Incoming AN1 this summer. I’m starting to plan for my relocation to London and was wondering how you guys budget. Main expense is rent ofc, I’m planning on sharing with other two/three analysts in walking distance to the city (think Whitechapel, Spitalfields). What’s a reasonable amount to spend on rent? How does the rest of your budget look like? My base is gonna be 65k.
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There are a tonne of threads on this so do some googling.
Long answer, sorry, decided to teach a lesson on budgeting. What I go by is working backwards. I start with what I want to save/pension and I work back from there. Then I go to essentials that I know the cost of like food, internet, bills (harder these days), transport. Then I see what's left. Figure out how much you want to spend on misc (shopping, experiences, going out). Then the number you have left is your rent. If it ends up being too low then, adjust some other expectations. I'll admit this is a super autistic way to go about it, but I think it's a worthwhile process so you feel in control of your spending/budget.
For me this turns out to be £1000 rent, £200 bills (this number will be going up lol), £550 misc, £300 food. Then almost £1500 to savings/investments + £400+ pension contributions of every month.
Clearly I could easily rent somewhere double as expensive without QoL going down but I'd have to save less. Personally I want to save, but you might not want to... so there's no "good amount" to rent.
Short answer: £1-1.6k.
Bro do you sleep on a bunk bed
I get top bunk!
But in all seriousness, I live in a decent building. Large 3 bed apartment but it's not central, at all. Good links though so 25 mins to office, 30 mins to central.
Not really uncommon for people sharing 3 beds to have rents close to 1k from the people I know. But 3 beds are rare and costs go up quite a lot once you start sharing a 2 bed. A 2 bed in my building is like 1.2-1.3k pp/pm.
A decent 2 bed 2 bath close to the city (Shoreditch/Old street/Angel) is c. £2.5k pcm a 3 bed closer to £3.5k pcm. Add another £500 for utilities, council tax etc for the whole apartment.
£1300 to £1500 per month in rent + bills is a reasonable budget for London!
PS: Avoid Whitechapel / Bethnal green its a shithole.
Adding to this cause I lived in Bethnal Green and did not enjoy it. General London advice, you want to be as close to tube lines as possible. If you work in Canary Wharf, I'd seriously consider further East in Stratford where your money will go a lot further in a new build flat in high rise with the Elizabeth line taking you to work in 10-15 minutes. Whitechapel is garbage. Spitalfields is one of my favourite places cause of the market but not sure about pricing living there. If you work in Bank, you could also go south into Southwark area.
I have to agree that anything 1500 and below is a good budget. You should have a lot of options around 1200. The more roommates the further your money goes generally. I'd max my budget if I was close to a tube line and keep it on the lower end if I have a long walk (or bus) to the station.
why tf does everyone flatshare it's so weird, you're on a huge salary for your age, just get your own apartment ffs
1. Living by yourself can be lonely, especially when you work the kind of hours we do.
2. If you're sharing with mates (which most finance people I know do), you get to extend uni-esque life and who doesn't want that. If these are clean people who you like, there are almost zero negatives.
3. It's cheaper and I'd eventually like to buy a house so saving an extra £500+ a month is an absolute no-brainer.
4. I have 50+ more years to "be an adult".
I can definitely see the arguments for living by yourself if your alternative is sharing with strangers but most people I know don't do that because most people end up in London after uni so you don't really have a shortage of potential flatmates.
So, rent is 500£ for me (zone 2 (Clapham/Streatham)). Food is 300£, and then socialising is another 400 ish. So, my cost to live very comfortably is 1200ish. That could let you live well
That's certainly not typical for somewhere half decent even if you're living in ends (certainly not in Clapham)... Considering bills aren't on this list, we're meant to believe that your rent includes bills I guess? For a single person these days were talking £100 a month excluding council tax. So your rent is actually ~£300? 😂. Do you live a shoebox?
A room. bills included
£500 in clapham??? Do you live in the sewer???
Whitechapel is honestly the best mix of affordability, location and things to do. Brick Ln/ shoreditch on you doorstep. And unlike 90% of central London, it has not been gentrified to the point of losing its soul and community feel. Budget completely depends on lifestyle. Would say min. £900 on rent, £75pw for breakfast + lunches, typical pub trip £20-£40, night out like £100 but can vary wildly depending on where you go, +another £20-40 for a restaurant.
It’s funny that there are simultaneously comments saying to avoid Whitechapel, and also those saying Whitechapel is the best place to go.
No, but seriously avoid Whitechapel. Yes, it is walking distance to nice or fun areas (Shoreditch, Brick Lane/Spitalfields, the City), but Whitechapel itself is not nice. The most common place for juniors in investment banks to live is around Shoreditch (genuinely at least 50% of the juniors in my division live there), and I would recommend. I have lived in both Whitechapel and Spitalfields (now living elsewhere).
It also depends on what kind of person you are and your interests. If you’re not very social, into going out to eat/drink or nightlife, or shopping then there’s not going to be much point in staying somewhere like Shoreditch. Others I would recommend would be Marylebone/Fitzrovia, Clerkenwell, and London Bridge/Bermondsey.
Budget wise, you can get a nice 2 bed around Shoreditch near a station for around £2500, premium places (think new, concierge and/or gym) are ~£3000. For 3/4 beds, not sure, have not looked for a while, but likely a lot cheaper per person. It’s possible to find cheaper but you will sacrifice on some things. Unfortunately this is a lot higher than just a couple years ago. Add another ~£200pcm each for bills. Hope this helps.
What about Elephant and Castle? I hear it’s quite decent with easy access to the City and Central and buildings are quite modern for a decent price (1.2-1.3k).
Yes, I’d say Elephant is infinitely better than Whitechapel, Canada Waters is very nice too with new apartments and good train links.
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