London living costs (exc. rent)
Discussion
Had an off the record discussion with the boss today and he mentioned a position coming up in London similar to my current role. Based within a hundred metres of Bank station but with regular travel between a few dozen locations around the city. No idea yet whether this will be in a vehicle or public transport. Nothing official for a few weeks so no figures were discussed.
They will provide accommodation.
Whether I take a car over depends on location obviously but I'm just looking to get an idea of other living costs (food, drink, essentials, entertainment, etc). I hear London is very expensive all the time but with rent out of the equation, is it any worse than other major cities? I'll have to do the maths when he gets back to me with some figures but I'd like to have an idea of what I would need to make it worth my while ahead of that.
Thanks.
They will provide accommodation.
Whether I take a car over depends on location obviously but I'm just looking to get an idea of other living costs (food, drink, essentials, entertainment, etc). I hear London is very expensive all the time but with rent out of the equation, is it any worse than other major cities? I'll have to do the maths when he gets back to me with some figures but I'd like to have an idea of what I would need to make it worth my while ahead of that.
Thanks.
Edited by Art0ir on Tuesday 25th February 14:47
I have living in London for 6ish years. It is expensive - you should get paid more but in my experience you will be at a net loss. All depends on how close to the center you want to be but then you need to factor in cost of travel (money and time) into center if your working at Bank. A travel card from Zone 4 - 1 could be more expensive than the extra rent. If you want to rent in zone 2, a 1 bed flat you will need to budget over £1200 pm, if you want to rent a room think between £500-700pm - obviously there will be cheaper and more expensive options. East is cheaper than West as a general rule but IMO West is much nicer, it's just less stabby. My advise would be to spend time fining the right place, London can be amazing but it can also be a lonely city for new people, it sucks if you don't like where you live and it can change your whole outlook on the place so take your time.
V1DL3R said:
I have living in London for 6ish years. It is expensive - you should get paid more but in my experience you will be at a net loss. All depends on how close to the center you want to be but then you need to factor in cost of travel (money and time) into center if your working at Bank. A travel card from Zone 4 - 1 could be more expensive than the extra rent. If you want to rent in zone 2, a 1 bed flat you will need to budget over £1200 pm, if you want to rent a room think between £500-700pm - obviously there will be cheaper and more expensive options. East is cheaper than West as a general rule but IMO West is much nicer, it's just less stabby. My advise would be to spend time fining the right place, London can be amazing but it can also be a lonely city for new people, it sucks if you don't like where you live and it can change your whole outlook on the place so take your time.
There'll be an increased wage + accommodation + "living away from home" allowance. Having accommodation paid for should already see me quids in as it is - I gather this is the most expensive part of living in London.The accommodation will most likely be a shared house/flat with people in other parts of the company. Will keep the areas in mind, "less stabby" is desirable...
Do the travel cards work 24/7? If I had one for a particular zone for example, could I use that to get around in the evenings and weekends?
Yes a travelcard works anytime. Zone 1-2 is £120 a month or £1250 a year.
Apart from accommodation and travel I guess food/entertainment is going to be the biggest difference living in London. Any remotely upscale restaurant around central London you're looking at £30-40 a head. Cinema tickets are >£10. But then there's always wetherspoons and orange Wednesdays
If you need a car then expect to see low mpgs you've never seen before and if you want to join a decent gym then it's £100 a month.
Apart from accommodation and travel I guess food/entertainment is going to be the biggest difference living in London. Any remotely upscale restaurant around central London you're looking at £30-40 a head. Cinema tickets are >£10. But then there's always wetherspoons and orange Wednesdays
If you need a car then expect to see low mpgs you've never seen before and if you want to join a decent gym then it's £100 a month.
Art0ir said:
Do the travel cards work 24/7? If I had one for a particular zone for example, could I use that to get around in the evenings and weekends?
