To be a bit shocked how much cheaper things are in other parts of the country

[Frozenpeace]

And to think that the price of shopping is as relevant as the price of houses etc when we are shocked by someone who is struggling to live on a particular salary

We're up visiting family in the NE. We now live in the SE. If I could, I would move north but I am separated from the children's dad and he can only do his job in a particular location and I would never move them from him. When they are grown up we may think again

I just went to fill up with petrol and bought a big bag of shopping and genuinely was astonished how cheap it was. I honestly thought they'd made a mistake at the till.

And this isn't a post to complain, and we aren't tight for money, but it strikes me that when people are incredulous at how someone is struggling on what they see as a decent income then all the living costs come into play, childcare, housing costs, petrol/commute costs.

In fact I know people who travel north to buy their cars because they say they can get them cheaper that way.

Sorry if this is a "stating the obvious" post to some but it's a while since we have made it north to visit family.

Also there are plenty of grotty places in the south, it's such a myth that the north is grim and the south is lovely

I used to audit prices in SW London - Sainsburys mostly and there were huge differences in prices like the Sainsbury's at the Bluebird ( Kings road ) compared to the Sava Centre in Merton

I live in NI and we pay very high prices here. DH still works in London now and then and he can eat and drink out a lot cheaper then we can here ( I dont live in a city - very rural )

But fuel is cheaper here

My exact same car was £1000 cheaper in Doncaster compared to south east.

N Wales is bizarrely expensive- and I grew up/ live in the shit bit on the edge.

Petrol currently 1.32 for unleaded, at supermarket. It's cheaper across the border. Our electricity is well known to be higher, yet everyone just shrugs. Council tax has just gone up by 10%. Pubs are cheaper, because no one is prepared to pay 'Chester prices'; our nearest point of expensive comparison.

Not necessarily. I live in an expensive city in the south, but I can fill up my car for less here than it costs when I visit my family in the North. Also find prices in Tesco or Sainsburys are the same.

I live in the NW and when I recently visited London I was surprised that I wasn't shocked by the prices. I think where we live has become a lot more expensive, and some of that is due to living in a small town where there is less competition for things like fuel and groceries.

Am back in Scotland atm, in Ayrshire, but we live in sw London. The difference is enormous. Had to take the dog to the vets today - about half the price we would normally pay.

We live in the NE but DP is from NI so we're over there a few times a year. The past few times we've been over we've really noticed how expensive it's become. Because we're just visiting we tend to eat out a lot, the price of that has really increased.

I shop at two different sainsburys depending on whether I go from home or work (both about 2 miles apart). One is noticeably more expensive than the other.

So how much is the ticket at Taunton? In our local Vue £10 cheaper per ticket will get me a negative number.

I don't get this, went to London recently and the prices in the little Sainsbury were exactly the same as my local one, even in central London

I think Local Sainsbury’s and Tesco do have different prices and more expensive than their big brother.

It's so bad that we rarely now eat out, We dont think we are poor, but we are on fixed incomes and going out now is a considered expense. Even going for a KFC there's no change from a £20

We have a "bubble" from covid days, 3 couples, who would meet for a drink weekends. When pubs reopened our round was £19, it's now £28 , so for two of us, one night out a week is near on £60 . Same place we could have got 2 courses - and one of them being a mixed grill or an 8oz steak - £16 - now £25 ( that's tea time menu ) To eat out in a pub, two people, two courses, two drinks, £120 . When we would travel to Belfast for a show, we would stop overnight - premier inn or Travelodge, now we book for a matinee and use the bus pass

You couldn't find a fish supper to take out for less then £15

We looked into it. I worked out we'd halve our income moving. Be able to swap to a nicer house certainly, but a lot of the things you buy in life- white goods, holidays, clothes you are buying at the same price in the North and South so I think we'd have felt poorer overall. We are tempted to do it for retirement though, somewhere pretty near the sea. Will have to see if the Northern weather warms up a little bit by our retirement age mind :)

I moved from the south east to Somerset, houses are a lot cheaper but everything else is equal if not more expensive than the SE especially dentistry.

Last time I compared (we live halfway between Taunton and Dorchester) it was £15 for a ticket in Taunton and £5 in Dorchester. Our local cinema has reduced prices since 2020 so bought be different now.

Nope. I don't live in a shithole. There's shitholes around, just as in most of the country, including London, but they're not all you can get in the NE.

Yes we go to the North East regularly and a round of drinks for four in the pub is less than one glass of wine in our local in SW London.

I looked to move up in the world over a decade ago when my job in my old industrial town commanded a £35k salary and buying a local 3 bed semi I could afford or I could move south to a nearly 66k job in the same work, they headhunted me but by the time I’d bought the same standard house, more difficult commute extra lifestyle costs if just wasn’t worth it.

no we get ridiculed all the time up,t north but I wouldn’t swap

Wow, just wow! We don’t have Odeon so maybe it’s something special but still ….

If you go on to a supermarket's home delivery website and DO NOT login, they don't know where you are, yet they show prices for everything they sell. This proves that their prices are nationwide. The only exception to this is they sometimes show a message about alcohol prices due to laws specific to Scotland on offers and minimum pricing. It should also be noted that they often show their prices on TV adverts which are broadcast nationwide.

Supermarket prices really should vary across the country to reflect land prices, wages for their staff (such as London weighting) and costs of any outside contractors they use (including the original builders). The cost of building and running an 80,000 sq.ft. shop with 600 car parking spaces will be much higher within the M25 than in the North East, and in normal circumstances this would lead to a significant difference in prices.

250ml glass of wine here in SE is £8-10 I’m not London. Ridiculous

Don't be ridiculous.

'The South' has plenty of shitholes. Everywhere does.

Exactly. I'll give you Harrogate vs Haringey as an illustration that everyone will be able to relate to.

A lot of the price differences are more due to rural vs city, or due to a captive market. I travel nationwide for work and see that these are the differences are usually down to these factors, rather than north vs south.

A country pub in the Lake District is likely to be more expensive than a city in southern England for example. Greggs at a service station in northern England will be more than the high street of a market town in Essex.

London can be surprisingly cheap sometimes, eg council tax. Also lots of free things to do and eating out doesn't seem to be noticeably more expensive than other large cities like Leeds, Manchester etc when in comparable venues.

See, as someone used to Leeds city centre prices, that's less than I'd expect it to cost, here it's rare it would be under £10 and that's in middle of the road chain pubs, bars and restaurants.

You'd have to go to Wetherspoons to get it for that - I generally only drink draught lager when out because wines and spirits are just ridiculously priced.