Why on earth is this country so expensive?

USA has no NHS and although university education is no longer free over here it is still cheaper than in the US. Just two things to consider, I am sure there are others. The cost of life in total is more than just what you pay at the tills. Insurance e.t.c mean you end up paying for other things in differently ways. Not saying one is better than the other but it can be a bit more complicated to compare cost of living. Plus the grass is always seems greener. It's human nature. No doubt I am sure there are some things that are truly a rip off over here.

yeah the US has no solid equivalent to the NHS,so there you've def got a point, but as for the education system/prices, most american students pay much less than the up front rates, most good schools (BU, Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, UVA, UChicago, etc) make so much money from their endowments and donations that they give out loads of money to students, so the student ends up with lots of living allowances, grants and scholarships (not necessarily merit based) which drastically reduces the price. there is also the 'in-state' system, where if you gain residency to the state in which the university is in, the tuition fees are reduced by at least a fifth, if not more (though this only applies to state run schools, but there are some really good ones, UPenn, UChicago, etc.).

and yes, cost of living is more than what you pay at the till, but as far as i can tell, it's still WAY more over here than it is in the states. in boston, which has one of the highest costs of living in the US, next to NY and SF, you can get a good sized one bedroom flat (living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom), relatively central, for around £4-500 per month plus bills. here your much more likely to around £7-900 per month plus council tax and bills.

and so while everything here costs effectively twice as much (cigarettes, booze, milk, bikes, cds, etc), one's wages are often the same as what you would get in the states. at my shop in boston i made $14 an hour. here i get £6-ish? my wife (working in architecture) made twice over there what she is making here, and she had LESS qualifications.

but all that said, i'm still trying to get on a visa that will lead to residency :)