Revealing London living costs in 2024
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Pranav, a photographer and creator living in London, breaks down the costs of living in the city. He discusses three key expense categories: needs (50%), wants (30%), and savings (20%). Pranav shares insights on housing costs, utilities, groceries, transportation, council tax, and subscriptions like Amazon Prime and Uber. He also touches on personal spending habits, such as dining out and coffee expenses, and emphasizes the importance of saving and investing. His experiences as a freelancer highlight the challenges and strategies for managing expenses in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Takeaways
- 💰 Living in London is expensive and requires careful budgeting.
- 🏠 Pranav shares a 4-bedroom house with three other people, with rent costing £950 per person.
- ⚡ Utilities like gas and electricity cost around £100-120 per month in summer and increase in winter.
- 🚰 Water bills come every six months, averaging £10 per person monthly.
- 📶 Wi-Fi costs £40 per month, divided among four people, and mobile phone expenses are around £1 per month with Vone.
- 🛒 Grocery expenses average £250 per month, divided by four roommates.
- 🚌 Public transportation (TFL) costs Pranav about £80 monthly.
- 🧾 Council tax is around £155 per month, divided among the roommates, and varies based on location.
- 📉 Pranav divides his expenses into needs (50%), wants (30%), and savings (20%).
- 💼 As a freelancer, Pranav invests 10% of his income in shares and an ISA, and sends 10% back home to his mother.
Q & A
What are the three major categories the speaker divides their expenses into?
-The speaker divides their expenses into three categories: needs (50% of income), wants (30% of income), and savings (20% of income).
How much does the speaker pay for rent, and what type of accommodation do they live in?
-The speaker pays £950 for rent, living in a 4-bedroom terraced house shared with three other people.
What are the speaker’s utility costs for gas, electricity, and water?
-For gas and electricity, the cost is around £100 to £120 per month in summer, and it increases during the winter. Water costs around £10 per person monthly.
How much does the speaker spend on groceries each month?
-The speaker and their flatmates spend around £250 per month on groceries, which is divided among four people.
What is the speaker’s average monthly transportation cost?
-The speaker spends around £80 a month on transportation within London, using Transport for London (TFL).
What is council tax, and how much does the speaker pay for it?
-Council tax is a local tax that covers services like waste collection and neighborhood upkeep. The speaker pays £155 a month, divided among four people.
How much does the speaker spend on subscriptions in the UK?
-The speaker spends around £16 a month on subscriptions, including Amazon Prime (£5), Smol cleaning products (£5-£8), and Uber One (£6).
Does the speaker spend much on going out to eat or drink?
-The speaker often receives free food when working at restaurants, but when going out for drinks on a weekend, they typically spend around £40 per night.
How does the speaker save money on coffee expenses?
-Instead of buying coffee from shops (which costs £3-4 per cup), the speaker uses espresso pods at home, which significantly reduces the cost.
What does the speaker do with their savings, and how do they divide them?
-The speaker allocates 10% of their income to investments in shares and an ISA account, and another 10% is sent back home as a gift to their mother.
Outlines
🏙️ Cost of Living in London: A Personal Breakdown
The speaker introduces the video topic, explaining that they will break down the costs of living in London. They acknowledge London's reputation as an expensive city, confirming this based on their own experience of living there for almost two years. The speaker briefly introduces themselves as Pranav, a photographer and creator working full-time in London. They note that their expenses have changed since completing their master's degree in films. The upcoming breakdown is divided into three categories: needs (50% of income), wants (30%), and savings (20%), with further explanation to follow.
🏠 Housing and Utilities: Living Between Zones 1 and 2
The speaker starts by discussing housing, their largest expense. They live in a 4-bedroom terraced house shared with three others, located between Zones 1 and 2 of London. The rent is £3,800, divided equally, making each person's share £950 per month. Gas and electricity range from £100 to £120 in summer but increase significantly in winter due to the house’s size. Water bills, which are issued every six months, cost about £10 monthly per person. Wi-Fi costs £40 a month, divided by four, and mobile phone services cost £1. Groceries amount to £250 a month, shared by all. Personal items are excluded from this total, and transportation using the TFL costs around £80 per month.
🚮 Council Tax and Miscellaneous Living Costs
Pranav explains the concept of council tax, which he initially misunderstood as a property tax. Instead, it's for services like trash collection and neighborhood maintenance. The council tax bill is £155 per month, shared by the household. As a student, he did not pay this tax, but now, on a graduate visa, he does. Pranav calculates his total essential expenses, which amount to £1,175 monthly. He then begins to discuss the next expense category: wants.
