To wander what's cheaper up north apart from house prices

[chocolover12]

Hi everyone,

You may remember my previous threads a few weeks ago, regarding moving from London to Manchester and asking advice on schools and areas ?

Well we visited Manchester and looked at all the areas, we loved davyhulme, urmston and flixton.
Now before we make the move I have a few questions, we are moving in order to afford a larger property but also for a better lifestyle, I don't want to get there and think it's not what we expected in terms of being more affordable as dh will have a pay cut too.

Apart from housing what else is cheaper up north?
Supermarkets, petrol and clothes shopping seen the same prices. And I know public transport is more As is council tax?
What things do cost less as everyone says life is cheaper life is better up north?
I know this is a tricky question but what kind of salary is a minimum to live well? I'm a sahm at the moment. I'm just wandering so we make the right choice, as we really liked the area and want to move but the areas we liked we won't be reducing our mortgage it will be the same but a bigger house but also a pay cut.
Thanks

A hair cut and colour - it's cheaper for me to fly to Scotland and back to visit family and have my hair coloured there than to get it done here in London! 😳

Taxis, in Leeds at least. My friends mind was blown by private hire prices. Pints, if you’re not drinking in an establishment with aspirations. Parking, if it’s not a city centre/ more prosperous city centre.

The thing that’s annoying about public transport is it’s not run by one unitary authority and it’s not as subsidised as London. I used to think nothing of travelling an hour across London, but the connection time was nothing. Travelling an hour where I live now is mostly spent waiting at bus stops, which is highly irritating. I didn’t drive until I moved back North.

Hairdressers - you could pay from £10-£200 in my city for a cut.

Gyms from £10-£140.

Childcare (incl ad hoc babysitters from what I see Londoners talk about on here)
Hair cuts
Takeaways
Cafes and pub meals
classes and groups you / your dc attend
Trades - plumbers. builders, electricians, boiler man, gardener, etc etc
Drinks out

Bus - £5.20 for a 7 minute journey in my city. People complain about parking (£5-£8 a day) but the bus prices..

Tradespeople, definitely. We’ve just bought in a fairly well off northern city and I can’t get over how cheap it has been to get work done (and well!) Think half and 2/3 of the prices in London to get all new windows, floors laid and walls knocked through.

Also childcare. Jesus. We were paying £25 more a DAY in London per child.

On our mortgage now, for a house twice the size our rental was in London, we pay £500 less a month. It’s bonkers really!

I've lived in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Liverpool. If you are moving north to a big city there are virtually no difference in prices apart from house prices. I think to see big differences in things like eating out/takeaways/hairdressers/cost of labour you would need to move to a small town well outside of a city.

@chocolover12

It seems to me you need to d a lot more research.

You can find out council tax prices by looking at the council website. Find the Band that would apply to the value of houses you might buy (same as anywhere you choose to live.)

The N/S divide is not so simple on this.

You don't sound as if you have done much research into house prices.

I wouldn't base a major decision on things like eating out and hairdressers
These are not necessities.

I'd be more worried about schools, work opportunities etc and making new friends.

What sort of pay cut are you taking? If it's big you may have a much lower standard of living with a bigger house.

Schools! Not sure if you are paying for or planning on paying for school but our private school fees in the Midlands are about 1/4 of what they appear to be in London from reading threads on here!

Nails - hair - beauty
Parking
Food if you use markets
Eating and drinking out
Gym membership
Charity shops
Car boots
Petrol/diesel but not by very much

I think just 'doing things' in general seems to be cheaper.

As a disclaimer I don't live in the north of England, but I live in a very cheap area in the midlands. I was born in Stoke-on-Trent.

When I used to go to London, i was shocked at the prices of just doing something, like say getting food.

For example, near here I go down a high street and see a sign, 50p for cobs (sandwich/bun) or £2.99 for lamb chops, green beans and mashed potatoes. Whereas in London I remember going into somewhere and seeing approx £12 for an English breakfast which shocked me.

But then I'd imagine bills are quite similar anywhere - mobile, broadband, gas, electricity, water (apart from in Cornwall I've heard!), TV licence, prescriptions, landline, all of those are going to be similar. Msybe service charges and ground rent are different, I don't know.

I was just shocked by random items I guess. I went to visit my sister in Stoke Newington. I thought it was really nice, I can see why she likes it there. But then going down the high street, there were lots of little shops, they were lovely. But say buying a plant (cactus) from one of them was a SHOCKING price, or say going into a stationary shop and there were three rolls of sellotape for about £6.99, I was stunned.

The bus was a lot cheaper. Here it is £4.50 for a daysaver which I find a lot. So it was like, people would either stay where they are, and they can buy a top (T shirt) or get several items from ASDA, or they can travel on the bus to go somewhere. But if you're on a budget, that's a high proportion of your spending. In London the bus was £1.20 if I remember rightly.

In London I felt that I was more accepted, it was more anonymous, no one cared, no one was judging, it didn't matter if I wanted to wear something totally crazy, no one would look or judge. I felt there was more choice of things, so if I had a niche interest, there would be a club or something I could go to. Every event I see online that I like the look of, it pretty much is in London. So there felt like there was more opportunities, choice, things to do. But at a price.

Things that are cheaper here: for example drinks in pubs. So when I went to a local pub, asked for a small lemonade in a glass and it was 85p. But in both places there are cheap items to be had.

I think I mean just 'going out for the day' and being stunned at how much money you can get through. But then there were free exhibitions and things too.

Thete is also variety e.g. I can get 3 diet cokes for £1 in one shop yet I can go into another and get 1 diet coke for 85p. This applies to both places, so sometimes things aren't a true judge of a place if you just take a one off.

