Cost of living in London

sashafierce

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Julius Seizure

sashafierce wrote: »

I have visited London many times and my parents lived there for a long time so I know its a very expensive city to holiday in! But with regards living there now how hard is it to cope with the cost of living? I am currently abroad and struggling with costs of food and wages and everything so we are weighing up some other options but want to do some better reasearch.... where is London on the wages:cost of living scale? Sorry if this has already been covered feel free to merge

Really expensive, accommodation is ridiculous. Sorry I don't have any figures for you you reddit.com/r/London often has threads on the price of living etc.

tomfoolery60

Rent and bills (council tax, water, etc.) are very expensive but I find most other things comparable/cheaper than Dublin (not sure where your are living at present abroad).

Wages tend to be better however if you are a professional but this doesn't hold true for other careers - I believe your quality of life depends a lot on what you do for a living here.

Grandpa Hassan

I know it is not very helpful, but to a large extent it is what you make it. I know entry level teachers who live in shared houses in Putney and Southfields and have a great life. It all hinges on finding the affordable but nice shared house really. It is too glib to just come out with 'London is ridiculously expensive'.

Jamey

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

Rent and bills (council tax, water, etc.) are very expensive but I find most other things comparable/cheaper than Dublin (not sure where your are living at present abroad).

Wages tend to be better however if you are a professional but this doesn't hold true for other careers - I believe your quality of life depends a lot on what you do for a living here.

This.

Also I think a lot depends on if you are single or in a relationship. I have found it very manageable living with my other half but I think I would begin to struggle if I was single, for sure.

Fysh

WorkGateways has some useful figures to give you specific ideas.

London is very expensive compared to the rest of the UK, I recall seeing figures recently stating that the average rent in London is £2500 a month. Bear in mind that will be skewed by some ridiculously expensive properties, but it's still bananas.

Last time I checked, the UK national average salary was a hair under £25K a year, and my gut feeling is that while you can live on that in London, you end up cutting it fine and won't necessarily be able to enjoy living here. To be able to properly enjoy living here without living purely month-to-month, I think you need to be earning at least £30kpa. This topic has been discussed at length in other threads though, so a forum search will also get you more input and perspectives.

BrokenArrows

The answer to your question really depends on how much your earning.

I'm in a reasonable financial situation so I don't find I have a problem with the cost of rent, bills and social life but I've got friends and housemates that are earning a little more than minimum wage and they struggle from time to time.

To be in a situation where you can live in London and not have to worry about bills (assuming you're in a house share with 3-4 other people where bills are split) I think you would need to be earning at least 28k.

So on 28k that works out at £1833 after deductions
1833
-450 (Rent in an average sharehouse of 4 people, you can pay more or less)
-30 (Average cost of gas and electric per month over the whole year)
-30 (Your share of council tax in a 4 bed sharehouse)
-30 (Mobile phone bills??)
-10 (Your share of TV and Internet)
-219 (Travel card for zones 1-6 monthly. You will be paying more or less than this depending on where you live/work and how you travel.)
-300 (Food costs breakfast, lunch, dinner. Again more or less)
-5 (Water bill)

So that leaves you with £759 of disposable income where you will burn through quickly going out for dinner, drinks.
Occasional take always every week also add up.
You might also want to save some money.
You might own a car/motorbike/scooter, insurance/petrol?

NOTE: This is just my opinion based roughly on my costs.

sashafierce

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borabora

It is far, far easier to live on less in London than Dublin, because there are options to do things cheaper. Bargain bins, Non zone 1 travel cards, pound shops, £1 fruit and veg bowls, Iceland...there is much more scope for living on very little. Granted you could absolutely burn through money doing certain things, and rent is extortionate, but as long as you've got a thrifty nature you'll be fine!

ballsymchugh

no matter how bad things get, no one should ever shop in iceland. unless you want to get a 6 pack of purple snacks for £1, but even when you go in to buy them, you can feel the 'food' in the place sucking all the nutrients out of you as you go up and down the aisles.

sashafierce

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sambuka41

Iceland isn't that bad! It's grand for having some frozen bits in freezer, chips and the like, and their bread and fresh meat is cheaper than most places. Also London has Lidl and Aldi so if you are near them that's handy too. The fruit and veg bowls are great, if you regularly shop with the same guys you can get some great deals off them, they are always flinging in extra stuff for us.

Rent is crazy expensive, council tax is high. In terms of transport it's a bit of a toss up, if you live closer like zone 1-3 rent is higher but you can avoid the tube and go with the bus, this is much cheaper way of getting around. Plus you get to actually see more of London.

