Greetings from the Boondocks- a question for you City types:

How much does London actually cost? I know that the cost of living is higher and that salaries generally reflect this; I also know that most of my mates there reckon their standard of living is lower than if they were doing the same job in a different UK city. All I know is that a weekend visiting the bastards (who are obviously incapable of leaving the place) cleans me out.

My reason for asking- I've just been offered (and all but accepted) an HR internship with a company based in Tower Bridge. If, hypothetically speaking, they were willing to pay me £23k for said internship, and I'm currently hypothetically earning £18k in Bristol, am I going to be about square when all is said and done and 'London weighting' has done its thing?

No you'll be worse off. London is £10k more expensive

You can survive on £23k, but you have to accept a lower level of living/luxuries, less disposable income, smaller flat, higher outgoings for socialising. However it depends on your standards and requirements. I have a slightly higher basic standard of living that I accept, but some things I prioritise (food for example) others I don't (going out on a pissup), so it's a balance. If you're good at budgeting and good with money, you'll be fine. If you piss it up the wall every weekend, you'll struggle.

Spit - You will be better off.

How

Rent a room. Tower Bridge is a VERY GOOD location - as its close to a few main line stations.

If you want to rent a two bed which is around 20 mins into Tower Bridge you can get it for 700-900 a month

If you want to flat share - you can get away with 500-600 for a place in Canary Wharf with another person...excellent place to live for your age group, alot to do, excellent social env, key in terms of getting eveywhere around london and onto Motorways etc.

It will all depend on your fixed costs and how fancy you want to be.

I certainly wouldnt stay right near TB unless flat sharing. You can get some really nice apartments on the stations going out of TB and there there with a max 20 min train ride.

I imagine london is full of bike thieves- so if the steed comes, insure the little lady

I am incensed that I am buying bud. At £2.50 a throw- robbin cnuts!
Fuel is much cheaper down saaaarfff, like 3 to 5p cheaper per litre at the pumps- what the. Fuck is that about!

There are house/flat-shares for less than 500 a month all over the place.

Transport is likely to cost you 80-100/month depending on where you're living and working. You could probably find a flat share within walking distance of Tower Bridge, in which case you're laughing.

Other than that it's really no different to Bristol. You'll probably find you'll be going out a lot when you first move down, but that's like anywhere. You'll just have to live within your means.

Rent is the real killer for me but I'm happy to pay more to live somewhere nice.

Do it - living in London is awesome

Cheers all- I appreciate it's a bit of a 'piece of string' question as there are so many variables, but it sounds like I won't exactly be destitute, which is nice. My major partying days are behind me now, so I can't see myself waxing all my money on booze. I think that transport will be the heavy hitter, along with rent- I'm paying £210/month for my current place in Briz!


Ollie, I'll no doubt bother you further for more info nearer the time, but for now if you can keep one ear open for anyone looking for a flatmate from the beginning of Sept, I'd be much obliged.

Will do mate.

Only thing I would say about the cost of living in London is that you'll want to be earning a decent wedge to make the most of it, but you can definitely get by to start with.

Spit - keep an eye on Gumtree for flats and shares. the London region obv

Rab wrote:How much is a 1 or 2 bedroom flat to Rent in the centre of London then appx?

Now you are asking!

anything from 600 to 50,000 a week and i aint kidding

But it all depends on where.

You can get a really nice 2 bedroom flat with all and sundry in Canary Wharf for around £1200 or you can get a decent 1 bed say 15 mins from Bond Street at about £1000 a month but it will be VERY small.

Staying in central is never a good idea mate - always commute in by about 15 mins and youll get yourself a nice place.

friend of mine just moved into a place at Swiss Cottage - £1800 a month - I kid you not its like just one large room with partition walls. total rip off but you pay for its location.

Location is the biggest factor but then I've no idea why anyone would want to live in the centre of London (unless you had megabucks and could spank £2k a week+ on rent).

My flat at the moment is pretty spacious, finished to a good spec, 2 bed/2 bath with off-st parking in a gated development. 5 mins from Clapham High St - £1600 pcm. A similar place in a central location in Bristol would cost around 900 I guess.

Rab wrote:£1600 for a 2 bedromm flat is frightening to me lol

We ha a 2nd house that we rent out for £400 a month. Ex council house...3 double bedrooms, dining room semi furnished lol pretty big family home

Glasgow City centre and i mean bang in the city centre will cost you maybe 700-800 a month for a nice 1-2 bed place

It's mad mate, Ollie is sharing I believe, but even so that's a big chunk of money

It's definitely going to be a shock to the system!

Jules- can't see the bike coming with me as I'll be carless anyway; will probably leave her at my parents' in Cambridge so that I can ride Chicksands / Aston Hill on the odd weekend. If there's a BMX track or similar nearby then I may look at buying a cheap hardtail to get my jollies on.

After a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth I finally have a place sorted in a nice flat in Finsbury Park. Anyone know of a gym in that neck of the woods that doesn't suck?

Spit wrote:After a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth I finally have a place sorted in a nice flat in Finsbury Park. Anyone know of a gym in that neck of the woods that doesn't suck?

hmmm not bad - just dont be eye balling the wrong people in Haringay

You got the VA and FF nearby

http://www.thefitmap.co.uk/healthclubs/ ... y-Park.htm

best bet would be to take a day out when you are there and visit them all - say you are thinking of signing up and see what they are willing to offer. DONT sign into a 12 month though.

Spit wrote:After a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth I finally have a place sorted in a nice flat in Finsbury Park. Anyone know of a gym in that neck of the woods that doesn't suck?

When do you move down mate?

ollie wrote:

Spit wrote:After a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth I finally have a place sorted in a nice flat in Finsbury Park. Anyone know of a gym in that neck of the woods that doesn't suck?

When do you move down mate?

Next Sunday, the 5th. Start work on the 6th. Currently clearing out my house in Bristol- cleaned our bathroom yesterday, that was 'character-building'...!