What things are cheaper in less expensive areas?

[Brunaaa]

Aside from the obvious things like housing, council tax, eating and drinking out(?), what other things are cheaper in less expensive areas of the UK than the South East?

Are groceries cheaper? Train fares? Water electricity and gas bills?

I've only ever lived in London and the South East, so I'd be interested to see how the house of living compares!

I think it's often mostly just housing.
I moved from London to a less expensive area. Council tax is more expensive, public transport a lot more expensive.
There's not as many expensive places to eat and drink so you go to cheaper options. Otherwise the food bill is the same. Utilities are the same.
But housing is significantly cheaper whether renting or buying.

Everything pretty much? My brother used to live in the SE, an area with London weighting. We lived in the NW. Everything was more expensive 'down south' according to him. I do know definitely his car was £3k more expensive. This was 20 years ago, so it's probably worse now I imagine.

I live in NE Wales now and am actually shocked at the difference in the cost of housing and utilities based purely on moving ten miles down the road into a different country. Would have moved in my 20s if I'd realised.

My parents moved recently from Essex to Lancashire and DM says the biggest cost saving outside of those you have mentioned is at the hairdressers. She spent £££ in Essex but can now get a cut and colour for £30 in a decent salon type hairdresser.

Take council tax off that list! It's very high in some poorer areas.

www.loveproperty.com/news/100379/new-council-tax-index-reveals-surprising-winners-and-losers

But in general things are a bit cheaper in a poorer area. Local takeaways, taxi fares, local cinema.

Greggs?

Pubs. 2 pints for less than a fiver in my local.

Anything that involves labour. Hairdresser, taxi, plumber, physio, dentist, swimming lessons, dance classes, private tutor, cleaner, window cleaner, car repairs. You get idea.

Lots of pubs are way cheaper.

Are groceries cheaper? Train fares? Water electricity and gas bills?

I have family in London, the south west and the north east. IMO the above are pretty much the same price everywhere. You have to compare like with like though, so the corner shop in DH's old village will be more expensive than Morrisons in Bristol.

Second hand cars - I had a lot of interest from London when selling mine in the NE.

Drinking and eating out (moot point at the moment).

Taxis are cheaper. I couldn’t believe it when I moved from SE to Yorkshire and a journey that would cost £20 only cost around £5!

Groceries are the same(talking about supermarkets rather than a local shop). Takeaways can be cheap but it depends, a lot of the cheapy ones I wouldn’t buy from!

Swimming. Also the pools aren't as busy.
Everything except petrol i think.
When I lived in London I used to go to the hairdresser's when I was visiting my parents, and that was only the Midlands, not North. I now live in the north and I love telling my dad how much I paid for stuff, he can't get over it. Boring stuff like oven repairs or new windows - anything that doesn't come from a supermarket.

We do have to pay for our children to go on a bus though, not like London.

I live in the east Midlands and our water rates are one of the cheapest in the country, I pay less than £20pm.

Don't think electric/gas is much different.

Alcohol in pubs is cheaper. Eating out is a bit cheaper.

@Waxonwaxoff0

I live in the east Midlands and our water rates are one of the cheapest in the country, I pay less than £20pm.

Don't think electric/gas is much different.

Alcohol in pubs is cheaper. Eating out is a bit cheaper.

That is cheap! We pay around £80pm for water rates(West Yorkshire). I think it’s hard to generalise because things vary so much from area to area,

public transport outside of London is a lot more expensive, and as it usually provided by several companies you cannot get a day ticket (or longer) that covers the area, you need one from each.

Ooh yes forgot about stuff like car repairs, hairdressers etc. That would extend to any kinds of trades I guess.

Trades are enormously cheaper. It’s also easier to find people willing to do smaller jobs like fixing a damaged fence.

If you live in a big Northern city then obviously you can spend money just as easily there as anywhere down south. The difference is that overall people are poorer so the market caters for them too. You can eat out very cheaply, find a cheap hairdresser and so on. You can also go to an expensive restaurant and an expensive hairdresser and then you’ll get the same bill and the same service that you’re used to.

I moved from a major city in the North East to a big town in the other end of the region and noticed how much cheaper life was instantly:

Hair / beauty appointments
Socialising - eating out, drinking
Car related bills - MOTs etc
Housing of course
Shops are no cheaper if you're shopping at the usual ones

But overall life is cheaper

Exactly @Toorapid

Nursery fees. I am at how much some nursery fees are when people mention childcare costs.

Wages are also generally lower as well.

Vets fees.

Local shops are cheaper - we get a supermarket delivery for convenience but we have loads of independent grocers/butchers/bakeries around here who do a roaring trade because they are cheaper even than the market in town. Live in a very cheap/poor area of the Midlands.

Hairdressers definitely! Also meals and going out for drinks.
I found train fare ridiculously cheaper round here. I live about 25 minutes South from Central Birmingham and it only costs about a fiver return. When I lived in Reading it was something like £40 return to London for a similar amount of time spent on a train.

My mil lives in the NE. I find that the beauticians near her are cheaper, the hairdressers are cheaper. Fuel is only slightly cheaper, drinking out in pubs and restaurants seems cheaper. Car parking is cheaper by far. I know some places locally charge £3 for 2 hours, I go up to my mils and pay that for the day.
I didn’t think public transport was cheaper at all. The train into Newcastle seemed quite pricey. Going to heritage places to visit are the same as SE.