London lifestyle.

[shayantangupta]

I have been offered £40000 by Citi bank in London. I am married with no kids as of now. Kindly let me know what sort of life style I can afford and how much can I save after clearing my tax and normal expenditure.

[MichelleAlison]

Originally Posted by shayantangupta

I have been offered £40000 by Citi bank in London. I am married with no kids as of now. Kindly let me know what sort of life style I can afford and how much can I save after clearing my tax and normal expenditure.

Tax and National Insurance is about 25% of your salary i.e. 10,000 pounds to the British government (don't cry).

Renting varies greatly from area to area in London and expect to pay anything from 600 to 1000 pounds a month rent for a small apartment plus compulsory council tax which averages about 100 pounds a month.

As I have been out of the UK for a while now, it is best if someone else told you about gas, electric and water. These have gone up a lot and are going up again. I am sure there have been some recent postings on these costs recently, so have a search through the forum.

You can normally get a good telephone, cable and internet package - there is so much competition around - I think this will cost about 50 pounds a month maybe even less.

You must also have a TV licence (no choice) about 130 pounds a year.

Don't forget house contents insurance - depends on value of contents and of course mobile phones, which someone else can help with, but you can normally get very get deals.

A good website to look for property rentals is Rightmove - UK's number one property website for properties for sale and to rent.

Regards

Michelle

[tin0737]

As Michelle has mentioned above, income tax and National Insurance (compulsory health insurance) will atke away between 25-30% of your salary. Check the internet and you'll find several websites which will help you calculate your net salary.
Rent + Council tax should be the major expense....if u plan to live in central london, rents will be closer to extortion. If you live further away from the city the rents are lesser, but you will have more travel costs.
Utilities (heating,electrictiy, water, TV, cable, etc.) could be anything between £150-250 per month depending on whether it's summer or winter.
Eating out is expensive. Grocery bills would be around £150-200 for 2 people.
If you have a car, that will add to the cost as well.
these are just basic numbers, but you should be able to find more threads.
Generally London is an expensive place to live, especially on a single income.

[EP GAZZ]

If that is the sole income for you and your partner then no way would I consider it anywhere near enough.

If your other half has a job to go to or can easily find work then I would think the move is a goaer.

We lived on South Coast so cheaper than London but had a combined income of well in excess of double your proposed salary and we were nowhere near flush with prices in UK.

It of course depends on the main reason for you move is it experience ,economic?

If its for experience of living in another country and you do not mind a basic existence its possible.

[crazymazy1980]

Originally Posted by shayantangupta

I have been offered £40000 by Citi bank in London. I am married with no kids as of now. Kindly let me know what sort of life style I can afford and how much can I save after clearing my tax and normal expenditure.

£40K is quite low for two people to live in London or even the outskirts (Commuting from somewhere outside the M25)

Gas (For Heating) & Electricity are set to rise considerably in the next 12 months.

Petrol is currently at £1.10 ($1.95) per LITRE it went up to £1.30 at one stage in some areas and will gradually creep up over time. Though if you live and work in London you probably will have no need for a car. I know plenty of people who either just use the Tube of hire a car when venturing out of the City.

Rent in London is VERY high and because of the bottom falling out of the property market and the country heading into recession more people are renting so rental properties are more at a premium. If you rent an apartment you may also be liable for a community charge as well as your rent and council tax (which could add another £100-200 per month)

If you choose to live outside London you're going to have to travel in which may cancel out the savings you make living outside the capital, especially if your partner then gets a job in London too.

For two people I would say you're looking at probably 60-70K to make it finanacially viable.