5 ms·

> I do wonder whether people feel trapped. Whether they feel trapped I'm not sure but a girl I used to date worked in the city and she was definitely trapped.

> I do wonder whether people feel trapped. Whether they feel trapped I'm not sure but a girl I used to date worked in the city and she was definitely trapped. She worked for a large bank in the finance sector and felt she had to play keep up with her colleagues and more importantly her managers on the social scene. This meant that she would often go out to dinner/drinks a couple of times a week. Obviously you need to dress smartly to work in the city, so had a clothes bill too. Lunches, make up, hair dos, nails, yoga and so on. It all adds up She was probably earning somewhere in the region of £50k, which isn't bad I guess, but used credit cards and loans to keep up appearances. I felt that she was locked in, with no choice but to continue working in London to earn the money to pay the bills she couldn't afford.

rogy 10y ago
This is incredible representative of the London I know. 20-somethings earning huge salaries compared to other people of their age around the country, but with a much lower quality of life once you remove the 'social' (drinks/eating out) aspect.
- madaxe_again 10y ago
  I was holding down four jobs to "keep up" - the day job, freelance development, nightclub impresario, electronics refurbishment and resale. It worked. I found myself rubbing shoulders with a-listers, throwing parties for royalty, launching gallery exhibitions, renting out the likes of Chinawhite, Boujis, roof gardens, raffles, blah blah. Then I realised my head was disappearing up my own arse, that I was always exhausted, that I wasn't actually enjoying this, that I had a cocaine problem, and I hated these shallow, boring people who I was becoming one of. Sometimes the only way to discover the true nature of something or yourself is to take it to its absolute extreme. You can muddle along in the middle forever, until you drown or just get bored of swimming.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
BjoernKW 10y ago
There's a TV miniseries about that very subject called Wired.
sleeping_pills 10y ago
London is perfectly fine on a 50k salary, provided you don't try to keep up with people who earn 3-4 times as much. It sounds to me that she was on an entry level or clerical/secretarial position (nothing wrong with that), but that's not what is usually associated with people who work in finance. The solution there is not necessarily to move out of London, but simply realize that in banks in London you are going to be surrounded by people earning >150k (and often much more) and there is no point in trying to keep up with them on a 50k budget.
- UVB-76 10y ago
  £50k is a pretty awkward salary to live on in London. It's enough to live quite comfortably in a house/flat share, or if you share a single bed apartment with a partner, but if you live independently (in a studio or single bed) you're still firmly in "mere existence" territory, unlikely to be able to add much to savings each month.
  - alexbilbie 10y ago
    £50k after taxes (and student loan) is ~£2750/month. If you're prepared to live South of the river (which contrary to popular belief isn't the end of the world) flat prices are in my area (SE4) around £800-1200/month which if you're sharing can still leave you over £1500/month disposable cash.
    - UVB-76 10y ago
      For a decent one bed flat anywhere in Zone 2/3 you're looking at £1500pcm. Let's be charitable and say that includes bills and council tax. That leaves £1250pcm disposable. At least £100 will go on a Travelcard. If you're sensible, you'll be putting some money away in a pension as well. Let's say another £100 of net income. That really doesn't leave much to lead a lifestyle commensurate with a young professional earning £50k. Yes, you can scrimp and save, but even then you're not going to be putting more than £500 away in savings each month. At that rate, it would take you upwards of 10 years to save even a measly 10% deposit on a £600k property (which, at this rate, would get you an even worse one bed flat than the one you're renting).

rogy 10y ago

This is incredible representative of the London I know. 20-somethings earning huge salaries compared to other people of their age around the country, but with a much lower quality of life once you remove the 'social' (drinks/eating out) aspect.

madaxe_again 10y ago
I was holding down four jobs to "keep up" - the day job, freelance development, nightclub impresario, electronics refurbishment and resale. It worked. I found myself rubbing shoulders with a-listers, throwing parties for royalty, launching gallery exhibitions, renting out the likes of Chinawhite, Boujis, roof gardens, raffles, blah blah. Then I realised my head was disappearing up my own arse, that I was always exhausted, that I wasn't actually enjoying this, that I had a cocaine problem, and I hated these shallow, boring people who I was becoming one of. Sometimes the only way to discover the true nature of something or yourself is to take it to its absolute extreme. You can muddle along in the middle forever, until you drown or just get bored of swimming.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

BjoernKW 10y ago

There's a TV miniseries about that very subject called Wired.

sleeping_pills 10y ago

London is perfectly fine on a 50k salary, provided you don't try to keep up with people who earn 3-4 times as much. It sounds to me that she was on an entry level or clerical/secretarial position (nothing wrong with that), but that's not what is usually associated with people who work in finance. The solution there is not necessarily to move out of London, but simply realize that in banks in London you are going to be surrounded by people earning >150k (and often much more) and there is no point in trying to keep up with them on a 50k budget.

UVB-76 10y ago
£50k is a pretty awkward salary to live on in London. It's enough to live quite comfortably in a house/flat share, or if you share a single bed apartment with a partner, but if you live independently (in a studio or single bed) you're still firmly in "mere existence" territory, unlikely to be able to add much to savings each month.
- alexbilbie 10y ago
  £50k after taxes (and student loan) is ~£2750/month. If you're prepared to live South of the river (which contrary to popular belief isn't the end of the world) flat prices are in my area (SE4) around £800-1200/month which if you're sharing can still leave you over £1500/month disposable cash.
  - UVB-76 10y ago
    For a decent one bed flat anywhere in Zone 2/3 you're looking at £1500pcm. Let's be charitable and say that includes bills and council tax. That leaves £1250pcm disposable. At least £100 will go on a Travelcard. If you're sensible, you'll be putting some money away in a pension as well. Let's say another £100 of net income. That really doesn't leave much to lead a lifestyle commensurate with a young professional earning £50k. Yes, you can scrimp and save, but even then you're not going to be putting more than £500 away in savings each month. At that rate, it would take you upwards of 10 years to save even a measly 10% deposit on a £600k property (which, at this rate, would get you an even worse one bed flat than the one you're renting).