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.

They don't adjust prices in national supermarkets, people are mistaken. Convenience store formats (Tesco Metro etc) are more expensive than standard Tescos but that's not the same thing.

Petrol is more variable but it's not north vs south, it's dependent on how far the place is from the refinery, local competition, if there's a captive market.

Likewise for eating out - remote places in the north are often more expensive because there's less competition, costs may be higher - they often have to accommodate staff as there isn't sufficient people who live locally or fewer chains, you're more likely to have independent pubs and restaurants selling home made food instead of chains selling factory food.

I live in N. Ireland which has one of the lowest income rates in the UK, yet we're often amazed that prices AREN'T higher in England. Our eating out prices are ridiculous here. We had a weekend in London in December and couldn't believe it wasn't any more expensive than home, sometimes even cheaper. I'm mostly talking about taxi/uber prices and eating out, and this was in prime tourist locations. I do think N. Ireland prices do not at all match local incomes. Eg a cup of tea here is regularly £3. My MIL paid £14 for a small glass of wine last night (granted that was in a 4* hotel, the average would be more like £10).

There are 3 cafe Nero in my town, none charge the same price 🤷‍♀️

I was shocked to discover Boots pricing varies. I was shopping in Westfield London & the prices were dearer than in local Boots in south London!!

It is the same in other countries also. Cities where the population are working, house prices are more expensive as is food, petrol and garage repairs.

Even counting in the extra money paid in wages, the cost of living is cheaper away from the south-east of England.

I sympathise- the biggest difference is between the SE and NE. I used to organise the printing of limited edition nick nacks, and was very surprised there were 5 price zones SE being nearly twice the price of NE/ Scotland!

Our little cinema in Wells, Somerset is £5 a ticket!

Sounds like those of us living in home counties are penalised.
In many parts of home counties wages are minimum wage level unless you commute to London or work as a teacher/nurse/ local authority jobs which don't vary by area.
We bought a bespoke wooden kitchen from Lincolnshire as it was fraction of the price in Kent.
Lincolnshire firm said most their customers are from London /home counties.
MIL who lives in Wales is always shocked at tradesmen prices/cost of repair or home improvements here.
Didn't know groceries were cheaper in other parts of the country though, that is shocking as its an every day expense and surely large supermarkets buy in at a set price, pay same wages wherever their workers live, so are making more profit out of us that live in home counties.
However I do agree some things in London are cheaper such as takeaways in outer London due to competition or children's activities or home to school transport due to subsidies. There are more programmes of support in London.

Oooh another option, thank you!

Wait til you hear about house prices in the North....

I don't remember seeing it, but I have to confess it us a while since I went to the market for a proper potter around. That has sorted my next free Saturday!

Disposable income is higher in NI because the cost of housing is lower. We considered moving to Belfast for that reason.

Yeah pizza hut do it also. It's more expensive in my local one but travel to the next town it's cheaper

The supermarkets certainly used to charge more in some areas than others (I was a price controller for one of the big supermarkets many moons ago and was shocked when I found out!)

I buy the small ‘fresh’ baguettes in Sainsbury’s. I am struck by the fact that they cost 80p in my Sainsbury’s local in London zone three, but 85p in my work in zone two. I would love to know what they charge in other parts of the country!

I was surprised on visiting Manchester that you could still get a cup of tea/coffee in a nice cafe for £2. It’s minimum £3.80 here

You’re drinking coffee in different places in Manchester to me. I pay £4.20 a latte, £5.60 for a matcha latte.

I agree with this. I’ve found eating out to be as expensive here in the NE as there is less competition. Local food truck (think Greek/thai etc not a chippy van) the only place to get something a bit different once a week. We got dinner from one the other week and two wraps and halloumi bites was in excess of £30.

I also recently bought a secondhand car, and automatics were dearer in the north than the south as there were just far fewer available.

We also have nursery fees and 4 days a week with funded hours and tax free childcare is still £1000 a month.

Not sure everything is cheaper, though our house definitely is.

We were in Scotland last week and the restaurant prices were much higher than what I'm used to paying in London. But a lot of this is down to the food options available. In my corner of SW London we have loads of Turkish, Persian, Lebanese, Korean, Japanese restaurants, which do great, reasonably priced food. In Scotland the restaurants we ate in were more traditional and much more expensive.

If its not too far from you try Wells. Only £5 each & much comfier seats. Only 3 screens but your not paying Cineworld prices. It's stupidly expensive at the Yeovil one.

They do seem to have reduced Yeovil’s prices but it’s still higher than surrounding ones. Will take a look at Wells!