Unhappy due to lack of money...

[Amp34]

He said he is in a flat share already, so I guess he can't be paying too much for rent?

£600 a month with no bills minimum I guess?

He could get a very nice several bedroomed house in many parts of the UK for that.

 

[Amp34]

All depends. I know people that pay £700PM to flatshare in Clapham North (Admittedly they have a really nice place) whilst earning <£30K. That is going to put anyone on a middling income under pressure.
I am just going off personal experience really - even earning £1500 a month after tax (30,000-ish salary?) you are not going to have much left after paying say £450 flat share, Oyster card, council tax, bills, etc. so I understand the OP's predicament. £450 a month in somewhere like Leeds gets you a decent flat to yourself or a small house just out of the city.

£450 a month is going to get you a dump unless you are VERY lucky or live in zone 6+

When I was looking seriously in zone 1-3 you're looking at at £600 minimum to get something fairly ok, although not in most places in Zone 1.

 

[Soundood]

sadly this story is being played out around the country OP, London is not the place it was 10-15 years ago,

the cost of living is just too high to justify a low paid job/high rent,

i would pack up and leave, go stay with the parents for a while, get some money togther over the next 6 months, and then rent a smal flat somewhere with studio space/spare bedroom

get doing what you enjoy, life is just way to short for this kind of excistence.

 

[PMKeates]

Get out of London.

Why? London has some of the greatest opportunities and career prospects in the world, oodles of culture and things to do, some of the best bars/restaurants/etc. It's a great place, and you can live their surprisingly economically. I know people who get by really quite fine on low income informal employment.

My recommendation would be to shift where you live and find a more economical share, ideally with some friends, and optimise and plan your bills and expenditure meticulously. Then work hard, get noticed, and move up in the world.

Moving out of London in to no employment is likely to see you even more depressed, and much of the country is boring as hell compared to London. You won't be able to get around as easily (London has by far the best transport network of anywhere in the UK), so will be mostly stuck indoors wondering what to do. At least in London you can just spend £2 on transport and go to a world-class museum or gallery.

 

[Shayper]

£450 a month is going to get you a dump unless you are VERY lucky or live in zone 6+

When I was looking seriously in zone 1-3 you're looking at at £600 minimum to get something fairly ok, although not in most places in Zone 1.

I'm paying 375 a month for a beautiful property in South London.

Admittedly it is in Eltham, but the house is amazing!

 

[wire-screw]

Thanks for the advise. I decided to pay a little more on the housing to get closer to the city and less on transport to minimise the commute I have been very lucky to get a great place in Lewisham for £600 pcm. I'm an electronic engineer and only 18, I managed to get the job by impressing them but they only put me on my current low wage due to me not having gone to uni. I'm gonna go to uni next year now and be poor for another 4 years just to get a price of paper saying I can do the job I do!

 

[NuggetUK]

"Go to London! I guarantee you'll either be mugged or not appreciated." - Alan Partridge. Couldn't be more true.

 

[Richdog]

Thanks for the advise. I decided to pay a little more on the housing to get closer to the city and less on transport to minimise the commute I have been very lucky to get a great place in Lewisham for £600 pcm. I'm an electronic engineer and only 18, I managed to get the job by impressing them but they only put me on my current low wage due to me not having gone to uni. I'm gonna go to uni next year now and be poor for another 4 years just to get a price of paper saying I can do the job I do!

You're only 18? To be honest I think that providing you have a good relationship with your family that you should still be living with your parents for another few years and saving as much cash as possible, especially if you'll be doing uni! Do they live near London?

 

[wire-screw]

My family live in peterborough but the commute is 2 hours one way and still costs getting on for £700 for a months ticket.

 

[grudas]

how far from work do you live? i save around 130quid a month just by commuting to work on a bicycle and i live 10 miles away

 

[RDM]

Thanks for the suggestions what do you guys think to money makes you happy?

If you want the psychology, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, money is not a motivator however lack of money is a de-motivator. So in your situation money would make a bit of difference because you do not have enough to cover your needs (this being psychological needs rather than actual).

