Moving To Edinburgh - How do ye survive? :P

Shanley

Hi, I am in my early 20s with seven years bar experience and have recently decided I want to move to Edinburgh.

Have been looking up places to live and it seems pretty damn expensive.

After council rates, bills etc I will be paying between £100-£150 a week, looking at wages over there I will be lucky to be on £6.50 an hour :P

Anyone have any experiences of living on min wage in Edinburgh?

Thanks,
Shanley.

djor88

Hi Shanley just wondering if you made the move or found much info on the issue?

stop animal cruelty

would love to live in Edinburgh l havent lived there but its a dear enough city, like Dublin l guess...

Hootanany

Pints are £3.70

djor88

Im planning to move over just before the summer, have been there a good few times now... It's definitely a bit cheaper than Dublin for most things, and accomodation from what i can see is a bit cheaper... The city seems to have more going on than anything here in Ireland at the moment, seems like a great place to live.. I'm just wondering does anyone have experience of moving there and looking for work?

razorblunt

Gumtree for house shares woud be the best for you I'd say. Share the bills and tax.

bluewhitehoops

do you know anyne out there you could stay with?

ladiee24

it's all relative you could live just outside Edinburgh I do & commute in it's an amazing city to be in!

Gordon

ladiee24 wrote: »

it's all relative you could live just outside Edinburgh I do & commute in it's an amazing city to be in!

Are you commuting from Glasgow? I may be doing this commute soon, not looking forward to the journey times as I'll probably be training it. If so, do you train/bus/car? How do you find it, is it bearable?!

ruthiepie

Hello,

Know its been over a month since this has been posted in but said I'd let you know my story!

Moved over to Edinburgh in February 2012. Didn't know anyone or have any job lined up so came over with a few quid in my pocket that I could survive on for a couple of weeks. Initially put myself up in a hotel while I figured out what my next move was.

I sent my CV onto a few agencies before I cam over and had an appt the week I got here when one of them. Luckily for me, they liked my CV (all admin work) and signed me up straight away. I had come over on the Saturday and was placed that next Thursday. Was originally temping (office work) for the first 3-4 months when the job I was temping came up permanent, went for it and for it. There are so many temp jobs available over here, that if you don't mind moving place to place, this will def keep your head above water until you decide what your next move is.

For house share I did find that Gumtree was the best, with council tax and prices of places, I found that house sharing was the better option for me. Bear in mind that this is also very competitive and everyone is going for the same places. I went to see a lot before I found something that I was happy with and people that I wouldn't mind living with (as it turns out, they were also Irish).

I think for National Insurance Number, I had to wait til I was working until I could apply for it (I could be wrong but I think that's what happened). Then I just rang the number for the job centre, made an appt with them and went in with all my documents. Make sure you have everything they request as this could delay things. Within 2-3 weeks I had gotten this.

Bank Accounts were a bit tricky because most of them required proof of address before they signed you up. I had nothing like this at the time but eventually found Barclay's were the only one who would open up a bank account with just my identification. At that stage, I would have opened up a bank account with anyone!!

I think looking for a place was tougher for me than finding a job to be honest. I don't mind taking a crap job to get me by but with living with people, you want to make sure you get it right as most places the minimum contract is 6 months. I have and have been living in the same place since I moved over.

Just bear in mind though, Edinburgh is def not the cheapest place to live in. Don't be expecting to come over and think its so much cheaper than Ireland, honestly I think its about the same. If you are looking at places, be sure to add in the Council Tax as even if your sharing or living on your own, it all adds up. At the moment, I can't afford to live on my own but hopefully in the next year or two, I will be.

Honestly I think Edinburgh was the best move for me. I do still get a bit homesick sometimes but its great to know that if i ever needed to, I can jump on a plane or the ferry and be home within hours!!

That's all I can think of at the moment, but any questions, please ask, I know how scary it is to move over here!!

djor88

Hi ruthiepie, great post with some great info there, cheers for that. I have some friends living in Edinburgh and one of my close mates is moving there this April with his girlfriend. Like you, no jobs lined up, just going and booking into a hostel etc and looking for work straight away.

I've visited Edinburgh about 5 times in the last year and really think it's the place for me. Me and my buddy are planning to head over at the end of June/start of July this year in search of work. I'm hoping to have about €1600 saved up by then to support me while I look for place and job. I'll be able to stay with friends for the first week or so while I get set up, so that should keep costs down a bit.

