I'm late to respond, but I hear you. I mostly work with startups or startup-like projects. The few gigs I had in Finance I found the day-to-day to be lacking a

I'm late to respond, but I hear you. I mostly work with startups or startup-like projects. The few gigs I had in Finance I found the day-to-day to be lacking any meaningful challenge. The only plus was the higher pay. And it seemed like the less attractive the role, the larger the sum that was placed on the table. On the job front, you'd be surprised what you can earn in London NOT doing finance. Start contracting. There is a lot of work, in or out of IR-35. There is a lot of interesting work too. And the best part - remote work is becoming more and more viable. I have not been in an office in nearly two years. On the city front - that is harder for me to relate. I love living in London, but I don't live at the heart of the City. I live on the outskirts (within M25), next to the river, two massive parks, yet still a 15 minute walk to a major town and 30 minute train ride to central London. Rents in central London are not reasonable. Here they are more palatable. Change your job to a place that allows you to remote and you can live anywhere. You're looking at things from a slightly 2018 point of view. We're not there anymore I don't think.