# is 45K GBP enough for a single nyc gal in london?



## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Hi All

Hope you've all had a great holiday 

Im a NY'er who's moving to london v soon. I've taken a bit of a pay cut for this adventure which puts me closer to where I want to be (closer to fam/friends in EU) and I know I'll have to be frugal for 1-2 years before I get closer to my NYC equiv salary but I'd really appreciate your input on how you see this number for someone who:

- wants to live centrally/central'ish 
- prefers a flat-share (an en-suite room) to get better acquainted w/ locals/local culture 
- I currently walk to work in nyc and want to bike or walk to work (i'll be working in canary wharf so I'd love to hear your opinion of which neibs are best for walking to CW yet close to city central. and are wapping, poplar, shadwell, limehouse safe for a single woman @ night)
- drinks or dinner out with friends @ low to moderately priced restos 2x a week and an occasional hot-spot 
- i'm 35'ish y.o. so Im over the club scene but like the wine-bar & hotel-bar vibe. or cards of humanity w/ friends @ home 
- hair/nails done 1 a week
- able to save some cash
- travel to a new eu city 1 weekend a month
- catch a football match once every 2-3 months

THANKS!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Generally speaking £45k gross in London, which is about £33,200 net or £2,770 a month, is for a single person more than enough for a reasonably comfortable but by no means lavish lifestyle in London. Rent will be your major item, and flat-share will obviously make it more affordable. Another is commuting. Central London is generally expensive for a night out, but there are cheaper places if you look.


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## chiefteaofficer (May 27, 2014)

- wants to live centrally/central'ish 

Plenty of areas you can live near Canary Wharf and walk (20 min or less).

- prefers a flat-share (an en-suite room) to get better acquainted w/ locals/local culture

This will save you significantly and you should be able to find something for ~£1,000/mo or a bit less (depending on your standards of niceness/area you choose etc).

- I currently walk to work in nyc and want to bike or walk to work (i'll be working in canary wharf so I'd love to hear your opinion of which neibs are best for walking to CW yet close to city central. and are wapping, poplar, shadwell, limehouse safe for a single woman @ night)

Those neighbourhoods are fine, but any neighbourhood in London can have a bad bit. It can be really nice and then just a couple of "blocks" later be suddenly not so nice, then a couple more blocks and it's nice again. That's how London is all over the place. But all 4 you have listed are nice areas (with few bad bits). Just make sure you choose a flat in a clearly nicer area (go see it first if you can?).

- drinks or dinner out with friends @ low to moderately priced restos 2x a week and an occasional hot-spot 

This will get expensive. What is a moderately-priced restaurant to you? Cheap restaurants in London are usually around £9-12 (Nando's/Wagamama level) for a meal, moderate can be anywhere from £15-25 (for a main - more if you want drinks, appetisers, etc.) and of course there are much more expensive restaurants than these.

- i'm 35'ish y.o. so Im over the club scene but like the wine-bar & hotel-bar vibe. or cards of humanity w/ friends @ home 

Canary Wharf is full of those types of bars, so you should find plenty to hang out in.

- hair/nails done 1 a week

I'm sure you can find cheap places to do this (at least nails) but this could also get quite expensive if done weekly.

- able to save some cash

I think you'll see quickly how expensive London is if you want to go out often and saving is quite hard if spending on eating out, hair/nails, holidays, etc.

- travel to a new eu city 1 weekend a month

This can be cheap to do, especially if you can get a rail card to use within the UK and then use cheap airlines like easyjet, ryanair etc to fly throughout Europe, but I think with all the other entertainment expenses you have weekly/monthly, this may become more expensive.

- catch a football match once every 2-3 months

No idea what this costs - probably not that much at such a low rate.


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## KHP (Oct 25, 2012)

You should be fine but won't be able to save much if you do all the things you mentioned. The areas you mentioned are fine to live and cycle to Canary Wharf on a daily basis. Wapping or Shadwell are slightly nicer than Limehouse in my opinion. You could think about Greenwich too which would be a nicer place to spend your weekends and is close enough to Canary Wharf to cycle.
There are many bars in Canary Wharf and when I worked there a few years ago a lot my salary was spent there!

Good luck!


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Thanks for the help guys! 

This helps a lot!!! On the plus side I'll most likely rev a £8-10k bonus @ year end but don't want to count that in. 

Ya sadly 'fun' often has a price (be it monetary or not) so I'm a bit scared of the resto bills I'll see :disappointed: 
In NYC I usually spend the equiv of £25-40 2x a week at drinks or dinner with an occasional £55 dinner on special occasions (friends birthday dinner etc).

