Is it silly to spend a stupid amount of rent 'temporarily'.

[blambert]

Just graduated, got a job straight out that pays (don't laugh bear with me) £1000/mo after tax. I receive £350/mo inheritance too.

So, £1350 to play with.

Found a really nice house 3 minutes walk from Kentish Town (Caversham Road) that works out to £600/pm each. Plus bills, c/tax, Zone 1&2 Travelcard, around £850/mo. Leaving £500/mo to play with (bearing in mind I have a £2000 OD to get down to £1500 (at least) by July. My usual spend is around £100/pw, but have room to tighten the belt a lot with that.

Tight... but work have just turned my placement into a job and not spoken about the increase in pay yet, which there will be. I also am looking at moving onwards and upwards as fast as possible.

I guess just, on paper, 50% of income seems silly. But is it? I'm so used to 'x amount of loan in'... live as cheap as possible.. run out of money.. 'x amount of loan in again'.

What's tempting me is the sweet, sweet 14 minute commute to Old Street. Currently playing £400/mo from Kingston + £200/mo travel, and 1hr15 each way. . I guess I'm scared of taking on the responsibility of whacking out that much money every month, but in reality it saves me 2 hours a day... that's worth living off noodles no?

Edit: It's a 3 bed house share with friends so all bills are split 3 ways.

Edited by blambert on Wednesday 31st August 00:47

[davepoth]

So how much is the actual increase in outgoings?

[EDLT]

blambert said:

Tight... but work have just turned my placement into a job and not spoken about the increase in pay yet, which there will be. I also am looking at moving onwards and upwards as fast as possible.

Every other person you work with is thinking the same thing, except you are probably the least experienced. As for a pay rise, watch the news. You'll be lucky to have a job at the end of the year.

[Condi]

Only you can decide whats important to you. The commute is probably a bit crap at the moment, but is it worth doing it for another 12 months to get your finances a bit more in shape? Or can you take on a weekend/evening job to bring in a little bit more - a few hours bar work might turn £50 a week. Not a lot, but in other words it would be a 20% increase in your wages.......

[Ynox]

Not sure if I'd want to be chucking 50% of income into rent whilst living in London.

Also - how long is the contract on the house?

And don't count your chickens before they're hatched regarding any payrise. Don't agree to anything unless it's on paper. I'd be inclined to see how the job pans out and get through any probation period before you commit.

[Gwagon111]

TBH thats not too bad for where you are. If you can get the deposit down without borrowing, I'd have said you should be okay. You're used to living like a student, stick with that way of living for a bit and you should be fine.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

The more you can restrain the rate of increase in outgoings the better. It is much easier to try to reduce the pace of increase, than have to change your lifestyle to decrease your outgoings later because circumstances dictate. Trust me. Been there, done that.

[axgizmo]

I'm in a similar situation, spending £350 - £500 a month on Fuel & car running costs, £150 board & £150 on shopping every month

It's a no brainer for me to rent a house closer to work as I will be about £200 better off if I rent a place for £600 PCM with my fella & that's with us both putting £600 into bills account every month to cover furnishing the house etc

[Neil H]

Depends what is important to you, reducing the commute and having no spare money, or having a bit of extra cash and spending longer on the train.

Me personally, I'd look at something between the two, as £850 per month on that income is unmanageable IMHO.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Neil H said:

Depends what is important to you, reducing the commute and having no spare money, or having a bit of extra cash and spending longer on the train.

Me personally, I'd look at something between the two, as £850 per month on that income is unmanageable IMHO.

Or stay where you are and get a bike? Cost per day more or less zero. Get fit. Probably be quicker too.

[Zod]

14 minutes to Old St from Kentish Town? Is this by Police motorbike? On the Tube, it will take you 25 minutes at rush hour, including getting into and out of the stations.

[Zod]

Rocksteadyeddie said:

Or stay where you are and get a bike? Cost per day more or less zero. Get fit. Probably be quicker too.

Cycling from Kingston is 13 miles. It would take a lot longer than the Tube from Kentish Town.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

Zod said:

Rocksteadyeddie said:

Or stay where you are and get a bike? Cost per day more or less zero. Get fit. Probably be quicker too.

Cycling from Kingston is 13 miles. It would take a lot longer than the Tube from Kentish Town.

Be quicker than 1h 15mins. Unless the OP is a real fat knacker....

[prand]

I'd imagine that living in Kentish town with a friend will vastly increase your outgoings. I know that for me, once I moved to London it put me in a very precarious position quite quickly as there was too much fun to be had! And I didn't have an overdraft to deal with either.

My only suggestion if you really, really must move out of home now, would be as above live as cheaply as utterly possible, forget the tube, get a cheap bike (one you can afford to get nicked), or even look at somewhere cheaper and closer to work so you can walk (some bits of Bethnal Green/Shoreditch "borders" might still be cheap enough to get you the lifestyle you are after and allow you to put some money aside).

And it's a shame you are counting your inheritance as "money to play with" and spunking it on rent, I'd be inclined to put that into ISAs and try and forget about it - It might be nice to say in the future that Auntie xxx's money bought you a car/deposit on a house once you had saved it up for a few years.

Good luck though, I had a great time in my twenties in London, but I do regret some of the decisions I made which came down to me wanting to be what I thought was the centre of the action.

[AyBee]

Until you get the pay rise, I'd stay put, there's always extras that are going to stretch your budget further and there's not much wiggle room in there, although £15k for a grad job sounds very low...! If you want to save money, cycle, I was paying £106/month for a zones 1&2 travelcard, now cycle at least 3 days a week and do PAYG at about £10/week, will pay for the bike in no time

[Gwagon111]

I've just re read the original post. Now I see you were talking per month. Unless they pay you a big bonus if enough people 'go large' every month, I wouldn't even think about doing what you were going to.

[The Char]

Just moved to London myself for a graduate teacher training course. My rent is pretty much 50% of my wage. However, was worth it for a massive room (roughly 20 X 13ft) less than 5 minutes walk from the school. I couldn't find anything cheaper as I've moved here on my own from the Midlands- you do seem to get more for your money sharing.
To lessen the blow I've downgraded my phone contract from 40 to 10 a month, and decided to get rid of my car for a while. Looking at getting a 1 litre banger purely for the occasional trip up North, depending on what train/coach prices are like in comparison.
As for social spending- there will be none of that on a week night as I don't know anyone round here! Perhaps a good thing as I've half a Masters to do on top of my work with the school.
I would say £850 on your wage might be tough, but completely understand your desire to cut the commute. When deciding, personally I couldn't be doing with driving/public transport compared to paying a bit extra. No chance of getting stuck and being late either!

[eliot]

Rocksteadyeddie said:

Be quicker than 1h 15mins.

I commute in from Milton Keynes - about 44 minutes. I can be front door to desk in an hour sometimes. Lots of colleages live in the suburbs of London and spend far longer getting in.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

eliot said:

Rocksteadyeddie said:

Be quicker than 1h 15mins.

I commute in from Milton Keynes - about 44 minutes. I can be front door to desk in an hour sometimes. Lots of colleages live in the suburbs of London and spend far longer getting in.

Being on a good train line, and working close to the London station it brings you into is often as quick as living 10-12 miles down the road. Until the trains go wrong of course. And a season ticket to MK won't be cheap. But you pays your money and takes your choice.