Yes if you have the correct one, the tubes stop at around 12am (there are plans to run them through the night). But there are night buses, whether you want to use them are another matter entirely. I cycle everywhere and will often set off before friends and be waiting for them at the destination. London is not a bike friendly as Amdam or Paris but it beats cramming onto a tube, you save a shed load of money (without a travel card it's about £1.70/£2.40 every time you get on the tube, even if you go one stop), keep fit (like someone said you get a pretty average gym for about £100) and you get to know and see a lot more of the city! 
V1DL3R said:
East is cheaper than West as a general rule but IMO West is much nicer, it's just less stabby.
Whilst this is the general perception, the other way to look at it is the more open minded live east. Its is cheaper, closer to most places you'll want to be - the city for work, shoreditch for nightlife (no one goes to the west end anymore) and if you want to cycle then its much closer.And frankly the chance of getting stabbed/mugged etc is roughly equal everywhere in a large city - if you are streetwise (don't walk down a dark alley at 1am wearing a rolex holding an iphone 5S, whether in dalston or shep bush) you'll probably be ok. I've lived east for over 10 years as you can probably guess from my username!
well, you wont be driving to work if the office is at bank station.
decent restaurants you're looking at easily £70 a head.
refuse the job if the accommodation is in the east, its an absolute hole.
See if work will pay for a travelcard for you, and if not, if they'll buy it for you pre tax.
decent restaurants you're looking at easily £70 a head.
refuse the job if the accommodation is in the east, its an absolute hole.
See if work will pay for a travelcard for you, and if not, if they'll buy it for you pre tax.
gibbon said:
HotJambalaya said:
well, you wont be driving to work if the office is at bank station.
decent restaurants you're looking at easily £70 a head.
refuse the job if the accommodation is in the east, its an absolute hole.
What a load of rubbish.decent restaurants you're looking at easily £70 a head.
refuse the job if the accommodation is in the east, its an absolute hole.
Most residentual areas will have good restaurants with mains in the £15-£30 bracket. If you get in to business or tourist areas then you tend to get the £10 'tourist tax' on top of that - and generally worse food.
Much the same applies to beer. Fancy a pint in as tourist trap and you can find them pushing £5 but a local will be more like £4.
Lunch in the City is usually a case of change from a £10 note rather than a £5.
Travel will depend where the company flat is but if most people are based in/around the City (the square mile around Bank) it's probably going to be somewhere like the Isle of Dogs so you'll generally be travelling on the Tube/DLR between zones 1 & 2, so £2.80 each way on a pay-as-you-go Oyster card. If you can expensie it go for a travel card but if it's out your own pocket you may want to PAYG once you've settled in as you need to be using it on weekends for the travel card to be cheaper. Busses are £1.45 single.
I'd be very suprised if it's either worth you bring your car over or even buying something over here. Car's just don't make much sense in London with basically ANY drive seeming to taking an hour. That said the Tube/national rail's actually quite good for getting around most of London, with only a few places that are an arse to get between.
Live in the islamic republic of tower hamlets, in spitalfields.
food - I eat out every meal basically, I spent £5-10 on lunch, resturants are 20-40 for above average stuff, £100 a head gets you very nice food.
drink - if i get a pint for under £4 im surprised. few boozers its possible to get under £3. a night out on the beers is expensive.
essentials - taxis arnt cheap, uber is much better. i get residents congestion charge discount so its 90p a day. boom.
entertainment - cheap strippers can be found most places, bars / clubs are cheap unless you venture into west end or SW, in which case change from a grand a night would be nice.
Id say if you are renting for sub a grand a month, have no kids or expensive women, and taking home 40k + you will be more than fine.
food - I eat out every meal basically, I spent £5-10 on lunch, resturants are 20-40 for above average stuff, £100 a head gets you very nice food.
drink - if i get a pint for under £4 im surprised. few boozers its possible to get under £3. a night out on the beers is expensive.
essentials - taxis arnt cheap, uber is much better. i get residents congestion charge discount so its 90p a day. boom.
entertainment - cheap strippers can be found most places, bars / clubs are cheap unless you venture into west end or SW, in which case change from a grand a night would be nice.
Id say if you are renting for sub a grand a month, have no kids or expensive women, and taking home 40k + you will be more than fine.
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