How much does it cost to live?

Posted by AnotherYadaYada@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 31 comments

I responded to a post, but I’m impatient and need to know. Somebody mentioning how expensive it is in the US / major cities. I’ve worked out that here in a HCOL city in UK, not London. It costs $40k to basically just live e.g This figure basically means having a car, commuting 20 mins each way to work, paying for food (nothing extravagant, healthy home cooked, fruit and veg and a couple of treats) Internet/Tivo not Netflix or Prime. A small but not luxurious 1 bed flat. Bills and Council Tax. $40k And this is before you even decide to have a gym membership or any entertainment or eating out. What’s it like there? The Average salary, not including London inflating the figure I would say is $36.5k let’s call it $38k

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31 Comments

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sauce___x@reddit

Average salary in the South East, where you’re classifying your HCOL is £39k, so $50k.

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

That maybe, but not in my city if you don’t count the people who commute to London. A majority of younger working people will be on a LOT less. If they do work in London thats 5k or more in commute costs not to mention the cost in time.

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sauce___x@reddit

You know how averages work right?

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Yes I do, but it doesn’t track. Yes, it is correct that a few small numbers that are higher than an existing average can significantly "bump up" that average, especially if the initial dataset is small or the new numbers are outliers.

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sauce___x@reddit

The median salary in the SE is £37k. Just because your perception of salaries is different doesn’t mean there are not people earning this much.

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Never said that. I’m just saying in my city I would say the majority of people are on 30k or less. The MAJORITY. Of course I do not have evidence if this although I found a bit of data. As I also said. If there are a small number of high earners, this can drag the figure up. I would prefer a breakdown to see real stats. Number of people on 10-15 15-25 25-35 etc Then you would get a proper breakdown and Possibly discover the salary of the majority of a city. It is a well-established principle in statistics that average figures (specifically, the arithmetic mean) can be significantly skewed by outliers, which are extreme values that differ from most other data points.

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Cool. Cheers. New York is 116% more expensive than my city.

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LJ161@reddit

I live in a small 2 bed house in a shit hole town thats regularly ridiculed cause of how bad it is. (Made famous by The Office for those who know) Our monthly outgoings for household bills (rent, water, gas and electric, council tax and food) comes to just over 2k. Personal car finance for me is £152 + £77 insurance/tax so let's say £120 Around £80 a month on petrol. So if you wanted to have say £500 of disposable income youd need to earn in the realm of 30k before tax. However this is bare bones expenditure as not everyone has low car insurance and work 9 miles from home thus saving on car expenditure. You also have to factor in MOT/service yearly, breakdown cover, birthdays ans christmas, pet insurance, contents insurance, life insurance, childcare is a huge expense if you have them etc etc

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Sounds about right and that’s probably not a major city where people flock too.

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LJ161@reddit

Its not really. People work here cause there is a huge industrial estate but living here is not by choice. My rent is also on the low side of the going rate at £1,350 - the house next door is identical to mine and the rent is £1,700

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Amazing_Tadpole_1707@reddit

Also. What is an HCOL city?

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Anywhere basically down the south of England. Mainly rents are high, council tax and eating out etc. A bus ticket for 1 day is $7 Petrol fluctuates depending on area and no doubt food prices too.

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Amazing_Tadpole_1707@reddit

You have a very generalised view of the country.

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Please explain?

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Lost-Emu-990@reddit

Google is your friend but means high cost of living

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Amazing_Tadpole_1707@reddit

Then, you are also my friend.

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BastardsCryinInnit@reddit

Nah, if you're making a post with abbreviations, the Reddiquette for OP is to explain them. HCOL isnt a day to day banded about abbreviation in the UK.

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SelfSufficientHub@reddit

High cost of living

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Eyupmeduck1989@reddit

Well it’ll be in £ not $ for starters

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Yes I know, I’m converting it for an American Sub. Not rocket science.

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purepwnage85@reddit

We will help you only if you come back into the British empire

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Just realise I posted in AskUK not US shrug 🤷🏾‍♂️

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Just realise I posted in AskUK not US shrug 🤷🏾‍♂️

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Fun_Average_3813@reddit

Yeah those numbers track with what a lot of people are feeling. In most major US cities the base cost of just existing often hits or exceeds what the average person earns which is why so many feel constantly squeezed even without any luxuries.

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Sucks doesn’t it. I’ve been able to temporarily go back to sharing, reducing my outgoings by £800. I’ve had my own place for over 25 years but it’s just not affordable for me in my city or a sensible thing to do. Luckily so far I live with quiet, tidy and decent people in a nice place.

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Honest-Librarian7647@reddit

Shit, going back to a houseshare after 25 years of solo living must be a real blow

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Not been to bad, but yeah not great. So far so good, always just depends on housemates.

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AnotherYadaYada@reddit (OP)

Why the HELL the downvote. Literally makes ZERO sense.

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purepwnage85@reddit

You can just live on Tesco value meals or aldi bread, tuna and spam. Proper universal credit diet. There's many people managing.

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Amazing_Tadpole_1707@reddit

I don't get paid in $

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