UK Grocery Prices

For those of you looking for an idea of what basic food prices will cost you while you're in the UK, here are a few sample items for you. Obviously, we're in Edinburgh, so prices will vary depending on your exact location. Also,I tend to shop for the cheapest brand available--you can certainly spend a lot more if you want to. We do most of our shopping at Sainsbury's, simply because it's the closest, large grocery store to our flat. We also supplement with cheaper items from Iceland and independent, ethnic grocery stores. [Updated 10 May 2010]

Milk: £1.00/4 pints (So, £2.50 a gallon)
Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread: £1.00/loaf
Yogurt: £0.29 for four little pots
Butter: £0.85/250 grams (that's about a cup or two sticks)
Rice: Basmati-- £1.20/kilo Brown--£1.12/kilo
Beans (various): between £0.19 and £0.55/can
Cereal (Fruit & Fiber): £0.64/box (Muesli is £0.58/kilo)
Oatmeal: £0.70/kilo
Apples: (currently) £0.65/kilo (tends to be cheapest in summer months)
Bananas: £0.95/kilo
Vegetables: Usually between £1.68 and £3/kilo
Large Head of Lettuce: £1
Stewed Tomatoes: £0.33/can
Peanut Butter: £0.69/jar
Strawberry Jam: £0.33/jar
Cheddar Cheese: £5.00/kilo
Flour: £0.42/1.5 kilos
Meat: Varies. We can get a large, whole chicken for about £4.50. A bag of 8 small, frozen pork chops costs £2.79.

*Remember a kilo is 2.2 pounds.

If you want to know about specific items, let me know and I'll check them out for you next time I go to the grocery store.

Money Saving Tip #1: Make Use of Charity Shops!

One way that you could really rack up the expenses on your arrival in the UK would be to go out and purchase a bunch of household stuff brand new. This is especially true if you decided not to ship anything, but your flat is still not furnished with everything you need. Our first month in Edinburgh, I was down at the T.K.Maxx every couple of days. (Yes, that's T.K--not T.J. Don't ask me why!) While I didn't have that many things to get, I look back now with dismay at the price I paid for the few things I got.

The antidote? Charity Shops!!! The charity shops (i.e., thrift stores) here are wonderful! I have noticed them in every town we have visited in Scotland, and I imagine they are just as prolific in England. Unlike the typical Goodwill in the States, the shops here are often quite small, which is why I missed them at first. Keep your eyes peeled as you're walking down the street--they will likely just be little hole-in-the-wall places.

Here are a few examples of some savings:

Blankets: I paid £20 for a new blanket at T.K.Maxx. (We were really cold when we got here and the single comforter on our bed was not doing the trick.) In contrast, later on, when we had visitors coming I was looking around for more blankets and found a charity shop selling really nice, good quality blankets for £1-2 each. I threw them in the washing machine and, presto! They were good as new!

Kitchen Stuff: I found the cheapest teapot I could at T.K.Maxx for £6. I have since seen them at charity shops for under £1. Recently I was at a charity shop and bought a large handful of silverware (forks, knives, spoons), salad servers, a cheese knife, a butter knife, an hors d'oeuvre fork, a beautiful creamer and sugar bowl and a large wire fruit bowl for £2 total.

Wall Hangings: When we got here we spent £10 on a picture for our very bare walls. You can buy them for 50p at charity shops.

Those are just a few examples. You can also look for bedsheets, curtains, clothes, baby items, CD's, DVD's, books, children's books, kitchen appliances, etc.

All charity shops, however, are not created equal. I have two on my street and one of them has significantly lower prices than the other. In fact, the cheaper one often feels more like a garage sale than a typical thrift store. They will often offer a cheaper lump sum for several items purchased together. Be sure to shop around for the best deals!

Money Saving Tips

I'm going to start publishing regular money saving tips to help you think about ways that you can reduce your expenses during your stay in the UK. When you arrive in a new place it can be very difficult to know where to look to find good deals or even to know what things should cost. I'll try to offer some guidance here. Click on the following links if you're looking for cheap budgeting help on moving to the UK or on living in the UK. Have any great tips yourself? Feel free to pass them along. We'd love to hear from you!

UK Dental Costs for Foreign Students

While the NHS offers free medical care to those who are studying here for more than six months (and their dependents), there are some medical expenses you will have to factor in to your budget. Here's what you need to know about dental expenses.

All NHS dental examinations in Scotland are free of charge. Take note--that's just NHS dental examinations. There are plenty of private dentists around which you would be expected to pay for. If you want a free exam, be sure you make it clear that you want NHS treatment. (Sometimes the same dentist will do both private and NHS treatment. Confusing, I know.)

An examination will NOT NECESSARILY include a cleaning. (We've heard rumors that some have gotten a free cleaning at their exam, but this is not standard.) It will definitely include a general check-up to see that all looks well and is healthy. A standard cleaning fee is around £10. An intensive cleaning might run you £25. If further work is needed, you will be informed and you would need to schedule an appointment which you would be required to pay for. Click here for a sampling of dental prices in Scotland.

In England exams are not free of charge. However, they're not terribly pricey. Click here for a regularly updated list of dental costs in England.

Exceptions exist, however, in both England and Scotland. All children under 18, for instance, receive free dental care. If you are pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months, you will also receive free care. There are lots of other exceptions too, but I don't think they would apply to folks like us who have no recourse to public funds.

The Cost of Living in the UK: the cheap student version

It's hard to address the issue of budgeting because everyone's lifestyle expectations are a little different. Your specific location will also be factor. For instance, these figures are based on our life in Edinburgh. I imagine you would have difficulty getting by on this little in London. The point is to show that it is possible to get by on a small budget in the UK, if you need to.

