We Moved From Expensive City to an Affordable One Then Went Back

There comes a time in every long-distance relationship when (at least) one partner must make the choice to move.

I was that partner in 2019 when I moved from Vancouver, Canada, to Birmingham, England, where my partner is from.

Financially, we thought living in Birmingham was the smarter choice at the time. After all, Vancouver is widely regarded as one of the most expensive cities to live in — especially when it comes to property costs.

So, naturally, I was amazed at how much cheaper everything felt during my first year.

In Birmingham, we could rent an entire house for just £400 a month, or just under $800 Canadian dollars. In Vancouver, the monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment was more than double that price.

I spent way less on groceries, even though there were two of us. Plus, my phone bill was now £15, about CA$28 a month, compared to the CA$60 it was in Vancouver.

My bank account and I were in heaven. However, the high didn’t last.

After about a year, Birmingham’s cost of living — and my perspective — changed

Around 2021, Birmingham entered a cost-of-living crisis and post-pandemic levels of inflation that brought many prices of essentials like gas and groceries closer to what I’d been used to in Vancouver.

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Plus, my husband and had I moved to our own place after living with his family (and paying them rent) for the first year, which introduced new bills and expenses.

There was council tax — something that doesn’t exist in Canada — which added £100 to our monthly housing costs. Another new-to-me bill was the TV license, an annual fee of about £175. All households in the UK with a TV have to pay this, or risk getting fined.

Our gas, electricity, and water bills were more expensive than they ever were in Canada. Many rental buildings cover the cost of water in Vancouver, so it was never a bill I had to pay.

My province’s hydroelectricity was also a lot cheaper than the UK’s gas and electric. In my last rental before moving to the UK, my usage was so low that my landlord didn’t even bother charging me.

By 2023, our monthly gas/electric bills for our small one-bedroom apartment were around £90 a month.

In time, I realized that not everything here was as cheap as I thought.

Some things had always been more expensive in Birmingham, like my transportation costs. The UK’s public transportation networks are largely privatized, so train tickets can have wildly fluctuating prices.

A train from Birmingham to London could cost as little as £7 or as much as £100 — booking a ride often felt like a gamble. Meanwhile, Vancouver has the public-private SkyTrain network with set prices for each zone.

Our cost of living was still lower than what it’d be in Vancouver, but I started to wonder if maybe I’d had on rose-colored glasses.

I realized affordability wasn’t the most important thing to consider when choosing a home

By 2022, I began thinking about something I now consider priceless: the amenities and lifestyle each place afforded me.

And during every trip back home, I was reminded of how much I missed Vancouver’s easy access to nature. The city’s situated between the ocean and mountains, so it’s filled with beaches, parks, and hiking trails.

Although living in Birmingham was fun, it’s a post-industrial city that’s smack-dab in the middle of the country. It has transportation networks that can take me to more natural settings, but it’s just not the same as being able to walk down to the beach anytime I want.

So in June 2023, we moved back to Canada. This time, we headed just outside Vancouver and closer to my family.

Once again, we pay more for our rent, groceries, phones, and internet than we did in Birmingham. However, we don’t spend as much on electricity or entertainment. We also don’t go out as much since there’s so much natural beauty around us that can be enjoyed for free.

My husband has also started earning more doing the same job he was doing back in the UK, which has helped offset our higher living costs.

Even though I ended up back home, I don’t regret my move. We were able to save a lot, especially during those first few pre-inflation years. It gave us a strong foundation to build our new life in Canada.

And, perhaps more importantly, I learned that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Finances dictate a lot of our lives, but we also have to consider our values and priorities so we can truly be happy.