London- Affordable if you aren't rich?

corpsey · Post by **corpsey** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:29 am

Basically considering living in the big smokey land of golden chimes and choirs of angles next year but the main thing I'm concerned about is moolah

Most of my friends that live there have got rich parents or are living with their parents so I've not really got an idea of how easy it is to survive/enjoy yourself there if you've got an average paying job. Is it a case of 'there's loads of stuff on that I can't afford to go to'? I don't really want to move somewhere for its social/cultural aspects and then get there and not be able to even afford to take advantage of those things.

I'm talking about living somewhere which isn't a shithole area but obviously also not a plush area either.

simian · Post by **simian** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:10 am

There are loads of slightly cheaper areas in london, and as long as they're on the tube and you're not going to get stabbed in the face daily, you should be cool.

Personally, I'll probably be moving from edinburgh to ealing broadway this summer. It isn't the most central place in london, but zone 3 ain't bad...

That, and my girlfriend works in slough, so needs the direct train out from ealing (paddington is waaaay to expensive

).

In terms of going out - yeah, it's easy to get ripped off and spend too much money on stuff, but if you're even vaguely smart about it, you'll be fine. Even in the very center of town there are loads of cheap but awesome places to eat / disco / etc...

nesslei · Post by **nesslei** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:11 am

good question corpsey, i totally understand what you mean. i have asked myself the same question for about four years which is why i am only moving to london now, after three years out of uni and in my chosen career. i didn't wanna be on the other side of the world going 'wow, fuck i'm finally here' and then be so broke i couldn't even surf the net to sob at the reports of gigs i'd missed.

my earning potential is so much higher now than it would have been if i'd up and left straight after finishing my studies, but still, it's bloody hard to know whether my life in london will be as comfortable or excessive as the one i have at the moment. that sounds a bit fluffy and pretentious maybe, but i've just got my fingers crossed that i have worked hard enough to create a good lifestyle for myself there. otherwise i'm gonna have to relocate to another island which i will choose off the map at random.

corpsey · Post by **corpsey** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:30 am

Thing is at the moment my ideal lifestyle would be just to have a tolerable job that pays rent/bills and allows me to buy records and go out at weekends... I could do that for a year or two I'm not really interested in getting a proper career at the moment.

London is obviously where a lot of stuff is going on and a lot of people I know live there already + people want to move there next year. Bristol is still an option and probably some other places too, I just wonder if London is the right place to try and live a fairly relaxed lifestyle in...

diss · Post by **diss** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:40 am

I moved to london about 5 years back and I deffo ain't got no rich parents. At the time the first year was a bit tough being skint but as ever you jsut get buy. Luckily now I get to boost my earnings by DJing "Typical bar music" (Old hip hop, funk, disco ect.) in bars. There is plenty of that work about. ALso my day wages have gone up a decent amount.

My biggest peice of advice to save cash is that even if it is a little more expensive make sure you live near the things you wanna go to and friends. The amount you'll save on transport and cabs will easily outway the extra rent.

I generally go out around hackney, bethnal green, shoreditch ect. so now live in Bethnal green. Whereas a night out before would have to include a £25 cab I now walk home. Also I can literally walk out on a friday night, have a few drinks and spend like £15.

You'll basically earn more over time. Thinking about it, when I lived in Leeds I was always on the bones of my arse reaching my overdraft every month. These days I'm far from rich but Have bought a house just off the top of brick lane and get to go on holiday a few times a year n stuff. I'd say I was reasonably comfortable. I guess that would have happened weather I was here or back in Leeds.

You'll be fine like.

corpsey · Post by **corpsey** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:44 am

^ thanks for the advice man, appreciated ^

diss · Post by **diss** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:53 am

Ne bother. Good luck man.

I'll also let you know that I'm virtually an ecyclopedia on good places to eat for under £15

deamonds · Post by **deamonds** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:57 am

Central London imo is very expensive, unless your looking to move to a suburb, if thats the case i cant see it being different than any other area. As long as you've picked a nice location near a tube, you'll be fine getting in/out of the capital..

