Boards
Should I move to London?
Company I work for are offering me an assistant manager position in the big smoke. A modest payrise from (currently) just under 15,000 to maybe 25. Crucially, they're also offering my girlfriend a chance to step up and will help us with relocation/possibly put us in free accomdation for a few months.
Currently live in Manchester. Love that we can walk/bike to work from a reasonably nice area without paying insane money for rent.
Only been to London once or twice as a kid but am visiting tomorrow. Sort of feel like we should jump at it just for the adventure but not sure.
Advice? Positive or negative experiences? No idea about cost of living (I know it's high) would my payrise be swallowed up?
Honestly unsure, so thanks.
Do it!
Even if it goes badly you can apply for a better job when you can back to Manchester and it's not that expensive if you are clever/thrifty.
What does you GF think?
Thinks about the same as me
ie: has never felt any pressing desire to move there but sorta thinks we should just for the adventure.
Why not move somewhere nice instead?
Or at least somewhere better than you currently live.
He's doing both those things
Heh.
surely a 10k payrise isn't all going to get eaten up?
also, it's a promotion right? take it, then you can move back to manchester with an even better job if you don't like it in a while
or somewhere else entirely
but really london is pretty great
yes
You might not remember, but you sent me a PM once.
Is this still the same girl?
a modest 10k rise, haha
yes, move
Do it! London is great, and like others have said, at worst it is a adventure year that you can write off as an experience if it isn;t for you
one thing to mention is that you're going to be shocked by the cost and quality of housing if you want to live anywhere even slightly central.
Have you got any/many mates who live in London? If so make sure you try and chat through things with them as they will know you better than us (obviously).
there are some bellends on this forum who are going to tell you london is expensive and shit
and they will also tell you that you can't live on 25k there
all bullshit. just a heads up.
You're getting a 67% payrise, potential free accommodation, a better job for your girlfriend, and nothing in particular tying you to where you are now?
I'm not the biggest fan of London, but this isn't even a question.
Also:
http://www.londonpropertywatch.co.uk/average_rental_prices.html
ooft
that is pretty expensive
It's also (more usefully)
pretty damn varied
having to live in London's a big no-no for lots of people.
thinking about stuff like horrendous public transport, £4.50 pints, the general unfriendliness, y'know, knife crime and that, etc, etc.
a bit more money wouldn't make up for that sort of stuff for me, but everyone's different.
I've found the public transport to be easily the best in any city I've ever lived in
but sure, I know what you mean. The OP clearly doesn't seem to have any specific objections though.
OP needs to go on
ADVENTURE
if it doesn't work out - whatevs. all part of life. and adventure.
i moved to london in 2001 and still here. and i'm hardly rich. i did move down from aberdeen though.
it's not bad per se...
just really fucking busy, and full of racists.
i could count the amount of times i've had to stand up on public transport outside of London on one hand.
Again, there's massive variation
I'm lucky enough to be able to get a bus to work, so they're about every 8 minutes at most and I always get a seat, but you're right - having to get the Central line every morning would be pretty awful. But then, he could always cycle.
solution:
find somewhere in london you want to live and don't go anywhere else.
EASY.
fuck's sake. you people. not proper londoners.
it's a great opportunity
grab it. you'll regret it otherwise. and your payrise will get you plenty far.
DOO IT
That's more than I earn and I live pretty comfortably in London.
it's better to live in london when you're younger than when you're older
and you're not gonna get younger
If you want to become part of the LME
Where would your office be?
Like, it could be somewhere miles out (e.g. Croydon or Richmond or something), which would be pretty difficult to commute to everyday and get the full benefit of London.
The whole point (for me) of moving to London was not to work in the city, but to go out in the city in the evenings and at weekends. Don't get trapped into a cycle of long commuted that leave you knackered.
Yeah do it!
If you don't like it you can always move back. Sounds way too good to turn down!
Well, I've never been to London OR manchester
but if Forboza is to be trusted, I imagine you live in a gold plated mansion being fed grapes by a harem of alt babes on £15,000 atm but if you moved to London you'd be living in an old sock getting stabbed up. I mean, think about it carefully.
Just imagine how satisfying it will be
when you can mercilessly slag London off because you've lived there.
You'd be mad to turn it down
Its a huge jump on the career ladder at a time when few people are getting opportunities like that. Make sure you negotiate a decent wage though, 'maybe 25k' isn't 25k
take all the free money and whatever
if it doesn't work out then move back?
sounds like a plan to me
25k is more than enough to enjoy london on
unless you feel extremely tied to your current situation
then you should take the plunge. Nothing ventured etc! Just don't expect the streets to be paved with gold and be realistic about what london is like. I find it a really captivating place to live but ultimately quite bleak. If you're moving with your missus though then it should be ok.
no
youl be mugged and unappreciated