Is it possible to survive in London with £16K a year?
Your honest opinion please.
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Assuming your post-tax salary is 16k/yr = 1300/mth, yes you can. Find cheap accomodation in london (~800gbp/mth all in) and get a bike to save on transport. That leaves about 500gbp/mth for food which is OK.
As a student I paid 600 a month for my flat (last tube station in zone 1!) and 85 for the oyster monthly pass. Another 35 for the gym, 15 for the phone which amounts to 735. Another 30 per week for sainsbury's / tesco shopping (groceries), which is 855 for "fixed" expenses. Add another small stuff that you need to buy (grooming, whatever, you'll be at around 880-900 of fixed expenses. Going out at least once per week will cost you about GBP60-90 per night if you pre game. Going for a good burger at meat liquor or shake shack will cost you around GBP15 for dinner, same for some indian or thai stuff. You won't be able to have a badass life at good restaurants and nice clubs in the west, but it is possible to live on that budget somewhere around bricklane / shoreditch / whitechapel area, while still being close to the city centre.
Not to mention, zero savings.
Exactly. 16k is ok for a year or so (f.e. assuming you are a student), but that's pretty much it.
Is it possible to survive anywhere with just £16K a year?
If you can live with little to no social life then yes. Otherwise, no. You'll be left with about £200 a month after expenses which for going out on London prices will be ridiculously hard.
Yes.
Would you want to if not a student, no.
I'm guessing it's as a student as 16k post tax amounts to around 19k gross. 16k as a student is decent. Keyword: predrink.
Yes. I work in IBD, and my current expenditure per month is :
Rent (incl. utilities) - £500. I live 5 stops on the subsway (ie. c.10-15 mins) from central london, in a flatshare with 2 other guys. House is very good quality for the price, very clean with good decor. I found my place by combing literally every ad on the Spareroom site. There are a lot more good and super cheap places like mine out there.
Food - £200 - £250. If you work in IB though you will have some subsidised, so net cost might be around £150.
Travel (ie. underground/buses) - £125-£150
Those are the essentials so everything else is technically discretionary spending. On £16k that leaves you with around £450-£500/month discretionary income. My only other recurring costs are my cell bill (£20/month), gym (£20/month), and costs of my social life. So yes, more than possible to live in London on £16k post tax, you just have to keep track of your spending.
edit: why does WSO replace the pound sign with "PS" lol?
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