To be depressed about how expensive but shyt the UK is

[OptimismvsRealism]

God it's expensive God it's shit

Please regale me with examples of how other places are also shit and it's not just here

Strongly down to a race to the bottom.

Everything becomes a competition amongst society to try and get a rung up, instead of everyone wanting to make a better society.

If people have nothing to lose, they are always going to try and find a "win" in life which results in crime, lack of interest in integrating with society and no reason or motivation to create a better life as it's so unreachable. There needs to be some serious levelling out for everything to be improved but I honestly don't know how that can be achieved.

I do think it's the same in many developed countries sadly.

My brother pays £10 for a cauliflower in Canada

I am in Canada. It's currently a $1.43 for a cauliflower

The whole world could definitelt improve.

There are enough resources , that no one has to be homeless. They should make housing for everyone a priority.

No it's not shit. If you think like that, maybe move abroad?

People can't move easily after brexit. Have you forgotten?

I just think that the UK needs to get out of the 1800s and update a lot of its systems.

It's very old fashioned in a lot of ways.

It’s really not true that our food expensive, it is notoriously cheap. The only country with cheaper food is the USA.

You have to compare food prices against income. Yes food is cheaper in developing countries but comparative to annual income, food takes up a huge proportion of annual income. Spending of income in the UK is around 11% of income, an increase from 8% in 2020. There are a lot of countries that are spending around 40% of their annual income on food.

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They're not un denial, they just have no escape so they try talking it up for themselves, in a desperate bid to escape proper clinical depression.

That the UK is now being routinely compared to third world countries to make it look better is such a joke.

If so many people seem to be perfectly happy with being squeezed they will definitely be squeezed dry.

In Ireland, living expenses are in general a lot higher than in Britain - groceries, insurance, utilities. Public transport is a lot worse. The hospital part of the health system is much worse, though the GPs are normally better (but it costs €50-90 per appointment). The housing market is even more insane. It's a lot wetter and colder. The two political parties who have always been in government for the last century are both Tory in practice and outlook, and the main opposition is intolerant to dissent.

I do like it here though.

I just checked American health insurance with the family member... it's too long to quote in full, but this will make you very glad we have the NHS in the UK.....
'To qualify for Medicaid, you have to be below the poverty line, which is under $ 7.35 an hour. Individual states can opt out of receiving additional funds from the Federal government, and the Republican states, such as Georgia, have refused the funds. Almost all states were given additional Federal funding during COVID, to cover the higher than normal medical costs. Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, and others, have since declined further funding, and thrown thousands off the Medicaid list.
ObamaCare is an option, which is better than nothing, but you have co-pays, deductibles, and out of pocket maximums. Again, in Red states (Republican), there has been a steady reduction of insurers willing to offer plans under ObammaCare.
Most insurance is provided by employers, which locks you into working purely for the insurance. If you switch jobs, your insurance is canceled on the day you stop working for the old employer, and does not take effect with the new one (assuming the offer it) until 90 days after you start work.
Yes, you can get private insurance. You can also buy an aeroplane or a gold plated toilet. You can buy anything, if you have the money.
When we looked into ObamaCare when *** started getting sick, we were classed as too wealthy for a subsidy. Cheapest plan we could find was
$ 2500 / month, with copays, deductibles, & out of pocket maximums tacked on.
Yes, no hospital can turn you away in a life threatening condition, but they can also take your house if you can't pay the bill. Let's say you go to hospital with a heart attack. The hospital's only responsibility is to get you stabilized. Then you are out. There is no entitlement to any further follow up care.'

It's the Jurassic Oolitic limestone, unique to the area, and used in the construction of housing. This, plus the combination of limestone grasslands and beech woods, make the area distinctive from other pretty, rural, village locations in the UK. The distinctions might not be very large, or even noticeable, if you are not looking for them (and know what you are looking for, topography and geology-wise, like), but they are there. It's not just a subjective matter of opinion.

Off-topic, sorry!

@Albaamy121 no, not remotely privileged - I live in an old ex-mining town in the north.

Try going to Ibiza post-Covid!

Yea I would agree that ireland is even more expensive than the UK. I've lived in Ireland too.
Rent in Ireland is definitely more expensive than the UK.

