Is £1500 a month after bills in london enough

dealyboy

Grumpy_chap said:

Ybe said:

Is £1500-£1600 a month after all essential bills including a zone1-6 monthly travelcard paid enough to live in london. Going out a few times a week, buying groceries, getting the train further out for day trips on weekends and going on holiday abroad 2-3 times a year? Or would it be too tight? 

Yes.
That is a massive amount of money after bills.
It is more than many people & families (even in London) have in total.
You will still have to make choices as to what items / activities you want and which items / activities you are willing to sacrifice.

... OP may have to give up Harrods Food Hall and shop at Waitrose for a while, or travel 2nd class occasionally to eke out their limited expenses and entertainment budget of £19,000 per year.

Ybe

flaneurs_lobster said:

[Deleted User] said:

"Surely MSE is absolutely the right place to have a money and lifestyle discussion! Many sections of this forum are about helping and supporting others manage finances and lifestyles. For example, on the Debt Free Wannabe section people are encouraged to post SOAs and background information so other posters can offer support, ideas and solutions. The same can be said about discussions for pensions and benefits.

What surprises is that this section of the forum has the name ‘ Budgeting and Bank Accounts’ when it hardly has any discussions about budgeting. Instead it is full of posters chasing the latest switch deal or discussing how to manage their enormous number of accounts. Perhaps time to separate the thread into two. One for Budgeting and the other called Bank Account.

I don't disagree that this forum is the right place for discussion of money and lifestyle but in the context of this being within the Money Saving Expert website.

Perhaps if the original question had been

"I have £1500/month after bills, what would be the best way to save towards a mortgage/find cheaper groceries/finance a car/get my cat neutered for cheap"

then the answers might be of more use to the greater readership.

 Otherwise we just get a bunch of reminisces about how much cheaper it was in the olden days ("four pints, pictures, bag of chips and still have thruppence for the bus home") or advice about how no-one really needs to spend any money at all on luxuries like a mobile phone, a watch or shoes.

Good suggestion for future questions. Thanks. 

Ybe

dealyboy said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Ybe said:

Is £1500-£1600 a month after all essential bills including a zone1-6 monthly travelcard paid enough to live in london. Going out a few times a week, buying groceries, getting the train further out for day trips on weekends and going on holiday abroad 2-3 times a year? Or would it be too tight? 

Yes.
That is a massive amount of money after bills.
It is more than many people & families (even in London) have in total.
You will still have to make choices as to what items / activities you want and which items / activities you are willing to sacrifice.

... OP may have to give up Harrods Food Hall and shop at Waitrose for a while, or travel 2nd class occasionally to eke out their limited expenses and entertainment budget of £19,000 per year.

I didn’t know people did their grocery shop at Harrods. 

MalMonroe

Ybe said:

dealyboy said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Ybe said:

Is £1500-£1600 a month after all essential bills including a zone1-6 monthly travelcard paid enough to live in london. Going out a few times a week, buying groceries, getting the train further out for day trips on weekends and going on holiday abroad 2-3 times a year? Or would it be too tight? 

Yes.
That is a massive amount of money after bills.
It is more than many people & families (even in London) have in total.
You will still have to make choices as to what items / activities you want and which items / activities you are willing to sacrifice.

... OP may have to give up Harrods Food Hall and shop at Waitrose for a while, or travel 2nd class occasionally to eke out their limited expenses and entertainment budget of £19,000 per year.

I didn’t know people did their grocery shop at Harrods. 

Of course they do. Harrods stores have food halls and they also have an online shopping service. In fact, not so long ago, they had a minimum spend of £50 with free delivery to selected London postcodes offer. Sounds good to me and I'd probably use it, if I lived in London. 

TOP_CAT

The cottage pie costs £45 ...If that sounds good  .....then I would ask why you are bothering with MSE ?