📦 Subscriptions and Non-Essential Spending
The speaker discusses his limited subscriptions in the UK, noting that most are under his family plan in his home country. His UK-based subscriptions include Amazon Prime (£5 per month) and a sustainable cleaning product subscription called 'Smol' (£5-8 per month). He also subscribes to Uber One (£6 per month), which provides discounts on Uber rides and groceries from select venues. In total, these subscriptions amount to £16 monthly. Moving on to 'wants,' Pranav mentions his tendency to eat out for free due to his work photographing restaurants. However, on weekends, nights out for drinks can cost around £40 per person.
☕ Coffee Habits and Uber Usage
While many people in London spend on coffee daily, Pranav saves money by using espresso pods at home. He mentions that a typical coffee costs £3-4, and having coffee every day could add up to £200 a month. The speaker also uses Uber frequently, especially for commuting to work or returning from late-night events. The cost of Ubers for work is covered by his agency, but he still saves money with the Uber One subscription. This section highlights the significance of coffee and transportation in the speaker's non-essential expenditures.
💰 Savings and Investment Strategies
Pranav explains his approach to saving, allocating 20% of his income towards this. He splits it into two parts: 10% goes into shares and an ISA account, and the other 10% is sent back home as a gift to his mother each month. Since he works as a freelancer, his income can fluctuate, so the exact amount saved varies. Pranav mentions wanting to partner with brands to sponsor the video but chose to upload it quickly instead. He concludes by recommending viewers to save and invest, referencing Revolut, his first bank in London.
📩 Final Thoughts and Contact Information
The video wraps up with Pranav encouraging viewers to reach out if they want more information about moving to London, life as a student, or living abroad. He invites them to leave comments or contact him via Instagram, which he plans to link in the video. Pranav thanks the audience for watching and signs off with a promise to respond to any questions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cost of living
💡Housing
💡Utilities
💡Grocery
💡Transportation (TFL)
💡Council tax
💡Wants
💡Savings
💡Freelancing
💡Student visa
Highlights
London is known to be expensive, and sustaining a life here can be challenging.
Pranav has lived in London for almost two years and works as a photographer and creator.
Expenditures are divided into three categories: 50% for needs, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings.
Pranav lives in a four-bedroom terraced house in a location between Zones 1 and 2, with each person paying £950 in rent.
Gas and electricity bills range from £100-£120 during summer but increase significantly in winter due to the size of the house.
Water bills come every six months, and each person pays £10 per month.
The Wi-Fi costs £40 per month, and the phone bill costs £10 per month, both of which are split between housemates.
Grocery expenses are around £250 a month, divided between four people.
Pranav spends about £80 on transportation using TFL (Transport for London).
Council tax in their area is £155 per month, divided by four, which is a new concept for people moving to the UK.
Pranav saves money on food by getting free meals while shooting at restaurants.
Coffee in London can cost around £200 per month if bought daily, but Pranav saves money by using an espresso machine.
Uber One subscription saves Pranav money on rides and grocery deliveries, costing £6 per month.
Pranav saves 20% of his income, investing 10% in shares and sending 10% back home.
His Revolut bank account has been essential since he moved to London, providing convenience for managing finances.
