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

I have been refused service in the uk due to a nut allergy -not severe or airborne. Straight up "sorry, we can't serve you".

Exactly. I wonder out of those moaning that uk is 'the worst place ever' have actually lived and worked in 3rd world countries, to experience the contrast.

We are not the best - our weather is so depressing and we have far too many whingers who love a moan but don't actually try to do anything about the thing they are moaning about. But we are definitely not the worst!

What are you implying by this?

Ashley would like a word....

what about moving to spain?

This.

I travel a lot for work and everywhere is dearer than pre-pandemic

And compared to most countries at most points in history, this is PARADISE even if it MIGHT have been better a few years ago

What's the issue with that?

There's a cafe by me there can't serve people with allergies and they have a sign stating this, all approved by food hygiene.

One person went there and had a reaction but hadn't told them she had allergies. The place had signs up clearly stating this and she still tried to sue

was looking at local National trust woods at the weekend for autum colours - 40 pound for a family ticket!!! 20 quid for one adult. for some woods.

who the F can afford that? only the very well off -

nearly half of all Uk WORKING AGE adults do not earn enough to pay income tax - ie. below 12,500

in my case - as with others - this is because childcare dominates my life - no good childcare or affordable for an autistic child - secondary age child none at all so I don't wan to totally abandon my 12 year old so have to work flexibly.

That's pretty shocking, although eating out with allergies can often be tough.
I nearly fell off my chair when we went for dinner last Sunday, DH asked the waitress 'which items on the menu would be suitable for dairy and gluten allergy. They looked at him like he was mad and said 'all of them sir'. DH - 'I can have any of them'. 'Yes sir, we will adapt any of them to be suitable, this is our policy, anything on the menu can be adapted for the more common allergies'.

If by average you mean 50k then that does make sense (ita average in the SE). I can see if you earn that and still rent it makes as much sense to move abroad where you would either earn more or be taxed less .

But based on household income those people are still above average in the uk.

It’s not self-cantered to have good care ,obviously. It’s self-centred to think that because you’ve had good care there isn’t a problem elsewhere. The NHS is in a terrible state and sadly isn’t working for a huge number of people.

There are rubbish things about the UK
culture isn’t great over here, compared to other countries in Cyprus, where I’m from Everyone fans together our community knows each other and does everything for each other, here I’m lucky if my neighbour says hello to me
on the other hand, though, we have a great healthcare system Despite the delays,
my uncle is dying of prostate cancer in Cyprus. There is no community care as such, home care is provided by Sri Lankan ladies, via an agency who are paid a pittance, and are generally unhappy to do care jobs but have to in order to send money home where they have also left young children
It’s a tiny island so not enough Cypriot carers to go around because there is a big elderly population. It’s a beautiful island great weather and lovely to holiday and live in, but if you are old and infirm or very ill things start to get difficult
food isn’t cheap there either, unless you grow your own.
my Jamaican friend says she wants to move to Jamaica, but cannot even a can of Coke is like $100, I have $100 Jamaican note here. I took it to the bank and it was worth 72p 😂
if you have lots of money, you can live anywhere, but if you’re on a standard income, it’s difficult anywhere you go really
i’ve just had an operation on the NHS, but I waited 20 hours in A&E in agony before my spine was stapled up and operated on. If you can afford private healthcare I would suggest that in order to avoid NHS waiting times but I wouldn’t change the NHS for the world. I am thinking of paying for private health care for any future issues have just to avoid that experience
Youth in the UK are generally quite unhappy. There is a lot of civil unrest over here stabbings and poverty, which I don’t understand why because we get a great benefit system, which the countries don’t provide

@BecauseRonald

I think British people have forgotten that life can be good and full of hope, because it hasn't been for years now.

In the politest possible way - Bollox. British people like to moan - the weather, the Government (whatever government it is), potholes, the price of a supermarket shop, more potholes, more rain, and in the summer, it's too hot for words, so cue more moaning. Until it rains again.

It's part of our DNA to gripe - everywhere else in the world is a golden utopia and everyone else has it better. Back in the real world:

You can always find employment in the UK
You can walk into A&E and get sorted out at no expense if you're ill or injured
You will not be persecuted for your religious beliefs
Women are afforded the same rights as men
We have a robust legal system and low tolerance for crime
Kids have access to continuous education
Gun crime is near enough non-existent
You don't worry about being mugged or raped walking to the shops
You don't have to have barricades inside your house to lock yourself behind in the event that a gunman or intruder breaks in and tries to steal all your possessions and then murder you (Looking at you, SA)

I could go on.

Last time I went to America I paid 8 dollars for toast and my toddler didn’t eat it.

Personally I don't blame them. Running a small catering business or a little independent cafe in the current climate is a frigging nightmare. Electricity, rates and overheads generally have lept up and I don't need to explain the increase in food costs. Getting staff to stay more than one week is an achievement and that's if you can find anyone in the first place. Trying to cater for a wide range of allergies with separate preparation areas and dedicated staff, along with checking every single item you buy in, would be the absolute death knell of such businesses. To say nothing of the constant fear that you might actually kill someone with a egg sandwich.