I know a fair few people who took pay cuts for a more personally fulfilling careers and know a few who have quite a bit of money but no real time to enjoy it.

 

[Shayper]

Thanks for the advise. I decided to pay a little more on the housing to get closer to the city and less on transport to minimise the commute I have been very lucky to get a great place in Lewisham for £600 pcm. I'm an electronic engineer and only 18, I managed to get the job by impressing them but they only put me on my current low wage due to me not having gone to uni. I'm gonna go to uni next year now and be poor for another 4 years just to get a price of paper saying I can do the job I do!

Avoid Greenwich Uni. It's awful. Yes, I'm studying there...

 

[anksta]

People's assumptions about London are so out of whack.

I moved down here from Manchester for a job on 22k, found a flat in Zone 2 that is 4th floor, wooden floors, balcony which you can see the shard and the gherkin from, tube stop outside the door and less than 15 minutes to Oxford Circus.

I've since been given a raise but I can more than afford to live here, the difference between having disposable income and being skint all the time is simple budgeting. I have friends who earn almost double what I earn but have zero money because they live in a place that has a more expensive postcode, go to the pub (just the pub - not the theatre or a museum or any of the other million things you can do in London) at least 3 nights a week and have to buy breakfast and lunch every day from Pret a Mange.

Get a travel card on your Oyster, make your lunches and take them to work, eat breakfast at home, don't buy 4 quid coffees and if you go to the pub every night avoid having 3 pints of Koperburg or whatever it is that costs you a bomb.

It's not hard, I'm not talking about budgeting every last penny, living in London is only slightly more expensive than Leeds and Manchester in my experience, as long as you can budget just the slightest little bit.

 

[Nitefly]

People's assumptions about London are so out of whack.

I moved down here from Manchester for a job on 22k, found a flat in Zone 2 that is 4th floor, wooden floors, balcony which you can see the shard and the gherkin from, tube stop outside the door and less than 15 minutes to Oxford Circus.

I've since been given a raise but I can more than afford to live here, the difference between having disposable income and being skint all the time is simple budgeting. I have friends who earn almost double what I earn but have zero money because they live in a place that has a more expensive postcode, go to the pub (just the pub - not the theatre or a museum or any of the other million things you can do in London) at least 3 nights a week and have to buy breakfast and lunch every day from Pret a Mange.

Get a travel card on your Oyster, make your lunches and take them to work, eat breakfast at home, don't buy 4 quid coffees and if you go to the pub every night avoid having 3 pints of Koperburg or whatever it is that costs you a bomb.

It's not hard, I'm not talking about budgeting every last penny, living in London is only slightly more expensive than Leeds and Manchester in my experience, as long as you can budget just the slightest little bit.

I think it is a lot more expensive if you want to maintain a central location. In Bristol I pay £500 a month excluding bills for a 2 person share with a 'premium postcode'. Most of my friends live in relatively grubby apartments in shortditch and clapham for circa £750 a month for a 3/4 person share.

Sure you could get a place for less in London, just as I could get a flat for less in Bristol, but I'd compromise a lot in terms of convenience and environment.

 

[dowie]

Thanks for the advise. I decided to pay a little more on the housing to get closer to the city and less on transport to minimise the commute I have been very lucky to get a great place in Lewisham for £600 pcm. I'm an electronic engineer and only 18, I managed to get the job by impressing them but they only put me on my current low wage due to me not having gone to uni. I'm gonna go to uni next year now and be poor for another 4 years just to get a price of paper saying I can do the job I do!

If all you're able to gain from 4 years at uni is a piece of paper then you're not doing it right.... Maybe you are some child prodigy but I doubt that you're already familiar with all the areas you'll cover in a 4 year course in electronic engineering - and if you do find that you are then you'll have plenty of free time to do further study as you breeze through the course and pick up the highest marks in your year.... Also bear in mind that you can probably get some summer placements that pay better than the wage you currently earn - combined with your large London student loan you'll likely not be in any worse position financially than you are already.

 

[Horse Pop]

Despite the money the job is a very good opportunity for me and my career and jobs these days i guess.



I tried living further out but the train cost makes it not worth it.