Transcripts
today we're going to break down how much
it cost to live in
London everybody knows London is
expensive and how difficult it can be to
sustain here and after living here for
almost 2 years I can definitely agree
that it's true now before we dive into
this video hi my name is pranav and I
live here in London and I work here
full-time as a photographer and a
Creator before this I was doing my
masters in films and my expenditures
were completely different if you're
planning to move to London stick around
for more
information so I have divided this
expenditure into three major chunks the
first one is the need that takes up to
50% of your income the second one is
your want that is around 30% which will
cover your coffee shop expenses Bakery
all of that stuff the last one I keep it
as savings that is 20% of the income
that I can maybe use in emergency or
maybe send back home when needed
completely up to you so let let's dive
into the major expenses the first one is
housing currently I live in a 4 bed
Terra house and I share it with three
other people and we are located between
Zone 1 and Zone 2 this is my bedroom
which is pretty big compared to average
London
room the rent of this house is 3800
which is again divided by four of us and
our share is uh
950 each the next expense is gas and
electricity which is roughly around 100
to 120 lb in summer and increase
massively during Winters this house is
pretty huge so it gets really cold very
quickly so we have to make sure the heat
is turned on next one is water build
which comes every 6th month and on an
average monthly it's 10 lb per person
the next being the Wi-Fi we are
currently tied up with vone also have
our mobile connectivity with vone and
together we get a good offer so for
Wi-Fi we have £40 uh monthly which is
divided by four and for phone I pay1 per
month well before this I was with wxy
which is a sister brand of vone and it
is completely digital like there's no
physical store and it was cheaper has no
monthly contract
so it's fine when you're moving in the
next major expense is grocery I am very
bad at maintaining re
but uh we do it every week any one of us
quickly goes and grabs some stuff what
is essential or maybe one trip in a
month which will be more of essential
needs on an average we spend around 250
a month which is again divided by four
if anybody wants anything personally
that's not added in the bill that is
their own expense so that can
ready well the next one on the list is
tfl and I spend almost 80 L traveling
around London from one place to
another the next one is counsel tax a
fairly New Concept for anybody who's
moving to UK before this I used to think
that it is a property tax that we pay
for the owner but basically it's just
for the Dustbin collection and keeping
the neighborhood clean it also have more
to it but this is what I know
basically this expense is around 155 a
month this can vary from location to
location and the fun fact if you are on
a student visa you don't pay CLE tax I
mean we didn't pay it for one year when
we lived here on student visa but now we
are on graduate so we pay 155 a month
which is divided by 4 so the total
expenditure till now is uh
1175 and this just cover the needs the
next one is
wants when I was going through my
statement I realized I don't have a lot
of subscription here in UK I majority of
my subscription are based in my home
country with my family plan so I don't
have a lot of expenses on that but the
major one that I have here is Amazon
Prime which takes around5 a month
subscribe to small as well which is a
planet friendly home cleaning product I
love their laundry pods uh this can vary
for person to person we order monthly
which gives us around £5 to 8 PS yeah
the next subscription I have here is
Uber so Uber has its Uber one
subscription for which you get like 5 to
10% off on every Uber ride plus weekly
promotions if any this also benefits me
from the grocery part as well for a lot
of venues like registered venues we have
free delivery Uber it is around £6 a
month so roughly around £16 a month is
sub description for me the next one on
the list is going out which can be
completely different for everybody
majority of the time I'm shooting out in
hospitality industry so I shoot a lot of
restaurants and wherever I go they offer
me free food so I eat there I get it
back home my flat Ms love it I love it
so part of going out and eating is soty
but let's say if we go out on a weekend
for drinks and if if it is a long night
then we expect to spend around £40 per
person per day or per night wherever we
go the next one on the list that I
haven't covered till now is coffee and V
cream for everybody it is an essential
expense here in
London everybody not including me I'm
very happy with my espresso pod it saves
me a lot of money and the coffee is
great
[Music]
[Music]
did I tell you an average coffee here in
London is around 3 to 4 lb and a crosso
is around 3 lb so on average if you have
coffee every day for a
month which is going to be like 200 lb
and imagine having like an espresso pot
which is like
what 1 coffee not even one the other
expense that I have is Uber which I use
quite often and which is great because I
have Uber one which saves me a lot of
[Music]
money yeah so Uber is basically used
when I'm traveling back from work or
maybe when we're coming very late from a
party or an get together all the Uber
expenses that I do for my shoot are
covered by the agency I work with so
that's not added in my expense at any
point just the Uber one subscription
which is not a lot we're done with the
first and second part of the video now
we're on the last savings I'm not sure
how many of you save money or invest
somewhere but I would highly recommend
so the 20% of the income that I get 10%
I invest in shares and Isa account here
I I also invest some amount in US Stock
Exchange and the next 10% that I have I
send back home as a gift to my mom every
month now this can vary on the amount
that I'm earning each month because I
work as a freelancer so it is not a
specific
amount well I wanted to partner up with
a few brands that could help me make
this video like the saving part but I
wanted to get this video uploaded as
soon as possible so I couldn't wait for
that revolute was my first bank when I
uh landed here in London and I've been
using it since then and it's great so
that's all for today and if you would
want to know anything about moving
abroad moving to London life as a
student in London hit me up drop a
comment down here I will get back to you
or you can get you can reach me on
Instagram I'll link my Instagram as well
thank you so much see you soon
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