Do you think the availability of jobs is better in Edinburgh than in Dublin/Ireland from what you can see? I've a lot of retail, sales and office jobs such as admin and customer service, and currently work in a kitchen, so I'd be able to apply for a few different industry jobs. You planning to stay in Edinburgh permanently now that you've settled?

im invisible

Hootanany wrote: »

Pints are £3.70

a pound a pint monday nights, if you know where to look

ruthiepie

djor88 wrote: »

Hi ruthiepie, great post with some great info there, cheers for that. I have some friends living in Edinburgh and one of my close mates is moving there this April with his girlfriend. Like you, no jobs lined up, just going and booking into a hostel etc and looking for work straight away.

I've visited Edinburgh about 5 times in the last year and really think it's the place for me. Me and my buddy are planning to head over at the end of June/start of July this year in search of work. I'm hoping to have about €1600 saved up by then to support me while I look for place and job. I'll be able to stay with friends for the first week or so while I get set up, so that should keep costs down a bit.

Do you think the availability of jobs is better in Edinburgh than in Dublin/Ireland from what you can see? I've a lot of retail, sales and office jobs such as admin and customer service, and currently work in a kitchen, so I'd be able to apply for a few different industry jobs. You planning to stay in Edinburgh permanently now that you've settled?

If you have admin experience, I have found the best agency to deal with and so has everyone else I've come across is 'Blue Arrow'. As far as I know they're the only agency used in the University of Edinburgh and the Council so it is worth putting your CV in there and see if they can find work for you. They constantly have jobs going through to them, I know our office alone has 3 temps at the moment and we've had a lot more over the last couple of months. I can't praise them enough. Again that's just my point of view - other people might prefer other agencies but they never did me any wrong, if it wasn't for them, I might have had to come back home!!

As far as I can see, there are always signs up in pubs and shops so if your prepared to walk around and hand in CV's, I can't see why you shouldn't get something, even just temporary to keep you going. And don't forget, the festival is on here in August and this is the busiest time of the year so everyone should be hiring around that time even if it is just for the couple of weeks. Now I'm not saying its a walk in the park to get a job but I think if your determined enough, your bound to get something. And another thing you'll have to think about is if you can survive on minimum wage which some jobs are, but if you do get a job and can survive it, I highly recommend Edinburgh!

I think at the moment, I'm definitely staying in Edinburgh indefinitely. There's no reason to come home just yet. The only thing I did find it is a bit hard to meet new people but as your coming with your friend, that makes it so much easier to get out there!!

And I can't comment on the price of pints I'm afraid, I don't drink them so not a clue how much they cost.:)

djor88

Cheers, will defo send the CV to Blue Arrow, have about 2 years total experience in office work, mainly sales, customer service and some admin, would be open to anything really to get started you know yourself. Yeah I was over last August for a few days during the Fringe and the place is unreal at that time of year, such a cool atmosphere in the city, love it!

The pints are cheap enough, Bar Salsa particularly, dingy little place on Grassmarket but the pints are like £1.85 or so last time I was there!

razorblunt

FYI seen plenty of part time pub jobs around in case you're stuck for a job for a few weeks.

Gott

If you're absolutely stuck for somewhere to live in Edinburgh, look at the backpackers' hostels. They're like £8 a night and you can request to keep the room for an extended period. Some will even forgo your rent if you agree to work a few hours every week.

I'm looking at going to uni in Edinburgh next year, moving down from Perth, and the prices seem pretty high for rent or food but you shouldn't be stuck for casual work like bar work or restaurants, there's plenty of that in Scotland as a whole.

djor88

I've 2 mates that just moved over 2 weeks ago. They initially stayed in a hostel too, and one of them picked up a job in that hostel, not full time but flexi hours for now, seems to be enough to tide her over. My other pal is still looking for work, mainly looking for admin and office work. He said alot of the shops on the Royal Mile and that area seem to look for bilingual staff, and alot of the bars require past experience. Tescos and the likes have positions but alot of them are only part time hours. He's optimistic though, and I'm sure he'll get something soon...

As far as cost of living etc, I found Edinburgh to be cheaper on a whole than Dublin in regards to food, beer and that, plus if you're living in or around the city centre, everything is close by and transport costs are low!

ladiee24

Hey!

Thought I'd add my experience. I've been living in Scotland since Feb 2010 and I love it here; have done Glasgow, Fife & now moving to Edinburgh in a couple of weeks. It'll be my first time branching out on my own but I'm getting tired of paying £132 a month to travel 4 stops on the train a month plus I'm done with sharing! I've just secured a flat & negotiated the landlord down by £40 a month!

Cost of living is on average about 1/3 cheaper than Dublin for what I've found. Your salary goes much further in the UK on a whole. Edinburgh can be expensive in specific areas I think like any good cosmpolitan city you just need to know where to look. I'd highly recommend not living in a new build property council tax for these properties tends to be much higher & you get better soul in an older tennament flat! Don't let the name tennament turn you off either Edinburgh & Glasgow have done what Dublin should have done & kept all these beautiful buildings as homes! Not let them be torn down for some monstrosity to replace it!

