Moving to zone 1 in London, is this enough money?

hazyjo

Can't you save the posh nosh for weekends as a treat? We do that. We live like kings on a Sat and/or Sun night with fresh fish like skate, seabass or hake, or steak, or paella (with everything in), drinks, etc.


The rest of the week, we'll have things like chilli, greek lasagne, chicken something or other, salmon (even a bit of teriyaki on top adds a little something) with new potatoes, etc. Doesn't have to be fine dining every night. You'll appreciate it more! We hardly ever have takeaways any more as we look forward to our weekend meals.


One of my fave dishes is chunks of chicken, red pesto (pref red pepper although hard to get), pancetta, mushrooms, peppers and spaghetti - it's lovely and not hugely expensive.


Totally agree about supermarkets. Rent somewhere you can fit a big freezer in and shop in Lidl and the like.

Candyapple

McCloud1 wrote: »

I'm researching various areas in zone 1 for my SoA, and the more I look at it the more I'm thinking I should just bite the bullet and get a room mate. There are some beautiful, spacious 2-beds in zone 1 where my share of the rent/bills would be £1,200ish. An extra £500 spare a month should make things a lot more comfortable, and I wouldn't be stuck in a room. My own place in my home town would only be a few hundred cheaper.

I have a former friend (we haven't hung out in a year for no reason other than the fact we share no interests) who works bang in the center of the City and wants to move into zone 1 with me, I've been fobbing him off because he's loud and bit obnoxious, he's a commodities trader and is the personification of the stereotype.

Everyone keeps telling me I'm an idiot if I move in with this guy given my goals and need for focus, but at least I can set some ground-rules with him and I've known him long enough that I feel comfortable telling him when he's being a !!!!.

I'd listen to your friends. You say he's a former friend, loud and obnoxious, do you really want to be tied to someone like this for the next 12 or however many months?

You have no idea about what he is like as a housemate, whether he is clean or tidy, he could be a complete slob and this would eventually infuriate you cleaning up after a grown man before you can use the shower/toilet/kitchen. Or what if he likes to have lots of late night drunken parties on weekends? You can call people out on their behaviour, but it doesn't mean that they will change. The stress of working full-time, trying to keep up with your studies and if your home environment is hell, will soon catch up with you.

Flat share by all means, but do it with someone else.

I would second the poster above's comment of deferring and saving for a year. It also means you have much more time to get used to shopping and cooking to a plan and on budget.

McCloud1

Thanks all.

I've got a lot to think about.

The arguments against delaying are that I'm already 10 years late to uni, and my job may become obsolete in the next few years and I'm otherwise lacking in marketable skills.

I want to make sure that I have skills that command comparable remuneration after a few years experience, and as soon as possible.

McCloud1

Here's my SoA based on London. I've removed pension contributions as I would probably not be able to keep my current payments up. I've allowed a reasonable amount for groceries still to be realistic, I've halved my clothing allowance, and left only £250 for entertainment.

I've also allowed for the travel I will eventually need to pay which is based on a zone 1-2 travel card.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3050
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3050

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 1500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 35
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 131
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 250
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2588


Assets
Cash.................................... 4000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 4000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................3000......130.......0
Credit Card....................2000......70........0
Personal Loan..................4000......250.......0
Total unsecured debts..........9000......450.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,050
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,588
Available for debt repayments........... 462
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 450
Amount left after debt repayments....... 12

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,000
Net Assets.............................. -5,000

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Plus

A stupid question (apologies if it's already been asked): those loans and credit cards on 0% deals - they're going to expire within a year or two. Where are you going to get the cash to repay them? Will the £450 you've budgeted clear them before they go up to lots-of-% rates?

Beardmidget

I know what you’re going to say, because it’s what everybody says when I give them this advice, but here it is anyway-

GET
A
BIKE

I have lived in zone 3 (which would be zone 5 in some places if the map was like a dartboard) for the last 9 years. I have happily commuted from home (streatham vale) to central (St. Thomas’s hospital fwiw) in the past.

Takes about 30 mins each way broadly irrespective of the time. Keeps me cardiovascularly fit in spite of my giant beer belly.

