“Nobody Tells You This”: SA Woman Details Cost of Living Abroad and Leaving Mzansi

• A South African woman living in Manchester opened up about the real things that living in the UK costs her
• She spoke about four major parts of her life that she gave up that no one warned her she would leave behind after moving abroad
• South Africans in the comments related deeply, with some sharing heartbreaking personal stories about their loss while living abroad

Moving abroad looks great on paper, but one South African woman living in Manchester is being very honest about what it actually costs. TikTok user @stillsibu, an auditor who shares vlogs about life in the UK, shared her thoughts on 26 December 2025. She detailed what she called the "costs" of living in the UK.

The first was family. She acknowledged that her parents are getting older. She said leaving South Africa meant choosing to have less time with them in what could be their final years together.

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The second thing was her faith. She explained that as a Christian, the intensity around faith in South Africa doesn't exist the same way in the UK. In South Africa, churches are everywhere, and there's a natural community of believers around you. In Manchester, you have to actively seek them out.

The third was energy. She said she's in her 30s and feels like these are her prime years, but the lack of sunlight steals time she could be using to build and create. The fourth was her marriage timeline. She didn't go into detail but said moving countries means sometimes giving up things people don't even think about until they're already in a different life.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi relates to SA woman living abroad

South Africans felt every word TikToker @stillsibu shared, with many telling their own hardships after moving abroad:

@GG admitted:

"Dating and potentially marrying a non-South African 😭😭 That one still doesn't sit well with me."

@Rian Nair shared:

"I feel like I am losing out on my prime as this place is depressing for half the year, the people are not friendly, and everything is small and expensive."

@Danni🇿🇦🇬🇧 wrote:

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"My dad passed away 2 months after I moved to the UK, and it absolutely broke my heart, but it was my dream to work abroad, and he wholeheartedly supported me in that."

@RisunaCha explained:

"Christianity here you grow it online. I feel like church here is a starter, and when you get home, you have to eat the main meal."

@rajjmiller added:

"It gets worse when you get kids. My kids have grown up not knowing cuzzies and aunties are very much part of their lives, like in SA."

@MissyK_CTown said:

"Not belonging to a community of faith was the hardest for me. Churches were far and few."

More on South African expats living abroad

• Briefly News recently reported on South African expats begging each other for recipes of home dishes they can't find abroad.
• A Pretoria man shared the cost of living in Germany, leaving South Africans debating whether they could survive overseas.
• A woman returned home after two years in China and surprised her family with a reunion that had social media in tears.

Proofreading by Kelly Lippke, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.

Source: Briefly News