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21 March 2012

Spending Abroad: UK Living Expenses

This isn’t my first time living on my own, but it certainly feels like it. I find that the UK requires a lot more in terms of taxation and living expenses. A few of them came as a shock to me, but I got used to them. This is my experience with living expenses in the UK thus far, and how I've managed them.  


Phone, internet and tv are obvious expenses. There are package deals that you can receive, which are way more worthwhile than getting your phone, internet and TV services from three different providers. These also exist in Canada, but they’re very competitive in the UK, as there are quite a few companies to choose from – rather than simply Rogers vs. Bell. I went with Virgin for all of my services, but Sky, BT and Tesco are also popular choices. 


I also discovered this fun little thing called “Council Tax”. You pay it monthly, and it covers public services like garbage collection and policing. When searching for an apartment, it’s best to find out which tax band you’re in. It’s almost as important as your monthly rent, as council tax can cost upwards of £100 per month. Mine is £106, but I received a single-person discount of 15%. Make sure you apply for the discount when you receive your first council tax bill. This comes about a month or so after you move in. Your landlord will set this up. 


(My council tax has recently been increased to £115. It’s only ten pounds, but I’m feeling that unique type of adult anger which occurs irrationally over small cost transgressions; for example, when a two-for-one deal results in two Appletizers costing £4 when one only costs $1.75. Thanks for that, Tesco).


It is also a good idea to set up a direct debit account for your council tax. You can choose to have it taken from your bank account on the 1st or the 25th of the month. This comes in handy, if you get paid monthly and closer to the end of each month.


Then, there’s the TV license. This really annoys me. You have to pay for cable – and a TV license. It’s £145/year. You can choose to pay monthly, quarterly or yearly. You can even pay weekly, if you’d prefer to do it in smaller instalments. I only use my TV for gaming and forcing my friends to watch Tarantino films on a regular basis, so I’ve avoided this little expense.


Not having sales tax is a positive over here. But, I’m still trying to work out which is the better deal: paying 15% sales tax on every purchase in Ontario vs. paying £100+/month in council tax in England?


Water and electricity are expenses that exist over here, too. You can avoid them, however, by buying into a flat share, where everyone pretty much pays a flat rate. Also - on GumTree, you’ll find regular folks renting out spare rooms and self-contained flats in their homes. In these cases, your water and electricity costs are likely to be included. If not, your electricity usage is averaged. Over the summer, you’ll find that you use less electricity and you’ll get a discount in coming months.

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