Spill the beans... What are your tips on becoming a Londoner?

Former_MSE_Penelope

Spill the beans... What are your tips on becoming a Londoner?[IMGRIGHT]http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/spillthebeans2.gif[/IMGRIGHT]

Cor blimey, guv, the capital's expensive. So Londoners and new Londoners, get off your Queen Mum and tell first-timers how to move to the city without feeling brassic (broke). What have you learned the hard way about finding a gaff, going for a nosh up and travelling around?

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kaz0705

Travel and Accommodation:
Depending on how often you use transport, see if work will do an interest free travel loan and make sure you get it put on your oystercard. I have a zone 1-3 annual card which means I pay £109 each month directly from my wages. Means I can jump on a train, tube or bus any time without worrying and it's a lot cheaper than just buying a weekly or monthly pass.

Linked to travel, when choosing where to live and the transport links don't forget the overland- personally I much prefer it to the tube! For example, used to live in Putney (not very MSE for rent!) which lots of people thought was 'too far out' when actually, there was a regular train to Waterloo via Vauxhall which put me straight on to a number of tube lines.

Quite a few people I know had success finding places with loot.com- cuts out an estate agent.

Oh! and remember the weekly rents can't just be times by 4 to get you monthly total! You need to times it by 52 and then divide by 12.

I personally have a 'spare' email account which I use to sign up for all bars and restaurants etc. This has resulted in loads of free meals and drinks- mostly, I hasten to add, for chains but hey, when you're broke, chains are often the only way of going out...

Can't think of any more obvious ones off the top of my head....

princesslizzie

I would rather get the Overground all the time - as in the TFL Overground. Clean, quick to get from West to East & so much nicer than the tube.

If you find somewhere nice to live & it's affordable, GO FOR IT. Do not hesitate, it will get snapped up. I have just left a flatshare due to a rubbish landlord & bug infestation & have been searching for rooms in shares across North & East London with fellow young professionals. I have been interviewed in groups of 8 upwards for rooms!

I'm not sure I would say Taste London is the way forward...After a year of it, I got sick of Strada & Pizza Express etc! Sign up to Yo Sushi for regular 40% off.

lynzpower

Get a trail subscription for time out magazine with an introductory offer eg 4 for a £1.

http://subscribe.timeout.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=%2Btime%20%2Bout%20%2Bmagazine&utm_campaign=Time%20Out%20London_Magazine&DCMP=subs-ppc&gclid=CLWC_cjorKsCFSMntAodXw7XQg


http://londonmarkets.co.uk/

Familiarise yourself with your local London markets, some amazing bargains to be had.

More down at heel areas have better bargains much of the time. Borough market seldom has bargains but you can find the odd thing if you search hard enough

Get on every mailing list going, there are forever email offers.

Join Ping Pong loyalty: and enjoy £10 credit worth of dim sum: they often have other freebies for members.

Join the freecycle group in your area and give and get for free.

http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1424/free-london

There are many many different attractions, galleries and so on that are free! Enjoy!

staircase2

As someone whos family comes from London for many generations one of the most irritating things that 'thru-comers' do is skirt around on the edges of London.

If you really want to get to know London then don't just stick to the obvious roads/pubs/clubs/people etc. Get to know REAL London - that way you will end up saving SHEDLOADS of money too - simply because the places that most thru-comers hover are in all the main roads and shops and restaurants - missing out on the places that real Londoners go to buy food/shopping/eat etc. which are invariably cheaper.

If I had a pound for every person who asks me 'where Im from' and when I say 'London' they say 'no - where are you FROM' - to which I then respond 'London - and they then say 'NOONE's FROM London'....

Well actually they are - MOST of London is FROM London - its just that new-comers/thru-comers never take the time to get to know local people - instead hanging out with other people who have only been here for 5 minutes....

Local people mean local knowledge - quicker/cheaper transport info - better/cheaper markets to shop at - where to shop and where to avoid.

This isnt something that you can generally pick up by reading a thread even on this great website: GET TO KNOW LOCAL PEOPLE _ GET INVOLVED LOCALLY - not just in terms of bossing local people around but in REAL terms - join the community! And it will pay dividends

Savvy_Sue

as an exile: find your local parks - London parks are fantastic! free, and very varied.

Also don't attempt to navigate just with a tube map: it's got no relation to where tube stops are IRL. Often it's quicker to get out and walk than to change the tube for two stops. But then, in MY part of London there is no tube! :rotfl:

If you're commuting, learn 'the sneaky walk' if you don't want to look like a tourist. Some years ago I demonstrated this quite without thinking to my non-London flatmates - you spot a gap, and you're in it, because you're walking faster than everyone else. They kept losing me!

Wear comfy shoes. All the time.

And good luck - last time I travelled on a train in the rush hour I just thought "How did I do this EVERY DAY?"

whosforachat

MSE_Penelope wrote: »

going for a nosh

You need to be careful about using slang if you're not a native speaker. I wouldn't recommend asking where you can get a nosh unless you are sure you know what it means. Even then, I don't know who you'd ask.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nosh&page=2

Biggles

MSE_Penelope wrote: »

brassic (broke)

You're obviously not from London!

That should be boracic (boracic lint = skint). And I'm not even from London, either.

superlative

Definintely avoid estate agents for finding a place to rent, they are so much more expensive. Try gumtree and loot for a private deal. My particular tip is also to look out for cards on noticeboards in places like libraries and independent shops - one of my best flat shares was from a card in my local health food shop. If you've found an area you'd like to live in, search around for noticeboards.

Factor in transport costs to where you live. Buses are much cheaper than tubes and trains. If you can live somewhere where you can make your regular journeys by bus, and so use by bus pass rather than a travelcard, you'll save a lot. But if you are travelling into the centre from a distant zone every day, the journey time by bus will probably be too long.

Not well known is that if you have a travelcard for, say, zones 1 and 2, it covers you for buses in ALL zones, even outside the zones it covers for tube and train. Get familiar with the labyrinth of different TFL fares, zones, daily price capping, etc, especially if you aren't travelling often enough to warrant buying a travel card.

ABerrisford

I hate to be a suckup, but if you are already looking at list then you have discovered one of the best ways to survive in london. MSE!

The great thing is about London is that its usually got at least one of everything that means taking advantage of resturaunt offers, supermarket offers and going out offers is so much easier.

Example- Using the free drinks offers pointed to by this website me and a couple of friends went on a free mini pub crawl round all the branches of the pubs with the offer!

Invest in good footwear, cannot stress enough how walking is THE main way to get around the capital, second are Boris Bikes :-)

Maggie_Bob

Join the review site Qype, review a few of your favourite places and see if you can bag yourself an invite to the free events they run (on the condition that you then give the venue an honest review). So far I've been to a tequilla & burrito tasting session, cocktails & nibbles and a fancy steak place, screening of Toy Story 3 in 3D, Mexican food (including a goody bag) at Wahaca, a posh artisan chocolate tasting event (with another goody bag), a LFW student show and a frozen yoghurt sampling. There has also been beer evenings, coffe tastings, flat bread making, sushi rolling etc - all great ways to get free stuff, try a new place and also meet people.