Is the job market any better up north? seriously thinking of heading there.

Cubanista

hey,



okay, so I have been working in minimum/slightly above minimum wage jobs for a while now and I am looking for a change, or at least a change of scenery.


I am struggling to afford to move out of my parent's home on my own with the salary I am on, so I have been thinking hard about taking the appropriate steps and moving up north.


now I really enjoy living down south but it's become a hindrance in some ways. it isn't very cheap standard of living and even in less desirable areas the price of flats/studio flats rent are over a quarter of my monthly wage. then I have to factor in costs for bills and furniture.


to be honest, if I had my own place I would be frugal anyway and I wouldn't need a lot just my own place, own privacy, somewhere to call my own etc instead of living with parents. I am 25 and feel like a loser living with parents, rather than in my own place.


i am someone who can save when i need to, it's just being with parents i have become a little lax on that area and tended to live more frivolous due to home comforts. i am going to start saving hard from now on to get my own place, but i just wanted some guidance on whether it would be worth my efforts to move up north, maybe to say, Manchester or leeds?


thanks,


Cubanista.

Voyager2002

As a general rule, rents and other costs are higher where there is work, and lower in places without much of a job market. However, minimum wage is the same everywhere: basically it would probably be a little harder for you to find work in Manchester or Leeds than it is where you live, but minimum wage would go further there.

Of course, the other solution would be to focus your efforts on getting some skills or qualifications that would take you well above minimum wage.

TELLIT01

First thing to check out is rents in the locations you are considering. You also really need an understanding of the areas and where you'd want to live within those locations. Some areas have low rents because it's difficult to get tenants to live there.

TrickyDicky101

If you can only pull minimum wage jobs in the South you are unlikely to do any better in the North but you will be without the added safety net of parents.

GothicStirling

Can't say about the south, but up here in the NE unemployment is still high at almost 8%. If you've got a background in manufacturing Nissan in Sunderland is thriving, and so is the pharmaceutical industry.


Have you thought about looking at Edinburgh or Glasgow, they are quite like London for financial services etc.

Hazzinho

If you're looking up north then Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham are your best options in my opinion, obviously depends on the profession but you get much more house for your money and the HS rail will only boost prices long term.

[Deleted User]

Cubanista wrote: »

I am 25 and feel like a loser living with parents, rather than in my own place.


.

You are not at all worry when you are over 40 maybe..
I've come to hate living on my own, one of my interviews this week was with a very, very strong ex self employed guy who explained some not pretty facts about them who live on their own re. independence so it started to make sense


You can't really go out when rents rise and stuff like that, my parents still have to 'look after me' it's worse now then when I was at 18/20 yrs of age as lines of credit just no longer exist, it's feels like prison almost but admittedly better then being stuck in a job situation you really don't want to be in because you have no choice, and still with no guarantee bills will reduce so I'd rather be poor


You've plenty of time petal x

alibean121

I'd check the cost of rent carefully before you move. I now live in Manchester and find nice rentals much more expensive than I anticipated. Clearly cheaper than London but equivalent to places on the south coast where I've lived before. It was a massive shock to me how expensive it is up here.

elsien

And there was me thinking Birmingham was the Midlands.
OP, where do you consider to be up North?

terryw

elsien wrote: »

And there was me thinking Birmingham was the Midlands.
OP, where do you consider to be up North?

The op mentioned Manchester and Leeds in the first post

Cubanista

elsien wrote: »

And there was me thinking Birmingham was the Midlands.
OP, where do you consider to be up North?

hey,


i didn't mention Birmingham in my post (?)


thanks,


cubanista.