Also I have noticed that they are more efficient with things like the ol' tv licence over here, hounding you as soon as you move into a new place.

There are a lot more free events here than Dublin. I've been studying so there's been 2 of us getting by on one wage, so we have made great use of bus passes and free events!!

In saying that I can't imagine anywhere in the world is more expensive than London (slight exaggeration :P ). Where in Canada are you?

tibor

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. It certainly wouldn't be on my list if I was looking for somewhere to make my cash go further. This seems reasonably accurate;
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=United+Kingdom&city=London

Bang in Toronto for a comparison there for some context.

LadyMayBelle

Iceland do stock a decent range of quorn and veggie stuffn when stuck, usually 2 for £3, which is alright. I think for me I find it diffcult to save money in London, granted where you live matters, but where you lives adds to the quality of life and Im near stuff I want to do, so save on transport by cycling.

danotroy

Fysh wrote: »

WorkGateways has some useful figures to give you specific ideas.

.

That is really out of date on both rental rates and the price of a pint. 650-750 for a one bed room flat in East London? 2.50 for a pint?

Fysh

danotroy wrote: »

That is really out of date on both rental rates and the price of a pint. 650-750 for a one bed room flat in East London? 2.50 for a pint?

While I know a couple of places where you can get a pint for around £2.50, they're definitely the exception. And yeah, given that they've got a monthly Zone 1-2 travelcard as costing £86 when it's a little over £120, you're right to say the info is out of date.

average hero

London is expensive. Rent in a house share can be anywhere between £400-£600 per month. The tube can be expensive too although a travelcard helps there. Apart from those two things, prices are comparable with Dublin.

In my opinion you could survive on £27k - £30k. To enjoy the city and be able to do more etc you'd want £32k - £35k.

NipNip

You would need to be on a minimum of 30k GBP to survive in London.

sashafierce

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NipNip

sashafierce wrote: »

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Look at the tube service - specifically the end of the lines. But be wary of council charges on top of your rent.

howisshecuttin

Don't forget the further out you move the greater your travel expenses, assuming you're working in central London. So it's important to weigh up all the costs and benefits.

Good luck with your decision.

S.M.B.

average hero wrote: »

London is expensive. Rent in a house share can be anywhere between £400-£600 per month. The tube can be expensive too although a travelcard helps there. Apart from those two things, prices are comparable with Dublin.

In my opinion you could survive on £27k - £30k. To enjoy the city and be able to do more etc you'd want £32k - £35k.

A house share can be a lot more than £600 from what I come across. I'd put that at the bottom end of the spectrum.

Don't forget the further out you move the greater your travel expenses, assuming you're working in central London. So it's important to weigh up all the costs and benefits.

I assume they are talking about living and working in some nearby area and then having the opportunity to travel into the centre at weekends. Something along the lines of a Guildford or a Crawley.

BrokenArrows

sashafierce wrote: »

Would anyone suggest somewhere near London but cheaper that you could travel in and out of London at the weekends but not necessarily live in the city centre?

Depends on how far you want you spend traveling at the weekend.

I live in Ealing. It would take about 30 minutes on the Central line from Ealing Broadway to Tottenham court road.
30 minutes from South Ealing to Leicester Square.
30 minutes from Brentford to Waterloo.

Google map those locations but the only reason I live here is because I work outside of London.

You also need to take into account the time/effort and cost of getting home after a night out from central london to Ealing.

On Friday/Saturday nights the last tube heading from somewhere like Kings Cross to Ealing is 12.
From then on its the fun night busses or a taxi. Night bus takes over an hour and taxis are expensive, maybe 30-40

S.M.B.

Hopefully next years 24 hour tube service will make living at the end of a tube line a little more bearable at weekends.

Is there any word on when in 2015 they plan on starting to phase it in?

83ste

S.M.B. wrote: »

Hopefully next years 24 hour tube service will make living at the end of a tube line a little more bearable at weekends.

Is there any word on when in 2015 they plan on starting to phase it in?

Autumn.

Grandpa Hassan

S.M.B. wrote: »

Hopefully next years 24 hour tube service will make living at the end of a tube line a little more bearable at weekends.

Is there any word on when in 2015 they plan on starting to phase it in?

It is not going to be on every line

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/images/cstp-night-map-2.jpg

breadmonkey

83ste wrote: »

Autumn.

That's disappointing it's so late in the year. Really looking forward to it myself, think it will be a real game changer for the city.

biZrb

NipNip wrote: »

You would need to be on a minimum of 30k GBP to survive in London.

I completely disagree with this. You can survive on a lot less in London. If you want a nice enough lifestyle you would probably need circa £30K.

