London on £20k
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- 33 Responses
- isakosmo0
i started on 18k too, but you gotta bear in mind that 18k these days gets you less than 5 years ago.
you can survive on 20k but you'll need to watch your pennies on everything. try cycling to work if you can, cutting costs like transport always helps, do packed lunches, just watch your cash. i started like that and once you got the habit its always handy anyway.
- monoboy0
I started out on £14K about ten years ago. Hope you like cup-a-soup. You don"t have to wait too long before reviews take you up the scale.
Flat share with colleagues, don't go to the pub all the time and shy away from the shops.
Good times though.
- ThePublics0
just stick to the London Fried Chicken and they'll sort you out. Look for the pound for a pint deals, buy your hash wholesale, date younger girls who dont care about money, get your clothes at uniqlo/primark and try to find someone who has a steady hookup for balkan marlboros.
- Or Morleys
Ranger - Hey! I still buy my clothes at Uniqlo.ximeraLabs
- Nothing wrong with Uniqlo.NickInfozure
- Hey, nobody wrote 'nothing wrong with primark'raf
- nobody wrote nothin' (with south london accent?)maikel
- Or Morleys
- Projectile0
I've done it and still get by on not a massive amount more.
he'll have to either live in zone 4 or further.. or get a bicycle and live in zone 2. or close to your work. I personally swear by the cycling thing. that's already over 1k saved..
finding a house with friends is better than finding a room on gumtree unless your mates are wealthier than you, then you'll end up forking out more than even they had planned to.
Get a hipflask. drinks are pricey in bars and clubs. and you'll be very popular in smoking areas where you can't take drinks outside.
never eat out. unless there's a woman in your bed.
- Ranger0
2 years ago I was living in Brockley, lovely 3 bedroom flat with big lounge next to station, shared with 2 other blokes, £375 a month with all bills included. You can find decent and cheap places too live, usually through mates.
- pillhead0
Yeah you can live on 20K in London, but I'm not to sure how mush fun it will be.
- raf0
http://www.blueprintmagazine.co.…
Is he buttering up for a large design contract from the city? :)
- orrinward0
I managed on 15.8k 2 years ago and I lived pretty well.
I lived in New Cross in a shared house (8 bedroom, 6 in use) with a huge garden, 2 kitchens, 3 bathrooms, large basement and a massive living room/dining area.
I went out 3 or 4 nights a week and lived a fairly lavish life for a 20/21 year old student.
It can be done easily if you're clever enough about it.
Tell your friend to go at least Zone 2, and hit either NW, NE or SE.
I'd really recommend South East on that salary. The prices haven;t gone up yet, despite the newly extended tube connections to it. In New Cross specifically (where I'm probably moving back to after my stint in NYC) you can quite easily find a good shared household with nice people for under 400 a month. In my last place I paid 320 and I was 2 minutes walk from the tube and had parking.
- orrinward0
Also, if you don't stick to a small clique of friends and you're outgoing enough to just approach people, things will probably start happening for you.
I would rarely end up paying door covers and would quite often be on a guestlist with a drinks tab if I did go out in Mayfair area.
Play to what bargains are available for you.
- toodee0
Cheers, thanks for the tips.
- babaganush0
plenty of people living in London on 20k and under and not on the breadline...
- DaveO0
I did it on 15K seven years ago. Moved up to around 35K in five and a half years, plus all the other stuff i earned on the side, probably took it to 40K. Now live in New York and earn dollars so it's all irrelevant.
I seemed to be out more on 15K than i was on 35K for some reason, don't know how that works, but getting a bike and being sensible with what you eat is the way to saving mucho quids.
Make no mistake though, being in London opens the world up to you. There are an insane amount of opportunities out there that can take you anywhere and money becomes a really insignificant part of the equation when you're experiencing things that only a capital city like that can offer.
When I graduated i nearly stayed in Nottingham. I didn't get the job I wanted and so HAD to move to London to get work, and i can't imagine how different it would have been had i stayed in the east midlands.
My 2c / 2ps worth