3 ms·

Not on topic, but can you point me to some information about the spending habits of someone making that much in a city which I understand is fairly expensive?

dijit 7y ago
How much money? 26k? I was living in a shared house in Lewisham; which is not an attractive area of the city, the house itself was fairly run-down and there was no heating (electricty would power off because it was on a meter). This room cost me 400gbp/mo, and I put 20gbp for electric and 20gbp for gas in the meters every month. Food was relatively cheap, at most another 400gbp/mo Phone contract was 30gbp/mo, that was my entire outgoing essentially. 1,700gbp was my net salary (roughly) so I had around 20-30% of that to "play" with, most of it went on trains to see my family or taking girls out for expensive dinners though.
- fyfy18 7y ago
  I lived in a London 10 years ago, and both salary and expenses were pretty similar. There are a lot of cheap or free (public museums and art galleries are free) things you can do in London if you know where to look. Unlike SF travel is a heck of a lot cheaper, because there is usable public transport. I lived in zone 3 and worked in zone 1 and typically paid no more than £20/week for travel (usually by train or tube) - compare this to SF where a single Uber trip across town could be that. I was there again last year for a few months as a contractor, and prices hadn't changed that much other than housing: This time I rented a studio in zone 2 which was £1200/mo. It included water and heating, and I paid around £20/mo for electricity (with a pre-pay meter so quite expensive). This was a short term contract though, for long term I saw similar places for £1000/mo or less. I usually ate out for lunch, which was £5-£10/day. I would cook dinner, spending around £20/week on groceries. Coffee was around £2.50 for a cappucino. Sometimes I walked to work, getting breakfast out on the way which was another £2 or so. I took the bus, cycled or walked to work, so my travel expenses were under £15/week. I'd go home to my family at weekends, so can't comment on 'going out' costs. Compared to before it isn't that much different. You can live quite well as a single person on £1500/mo in London. That's leaving nothing on the table and is above the living wage, so you can see where the problems come from.
ubercow13 7y ago
1600 take home a month tube travel card is 150 rent for a room in a shared house in zone 2 might be 600-800 food 300-400, no eating out Basically spending habits include not spending whenever possible and staying at home a lot.

dijit 7y ago

How much money? 26k? I was living in a shared house in Lewisham; which is not an attractive area of the city, the house itself was fairly run-down and there was no heating (electricty would power off because it was on a meter). This room cost me 400gbp/mo, and I put 20gbp for electric and 20gbp for gas in the meters every month. Food was relatively cheap, at most another 400gbp/mo Phone contract was 30gbp/mo, that was my entire outgoing essentially. 1,700gbp was my net salary (roughly) so I had around 20-30% of that to "play" with, most of it went on trains to see my family or taking girls out for expensive dinners though.

fyfy18 7y ago
I lived in a London 10 years ago, and both salary and expenses were pretty similar. There are a lot of cheap or free (public museums and art galleries are free) things you can do in London if you know where to look. Unlike SF travel is a heck of a lot cheaper, because there is usable public transport. I lived in zone 3 and worked in zone 1 and typically paid no more than £20/week for travel (usually by train or tube) - compare this to SF where a single Uber trip across town could be that. I was there again last year for a few months as a contractor, and prices hadn't changed that much other than housing: This time I rented a studio in zone 2 which was £1200/mo. It included water and heating, and I paid around £20/mo for electricity (with a pre-pay meter so quite expensive). This was a short term contract though, for long term I saw similar places for £1000/mo or less. I usually ate out for lunch, which was £5-£10/day. I would cook dinner, spending around £20/week on groceries. Coffee was around £2.50 for a cappucino. Sometimes I walked to work, getting breakfast out on the way which was another £2 or so. I took the bus, cycled or walked to work, so my travel expenses were under £15/week. I'd go home to my family at weekends, so can't comment on 'going out' costs. Compared to before it isn't that much different. You can live quite well as a single person on £1500/mo in London. That's leaving nothing on the table and is above the living wage, so you can see where the problems come from.

ubercow13 7y ago

1600 take home a month tube travel card is 150 rent for a room in a shared house in zone 2 might be 600-800 food 300-400, no eating out Basically spending habits include not spending whenever possible and staying at home a lot.