Rip off Britain ........... is it?

[Mick-Talbot]

Further to AOG's claim....... (He hasn't got back to me with an answer)


Is Britain a rip off?

[murraymints]

yes !

[baza]

I agree with murraymints.

[Mick-Talbot]

Why do you believe this .... what country are you using as a yardstick?

[murraymints]

certainly compared to the USA...and Germany in my experience..we are an island and pay the price dearly...

[EcclesCake]

I don't think so.

Many people think the grass is greener elsewhere but I personally think it's just a different shade of green.

It will always be a case of swings and roundabouts, we might think that the cost of living is better in another country but there will undoubtedly be other punitive charges/taxes that we are unaware of.

[Georgiesmum]

I know a coupl who moved out to spain because they thought it was much cheaper, since then they said the prices have risen dramatically.
A case of the other grass always looks greener me thinks!

[China Doll]

Some things irritate me, like how much the rent is where I live compared with somewhere up north or down west where some of my extended family live. It's all very well saying the wages are higher but so is the cost of living. I also think the train fares/tube fares for commuters are pretty appalling given the absolutely lousy service received on a daily basis. It was actually better during the olympics! However, train fares to see extended family are pretty cheap if you book far enough in advance so can't really complain about that. I don't know, swings and roundabouts as people say.

We have ebay though and I've probably saved shed loads of money using that so I wouldn't say things are a always a rip off, I think you can allow yourself to be ripped off by thinking you have to have named brands or buying something off the rack rather than waiting for the sales or indeed looking on ebay.

[Graham-W]

Having spent a month in the USA earlier this year I noticed: petrol about half price, meals out 30% cheaper, housing half price or less. Yes, some things were more expensive, but usually better quality. Check the list below and tell me we're not ripped off.
http://www.numbeo.com...untry2=United+Kingdom

[murraymints]

Graham...ditto..

[Prudie]

Do I have to read what AOG said first? Anyway not rip-off as such. While we pay more than lots of other countries for everyday stuff we also get in return massive benefits if we need them that other nations don't get.

[237SJ]

I think we are ripped off for some things (petrol) and other things such as dining out are good value. I tend to use the USA as a yardstick as I go shopping there quite a bit and while some things are cheaper (Nike trainers, jeans etc) a lot of other stuff is really expensive. Food`s becoming dear and rents (even for the tinyest loftspace apartment) in places like New York are absolutely astronomical. Prices in Australia have gone through the roof as well. You can`t have a decent night out in Sydney for less than about A$100 these days. I came back from Delhi this morning and my Delhi based colleague said how expensive India is becoming and how she finds London cheap!
So I think that, although we might used to have been Rip Off Britain, we`re not as ripped off as we used to be and some other countries are catching up fast.