THAWA

Whats the cost of living like in the UK? I'm sure it'll vary depending on which region and what not, but whats the average price for a one room? Bout how much is it for insurance? What does gas usually cost? Are there special regulations to get a liscence? What about jobs, whats an average know nothing job pay (like burger flipping, or deliverer, or something) Do you guys have yearly Taxes? I'm sure I'll have more questions

THAWA

41 views :\

corradoboy

I think you'll find the cost of living in the UK is quite a bit higher than the US. It's not called 'Rip-off Britain' for nothing. I've just sold a 1 bedroom terraced house in a good area (semi-rural suburb of Leeds, an economically affluent northern city) for 94k GBP (approx 170k USD). Burger flippers get minimum wage set by HM Gov at a max (depending on age) 4.85/hr, so 10k GBP/yr. Tax is paid on your behalf by your employer via PAYE (Pay As You Earn) with about 4.5k untaxed and IIRC 22% thereafter, plus about 9% National Insurance which (allegedly) pays for healthcare with the NHS (National Health Service). Council Tax to fund local services is charged at varying rates dependant on area and value of property, average (guess) at 600GBP. Tax on purchases (VAT-Value Added Tax) is included in most prices at 17.5%. My gas bills on the small property I've just sold were approx 35/qtr, electricity 60/qtr, water rates 100/yr (this was a very cheap house to live in, which is how I afford to run a Scooby). Buildings and contents insurance will set you back 350+/yr, and car insurance from 150 for something like a Nissan Micra (if you know what that is ?) to 1k+ for a Scooby dependant on age, history, area. The national average wage is approx 25k GBP, so a good indicator of cost of living is to take that and calculate the percentage related to the cost of a McDonalds Big Mac (eurgh!) which is about 3 GBP. 25k / 52 = 480GBP/wk, McD is .625% of gross weekly wage. You do the math for the US !

Oh, and compared to CA, the weather's $hite, especially in the so called summer. The people can be arrogant and unhelpful, and generally downright miserable. Our Police are about as useful as pubic lice, and even more irritating. I was going to mock our government, but with respect, you've got Dubya Good thing is you're unlikely to get shot, and we have a few less fat people

Personally, I'd consider New Zealand. Canada comes in second, then France. Only problem with France is those pesky French people are all over the place. They really should sort that out

Oh, I forgot the best one. Petrol is 90p/litre, or 4.10GBP/gallon, which is $7.40 and it's set to rise thanks to Dubya

NotoriousREV

Tell you what, I'll move to Sacramento, you can live in my house.