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.

I'm from Manchester and would never live up north again. The weather is fucking atrocious compared with Kent on average. It's several degrees warmer here every day, so much drier and sunnier as normal. I love it.

Last time i bought a mate a glass of Rose on the Southbank it was £15 I shit you not !

I think it very much depends on area. I’m n the north (just) and I find petrol cheaper when I go anywhere else including the south. But it’s also cheaper 30 miles away. Our Odeon is one of the most expensive in the country, I think is only just under Leicester Square prices. The local branch of the upmarket gym is nearly twice the price of other branches inc some much nicer branches in the south - that’s all to do with the lack of competition locally. Same as for the cinema issue.

no idea about supermarket prices, I’d assumed a big tesco price is the same wherever. I knew tesco express would cost more.

yes I do notice if I go to London the prices in pizza express will be more. But I also find that if I go to Manchester.

I don't understand the supermarket price thing if for e.g. we all went on the asda website and put in eggs it would be the same which is what it would be in the supermarket

There are differences just a few miles away too.

DD lives in north Leeds, she fills her car up at our ordinary market town just 20 miles away because it’s cheaper. When she visits her old school friend for drinks in her home town, she can’t believe how cheap a round of drinks is in comparison. However we can’t get good Thai food, or Japanese, or decent wine in our bars, so it’s all relative.

Cinema tickets here are £4.99, there they are £7.99.

She comes here for cheap fuel, a cheap night out with her old friends and a good Lidl shop (we have a great Lidl) and we go there for a decent night out but advance book our taxis from our home town!

This explains it Reality Check: Do UK supermarkets vary prices by area? https://www.bbc.com/news/business-43979167

Another thing to consider is that I believe some Starbucks are franchises and seem to be allowed to set their own prices. Even in my small city there is as much as a 40p variation in the price of a latte between the 3 branches. And it’s not the city centre one which is the most expensive!

I live in the NE and there’s no doubt it’s cheaper than the SE. However, I’m self employed and the price I charge as an hourly rate is significantly lower then someone doing the same job in the SE.

It’s why you can’t do online shopping until you put your postcode in the system - they need to know how much to charge you, depending on where you live

this has never been the case for other than house prices. food was definitely not cheaper.

@Differentstarts

no, prices vary and you can’t shop until your postcode is entered

if I drive 20 miles south, to a very lovely small town - which has the only Tesco for 25 miles radius - the prices are higher than the Tesco 5 miles from me

Lavenderflower

it’s been the case with supermarket food for at least the last 20 years

According to the article linked above:

^Nonetheless, if you look at Britain's biggest supermarkets, they do all basically operate national grocery pricing.

Reality Check confirmed this with Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Co-op, Waitrose, Lidl and Iceland.

There are a few exceptions, for example Sainsbury's stores have different prices from Sainsbury's local and Waitrose will have different prices from Little Waitrose stores, which may then be different to Little Waitrose on petrol forecourts^

Which is what I have observed. Normal supermarket vs their 'convenience store' format is a separate issue. It's well known that these are more expensive than standard supermarkets and it's not the intention that these are used for normal grocery shopping, more as top up or 'can't wait' purchases.

Tesco call there shops different names to warrant the different prices.
the nearest town center store changed to a Tesco express to purposely increase the prices in store - even though it’s double the size of any Tesco express in suburbs

its all a con

Tesco Express is not comparable to a normal Tesco supermarket and isn't proof that supermarkets use regional pricing, because they don't.

Yet it had been a normal Tesco for 49 years- it just changed the name and upped the prices

I’m surprised it makes that much difference with a supermarket shop. But yes, we nearly always buy our cars “up North” though live in the South as can get better deals.

I moved the other way around and much prefer it up here, as you say its always around 4 deg cooler up here in the summer, so we didn't get those weeks of it being above 30 last summer, just a few days, I like the heat but I can't drive and +30 walking or on public transport is a chore, its fine on holiday but not great for day to day life.

I moved back to Cambridge from Manchester a few years ago (was there for a decade) and really miss it - house prices are ridiculous here so my home is much smaller, I miss the hills, beautiful countryside, interesting small towns, the cheese stall on my local market... Sorry - got nostalgic for a sec!

Not always competition. We have 2 Vue cinemas within about 3 miles.

One costs over £15 for a ticket, other costs around £5. The cheaper one is older, and not as comfortable but it's the same film.

We haven't had any years with weeks above 30C for a long time in Kent. What we do have usually is weeks and weeks when it is like now, 10-20C and dry and sunny, and that makes me very happy.

Don't quote me, as this was a conversation years ago with friends, but I vaguely remember there are two supermarkets of the same chain in London. One is the most expensive in the country (Canary Wharf) and one or two miles down the road is in one of the most deprived areas of the UK (East London) and the prices are really hugely different. Dynamic pricing really is a thing.

Green Lanes is a gem of a place. The cheap greengrocers, baklava and nut shops! I miss it…

The car thing is true. We decided to splash out on brand new car a couple of years ago. Once we jad decided, make, model, colour, extras etc I just phoned dealers all over the country for a price. New cars are always delivered anyway so it made no difference where it came from. We are in London, the dealership was in Aberdeen.

Ah that's interesting, I wasn't far from you in Surrey but last year I was really keeping track of it as my mum is getting on now and has health issues, the extreme heat can be really bad for her. Pretty much every week over the 6 week school holiday had days that it was over 30 and for the days I was visiting with the kids it was consecutive. A small move could do her good but she's understandably attached to the house she has lived all her life.