The bus service in Edinburgh is amazing although with the tram works getting around town can be a bit of a nightmare just bare that in mind.

Job wise if you're prepared to work hard you'll pick something up fairly easily. Salaries are lower I took around an €8,000 pay cut moving to Scotland but it's been worth every cent even though now it's pennies I count!

razorblunt

Congrats on coming south of the Forth!
Congrats on getting out of Fife ;-)

ladiee24

Fife isn't all that bad!!!

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

GBOA

ladiee24 wrote: »

Fife isn't all that bad!!!

Aye it is. Full of dirty Fifers who would steal yer grannie if they got half a chance! ; )

Anyway, for anyone moving to Embra, there is a brilliant bus service and perhaps one day, a crap tram service too. Getting into the centre of town is pretty easy so living further out isn't going to cause too many issues if you get work in the centre. Slateford, Gorgie, Newington, Broughton, Easter Road, Leith, Cannonmills, and Stockbridge or all pretty good areas for town.

ladiee24

GBOA wrote: »

Aye it is. Full of dirty Fifers who would steal yer grannie if they got half a chance! ; )

Anyway, for anyone moving to Embra, there is a brilliant bus service and perhaps one day, a crap tram service too. Getting into the centre of town is pretty easy so living further out isn't going to cause too many issues if you get work in the centre. Slateford, Gorgie, Newington, Broughton, Easter Road, Leith, Cannonmills, and Stockbridge or all pretty good areas for town.

that's a bit immature with regards to fife every part of every area can't be perfect! there's some stunning scenery & I've made some wonderful friends in fife!

however would agree that all the places listed above for Edinburgh are good spots to live. moving to Gorgie next weekend myself.

GBOA

ladiee24 wrote: »

that's a bit immature with regards to fife every part of every area can't be perfect! there's some stunning scenery & I've made some wonderful friends in fife!

It's actually called humour but what would I know, being from Fife and all.

I also forgot to mention Polworth/Merchiston as being reasonably good. All those areas are pretty full of student flats so.

ruthiepie

ladiee24 wrote: »

that's a bit immature with regards to fife every part of every area can't be perfect! there's some stunning scenery & I've made some wonderful friends in fife!

however would agree that all the places listed above for Edinburgh are good spots to live. moving to Gorgie next weekend myself.

Aw I like Gorgie, live not far from there and have to say I like this side of the city. If you like going to the cinema (like me) than you should def invest in the Cineworld cinema card, you can go to as many films as you like for £15. I'm broke this week so think I might spend some time catching up on films! And its only in Fountain Park so no distance away from you in Gorgie!!!

razorblunt

Lived in georgie, it's not the prettiest to look at and with locals it seems to have a bad reputation but i never saw anything untoward.

The Caley Sample Rooms is a decent little boozer too.

Gott

Phoenix wrote: »

Anyone studying at the university of Edinburgh?

I might be, I'm still ruminating over Dundee or Edinburgh.

Anyone living in Edinburgh, where's the most reasonable place to live in terms of price?

I've been looking at the student accomodation websites and they seem to vary wildly.

LovexxLife

I saw a dream job of mine and its based in Scotland, Edinburgh for 1 year and the salary their offering is £15,655 just wondering would it be possible to rent a place and live on that for the year?

ladiee24

LovexxLife wrote: »

I saw a dream job of mine and its based in Scotland, Edinburgh for 1 year and the salary their offering is £15,655 just wondering would it be possible to rent a place and live on that for the year?

Depends on where/what type of place you'd like to rent. Living alone might be a bit tight on cost but sharing you should be able to get a decent share for about £450 a month including your bills and council tax.

This is a great website to help you work out take home pay. http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk you've got auto enrolment now as well so you'll have a small percentage of your salary deducted for a pension fund. run of the mill tax code is 1000L hope this helps a little.

NoCrackHaving

I'll be honest, that's quite low pay for Edinburgh, I'd be pushing for closer to 19,000 - 20,000 if you have any wriggle room for a entry level job.

razorblunt

Agreed, I know people that have managed to get flat shares for £450-£550 a month with all bills included, so if you exclude your travel expenses (bus for exampled), so if you take the pessimistic view of paying £550 a month that's £6,600 gone from your pay packet.

Though something like this is £300 a month, looks like it includes the tv and gas but not electric and council tax: http://www.gumtree.com/p/double-room-flatshare/double-room-/1100913444