Can DD work in central London and live on this salary?

[Memorybear]

DD, 21 has been offered a contract in London, very near to Oxford Circus.

Salary is 29k pa, take home pay around 2k a month. She would need to house share (hopefully within a 30 minute tube commute).

Looking on spareroom it appears that a double room share is £800-£1000 pm all bills included. she’d need a zone 1-3 tube card at just under £200 a month.

Other Outgoings would be mobile phone, food, clothes, socialising, I guess she’d need contents insurance?

She thinks it’s just about doable as long as she was careful and was frugal around food (take own lunch etc) but I’m not so sure, it’s easy for money to run away with you.

We can help her out a bit - rather than her turn the opportunity down as she’d love it. We’d be about 3 hours away by car to visit as much as we could. Does anyone else manage on this kind of salary?

I worry she’ll have a bit of a miserable existence in a shared house if she doesn’t quickly make friends although I guess it’s not a lot of difference in going off to uni.

Any tips please? This is all very new to us and she’s dithering a bit over what to do.

That’s potentially a scam. Could be legit if it is very short term or an unattractive let in some way! But otherwise unfeasibly cheap.

remind her not to go to viewings alone

And plenty of young people don't learn to take responsibility for themselves. I think the two are connected.

Of course parents will provide a safety net if they can afford it, and some treats, be generous with birthday presents etc

But learning to budget, find fun in things that don't cost much etc is a rite of passage and valuable skills to develop at an age when loads of your friends are doing the same

Get her to look on mates place to see if any friends of friends (of friends) are offering rooms. If so they are likely to be a bit better value than sharing with randoms off spare room. My DS is moving to London to live on £30k starting - has a room in a 2 bed flat at £800 plus bills which he reckons he can manage because - Wandsworth council tax (lowest in country) - has gym membership through work - work also give him a good lunch every day - doesn’t have to pay water as that’s in the rent. He knows it will be v tight for a year or two but in his sector salaries rise rapidly with a bit of experience. I think she should do it - when my Dd moved to London she did v nicely supplementing her salary by babysitting through a VERY smart babysitting agency an evening or two a week, which meant she sat on a succession of very swanky sofas eating someone else’s ice cream and watching their telly… not taxing 🤣

To good to go is great in London. There are loads of options.

Even places like pret / Starbucks. Bag of toasties and pastries and you can freeze them.

OP people have addressed costs etc but you seem very focused on loneliness - why? Does your daughter have a history of MH issues or similar?

If she's working with a group of young people, as you said, there's a ready made group of mates. There are also lots of activities to meet people etc but London is a very transient city - she might just be meeting lots of new people without forming a group for a while. Also as PP pointed out there are loads of opportunities for casual work events, babystting etc and she can meet people through these also.

However, there's plenty to do alone! Even when I was at uni there it took me a while to find my tribe, but I loved exploring the city. So many places to go, things to see, for free or cheap.

She'll have a great time!

Same (although a couple of years later but not many!)

She ll be fine.
Lots of good advice above
Don't sign any rental longer than six months for now til she found her feet

I agree though that she should potentially look for better-paying work. Anything in the city is going to pay more than that, literally anything aside from cleaning, and possibly actually even cleaning. Of course she may want to work in a less money-oriented role or field which is fine.

A Job or field that offers reliable career advancement in the sense of prospects of decent earnings in medium term, will generally be paying much more than that at entry level even.

could she push them up on staring salary? If 29k is their first offer and providing it is private sector there is probably salary flex ie they will be expecting a counter offer.

If you indicate the sector and type of role maybe folks on here would have some useful advice.

Looking on spareroom it appears that a double room share is £800-£1000 pm all bills included. she’d need a zone 1-3 tube card at just under £200 a month.

Other Outgoings would be mobile phone, food, clothes, socialising, I guess she’d need contents insurance?

£800 a month/£200 a week after bills is more than enough to live on.

But if she’s not used to budgeting then she may struggle if she likes to go out socialising/on holiday.

I personally would tell her that she can ask for extra money but not necessarily give her a set amount each month without her asking.

She needs to learn to budget even if she knows she can ask for more.

If she knows she’s got £800 to spend, she’s going to spend £800.
If she knows she’s got £1k to spend, she’s going to spend £1k.

I also find it a bit depressing that we are all advising the OP’s daughter how to manage on far less than we will all probably have been earning more than 20 years ago.