I find the same and i travel a lot. And london house prices are actually stagnant or falling unlike in many of those places.

To me it's gone back to a bit like it was in the 80s, more unemployment, petty crime, everywhere is a bit grubby, there's no sense of optimism.

Food is actually significantly cheaper in the UK, both compared to other countries and proportionally to wages/inflation than through most of history

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2024&displayColumn=3
We are lower than most English speaking countries and much of Europe

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd11ywyg6p0o.amp. Canada as an example, new Zealand etc is as bad or worse from examples I've heard

Some of the issues in the UK are out of our hands (e.g. weather, although again as depressing as constant rain is would you swap it for more sun but increased risk of hugely dangerous hurricanes/tornadoes/over 45 degree heat?)

Some are those facing most developed countries (aging population without a health care system to sustain them)

Some are due to decisions made by successive governments

But tbf some of it is our fault or we could at least make better. The amount of fly tipping and crap left on the streets and in beautiful places for example is just ridiculous. If you can carry a picnic to the beach you can carry the wrappers back if there isn't a bin. If you can afford a new sofa you can afford the small council fee to pick up the old one and take it to the skip. Etc etc. The NHS is a bit of a poisoned chalice because people have become used to thinking they should have to spend ANYTHING on their health which even in other countries with state health care isn't the case. Im not suggesting you DIY your hip replacement but there was a thread on here moaning about how single mothers should be entitled to the flu jab for free - its £10 in superdrug and £13 in asda, if you think that it's worth having just pay for it, it will work out cheaper than buying a load of night nurse, nurofen, lemsip etc let alone the time off work

Ireland is pretty bad in terms of public services and highish taxes - massive class sizes in primary schools (up to 32 per teacher), abysmal public healthcare and really extreme homelessness. It's also really expensive.
Money aside, it's relatively progressive politically and still in the EU and there are strong benefits with that. In general, I find the UK a bit depressing since 2016 compared with Ireland in terms of the government and just general optimism.

I'm a bit on the fence about this - on the one hand, I still love living in the UK and wouldn't want to go anywhere else, but on the other inequality has increased, there are a lot of people choosing between heating and eating, dentistry is terrible, the NHS is not really working...etc. I'm not keen on the 'count yourself lucky' attitude because if we just do that there is no drive to improve things and we just accept that there is an obscene wealth gap. We can strive for improvements whilst still keeping a sense of proportion about what the issues are.

Prices on goods have gone up everywhere, simply because fuel costs have, thanks to Russia invading Ukraine.
That's not unique to UK. Noticed how prices have not been going up, and inflation has been going down last couple of months? Well its no coincidence that petrol prices have come down too. Obviously, now its cheaper to transport the goods. Bearing lower fuel costs in mind, its a bloody cheak to lift the cap on utility charges.
We are all at the mercy of OPEC. It's just in the hands of whoever controls the oil until a viable alternative is instigated - I live for the day. It pretty much puts everyone in the same boat though in Europe, so I can't disagree with you more. As far as upping and moving goes - not so easy since Brexit - Obviously, there never would of been billions spare for the NHS, that clearly was a lie and has never happened.

tell the people of the Ukraine or Gaza that the UK is shite

Maybe we should aim a bit higher than just not being a war zone?

For all its faults I like living here. I have travelled a fair bit and I'd love to live in some places I've visited. However when I return to the UK I feel I'm home. I like how safe it is here - no weather extremes, no dangerous animals, for the most part safe communities.

The NHS has always been ok for me except for my brother struggling to get an NHS dentist and as someone with a high sight prescription cheaper eye tests and glasses would be good!

Things that need to tackled that currently affect me are - an overhaul of the education system. The one size fits all has to be addressed. More specialist provisions for those who don't learn easily in mainstream. A more education based education rather than schools trying to do a parents role in regards to caring for children. A harder approach to disruptive children so that those who want to learn can.

Help for youngsters who are trying to move out and start their lives. Perhaps build studieo flats for under 30's which are cheaper than standard rentals to allow for the fact they may have lower incomes as just starting out in smaller towns so that children can stay in their communities. Not everyone has help and working youngsters should feel that they are progressing not just stuck at their childhood home.

I'd also like to see better support for parents of under 5's to allow a parent to stay home if they wanted to. If each child was allocated childcare funding as cash to the parents then parents could use it to work fewer hours or use a nursery of their choice. Nurseries could then charge what they need to be sustainable and lose the complicated admin and 'consummables' pricing and parents could choose the ones they could afford.

I go to france a lot and its barely cheaper! The trains there used to be in better condition about 20 years ago but are now as shabby as British ones. Train fares are cheap but they strike a lot.

Food is no cheaper, restaurants are just as pricey. I'd struggle to see whats cheaper apart from wine.