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.

DD started on that a couple of years ago. She lives in an ex-council flat in Islington with one other girl, and the rent is 1400 combined.

She is able to save into an ISA on this and goes on holiday a few times a year (more than we did at her age).

She is careful with money - eg takes packed lunches - but also goes out for drinks. Clothes are from charity shops.

She is moving to a swanky flat next to the London Eye this summer, complete with gym.

She's a civil servant, so job is at the whim of Keir and Angela.

We have different ideas of what's a good quality of life then. I think you're underplaying the stress and discomfort of living like that, in London no less

Because that’s what it takes to work your way up the ladder in a large city. Would I live like that now? No. Was it fun when I was 25? Absolutely.

Perhaps if that was going to be the case for a long time. But its just a start and your 20s is the best time for it!

She needs to pick up a bike from Freecycle or Facebook marketplace and null her travel costs.

Fair enough, that's a good way of looking at it. It would still be a tough experience

There are definitely much, much better paying grad roles in London. There are alternatives, and I can't see how it could ever be 'fun'

We have different ideas of what's a good quality of life then. I think you're underplaying the stress and discomfort of living like that, in London no less

Nah. Par for the course when you're young! How do you think students in London manage on less?

There are alternatives, and I can't see how it could ever be 'fun'

I can assure you my dc is having a helluva lot of fun, as are other MN dcs judging by this thread.

wintersgold maybe there are much better grad roles in London on higher salaries but I doubt they are as common as you imply ... my DS has just started on £30k and he is actually the only 'brand new' grad ... many have applied and seem happy to take the role and it's their second/third job. There are opportunities for bonuses once they get going (sales job).

I can remember my first 'proper' job and had to take a second part time job in the evenings, it was fun, got paid for socialising and met my DH.

Would I want to do that now ? Probably not but I still love shopping in charity shops and seeking out the yellow stickers .

Then you lack imagination….

Good luck to your DD! Its sounds like it will be a great opportunity.

I think it's doable. I've found unfurnished houseshares much cheaper than furnished (and nice to have our own furniture). An Ikea trip for the essentials would sort it out quick (and might be a nice gift for her). The basics - bed, mattress, clothes rail/wardrobe, and chest of drawers. Might be worth looking out for.

Also, houseshares with more than one other tenant (I think a houseshare of three is the sweet spot) will help keep costs low.

Having bills included could help with budgeting.

Once your DD has settled in at work and has networked - it might be worth wfh more to keep costs low. If only travelling in on a few days per week, train there and bus back could be another way to save.

It’ll be fine and she’ll probably make friends with housemates, I’d suggest she books to see 3-4 places and then decides which one feels right. Second an earlier poster that a good route to get back to the place from th tube stop is important. If it’s a pain to get back to and she’s working shifts she’ll be knackered.

I started on £17.5k in 1998, started with a room
in a flat I got through an agency then moved in with people from work. Everyone I worked with flat shared, I didn’t know anyone in London when I moved there so it was a great way to develop a social
life.

Of course you can have fun despite a low disposable income.

i think what @wintersgold is cautioning against is just accepting low salaries are par for the course for young people in London starting out. There are some roles that are not like this at all, which pay much better from the off. There are also lots of unscrupulous employers everywhere (not just London) who pay crap wages with the promise of it being an excellent career launchpad when actually it might not be.

it may be brilliant, but the pay is low historically, for London. Many of the historic “when I were a yung’un” salary figures quoted above are in cash terms which makes your DD’s salary sound relatively more ‘generous’ than it actually is.

It is absolutely not true that most entry jobs in London pay more than this

Oh dear...my baby...innocent and lonely.

My mum would have said those things about me as she was incapable of seeing me as the grown woman I was.

That's all a bit cringe.

Well I hope you care about your own children’s happiness however grown they are. Maybe then you’ll understand and not resent your own mother for actually giving a damn.

It’s a huge step for her and us, we live semi rurally so her upbringing hasn’t been in a city. She does travel to our capital every day for work but she lives at home with us and always has company of some kind. She certainly doesn’t find me ‘cringe’ as she’s got a pleasant nature and knows how much we care.

Just stop and ask yourself whether it’s necessary to show your bitter, nasty streak in this thread. Jealous of a fantastic opportunity maybe?

Good luck to her @Memorybear

It will be a fantastic opportunity!

Oh dear. Jealous of what? I was raised in London and I'm a solicitor. I did far better than your DD and her alevels / apprenticeship thank you very much.

Just remember, you threw the mud first by saying I'm jealous of your dd and her fantastic opportunity which is why I gave you it back.

She's 21. Let her live her life. There's nothing nasty about my post. She is not a child or a baby. She should be researching where to live and finances herself it's the only way to learn.

As you were xxx

As you were

Oh I've not heard that on MN for over a decade.

Next you'll be resurrecting "jog on" but with xx on the end.

Therapy will sort out your issues with your relationship with your mother. I’d seek it out if I were you.

Sounds pretty normal to me. But let her sort the housing etc herself, don’t do it for her. There’s loads of free stuff to do in London. Will be great experience. Cheaper if she can get bus to work or cycle. And I’d really only give her money as a last resort, she needs to learn independence.

Thank you, very reassuring to see that there are decent loving mums on here that simply want their children of whatever age to be happy and ok.
This thread has been 99% kind and helpful. Thanks to all of you that have contributed kindly.

DD has put the feelers out in her potential new workplace and there’s one or two people also looking to house share so she’s going to look into that.

Of course it's tight but that's not unusual for someone her age. When I started off my career in London I was broke but I supplemented my income by babysitting (I ended up sitting for a family who really helped me with my career) and bar work (I ended up making lifelong friends and having some of the best nights / experiences with them.)
So - needs must. Sometimes it's good to see if young people sink or swim. Might be interesting to see how resourceful she is.
50k starting salaries aren't handed out to anyone.