In real terms my salary as a person with little actual experience but a masters, in 2002, was worth 39k in todays prices (because mega inflation). It didn’t feel like riches then but I knew I was doing ok. It also wasn’t unusual among my contemporaries. Was not in law, medicine, city or finance - just a regular third sector job albeit with some skill requirements.

We now employ similar folk in training roles who start on £28k. That is a full 11k less spending power than I had. They ALL live at home, and are all brilliant but it’s such a shame they aren’t living their independent lives at 25+.

Times have changed :( I’m scared for my teens. They are going to have to either pursue city or tech type careers despite their inclinations, or live in flat shares forever.

In 2002 I earned £120k. Had been working 8 years. The same job now pays 200+. Don’t see much difference really.

Any my Dd started in 2018 post graduation on 26k and now earns £70 aged 26. Not law of banking or consulting or stem. Yes starting salaries are low but progression is generally good if you are smart about it and move jobs regularly to get salary rises.

identify the right bus routes for Oxford Circus, find a house share along one of them and then she only needs to pay for a bus not tube.

do a cycling confidence course (free in many boroughs) and worth paying for.
cebtral London cycling is getting better and better- I can cycle from South Hackney to King’s Cross without going on any busy roads, it’s all quiet or empty residential streets on a cycle route. I cycle to Oxford street with my kids cycling is an inexpensive way to get around if you choose your home well .

Make sure she checks the minimum length of stay on the house shares. Some will be month by month, some minimum 6 months, some minimum 12 months. She doesn't want to end up paying for a place she is no longer living in after march!

26k in 2018 is equivalent to £33k now.

I think so.
my first job in London was paid £16k in 2001ish. I lived in a decent house share and had a very strict budget. I put everything I had left at the end of each week in a piggy bank. It was quite often less than a quid!
But I had a great time. I only lasted two years but they were probably the best two years of my life.
it then became clear that London long term was only doable with a massive salary or if I married someone with a massive salary. But I’m pleased I gave it a go.
agree with others she can save a lot of money by using bus rather than tube so best to look for house shares on bus routes. Or cycle routes even better.

Wow can I ask what she does?

I’m nowhere near that despite going to uni and it’s so deflating because I’ll never earn more than £35k (no where near that yet) unless I change careers.

I’m on the same as OPs DD, my bills cost the same and I have a child so my income is shared.

I definitely think it may be worth me retraining.

Bloomsbury has lots of students so it may not be a scam! I lived there for many years and it was surprisingly cheap. It’s an excellent place to live. But if she has to live further out, that’s fine too. We all did it when starting out, to keep rent costs down. It was fine - fun even - when with like minded people of a similar age and stage with you.

If you can afford and are happy to pay for her travel card, that is exactly the sort of thing which will really help. It means she can go anywhere without worrying about travel costs and will have a little extra money towards food and going out.

The initial salary isn’t amazing for London but this really is all about the role (really don’t want to be outing). It would be fantastic to have on her CV and could lead to further opportunities later on.

She's 21 so she's capable of making her own mind up I would have thought !

@Memorybear

Bloomsbury would be a great place for her to be, it's where University College, Birkbeck, RADA and SOAS are. The streets are thronging with young people round there. She could definitely walk to work.

Sure that’s totally doable. She spends max 1100 on commute and rent, she’s 900 a month left, which is just food and socialising. It’s fine.

She could check out property guardianship or loving with an elderly person for cheaper safe rent

homeshareliving.co.uk/

liveinguardians.com/

I work near Oxford circus (but commute in) and my younger colleagues tend to live fairly centrally in houseshares.

It is very tight. It is the extras the landlord / agent may throw at them that is knackering.

When you say 'organisation' rather than company, I presume it is a well known charity or institution like the BBC (for example)?

DS2 (22) is living in London at the moment. An ex council flat 10 mins walk from Kings College, The Shard & Borough Market. He shares with 2 friends and his share of the rent is 1k per month and then bills on top. For that he gets a small double room, & shared kitchen, bathroom and living room (some house shares & flats don't have living rooms). It's a little shabby around the edges but I lived in worse.

He walks everywhere he can, he enjoys coffees and occasionally lunch out, he goes to the gym daily and is a member of a climbing club. He's made loads of friends since being there and has a good social life.

His income is just under 20k a year from a student loan & bursary. He hasn't asked for any top ups yet and he's been there a year. He does sometimes have work available when he comes home which tops him up,occasionally.

It's definitely doable. He's creative with money, food preps, doesn't buy clothes and has switched to a sim only contract on his,phone.

She should definitely go.