Costs after purchasing bike- maybe a new inner tube per month, so about £5.

I can see absolutely no reason whatsoever to live in Z1 if you need to get from flat to birkbeck in 30mins.

I personally like both cars and bikes- Keeping nice bikes has kept a lid on my desire for a lamborghini. I’ve got 2 or 3 ‘supercar’ level bikes which cost a fair bit but make one service for the average Porsche look expensive.

McCloud1

Beardmidget wrote: »

I know what you’re going to say, because it’s what everybody says when I give them this advice, but here it is anyway-

GET
A
BIKE

I have lived in zone 3 (which would be zone 5 in some places if the map was like a dartboard) for the last 9 years. I have happily commuted from home (streatham vale) to central (St. Thomas’s hospital fwiw) in the past.

Takes about 30 mins each way broadly irrespective of the time. Keeps me cardiovascularly fit in spite of my giant beer belly.

Costs after purchasing bike- maybe a new inner tube per month, so about £5.

I can see absolutely no reason whatsoever to live in Z1 if you need to get from flat to birkbeck in 30mins.

I personally like both cars and bikes- Keeping nice bikes has kept a lid on my desire for a lamborghini. I’ve got 2 or 3 ‘supercar’ level bikes which cost a fair bit but make one service for the average Porsche look expensive.

I wonder if you did manage to guess what I'm about to say...

I have nothing whatsoever against the idea of cycling in principle, but I will die if I cycle on central London roads, simple as that. I've barely ridden a bike since I was 9 and I've never even driven a car in zone 1/2, and it looks like a horrific experience even with a cage of steel, let alone on two wheels where half the traffic treats you like an annoyance rather than a fellow road user.

I'd be that wobbly looking guy with his suit tucked into his socks inadvertently cutting people up and hesitating at every junction or roundabout, until eventually I get smushed by a HGV and re-kindle the age old motorist v cyclist debate in the Metro for 1 week where the motorists correctly argue that I shouldn't have been on the road in the first place!

I know that seems like a rather specific prediction, but it's totally foreseeable if you know what I'm like driving in busy, built-up areas.

Candyapple

McCloud1 wrote: »

I have nothing whatsoever against the idea of cycling in principle, but I will die if I cycle on central London roads, simple as that. I've barely ridden a bike since I was 9 and I've never even driven a car in zone 1/2, and it looks like a horrific experience even with a cage of steel, let alone on two wheels where half the traffic treats you like an annoyance rather than a fellow road user.

I'd be that wobbly looking guy with his suit tucked into his socks inadvertently cutting people up and hesitating at every junction or roundabout, until eventually I get smushed by a HGV and re-kindle the age old motorist v cyclist debate in the Metro for 1 week where the motorists correctly argue that I shouldn't have been on the road in the first place!

Agree 100% and would have said the same thing, it’s definitely not for everyone. Cycling in London, are you mad? No thanks.

Points
Your grocery bill should be circa £120 for the month as a single person and even that a lot of people on here would still scoff at for being high. £400 is still ridiculous for 1 person. £60 per week feeds me and my partner well and that is based on a full 7 days of healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner meals, plus toiletries and cleaning products for us both. I often batch cook and meal plan every week before going out shopping and the portions are not rabbit sized either. It also includes steak/chicken/fish so it’s not like you can use that excuse either. We shop at Aldi and Tesco for any of the branded goods which I prefer the taste of than from Aldi’s range. I really don’t think you have grasped quite how expensive your Ocado habit is.

As has been asked of you before, how long until your credit card 0% periods run out?

How did you run up £9k debt with your almost £2k spare monthly money?

You are only 27. I know it may not seem like it to you, but you are still so very, very young. Stop being so hard on yourself, everyone makes their own way in life at their own pace and so what if you didn’t go to uni 10 years ago, it wasn’t your time then. One more year is not going to make any difference in the grand scheme of things, especially if you want to be successful.

