Living and working in London

ncc98071

Hi

I am considering a move to london,Doing tech support at the moinute in Dublin,Have about 2 years experience.See jobs going in London with wages of about 25k.Would this be enough for London,And any possibilities of saving cos I have huge loans to pay off after a year travelling.Any help would be really appreciated

WhiteWashMan

write your self a budget and see what you can afford to live on.

only then will you know if it can be done or not, and it will at least give you an idea of the minimum amount of money you can afford to take a job on.

for ideas on moving to the UK see the sticky thread on the subject.

Ida

howaye,
living and working in london just over a year... if your salary is £25k you should be grand. it all depends on how and where you wanna live... rents nearer the city in nice areas are obviously more expensive than rents further from the city. But then there's travel to consider... it all goes in zones and you get travelcards for a day/week/month/year, which are valid on all buses, including nightbuses, trains and tubes for those zones - works out well if you travel about a bit. when thinking of rent, also think of council tax - it goes by the house/apt, the area and the number of people living there - so if 1 person is living in a 2 bed, it'll be less than if 4 people are living there. Can't really give you an average but for 2 people in a 1 bed apt in E1 (near the city) it was £100 per month for 10 months by direct debit and the last 2 months are free.

For entertainment and food and all that, you can live cheaply or expensively in London, so you'll survive while you pay off the loan(s). Clubs are open all night and there are loadsa gigs and festivals around.... some are free, but not many... clubs can be free, but are cheaper than dublin anyway and are so much better and more worth it. loadsa art galleries and museums are free and loadsa parks to hang about it while you're unemployed scum.

general pointers:

check out www.loot.co.uk to get an idea of places to live
check out www.multimap.co.uk for maps of areas you can search by postcode (best) or street name or area
check out a site with the postal codes as this will tell you where everything is - e.g. E1 = East 1 = Eastside near the city centre - but still check a map to be sure
remember that the tube map is not geographically accurate
try to find a place near the tube station - buses are great, but the tube is best and easiest for getting places or people getting to you
try to get a place that isnt too far from where you work or you'll be paying for loadsa travel in time and money
bring all the documentation you can find to prove you are who you say you are and you lived at the last address you lived in - bank statements, paid bills, etc.
you can't get hire purchase for 3 years - no credit history
when you get a phone, check out all the deals as some will ask you for a huge deposit cause you've no credit history (t-mobile are good) - btw they're not allowed check your credit hisotry in any other country
note that every time you're refused something (like a phone account, hirepurchase, etc) it's a black mark on your credit history - you don't want 3!
get a job before opening a bank account as they will give you a better deal


can't think of anything else helpful right now, but let me know ifyou wanna know anything.....

rafter,
ida