Also re groceries: I did a weekly shopping list comparison of Aldi & my local market (food emporium or as we like to call I'll 'rich emporium') & noticed that my weekly shooping list at Aldi is cheaper ... By £41!! Can this be true? Aldi is that cheap? I imagine Tesco & whiterose (sp?) are more expensive than Aldi?

And thank you for the neib info. Hmm, I thought limehouse would be nicer (I see so many of what would be considered new/lux flats, on the market). I hear tower hill is fun so I was thinking of limehouse or Shadwell so that I can walk to work & to TH @ night... & perhaps to borough mkt on a weekend. (I often walk from Times Square to the east village which is about 2-3 miles/3-5KM). Is that normal for Londoners? To walk for an hour from point to point? Was thinking I could walk from tower hill at Katherine's docks to Shadwell/limehouse... Would that be dangerous at night for a single woman? (as a native NY'er I know 'safety' is relative but would love your opinion). 

Thank you all so very much!!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Aldi is a discounter and usually not located in places of high real estate, though you can do a search on https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/about-aldi/useful-information/store-locator/.
I think the nearest is Old Kent Road in South London, some miles away from Central London.


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Ahh there's the catch 
So road trip to Aldi 2x a month it is!

So this is what I'm figuring per month:
(Frugal)
Food £150-175
Phone £50
Savings £200
Oyster £80 (since I'll walk to work & tower hill)
Taxi allowance £50 (2-3 times a month)
Hair/nails £150 (3-4x a month)
Travel £250-300
Shop £100
Fun £600-800 (restos/wine-bars concerts/ museums) 
Rent (en suite close to work w/ water or garden view) 900-1100 bills included

Does this sound daft?

(And is it relatively safe for a single gal to walk from tower hill to limehouse/Shadwell @ night)

Thank you!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

£200 to £300 in food is more realistic.
I wouldn't let my adult daughter walk alone from Tower Hill at night. It may be safer than South Bronx but still.


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Btw just read UK law requires you donate 8% to company pension scheme. Is that true? If so that changes everything


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

There is no such law.


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## Zara2013 (Jul 18, 2013)

Wlaking ...depends what time at night you plan to do this. Don't walk late at night alone. Also, if you are going to Aldi in old kent road you can also get your nails done cheap. Venture out of central and you will get a good deal for nails £10 manicure. Food shopping try Lidl and Asda. Get your self also Sainsbury card Nectar- everytime you shop (not necessarily sainsbury but few other shops) you get points which you can redeem at checkouts if you are short few pounds or even pay for your entire shopping with points. Good one to have!


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Phew!


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## Zara2013 (Jul 18, 2013)

Overwhelmed. ..well there is a lot more but you will find out from work colleagues etc. Other little tricks. You definitely should try traveling with Ryanair. If you don't mind economic class then travelling to europe for less than £50 return ..Ryanair is your airline! Also wizzair is cheap.


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Thank you!


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Thanks Zara
Btw what do you think of my budget vs salary idea?

Thanks again


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## Pallykin (Mar 30, 2014)

Someone I know who just spend 4 months living in Gravesend, Kent mentioned that she was paying £50/week for groceries, and that was limited meat, shopping at ALDI or sometimes Asda. She said this was strictly food, not things like shampoo or household cleaning products.


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## Zara2013 (Jul 18, 2013)

Budget is fine although 600-800 on going out etc. Might be too high. Museums are free unless there is a special exhibition then it would be wise to get an annual pass if you will be see more than one special exhibition. 
Most of your budget will go towards rent. Also your budget will vary each month- you might have money left over to save more. See how you get on with this budget one month and then find out where you can save or where you can spend a little extra. I know from my personal experience my groceries shopping varies each month. I like to cook and don't buy ready meals etc. I also go out to eat but depends how often etc. I like to travel as well so buying railway card in advance to save money and definitely travelling via cheap air for short breaks to europe again planning in advance to get a best deal. In London is all about shopping around and trying new things. You can even get your nails done ata local college for £3 so the word is shop around. Once you get here your current budget might be too high in some areas but shortfall in others. You will find out once you are here to organise your budget again accordingly. Good luck x


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## chiefteaofficer (May 27, 2014)

Eh I think it's fine to walk alone in those areas at night. London is just not that bad for crime compared to a lot of cities in America (in my opinion and experience). The areas you mentioned are relatively well-to-do, especially St Katharine's Dock/Tower Hill area. 