S.M.B.

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

It is not going to be on every line

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/images/cstp-night-map-2.jpg

It's hard to making out from the wording on the TFL site but is it a phased rollout of the above selection of tube line from August next year.

Or is that phase 1 of a rollout of the entire tube network over the course of a longer time period.

83ste

S.M.B. wrote: »

It's hard to making out from the wording on the TFL site but is it a phased rollout of the above selection of tube line from August next year.

Or is that phase 1 of a rollout of the entire tube network over the course of a longer time period.

The latter.

BrokenArrows

83ste wrote: »

The latter.

Hopefully Piccadilly/Central lines will be the first. I gota get my drunk ass home at 4am.

Bench Press

S.M.B. wrote: »

A house share can be a lot more than £600 from what I come across. I'd put that at the bottom end of the spectrum.


I assume they are talking about living and working in some nearby area and then having the opportunity to travel into the centre at weekends. Something along the lines of a Guildford or a Crawley.

Guildford is more expensive than London!

Larry Wildman

To be honest, I think that these figures are too low.

Someone on £30k/€36k in Dublin would have a very nice standard of living.

Someone on £30k in London would have to count their pennies and dare I say it humiliate themselves by shopping in Iceland.

I lived in London for around two years earning multiples of that and still found it expensive.

biZrb

Ive lived in London earning less than 30k and found it manageable, you just have to be clever with your money

theteal

Lads, I don't know how you're burning your money but my first 18 months here I was on a princely £15k-17k. While I obviously wasn't living lavishly, I certainly wasn't counting the pennies, just living smart, even managed a cheap week in the sun that year. Granted there were very few nights out in central London but I'm probably getting a bit old for that lark at this stage. In saying all that, I do live 20 minutes outside London and I can easily get a pint for £2.50 - could get it for less but I wouldn't be too fond of some of those places!

Now that I think of it, I'm still living to pretty much the same budget with all the extra income going towards to the cherished wedding fund!

Grandpa Hassan

biZrb wrote: »

Ive lived in London earning less than 30k and found it manageable, you just have to be clever with your money

I agree. I know entry level teachers who clubbed together to rent a beautiful house near the river in Putney, and they have a good life. They aren't overly extravagant....but that's not necessary

silvervixen84

Nothing humiliating about shopping in Iceland, or Lidl it Aldi. ;-) You can certainly live a good life in London on £30k if you manage it properly.

theteal

silvervixen84 wrote: »

Nothing humiliating about shopping in Iceland, or Lidl it Aldi. ;-) You can certainly live a good life in London on £30k if you manage it properly.

Yeah, I don't get this humiliation of Iceland thing. I don't shop in Iceland because apart from peas and icecream I don't buy/consume frozen food but I'm definitely not averse to a snoop around when killing time in town. Aldi and Lidl on the other hand are savage for fresh fruit and veg. . .and chorizo, lots of chorizo!

ballsymchugh

theteal wrote: »

Yeah, I don't get this humiliation of Iceland thing. I don't shop in Iceland because apart from peas and icecream I don't buy/consume frozen food but I'm definitely not averse to a snoop around when killing time in town. Aldi and Lidl on the other hand are savage for fresh fruit and veg. . .and chorizo, lots of chorizo!

i don't see it as humiliating, it's just unhealthy. aldi and lidl are a world of difference from iceland. but they don't sell purple snacks...

callaway92

Been on a good wage for nearly the last 3 months and have really found it's hard to "save" money. (Not that that was the plan anyway)

You really do end of burning through money if you want to have fun for yourself. I'm going through about £200 at least a week on leisure alone, and that's with travel already paid for me. From food/drink, cinema, sports, theatres, shopping, it's very difficult to not spend hard. Of course all of these are avoidable costs, but the reason you live here is to not just work, but to enjoy everything that's on your doorstep. No point living here if you're just about surviving after bills are paid for.

Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but I'd never move over here permanently without having a guaranteed well paid job.

Fysh

Larry Wildman wrote: »

To be honest, I think that these figures are too low.

Someone on £30k/€36k in Dublin would have a very nice standard of living.

Someone on £30k in London would have to count their pennies and dare I say it humiliate themselves by shopping in Iceland.

I lived in London for around two years earning multiples of that and still found it expensive.

This may be a lifestyle thing, but when I moved here 7 years ago I was on a hair above £30K and I didn't find it any kind of a struggle to either live comfortably or eat decently.