Housing: £475/month (This was a pretty good deal when we arrived. We have found that many friends pay around £550. However, we have recently noticed more and more flat prices falling down into the £400's. Don't forget to explore alternative options too. Are you or your spouse interested in nannying? Being a caretaker? Helping at a B&B? Check out my post on how to avoid paying for housing. There are options out there for free housing. We would have done this ourselves had they been interested in taking us with a baby on the way.)

Food: £30/week (This is not easy, but it is possible, depending on the stores you have available. We eat healthily and we think it's tasty, but it's not particularly luxurious. We eat meat only a couple nights a week (sometimes less). We do not eat out, except on a VERY rare occasions. And, I plan our meals and grocery list pretty scrupulously each week to avoid unneeded items and to ensure that nothing is being wasted. For people with less time/interest in scrimping, £40-£50 might be a more reasonable figure. Sometime, maybe I'll do a post on cheap menus especially crafted for life in the UK...)

Electricity/Gas: £60/month (We used the heat pretty sparingly this winter before the baby came. Not so much afterward... I think that's a fairly good average of summer and winter months, though.)

Water/Sewer/Garbage: £0 (This is covered under the Council Tax, which as you'll remember from this post Council Tax Exemption for Students and Spouses, you are not responsible for paying. Yay!)

Phone/Internet: £30/month

Diapers (a.k.a. Nappies): £3.33/week (Thanks to ASDA!)

Other Toilettries/Household Items: £10/month

Transportation: £10/month or less (We really do walk just about everywhere. No need for a car.)

The total here is £8755/year for a family of three. And, of course, this does not include tuition which, depending where you are studying will probably be around £10,000/year.

The Cost of Moving to the UK: the cheap student version

Budgeting is a tricky issue because people have such different ideas about what is necessary when making a move like this. Below I am going to detail what we did: the cheapskate way. Keep in mind, my husband and I take a certain pleasure in roughing it a little. Then again, our budget was incredibly small so we just spent according to our means. Here is roughly what we spent (this is for travel in 2008--prices will likely have altered):

US Passports: $100/each = $200

UK Visas: $214/each = $428

Storage of belongings: $0 (Our parents were very generous with their attics. Also, we sold all but our nice furniture on Craigslist and made close to $1000 to help fund our trip.)

Shipping of belongings: $0 (We just decided that what we couldn't fit in our suitcase we could do without. We've missed a few things, but nothing we couldn't pick up here or just accept not having for a couple of years. If you're planning to ship, you might find this website helpful.)

One-way Plane Tickets: $470/each = $940 (Of course this depends entirely on the rates of the day. We've found Cheapoair to have pretty consistently low prices, though.)

Miscellany: $50? (Power converters, adapters, maps, etc.)

2-Nights in a Hostel: £24/each = £48 (It took us 2 days of pretty dedicated searching to find a flat. Thank you Gumtree!)

Bus fare for first 2 days: £8/each = £16 (We took a bus from the airport and then bought day-passes on the bus to get around the city for flat-hunting.)

Food for first 2 days: £22/each = £44 (We hit grocery stores for breakfast & lunch & very cheap hole-in-the-walls for dinner. P.S. Check with your airline--most airlines still serve meals on international flights!)

Setting up house: £50? (With a furnished flat we didn't need much.)

Phone & internet setup: £30

Housing Deposit: £200 (We were a little lucky--I think most people have to deposit a whole month's rent in advance. Also, we rented privately through Gumtree and so we didn't have to pay a rental agency fee--usually around £50 or £75.)

I don't think I've left anything out! So, the grand total (give or take a little for exchange rate variations) is $2234 for two people. And, subtract from that the nearly $1000 we made from hocking our unwanted belongings on Craigslist and you have a very cheap move indeed! (Oh yeah, don't forget that we did have to buy new plane tickets after our visas didn't come in time, but you shouldn't have to do that...)

Obviously, there is a LOT more you could spend, especially if you plan to ship anything, stay in hotels instead of hostels, and eat out a lot while flat-hunting. Perhaps sometime I'll do a non-cheapskate's guide to moving. Until then, take heart: you don't have to spend a bundle unless you want to!

Council Tax Exemption for Students and Spouses

The UK is divided up into councils and each council levies a tax to cover things like police, water and garbage pick-up within the community. Where we live, we are governed by the Edinburgh City Council, but less populous geographical areas may be governed by a borough or district council rather than a city council.

The Council Tax is levied through housing with each dwelling belonging to a different band, depending on location. (This is very similar to property taxes in the US, where nicer areas, or those with special amenities will have a much higher property tax than those without.)

All students in the UK, whether domestic or international, are exempt from paying the council tax. What many people do not realize though, is that if you are the spouse or dependent of an international student with no recourse to public funds, you are not required to pay either. I cannot tell you how many times we have been told since arriving, that I (the spouse) will have to pay the tax, while my husband (the student) will not. We've been told this by friends, by property letting agencies, and we even had friends who were told this by the Edinburgh City Council! Again, the confusion arises because the non-student spouses or UK nationals, are required to pay the tax, so they assume it's the same for everybody.

So, spouses, if your visa says (as it almost surely does), "NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS", you are most definitely exempt from paying the council tax. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise, including your local council! Don't be surprised, though, if you have to prove it to them. The following link will take you to the Department of Communities and Local Government publication for the UK (see page 9): Council Tax: A guide to your bill. You may need to direct your local council to this page in order to back up your exemption claim.