London Money Saving

Steph112

Any hints or tips for living in London?

Browntoa

avoid the tourist buses , its cheaper and easier to jump on a Red bus and travel the same route

buy travel cards if planning to jump on and off buses/tubes all day

babyshoes

Do you mean living in London or visiting London? If the former, my suggestion is that you try not to! Even just a few miles outside London but within the M25 things are noticeably cheaper...

Austin_Allegro

Live on the edge of a 'good' area. It will be cheaper and you can still walk to the nice part when you want to. Don't try to save money by living in a slum area, it will only make you miserable.

Buy a bicycle - absolute best way to get round London and at minimal cost. If you don't have indoor space, buy an old bike and keep it outside (it will turn into a rustbucket or get nicked, so don't buy a good one) or buy a folding one like a Brompton and keep it indoors.

There are loads of free museums, concerts, recitals etc, take advantage of them. Eg if you go to choral evensong at Westminster Abbey you can hear one of the world's best choirs, free (well, put something in the plate though, it's only polite!) Also beautiful parks etc for picnics on nice days - all free. Go on walks in the outer suburbs (eg Wimbledon Common, Hampstead Heath, or along the canals) and you can forage for free food at the same time.

For socialising, go to Wetherspoon's, Lloyd's or Sam Smith's pubs which are the cheapest. Take advantage of Evening Standard meal deals etc.

There are loads of markets to buy stuff in and loads of charity shops too, make sure you go to the ones in nice areas for the best bargains.

But yes, I agree with the poster who says the best way to save money is not to live there in the first place!!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Steph112 wrote: »

Any hints or tips for living in London?

Study any route before you have to travel it.

This means bus route, bus numbers, the stops you have to get off, include looking for landmarks on Google Earth, alternatives and ways to get home if the journey is abruptly terminated halfway through.

There is nothing worse than seeing a load of passengers turfed off the broken down bus and knowing they have absolutely no clue where they are or how to get back on track to where they were going. Not just for being lost, but because they are slow, take up loads of space with their looking around for a clue where to head and they are easy victims of scams, robberies, attacks and pickpocketing.

Hermia

Going out - I agree with Austin Allegro re: taking advantage of all the free things to do in London. There are so many free things to do in London and cheaper ways to do the things you love (e.g. try out the fringe theatres rather than going to the latest over-priced West End musical). You do need to do some research on the web & keep your ears open, but you can find something free to do every night of the week.

Food - shop in ethnic supermarkets and markets. If you want to eat out be flexible about when you eat and go for the set theatre menus.

Walk - try and walk everywhere. It's free and great exercise. You can easily get around central London on foot.

Freebies - always look out for freebies. You see people giving out samples and coupons all over the place. I was once standing in Waterloo station and was given a bottle of Aussie shampoo by a girl who was trying to drum up interest in the brand!

firstinflight

I love Sam Smiths pubs! And someone made a handy map of where they all are:

http://www.jamesgretton.co.uk/samuelsmiths/

For eating out, be sure to check martin's weekly email for deals and vouchers.

chanie

I'm London born and bred, but I've always lived on the outskirts of Central London. Its great, because I have Central London on my doorstep, but I don't have to put up with Central London prices. I grew up in a Zone 3 area and it is so much cheaper. In fact, its cheaper than many of my friends areas in other parts of the country. For example, I have loads of poundshops and I can get bowls of fruit and veg for a pound.

There are some fab ideas on here.

Take advantage of the free stuff to do, like the Museums, but bring a packed lunch, as eating out can be expensive.

Get yourself an Oyster card, which works out cheaper. For example, today, I got a bus using my Oyster card and it was £1.20 for a single. On the way back, I didn't have enough money on it, so I had to pay cash, which was £2.20.

Gettingtherequickly

Get an Oyster card if you are going to be living here and then register it with TFL for an automatic top up. I actually don't use mine very often, but the auto top up is wonderful as I never need to worry about whether there is money on it or not. I do it for £20 and I know that in worse case scenario, if I lose it, while I wouldn't be happy, I would have saved that anyway in the reduced fares gained from the Oyster card.

Gettingtherequickly

chanie wrote: »

Get yourself an Oyster card, which works out cheaper. For example, today, I got a bus using my Oyster card and it was £1.20 for a single. On the way back, I didn't have enough money on it, so I had to pay cash, which was £2.20.

If I had not been waylaid while I was typing my reply, you would not have beaten me:rotfl::rotfl:

Soundgirlrocks

Hi, I live in london and the biggest money saver is having a bike, it's normally quicker than the tube, I think I save about £70.00 a month on travel costs. Get a oyster card for when you need to use the bus/tube ( and make sure it's got money on it!) It cost double the amount if you have to pay cash. Depending on where you are check out local shops I'm near tooting and it's much cheaper for spices pulses ect (be careful though as some places charge over the odds for some basics depending on what the local community use)
Most of my friends house share - not for every one but one friend pays £250 a month in rent (small room, bit grotty communal areas but close to the tube) and the average at our is £450 for a big room (biils inc)

Top table if you want to eat out and make the most of the London restaurant scence and last min.com for tickets

London has loads of free events to keep you entertained. It's not all bad in the capital, beer can be expensive but most of my friends have drinks round theirs before a night out