Granted, I knew folks back in Cork who'd manage to blow €400 a month just on boozing, and I've never gone for that lifestyle here (I'd imagine it's easy to spend an awful lot on nights out, depending where you go). But I certainly disagree that London is unaffordable on £30K. As long as you're reasonably copped on about living and renting within your means it's grand. The rule of thumb is that you shouldn't spend more than 1/3 of your take home pay on rent - so on 30K as long as you keep yourself to ~£650pcm you should be fine for the rest.

danotroy

callaway92 wrote: »

Been on a good wage for nearly the last 3 months and have really found it's hard to "save" money. (Not that that was the plan anyway)

You really do end of burning through money if you want to have fun for yourself. I'm going through about £200 at least a week on leisure alone, and that's with travel already paid for me. From food/drink, cinema, sports, theatres, shopping, it's very difficult to not spend hard. Of course all of these are avoidable costs, but the reason you live here is to not just work, but to enjoy everything that's on your doorstep. No point living here if you're just about surviving after bills are paid for.

Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but I'd never move over here permanently without having a guaranteed well paid job.

You mention that enjoying what is on your doorstep is essential and you admit that much of your spending is avoidable. I don't think heading to the cinema is something that unique to London. Spending money on theaters museums and the likes is. I went to the cinema with a mate last week to see guardians of the Galaxy and spent £45 in a heart beat and I only paid for my ticket. Travel there and back £6, pint £5, ticket £12, popcorn/drinks £7, pint and pub meal after £15. That's a serious amount of money for a standard Wednesday nights activites. I can tell you I wont be wasting that money again.

theteal

danotroy wrote: »

You mention that enjoying what is on your doorstep is essential and you admit that much of your spending is avoidable. I don't think heading to the cinema is something that unique to London. Spending money on theaters museums and the likes is. I went to the cinema with a mate last week to see guardians of the Galaxy and spent £45 in a heart beat and I only paid for my ticket. Travel there and back £6, pint £5, ticket £12, popcorn/drinks £7, pint and pub meal after £15. That's a serious amount of money for a standard Wednesday nights activites. I can tell you I wont be wasting that money again.

You'll probably want to stab me in the eye for this but my local cinema costs £4 a ticket. Living in the sticks ftw!

seachto7

£200 a week on leisure? How would you break that down? I am assuming you would spend average £50 a week on a night out?

callaway92

seachto7 wrote: »

£200 a week on leisure? How would you break that down? I am assuming you would spend average £50 a week on a night out?

100% yes, if not more

seachto7

Ah well, that's different. I wouldn't be one to go out every week anyhow. I would go for beer once every few months usually. That's just me though.
I would consider spending £50+ on a night out every week a luxury.

S.M.B.

I'd find it hard to spend £200 a week on 'leisure' and I don't really try to limit my weekly spend in any way.

FTA69

danotroy wrote: »

You mention that enjoying what is on your doorstep is essential and you admit that much of your spending is avoidable. I don't think heading to the cinema is something that unique to London. Spending money on theaters museums and the likes is. I went to the cinema with a mate last week to see guardians of the Galaxy and spent £45 in a heart beat and I only paid for my ticket. Travel there and back £6, pint £5, ticket £12, popcorn/drinks £7, pint and pub meal after £15. That's a serious amount of money for a standard Wednesday nights activites. I can tell you I wont be wasting that money again.

If you're dropping fifty bucks on a trip to the cinema you're doing it wrong. That is a lot to be spending and isn't a "typical weekday excursion" for most people in my opinion. I pay a tenner for my ticket and £2.5 for nuts and diet coke which I bring in myself.

Obviously if you're going out for dinner and drinking alcohol as well that's going to put up the price hugely. Personally I think it's the booze that is killer here. On a typical weekend I'd drop £150 on going out but now that I'm back boxing and cutting down hugely on the sauce I'd spend £60 on a weekend out. And that includes going for grub and hanging out in the pub on a Sunday as well.

seachto7

Spending £150 on a night is madness in my opinion, especially if you're watching the pennies after it. Fair enough if you have the money to burn, but I'd be having a serious chat with myself if I was pissing that much up against a wall every weekend.

If I was spending £60 on a night out every week, I'd be having a chat with myself as well, and weighing up what else I could spend £240 a month on and have some return. A simple solution would be to not go out every week if you're worrying about spend.

I'm probably old and cranky though. But, I could see, in a place like London, how easy it would be to burn £60 on a night out. Is it a case of having to be strategic about where you go?

FTA69

Sixty pounds on a proper night on the tear is nothing to be honest. I spent £140 at the Pogues there a couple of months ago. On a proper session you're looking at £90 really. The trick is not to have those nights very often. Or at all really.

seachto7

Now you said it.