Living in London.

dowie

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jonneymendoza said:
Seriously 15k is going to be far difficult to live and survive on
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Seriously, it isn't. Look at all the students living in London for a start.

MrSniper said:
If anyone has the following
Cheap meals to make.
Cooking books
Good places to shop for food in london.
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first two, get a student cook book

second - depends where you live

you seem to have missed the point that London is a big place, I don't think you've actually said what area of London you'll be working in - if you did that it would be easier for people to suggest areas to live in
 

jonneymendoza

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dowie said:
Seriously, it isn't. Look at all the students living in London for a start.



first two, get a student cook book

second - depends where you live

you seem to have missed the point that London is a big place, I don't think you've actually said what area of London you'll be working in - if you did that it would be easier for people to suggest areas to live in
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Student loan and a part time job they have
 

Darg

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oldbag said:
Probably 750 a week for something in fairly reasonable location, or £1000 a week if you want something more than average.
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You mean a month I assume, otherwise your standard of accommodation is far above what the OP should be looking for.

I managed to share a 3 bed house for £650~ a month a couple of years back, probably looking at £700 a month for a similar situation now, that was in zone 2 on the bakerloo line straight into where I worked near Picadilly.
 

Marmot

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I pay £550 in Tooting Bec, bills inc.

You can 'live' in London on £15K, but it won't be much of a life.

£600 rent+bills
£160 tube
£160 food (you will need to take your own lunch to work)
£15 mobile
£15 gym
£100 social
£50 misc

£1100, which is about what your take home will be.
 

Voltar

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Osprey said:
I pay £550 in Tooting Bec, bills inc.

You can 'live' in London on £15K, but it won't be much of a life.

£600 rent+bills
£160 tube
£160 food (you will need to take your own lunch to work)
£15 mobile
£15 gym
£100 social
£50 misc

£1100, which is about what your take home will be.
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This is very true. I wasn't going to weigh in to this thread however I thought this was actually a sensible response.

£1100 take home pay does make it possible for you to live and work in London OP. I would personally consider something like living slightly further away to save- your oyster card bill would rise to £212 (zones 1-5 which is what I get) but you may save some money on rent and on this budget an extra £75 per month or whatever is really helpful.

I would say a starting point is finding a big shared house (it won't be great but it could be fun) where you pay £600 including bills per month- highly feasible.
Manage your expectations for what you're going to be doing.

If you can be disciplined and you don't do anything extravagant you should be able to get by for £500 per month.

It may not be ideal, but it'll motivate you to work hard and achieve. Good on you for getting yourself in a position where you can give it a go.

Good luck :)
 

MrSniper

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Voltar said:
This is very true. I wasn't going to weigh in to this thread however I thought this was actually a sensible response.

£1100 take home pay does make it possible for you to live and work in London OP. I would personally consider something like living slightly further away to save- your oyster card bill would rise to £212 (zones 1-5 which is what I get) but you may save some money on rent and on this budget an extra £75 per month or whatever is really helpful.

I would say a starting point is finding a big shared house (it won't be great but it could be fun) where you pay £600 including bills per month- highly feasible.
Manage your expectations for what you're going to be doing.

If you can be disciplined and you don't do anything extravagant you should be able to get by for £500 per month.

It may not be ideal, but it'll motivate you to work hard and achieve. Good on you for getting yourself in a position where you can give it a go.

Good luck :)
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Op here sorry replying is slow always working.

Well honestly I am not a social guy much I mean I talk to others ect but drinking going out ect has never been me much rather come home sleep game if connection is good I will stream perhaps. Aside from that I know I won't be doing much but hopefully will be okay! Thanks guys for everything! I think in my free time I will be here on the forum a lot!
 

Scam

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I worked in Soho and lived in zone 3 (out West) in 2009-10. I earned £13k to start with. It was a struggle but do-able. It's probably harder now but if you're sensible then you can easily do it for a year or so. The biggest thing is probably food. You absolutely must learn how to cook, and importantly cook cheap/healthy stuff. For example, forget chicken breasts. You will never see one of those in your fridge, ever. You need to buy chicken thighs, chicken wings, or even better a whole chicken for £5 and make it last. I don't mean buying **** from Tescos all the time (you can get £5 chickens from M&S for example), but just knowing cheap cuts of meat and how to cook them. Stew for example. Don't buy steak etc, buy stewing beef and make big pots of stuff. It's easy once you get into it. Learn to make pasta sauce from scratch (err, garlic, onion, tins of tomatoes) and you're away. Never buy any sauces in a jar. Ever. Learn to make easy pasta dishes, risotto etc.

Oh and steal toilet paper from work :p
 

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Sorry to revive thread again slow replies as always.

I plan to cook I worked it out I will have 70 a week for food. I know how to cook and I love cooking so expanding my knowledge in the area. I will be working sadly central london. I want to walk to work everyday. So I will be looking at CanrayWhalf area.

If anyone has any good cook books please do link them to me that be great!

I currently live in West Midlands area.
 

Orcvader

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Canary Wharf is crazy expensive.

I work in Central as well but due to costs I'm still living with my parents who luckily live in Zone 6 with a tube station nearby.

An odd recommendation, but there are actually some good cooking guides on YouTube.
 

Spuj

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MrSniper said:
Sorry to revive thread again slow replies as always.