Thanks for the suggestions what do you guys think to money makes you happy?

From what I can see people who say it doesn't are generally very comfortably off.

There's no end of studies that show it does though:

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/yourmindyourmoney/archives/can-money-make-you-happy.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/18/how-much-money-makes-you-happy_n_1101622.html

Past a certain amount it supposedly doesn't make you additionally happy.

Being too poor to do the stuff you like is clearly going to make you miserable. I'm not unhappy, I have quite a nice life tbh but not having money to do much does wear you down.

Also interestingly surveys have shown that people are unhappier living in London on average:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...survey-Finds-9-10-unhappiest-towns-south.html

So, the answer is obviously to make more money and move to Carlisle.

 

[anksta]

I think it is a lot more expensive if you want to maintain a central location. In Bristol I pay £500 a month excluding bills for a 2 person share with a 'premium postcode'. Most of my friends live in relatively grubby apartments in shortditch and clapham for circa £750 a month for a 3/4 person share.

Sure you could get a place for less in London, just as I could get a flat for less in Bristol, but I'd compromise a lot in terms of convenience and environment.

I don't think I've skimped at all though, I went and saw about 12 places when I was looking, ranging in price from about 400 a month to 650ish and this one was easily the best.

Actually there was a better one but I would have to change after 3 months.

I pay £450 a month now without bills and can get most places in under half an hour. The people I know that live in Shoreditch and other 'cool' pockets in east London live in places that are absolute holes except for their street and the six others around it and they have to walk for 20 minutes to get to the nearest overground stop.

My nearest tube stop is literally less than 200m from my balcony, and I have a 4th balcony.

No lift though.

 

[Richdog]

I don't think I've skimped at all though, I went and saw about 12 places when I was looking, ranging in price from about 400 a month to 650ish and this one was easily the best.

Actually there was a better one but I would have to change after 3 months.

I pay £450 a month now without bills and can get most places in under half an hour. The people I know that live in Shoreditch and other 'cool' pockets in east London live in places that are absolute holes except for their street and the six others around it and they have to walk for 20 minutes to get to the nearest overground stop.

My nearest tube stop is literally less than 200m from my balcony, and I have a 4th balcony.

No lift though.

Get an evening job like bar work?

 

[chaparral]

I don't even have enough to ask a nice girl to have a coffee or something!

If she was a nice girl then she pay for the coffe for you....

 

[krooton]

People's assumptions about London are so out of whack.

I moved down here from Manchester for a job on 22k, found a flat in Zone 2 that is 4th floor, wooden floors, balcony which you can see the shard and the gherkin from, tube stop outside the door and less than 15 minutes to Oxford Circus.

I've since been given a raise but I can more than afford to live here, the difference between having disposable income and being skint all the time is simple budgeting. I have friends who earn almost double what I earn but have zero money because they live in a place that has a more expensive postcode, go to the pub (just the pub - not the theatre or a museum or any of the other million things you can do in London) at least 3 nights a week and have to buy breakfast and lunch every day from Pret a Mange.

Get a travel card on your Oyster, make your lunches and take them to work, eat breakfast at home, don't buy 4 quid coffees and if you go to the pub every night avoid having 3 pints of Koperburg or whatever it is that costs you a bomb.

It's not hard, I'm not talking about budgeting every last penny, living in London is only slightly more expensive than Leeds and Manchester in my experience, as long as you can budget just the slightest little bit.

I've been here almost 11 years.

2002-2004 I had a few jobs all paying under £16k, and it took until 2007 before I broke the £20k mark. Only started earning more than the national average 4 months ago, but I certainly never felt like I couldn't enjoy myself before then.

House-shared until 2010, and my last house-share was a 3-bed flat in Tooting (very nice flat) 10 minutes from the tube, and I had the biggest room for £700 a month all inc, which is also the most I have ever paid for a room.

None of the places I have lived in have been fantastic (Bermondsey, Deptford, Surrey Quays, Manor House, Canary Wharf, Island Gardens, Tooting), but only Deptford was really dodgy.

Maybe rents have risen dramatically since 2010, but I never struggled.