4 ms·

Wow, I am shocked at the low salaries. There go my fantasies of doing software development in London. From what I've read about there's no way I could afford

by Yhippa 13y ago

Wow, I am shocked at the low salaries. There go my fantasies of doing software development in London. From what I've read about there's no way I could afford rents there on that salary.

buro9 13y ago
And yet, I can do a bootstrap startup and my girl is unemployed (just finished her PhD and now looking for an academic position) and we do alright on a combined salary around ~£1.1k per month take home. If you're fine living in Zone 2 or 3 ( the grey concentric circles on this map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/oyster-rail-services-map.pdf http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/oyster-rail-services-... ). Then rent in London: Shared house/apt = ~£650 per month, private apt = ~£1.2k per month. Deals are to be had if you can wait for them and do the legwork... those are the averages my friends pay. Now... on a £40k salary, the PAYE tax calculator here: http://www.listentotaxman.com/ http://www.listentotaxman.com/ shows that you'll be taking home £2.5k per month. You can definitely afford London rent on £40k.
- eterm 13y ago
  You can definitely afford to rent in a shared house or rent a 1-bed, you can't afford rent if you need to support others.
  - buro9 13y ago
    And yet, the post you are replying to shows 2 people living on ~£1.1k Net monthly income in London, and already shows rent isn't as extravagant as people think. You can support someone else, on a single £40k wage, in London, in an 1-bed place (assumes you're supporting a partner). Maybe you can't afford a car, or to eat out several times a week, or to take lots of holidays... but £40k goes pretty far and providing money isn't being spent frivolously it easily supports 2 people in 1 flat in London. When ~£13k per annum can support 2 people, £40k is a very high standard of living for 2 people.
- lucaspiller 13y ago
  I lived in South Wimbledon (the not so nice part, but still better than surrounding areas - i.e. you won't get stabbed) paying £400 for a double bed in a shared house. It is zone 3, so 30 mins to get to zone 1 on the tube, but I liked it.
john_flintstone 13y ago
Contract wages are considerably higher, especially in London. In some cases, twice as high. If you have a little fire in your belly, and don't mind living with some uncertainty and a lot of change in your life, contracting in London can be great -- financially and otherwise. Ex: City (finance) contract rates of £500-£700 per day are far from uncommon, if you have finance experience. Non finance, £400+ per day is not hard to find.
- petercooper 13y ago
  Just for reference, I don't think I've seen a rate of under £400 per day for Ruby/Rails developers, and I used to get £400/450 several years ago when I was still doing that, even outside of London.
- cityboy 13y ago
  Direct contract rates are even higher, somtimes > 100% higher. The pimps (contracting agencies) really screw over contactors on London. My personal experience: went from £30/hr to £100/hr by bypassing the former pimp and contracting directly to a London oil company.
  - petercooper 13y ago
    Yeah, markup of 100% on contracts is not uncommon in London.
klochner 13y ago
they're in pounds - multiply by 1.5

by Yhippa 13y ago

Wow, I am shocked at the low salaries. There go my fantasies of doing software development in London. From what I've read about there's no way I could afford rents there on that salary.

buro9 13y ago

And yet, I can do a bootstrap startup and my girl is unemployed (just finished her PhD and now looking for an academic position) and we do alright on a combined salary around ~£1.1k per month take home. If you're fine living in Zone 2 or 3 ( the grey concentric circles on this map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/oyster-rail-services-map.pdf http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/oyster-rail-services-... ). Then rent in London: Shared house/apt = ~£650 per month, private apt = ~£1.2k per month. Deals are to be had if you can wait for them and do the legwork... those are the averages my friends pay. Now... on a £40k salary, the PAYE tax calculator here: http://www.listentotaxman.com/ http://www.listentotaxman.com/ shows that you'll be taking home £2.5k per month. You can definitely afford London rent on £40k.

eterm 13y ago
You can definitely afford to rent in a shared house or rent a 1-bed, you can't afford rent if you need to support others.
- buro9 13y ago
  And yet, the post you are replying to shows 2 people living on ~£1.1k Net monthly income in London, and already shows rent isn't as extravagant as people think. You can support someone else, on a single £40k wage, in London, in an 1-bed place (assumes you're supporting a partner). Maybe you can't afford a car, or to eat out several times a week, or to take lots of holidays... but £40k goes pretty far and providing money isn't being spent frivolously it easily supports 2 people in 1 flat in London. When ~£13k per annum can support 2 people, £40k is a very high standard of living for 2 people.
lucaspiller 13y ago
I lived in South Wimbledon (the not so nice part, but still better than surrounding areas - i.e. you won't get stabbed) paying £400 for a double bed in a shared house. It is zone 3, so 30 mins to get to zone 1 on the tube, but I liked it.

john_flintstone 13y ago

Contract wages are considerably higher, especially in London. In some cases, twice as high. If you have a little fire in your belly, and don't mind living with some uncertainty and a lot of change in your life, contracting in London can be great -- financially and otherwise. Ex: City (finance) contract rates of £500-£700 per day are far from uncommon, if you have finance experience. Non finance, £400+ per day is not hard to find.

petercooper 13y ago
Just for reference, I don't think I've seen a rate of under £400 per day for Ruby/Rails developers, and I used to get £400/450 several years ago when I was still doing that, even outside of London.
cityboy 13y ago
Direct contract rates are even higher, somtimes > 100% higher. The pimps (contracting agencies) really screw over contactors on London. My personal experience: went from £30/hr to £100/hr by bypassing the former pimp and contracting directly to a London oil company.
- petercooper 13y ago
  Yeah, markup of 100% on contracts is not uncommon in London.

klochner 13y ago

they're in pounds - multiply by 1.5