But then I'm sometimes shocked by things here. E.g. saw a tube of Colgate toothpaste for £4 in a shop. But then the same thingis £1 down the road.

If you go into random shops in London you can feel priced out. E.g. walk into a clothes shop, can't really afford anything in there. Whereas here, walk into a clothes shop, you can afford it all but you might not really want to buy it!

Going out for a meal is LOT cheaper, as in stunningly cheaper.
Buying drinks is cheaper, in some places significantly cheaper.
Random shops on high streets are WAY cheaper.
Things like swimming - I am not sure. Have seen some expensive prices. The gym is £10 a month approx.

It depends what you want to do. Look at a breakdown of your typical month. See the sort of things you do and the things you spend on. What are they?

It’s all relative you’ll earn less so you won’t win tbh

I think it depends on the lifestyle you want to lead. You can find places to do pretty much anything which are similar to London prices with prices to match (comparitively speaking adjusted for regional wages). Equally you can find places which are cheaper.

The thing is, your expectations of lifestyle and aspiration are not likely to change if you move. You take that with you, and will naturally be drawn to places which you feel most comfortable and familiar.

The main difference between the north and south is the cost of housing to begin with. You are planning to spend the same on housing but somewhere bigger than previously. This is the lifestyle benefit.

I'm not sure quite what else you are expecting. It sounds like you almost think the north is more backward. Manchester is rapidly becoming like London in many respects so whilst you might beat the curve on housing by being able to get something bigger, you aren't going to get huge financial benefits in other ways.

As others have said, transport in Manchester is the big disadvantage if you are used to cheap and extensive London services. If you travel abroad on holiday, you can often find going on holiday is slightly more expensive because flights are more expensive (there are exceptions to this but if you are searching for a deal, you will often pay a mark up).

Culturally the lifestyle is different. The pace of life isn't quite the same. Its slower and more laid back. (Though arguably changing as Manchester becomes a much more 'mega city'). The social expectations are not quite the same. People have different attitudes to things. Its difficult to explain. I live somewhere with a good mix of northerners and southerners and you can tell the difference between them. Its to do with priorities. The northerners have fewer airs and graces and are less concerned about 'keeping up with the Joneses' if that makes sense. They tend to be less pretensious on the whole (but this is a generalisation). It can be seen in the way Manchester city centre doesn't have a michelin starred restuarant - a lot of people who would be into that in London are far more price conscious and don't like the idea of paying grossly over the odds even if they can. They want a good meal out, but they don't need to have the label or the ceremony, they just want to enjoy good food and don't feel the same need to be 'seen' in certain places. (Again exceptions but its the general attitude). People just don't see the point. This is a very specific example, but its possibly the best way to explain it - a much more down to earth, ronseal 'does what it says on the tin' direct manner. People who are pretenious tend to get short shift for the most part.

Urmston, Davyhulme, Flixton are decent areas. They also fall under the 'up and coming' area tag - with all that gentifrication brings. Including a lot of more expensive services and cultural changes.

Is petrol cheaper? Depends on where you fill up. Some yes, some no. Are clothes etc cheaper? Nope - especially if you shop at the Trafford Centre (the rents are some of the highest in the country) which would be your local place to go.

I'm not sure exactly what you are expecting by the move. The benefits are the bigger house and cultural differences. Financially, you'll live within the budget and expectations you set yourself. See it that way. If you are moving north to be 'rolling in it', forget it.

Also lifestyle falls under 'time taken to get to work'. And time taken to get to places like the peak district / north wales etc. Thats different to London.

The northerners have fewer airs and graces and are less concerned about 'keeping up with the Joneses' if that makes sense.

As a northerner living in the south I completely disagree with you!

I have never seen so much pretentiousness as in the north where people who are working class try to keep up with the Jones' Everything from holidays to cars and clothes/designer labels on credit cards.

They spend far more money on house interiors and the women dress up to go shopping as if they are off to a wedding half the time! Use far more orange foundation and have slug eyebrows.

Flame away and yes, this is an exaggeration partly, but there is a huge difference in how people behave.

FWIW EVERYONE I know personally who has moved up, has said they wouldn't go back because of the lifestyle and change of pace. That could be to do with the particular area we are in but they are happier. The larger housing alone is a big deal for many.

It’s all relative you’ll earn less so you won’t win tbh

But in the north, a couple of nurses, teachers, office workers or similarly paid people can buy a house, which is an impossibility in London. Big win IMHO.

Live in SE and Uni in NW. Found taxis prices to be lot cheaper up north especially is you pre book! £2.50 from train station to my accommodation which would be at least £10 back home. Drinks a generally cheaper and petrol/ diesel is to! Filled my car up at Uni to drive up £1.25/1.27 per L. Pack home it’s at least £1.25. Takeaways seem to be slightly cheaper too and I have noticed the odd supermarket selling things slightly cheaper too. Other main thing is cars too. My family now generally but them up north as cheaper!

Whereas in London I remember going into somewhere and seeing approx £12 for an English breakfast which shocked me

I live inLondon and that would shock me too!

I was paying £40 per day for nursery, dsis was paying £80 in London.

...going into a stationary shop and there were three rolls of sellotape for about £6.99, I was stunned

Living in London I have never seen that. Which stationery shop? Unless sprinkled with saffron or gold dust that sounds outrageous

As I said, some of these are just comparing 'poor' areas with London. There are plenty of pricey areas up north. A pp quoted 50p for a butty/sandwich on her High St. That would easily £3 ish on mine - 120 miles from London.

Petrol!! It's between 5-7p a litre cheaper when we visit family it actually makes a big difference when filling up a tank

Petrol just varies between different petrol stations across the whole country. Its not blanket cheaper in the North