People say that the underground travel is quite expensive, however that depends..theres some great deals on an oyster card, no need to top up pay as you go...

I live with my parents so its not within my position to start handing out advice about rent, but from what i hear its damn expensive, and probably not worth it...

nesslei · Post by **nesslei** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:58 am

^ what corpsey said. you got things sussed! a house and everything (that's big) : )

edit: at diss

stormfield · Post by **stormfield** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:07 am

affordable? no

there's lots of cool stuff going on in london but the cost is...

pk- · Post by **pk-** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:11 am

you'll also get a london allowance included in your pay, so the expense and your earnings should balance out nicely

My biggest peice of advice to save cash is that even if it is a little more expensive make sure you live near the things you wanna go to and friends. The amount you'll save on transport and cabs will easily outway the extra rent.

I generally go out around hackney, bethnal green, shoreditch ect. so now live in Bethnal green. Whereas a night out before would have to include a £25 cab I now walk home. Also I can literally walk out on a friday night, have a few drinks and spend like £15.

yeah i'm trying to find somewhere up bethnal green too, not cheap but the money i'll save on taxis/trains alone will be worth it

deamonds · Post by **deamonds** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:12 am

pk- wrote:you'll also get a london allowance included in your pay, so the expense and your earnings should balance out nicely

my dad was telling me about this...

*isnt it called london waiting or something??? or am i an arse

menacetosobriety · Post by **menacetosobriety** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:31 am

Yes, it is called London Weighting

thinking · Post by **thinking** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:31 am

deamonds wrote:
pk- wrote:you'll also get a london allowance included in your pay, so the expense and your earnings should balance out nicely

my dad was telling me about this...

*isnt it called london waiting or something??? or am i an arse

yes, London weighting hasn't covered the increase in cost of living for me when i've looked at moving up from bristol recently though...perhaps it does with some careers/employers, but not in the sectors I was considering at the time.

benjybars · Post by **benjybars** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:25 pm

live in haringey or stfu.

legend4ry · Post by **legend4ry** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:58 pm

I still live with my Parents but few of my mates are looking into sharing a house together, round my area its a 20-30 minute train to London Bridge/Charring Cross or a bus to North Greenwich (where the '02' is) and its like.. 700 a month for a 3 bedroom house( I .. THINK, don't hold me on that), every area has its bad parts and good parts, sure theres enough people who're scattered about who'll tell you where to and where not to get a place!

Sure ya can get a 1 bedroom flat pretty cheap if you live in the out-of Central areas! Its like.. 30something a week for a travel card zones 1-4 which pretty much covers most places you'll probably go to in London if I am honest.

contakt · Post by **contakt** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:10 pm

The trick is to find a nice place in a grotty area. Means you don't have to pay stupid amounts to live in a half decent place. Plenty of room shares about if you don't mind living with strangers. thegumtree.com is very useful. I found a really nice flat in Manor House for £400 a month on that site.

If you have some self control, don't have a shopping/drug habit, you can have a very comfortable existence in London on a wage of £18,000. Any office temp/sales job will get you this. You don't have to work in a boring job - there are lots of public sector temp jobs that are actually quite interesting for example. Not a career, but not something that will make you want to staple your head to your monitor: look at http://www.edenbrown.com for example.

But basically, the most important thing is to get a cheap place - make sure you put as much effort as possible into looking for accommodation.

corpsey · Post by **corpsey** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:12 pm

Thanks for all the advice geezas (see I'll fit right in)

Keep it viciousbumming (coming)

[b]racket · Post by **[b]racket** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:12 pm

I have been spending silly money since i moved. Hoping that my spending will level off soon. Considering that i work in finance, i am the worst at managing my own finances

Rent wise i am paying less than what i was paying living in Bucks and consider myself to live in a pretty decent part of London with some fuckin cool people.

two oh one · Post by **two oh one** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:15 pm

Move to West Croydon. I had a 1 room shithole that cost about 300 quid a month.

London- Affordable if you aren't rich?

London- Affordable if you aren't rich?

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