I cannot stress enough to you that you probably need the extra year to sort your life out and have no distractions so you can go into this with tunnel vision on achieving the highest grade you can in your degree subject. Do not underestimate how stressful things can get with the smallest distraction. All it takes is one week of crappy weather, getting ill, maybe having to miss uni that week and playing catch up and then before you know it you fall behind on your meal planning and thus end up resorting to what you know of eating expensively again and then before you know it you’ll be playing catch up for a long time and all meal planning/cheap supermarket visits will have gone out the window and you’re back to spending £600 per month on food for god knows how many months. Your hypothetical London budget clearly will not allow it and you’ll fall into debt.

Would you rather spend a year tackling your food issues (because they are issues as no normal person spends £600 just on themselves for food each month, unless perhaps you are rich/a celeb) and seeing what works for you and how you can get the costs down and also saving money as well, and then heading to uni the following year knowing that a) you would have £14k in savings should any emergency happen and b) you have your food budget on lock so know that you would never fall back into bad habits again?

McCloud1

Candyapple wrote: »

Agree 100% and would have said the same thing, it’s definitely not for everyone. Cycling in London, are you mad? No thanks. Lol glad I'm not the only one, I think knowing your limits is important.

Points
Your grocery bill should be circa £120 for the month as a single person and even that a lot of people on here would still scoff at for being high. £400 is still ridiculous for 1 person. £60 per week feeds me and my partner well and that is based on a full 7 days of healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner meals, plus toiletries and cleaning products for us both. I often batch cook and meal plan every week before going out shopping and the portions are not rabbit sized either. It also includes steak/chicken/fish so it’s not like you can use that excuse either. We shop at Aldi and Tesco for any of the branded goods which I prefer the taste of than from Aldi’s range. I really don’t think you have grasped quite how expensive your Ocado habit is. Agreed it should be lower, I just didn't want to put something unrealistic down bearing in mind my behavior to date. I have been browsing the groceries forums for ideas and am planning to do an online Tesco shop tomorrow on a sensible budget

As has been asked of you before, how long until your credit card 0% periods run out? I didn't know the % off of the top of my head hence why I left it at 0. For the £3,000 it is on 0% until November, the £2k credit card is around 19%, the personal loan was from when my credit rating sucked and it is at close to 30%.

How did you run up £9k debt with your almost £2k spare monthly money? One of my earlier posts in this thread sets out the response to this in more detail, however the upshot is that I got myself heavily into debt twice during my 20's when my income was not so high. I no longer rack up any debt.

You are only 27. I know it may not seem like it to you, but you are still so very, very young. Stop being so hard on yourself, everyone makes their own way in life at their own pace and so what if you didn’t go to uni 10 years ago, it wasn’t your time then. One more year is not going to make any difference in the grand scheme of things, especially if you want to be successful. Thanks, it's really good to hear that as I am panicking about approaching 30 with nothing to show for it.

I cannot stress enough to you that you probably need the extra year to sort your life out and have no distractions so you can go into this with tunnel vision on achieving the highest grade you can in your degree subject. Do not underestimate how stressful things can get with the smallest distraction. All it takes is one week of crappy weather, getting ill, maybe having to miss uni that week and playing catch up and then before you know it you fall behind on your meal planning and thus end up resorting to what you know of eating expensively again and then before you know it you’ll be playing catch up for a long time and all meal planning/cheap supermarket visits will have gone out the window and you’re back to spending £600 per month on food for god knows how many months. Your hypothetical London budget clearly will not allow it and you’ll fall into debt. I can also see that happening too. I guess I felt like I had sorted my life out because I'm not begging relatives for money anymore, but I see I was getting ahead of myself

Would you rather spend a year tackling your food issues (because they are issues as no normal person spends £600 just on themselves for food each month, unless perhaps you are rich/a celeb) and seeing what works for you and how you can get the costs down and also saving money as well, and then heading to uni the following year knowing that a) you would have £14k in savings should any emergency happen and b) you have your food budget on lock so know that you would never fall back into bad habits again?

Your suggestion sounds much better, but it does leave me with a feeling of anxiety for another year that my job is becoming obsolete, and I'm not doing anything about it, and it's a horrible thought. I don't know how I would survive on a normal salary for unskilled work

Thanks for your detailed response/advice, my comments are in red.