I saw one bed flats advertised to rent in Ireland for 1600 euro.

I saw one bed flats to rent in the UK for 600 pounds

Brexit doesn’t stop you moving to Scandinavia? It’s not as easy, but it’s perfectly do-able. One of my friends moved here post-Brexit: she found a job as a teacher in an international school, got a temporary visa and will be applying for permanent residency when she’s been here 5 years.
I don’t live in Norway, and I also didn’t say where I live was perfect. It fits my family much better than the UK and on a post about not enjoying living in Britain I wouldn’t say it was unhelpful to offer a perspective on how it’s worked out for us to move!
MN isn’t an exclusively British website, but as it happens I am still actually a British citizen, so is that okay with you? 😂 There are people here from all over the world and I enjoy hearing other people’s experiences of life. You sound so miserable and bitter, and a bit jealous to be honest.

OK well I'm glad you're happy in the UK. Honestly.

The place would fall apart if every one was miserable

It does depend what job you work in and if there are any skills shortages.

It's probably easier to move if you're a teacher.

If you've been to the US or Europe recently you'd also notice big price rises. There are global reasons for this.
Until recently food here was disproportionately cheap both compared to other countries and historically.
As others have said, if you've lived anywhere else, you'd know that various things are shit in most places. And people love moaning about how shit things are in their country, everywhere. IME.

I always marvel at those who say people expect to hop on a plane 3 or 4 times a year. They mix in a much wealthier circle than I do.

This is exactly what we are struggling with. A general sort of anti social, selfish attitude that I don't remember being that widespread before Covid and lockdown.

Combined with litter, filthy streets, potholes and thieving politicians. Our family have decided we may as well leave and put up with all these developing world issues in a developing country but have gorgeous weather and an outdoor lifestyle at the same time. We are fortunate to be able to fund a move and are very aware of how trapped others may be here.

I was just reading in my job this morning about Canadians not using healthcare when they need to because they can't afford the copay.

I live in Normandy. Clothes, fuel, and food most definitely NOT cheaper than the UK. Taxes are higher here too. But we have fantastic healthcare, public services, and a real sense of community. Couldn't drag me back to the UK.

The UK has ca. 69 million people. Cities have large populations, so where it is populated it can be quite dense. Granted there are large swathes without habitation. You have to compare like with like.

I think the density brings problems with it. Easier for crime to be carried out and harder to find perpetrators etc. In London, I saw where an old motorbike had been fly tipped in a back alley. It was still there 3 months later. You wouldn’t get that in the Netherlands! However, London has nigh on 10 million people. The size of a small country. I don’t know how resources correspond e.g. police and healthcare.

The museums and art galleries are free. Also there are usually places where families can have a picnic, even if it entails outside tables and seats. You don’t have to have money to bring your children to enjoy culture. I was quite surprised in Washington DC (Smithsonian) when I couldn’t find similar. Granted the Smithsonian itself is free, but we had to eat at the very expensive cafe. The chap in front of me asked the person at the till to check the amount again as the modest contents on his lunch tray amounted to around $30. In London, we used to bring our own picnics for lunch.

Some places are very memorable. The west of Scotland is breathtaking. People and location. Cairngorm national park (although we didn’t see the Scottish Wild Cat). Wiltshire and Somerset too. I had the best freshly baked Chelsea bun of my life in Frome. Granted French food can be a religious experience. Class 1 means just that in France, and the ham in Champagne was divine. They have the climate to grow their own fruit though.

The idea of the NHS is amazing. Coming from the Irish healthcare system, I never got used to not having to pay for the GP each visit. Adults and children. Also, the subsidised prescriptions. We used to laugh with a friend (pharmacist) complaining about an increase of 50p or so on NHS prescriptions. We used to tell him he didn’t know he was born. He’d have experienced a very sharp shock to his system in Ireland at that time as an ordinary P.A.Y.E worker. Most would have had to take out private health insurance, and receive very little for it. All the while also paying tax into the public healthcare system. I know it is somewhat improved now. To get a Medical Card in Ireland (which would give some free and otherwise greatly subsidised healthcare) your income has to be very low indeed. But I won’t meander.

I agree with this
Your life is what you make it ultimately
If you always see things negatively then you will have a negative experience