Nurses in the UK used to have something called "bursaries" where their tuition was (mostly if not all) paid for, some even got stipends, so there was little to no student loan debt unlike the US. If you have a lot of debt, it might be difficult, depending on your lifestyle. Certainly it's doable, but for example, space is much more limited. My in-laws (DH is English) were middle class and they had what looked like a college style small fridge and apartment style small washer. Their bedrooms could fit a bed and not much else. They lived in a suburb in northern England, so not like a high cost of living area comparatively.
Fresh food is cheaper in the UK on average, because the farmers get subsidies to encourage this. But sales tax (called VAT) is otherwise 20% (generally not applied to regular groceries). National tax is starts at 20% (after a personal allowance, similar to a standard deduction).
Despite this- I would argue that the average person in the UK is much better off than the average person in the US. But one might quibble when you compare nurses in the countries when looking at finances. However, there's a lot of other factors at play like free healthcare, the fact that guns are basically outlawed (and very few criminals have them anymore), worker protections, and vacation (usually at least 5 weeks, sometimes more), plus the EU freedom of movement. Oh wait...lol.
