engineer so the same as PB. Also, I can't use my masters degree here and that would also help out.

Our main issue is housing.  Rents in our area for a house are, for something more than a one bedroom, all over 900.  Most of the decent ones are over 1,000/mnth.  So for us it comes down to what point do we want to continue to rent since we could get a mortgage for that price.  But then I don't want to stay in this area and how about the deposit. Oy vey.

For us, the UK is much more financially viable. Where my family live just outside of NYC, the property taxes are maybe 10x what we pay in council tax. We have a small mortgage as we bought our house about 13 years ago, but had we done that in the states, we would have paid probably 5 times what we paid for our house here. MY husband makes an okay living, but with not having to worry about things like health insurance and stuff, I am able to stay at home with the kids, something probably I would never have been able to do had we stayed in New York. Also the holiday and maternity leave is so good, it would be hard to leave that!

My husband is also an engineer so the same as PB. Also, I can't use my masters degree here and that would also help out.

Our main issue is housing.  Rents in our area for a house are, for something more than a one bedroom, all over 900.  Most of the decent ones are over 1,000/mnth.  So for us it comes down to what point do we want to continue to rent since we could get a mortgage for that price.  But then I don't want to stay in this area and how about the deposit. Oy vey.

We're in a similar boat regarding housing. I'm pricing up house moves at the moment, and our rent will probably be increasing to about £1500 a month, which seems like such an insane amount of money. We could get a mortgage, but not without a deposit, and with massive student loans on the boy's side, that seems far away right now (unless one of us hits the start-up lottery).

Luckily we're in a really good place money wise as we have no kids and we both work, (although go back about 2-3 years ago and we were drowning in student loans, the boy was doing his masters, commuting to Brighton and we were living above a burnt out fish and chip shop!) I've also worked very hard to move my career along and been very lucky as that's gone very well, but we still look at each other and wonder how people afford to bring up kids in London or survive on one income.

However, I've definitely been hit by the sticker shock in the US lately, especially groceries! I've been interviewing in SF/NYC recently and the housing is not hugely more expensive then it is here, and with taxes and utilities and health care, all of that adds up really quickly. Also what use is piles of cash if I only have five days of holiday a year?

I think you should pick the lifestyle that you want to have, and let the money work itself out. Ultimately if you're happy in how you live, it makes it much easier to live with less money.

Well, NYC and SF are always going to be expensive but then you get to live in NYC.  We live in a small village outside of a university town with now minimal bus service.  I'd be more happy if we lived some place more exciting.

As for holidays, it totally depends on your job in the US.  My friends work at a factory in the US and they get unlimited leave.  As long as their work is done they can take as much as they want.  So my friend's husband always has the week before Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas and at least two weeks in the summer.  Lots of places have switched to unlimited leave because then we you quit they don't need to pay you off.  But it all depends on the workplace as to whether you can really take "unlimited". 

All my other friends are either teachers/gov't employees so that is how THAT goes. 

Well, NYC and SF are always going to be expensive but then you get to live in NYC.  We live in a small village outside of a university town with now minimal bus service.  I'd be more happy if we lived some place more exciting.

As for holidays, it totally depends on your job in the US.  My friends work at a factory in the US and they get unlimited leave.  As long as their work is done they can take as much as they want.  So my friend's husband always has the week before Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas and at least two weeks in the summer.  Lots of places have switched to unlimited leave because then we you quit they don't need to pay you off.  But it all depends on the workplace as to whether you can really take "unlimited". 

All my other friends are either teachers/gov't employees so that is how THAT goes. 

Well NYC=SF=London roughly in terms of excitingness, for me anyhow and yes, you get the rough with the smooth in terms of excitingness to housing cost ratio. I totally get you though, it seems somehow more justifiable to pay high rents in big cities, less so in smaller towns, no matter how pretty they are, but that's personal preference I guess

I've been targeting really specific cities in the US for the potential move, there has to be a start-up culture in the city as we're both passionate about tech start ups and eventually want to start our own as well as a strong media industry. So those two, and Bellevue/Seattle are on our short list.

One of the jobs I'm in for has an unlimited leave policy, but the other has five days off a year, including sick leave, however, I believe that they just employ a "work from home" unofficial policy for most people. Generally the benefits from these jobs have been really great, much better than I expected, so I guess it's all about the industry you're in and the type of work you do as to what benefits you get, but the general leave stuff is still better in the UK I believe.

As these jobs are with bigger companies I lose my larger equity stake, which is a big negative for me, but the small amount of stock you do get is actually worth money, which is a plus!

I still have no idea what I'm going to do, if I'd take these jobs, if I should stay in London, etc. If someone has a definitive answer, I'd love to hear it, as I'm totally confused, and just going to choose which sounds the most fun!

I'm totally confused, and just going to choose which sounds the most fun!

Sounds like a good method of judgment to me.

When you figure it out CB, please let me know so we can figure out what to do too! 

When you figure it out CB, please let me know so we can figure out what to do too! 

Ha I will, I'll also update you again in 6 months to let you know if I made the right/wrong decision! To make matters even more confusing my first firm job offer of this round of job hunting just dropped into my inbox. Totally wasn't expecting that one.

To make matters even more confusing my first firm job offer of this round of job hunting just dropped into my inbox. Totally wasn't expecting that one.

Woo! At least you have definite options. Even if that may be part curse/part blessing.

For our family(MrRed5, myself, and our two daughters) it was the USA.  Higher salary for MrRed5 (I'm a SAHM) and the ability to save more for our retirement. 
House prices here are a joke-we moved over in 2005 and were able to purchase our first home in 2010. 
I'm hopeful that a job transfer may come our way to take us back in 2012 or 2013.

One of the jobs I'm in for has an unlimited leave policy, but the other has five days off a year, including sick leave, however, I believe that they just employ a "work from home" unofficial policy for most people.

Wow, 5 days off a year is really stingy, even by American standards...

I was interested and also got a bit bored so looked into this.  This is based on our situation - a couple in late 20s, with no kids or mortgage, moving from Boston, MA, to somewhere in the UK (outside London).  I used an exchange rate of 0.62, which I thought was fair.

Salary:
We expect a 0-30% reduction in base salary upon moving to the UK.

Taxes:
Based on a middle income salary and after tax deductible retirement contributions, we expect to pay 25.3% of salary in taxes in the US (including federal, state and payroll taxes) and 24.4% on the same salary in the UK (national insurance and income tax).
Council taxes versus property taxes - difficult to be precise but we expect these to be the same, or up to 1/3 cheaper in the UK.

Bills:
Food and utilities (gas and electric), we anticipate being the same. 
Internet, phone and tv - we anticipate being about half the price in the UK.

Healthcare:
Around $200/month in US, free in UK.

Rent (+ council tax):
Will be 10-33% cheaper in the UK, depending on where we live (outside London)

Transport:
Petrol/gas is about 2.5x more expensive in the UK.  Although a lot of people seem to have very fuel-efficient cars there, which might compensate for some of the price difference.
New cars about 33% more expensive in the UK.  Not sure about used cars.
Local public transport seems to be about 1.5x more expensive in the UK.

House prices:
Not sure, but I know interest rates are about 1% lower in the US.

Other stuff:
Clothes, electronics etc fall prey to VAT.  I reckon maybe 20% more expensive in the UK?