There's a huge Waitrose by St Katharine's Dock which is really nice. More expensive than Lidl/sainsbury/asda but much better food. Tesco is cheap but I find that I don't even want to buy my produce there (and I am cheap) because it's pretty gnarly. I avoid tesco for fresh/healthy foods. I'm originally from Seattle and my husband and I got married in NYC. I think NYC has some of the most expensive groceries I have ever seen anywhere. Seattle is more expensive than London in my experience (we spend a lot less here than I did back home), and London has really cheap groceries (for actual real, healthy food not processed stuff). The only times I've had a really high bill is places like Waitrose that are not located in London (ie way outside London). Otherwise, I find it all to be cheaper. Depending on what you are buying you can probably get groceries for 50/week.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

St Katherine's Dock is fine but not all the way to Limehouse, as you walk through some dodgy areas.


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## jillllllllll (May 5, 2014)

Hey there,

As someone who just made the NYC->LON move this summer, I'd say you'll be fine on 45k if you're single. You just need to do your homework (like you assumably did in NYC). Groceries are definitely cheaper here, as is going out (IMHO). Use Uber for cabs, and use "Wahanda" for hair/nail appointments (similar to Lifebooker). Walking to work/back is definitely a possibility - especially since Canary Wharf is like the FiDi of London. The apartments in CW are the closet thing you'll get to Manhattan luxury apartments. I personally think the rent is a lot cheaper than Manhattan (I was actually priced out of manhattan in my last year because I wanted my own place/not to share, so I moved to Hoboken). The tube is a million times better than the subway, and often you'll realize that you don't even need to take a tube - walking is much more doable than you realize. While I miss family and friends in NYC, I think it's a better lifestyle for sure. So many cool neighborhoods (especially for the 27+ club) and so many fun people. Enjoy! 

Feel free to PM me if you need any more details!


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## chiefteaofficer (May 27, 2014)

Rent is definitely cheaper than Manhattan and way cheaper than San Francisco! If you look you can find a nicely sized 1 bd in Zone 1 in a not bad area for £1200-1300. NY you will usually pay insane amounts for that. I know some guys living in Morningside Heights who have had their same place for 10 yrs who pay a little over $3000 (2 bd) but only because it's rent controlled. I don't even know what it would cost if it were today's prices. And Morningside Heights isn't even very central to the city. It's nuts.


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

*thx*

Can i just say you guys are great! EXTREMELY helpful tips/advice! what would we newbies do w/o you?!

so up my budget for groceries
scope out the walk from StK docks to limehouse/CW (put my best brooklyn hood-face on)
get myself 1 of those railcards (asap!) 
use uber & wahanda (3gbp mani?!!!! heaven)

Chief Tea Officer: yes, I'm a native NY'er & i have a rent controlled 2br in times sq which is why i cant fathom paying more than 1100gbp for a central & decent 1br apartment rental (spoiled, i admit it & i'm not proud of it  ) which is making me cringe at the rental prices in zone 1 (especially near borough mkt... wth?). For those prices Its better to buy.

Jill you're so right about Manhattan highrises vs CW/limehouse flats. & thank you for offering to give more help. I don't think i can PM yet, but wen i can, I will.

BTW: i know you cant trust 90% of what you read on the "internets" but i read that expats need to stay in UK territory for a total of 90 days from arrival? is that true? no traveling outside UK/GB for 3 months, upon arrival?

thanks


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Your rental budget of £900-1100/ month for your portion of a 2 bedroom share and what you hope to get for it - utilities included, en-suite and a view - is optimistic/unrealistic for the neighborhoods you are looking at. It's reasonable for a 2 bedroom flat with 1 bath in those neighborhoods excluding utilities. Also in addition to utilities you will have to pay council tax which is paid in 10 monthly installments over the year. It varies by borough. You should expect it to be £1000-1500/year. I have a friend who lives in the Tower Hill area and I agree with Joppa, I do not walk around there at night by myself. Period. 

There is no rule that you can't leave the UK for 3 months after initial arrival.


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Thanks NYCLON. I try not to believe everything I read but Ive lived in LatAm so have learned that anything is possible lol.


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## vero75 (Jan 6, 2015)

Hi there!

I couldn't help but post because you are pretty much describing everything I'm hoping to do once I get to London lol So very interesting to see the breakdown of what things will cost!! Definitely glad that I stumbled across these messages 

I am currently living in Paris (another super expensive city) and from what I have noticed/compared, it doesn't seem like London will be dramatically more expensive.

I'll be working near St. Paul's Cathedral, and am used to be being a 15 minute drive to my office.....so I might have to adjust to being a bit farther away because London rent is pretty high. That said, I am hoping to get as close to St. Paul's as I possibly can, without going bankrupt...!


Do you have your move dates already?? I'm unfortunately still waiting for my Visa to come through....


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## NYC2LON (Jan 6, 2015)

Vero, 

<snip>

Looking fwd to being in London and especially looking fwd to being 2 hours away from Paris. Macarons!


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