I plan to cook I worked it out I will have 70 a week for food. I know how to cook and I love cooking so expanding my knowledge in the area. I will be working sadly central london. I want to walk to work everyday. So I will be looking at CanrayWhalf area.

If anyone has any good cook books please do link them to me that be great!

I currently live in West Midlands area.
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£70 is a very healthy budget for food, the misses and I spend around £50-60 a week depending on what we have for the two of us so you probably will find you don't use your £70 a week unless you include eating out in that?

As for guides, as mentioned by Orcvader there are some really good channels on Youtube for cooking guides and recipes, also checkout Serious Eats and Chefsteps as they have a lot of good content.
 

drs101

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MrSniper said:
Sorry to revive thread again slow replies as always.

I plan to cook I worked it out I will have 70 a week for food. I know how to cook and I love cooking so expanding my knowledge in the area. I will be working sadly central london. I want to walk to work everyday. So I will be looking at CanrayWhalf area.

If anyone has any good cook books please do link them to me that be great!

I currently live in West Midlands area.
Click to expand...

Canary Wharf to central London will take a bit of time depending on where you are working, it isn't really practical, you may want to cycle (get a cheap older bike that no one would bother stealing) at least, if you cook or learn then that should be enough if your careful.

That said you will have a bit of culture shock, London at first can seem like a very hostile fast and aggressive place, but like all major city's it has its charm.
 

boxman2000

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MrSniper said:
If anyone has any good cook books please do link them to me that be great!
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You'd probably be worthwhile checking out sites like BBC Good Food, some great ideas to base recipes. A lot of supermarkets do 3 chickens for £10 which is great value and easy to do a couple at once to save time/money.

Many will baulk at the suggestion but Jamie Olivers books are pretty good for money saving ideas, particularly 'Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less' which is linked to his money saving program - most of the recipes are online anyway.

If motivated it is actually very easy to cook cheaply and eat well but my only concern would be in a house share what sort of facilities you'd have and whether if you cooked in bulk or stored things in fridge you would find things sprouting legs...

Also £70 a week is very doable - I feed a family of 4 for less per week and we make every meal from scratch. Lots of rice dishes, omlettes, soups etc in the winter and salads in summer. Apart from tinned tuna and chicken we don't really buy meat as it's expensive and we prefer veg/salad anyway.
 
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jonneymendoza

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MrSniper said:
Sorry to revive thread again slow replies as always.

I plan to cook I worked it out I will have 70 a week for food. I know how to cook and I love cooking so expanding my knowledge in the area. I will be working sadly central london. I want to walk to work everyday. So I will be looking at CanrayWhalf area.

If anyone has any good cook books please do link them to me that be great!

I currently live in West Midlands area.
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what happens if you find a nice girl?

They aint free so to speak!

But anyways Canary Wharf? wont be able to afford to live there im afraid.

Try places like dagenham
 

MrSniper

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Orcvader said:
Canary Wharf is crazy expensive.

I work in Central as well but due to costs I'm still living with my parents who luckily live in Zone 6 with a tube station nearby.

An odd recommendation, but there are actually some good cooking guides on YouTube.
Click to expand...

I don't suppose your looking for a room mate? ;) Aside from that thank you Youtube is a good idea!

Spuj said:
£70 is a very healthy budget for food, the misses and I spend around £50-60 a week depending on what we have for the two of us so you probably will find you don't use your £70 a week unless you include eating out in that?

As for guides, as mentioned by Orcvader there are some really good channels on Youtube for cooking guides and recipes, also checkout Serious Eats and Chefsteps as they have a lot of good content.
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Foodwise I think I will be okay I live with my father currently but I cook £70 tends to last us 2 weeks so I feel I will be okay. Thanks for the recommendations! ( I am keeping a note pad of these)

drs101 said:
Canary Wharf to central London will take a bit of time depending on where you are working, it isn't really practical, you may want to cycle (get a cheap older bike that no one would bother stealing) at least, if you cook or learn then that should be enough if your careful.

That said you will have a bit of culture shock, London at first can seem like a very hostile fast and aggressive place, but like all major city's it has its charm.
Click to expand...

I work in central Birmingham of course not as busy as London but I think after an adjustment period I will be okay.

jonneymendoza said:
what happens if you find a nice girl?

They aint free so to speak!

But anyways Canary Wharf? wont be able to afford to live there im afraid.

Try places like dagenham
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I already have a girlfriend haha she is really postive towards my choice to do this.

How come? Rent is the same as most places rooms are like 700 a month.

I will be working at a company called Exponential-E
100 Leman St, London E1 8EU

If anyone can find me a place close to here that would be great! I move around half way threw June well I start July
 

MrSniper

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dowie said:
edit... ah after 6 page's you've actually posted where you'll be working...
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Sorry about that.

I think in the reply I put above you will find the address where I will be working. Too add to this here is a list of the following information that may help others help me :)

Monthly take £1114
Working at 100 Leman St, London E1 8EU
Would love to work close tubes are an option.
Up too £700-£800 rent is doable.
I get student finance but only around 700 every 3 months.
I dont need money for take outs or money to drinking
I would love a nice room I can have a desk in for my computer
If anyone lives in London and is looking for a peaceful roommate or house mate do let me know.
Any cooking guides are welcomed.
Any more information do let me know.

Hope this helps.
 
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