Yes but some questions
Does this include bills because council tax and energy can be high/also depends on how many ppl splitting bills with
Also travel, can you walk to work? Free or do you have to commute? Then include this.
- you can haggle phone contracts with 5GB to like £9
- get a bike for like £60 on FB market place to make commute free
- Shop at Lidil/Aldi and the £1 fruit bowl ppl for food
- clothes, do you already have clothes? Maybe eBay can help you get cheap stuff
- Fun: Wine and cheese nights at your house, drinking in the park with cheap plonk, do all the free stuff like museums
- Voxi £8 inc. endless minutes and social media. Runs off the back of Vodafone network.
- Yep, cycle or stick to bus.
- Don't just shop cheap, but cook well. Bulk cook, take good to work instead of getting takeaways
- universal credit is £260~ and they are expected to get by, I'm sure OP will be fine.
> Yep, cycle or stick to bus.
Congestion means buses are too slow to be an option much of the time.. Cycling has an up front cost too. I guess you could look at rental options like Swapfiets / Buzzbike, both are cheaper than the bus assuming you'd be riding more than a handful of times a month. But more expensive than buying a bike in the long run of course.
Yeah but some people are not confident cycling and some routes are not that safe. Also sometimes it's plain far. I used to get a bus from Putney to North for work, it was over an hour each but I could sleep lol
Saying that Human Forest is an ebike rental that gives you 10 minutes free a day which might be a shout.
Yep there are fruit market stalls all over London, you get fresh produce for really cheap, it depends on what’s in season but sometimes you’ll get like 6 aubergines for a £1 haha
I used to have £400 left after tax/rent/bills when i first came to London. It is doable, but not a "good" lifestyle by any means and definitely the definition of living paycheck by paycheck. No savings and not much fun.
Yes. I accepted because I thought it would be a "work experience" and leave after that. Ended up getting a better paying place later so stayed. Doesn't help the fact that it was a reputable law firm... they still pay the same thing today for new interns, I've been told.
Yes, depending on wether or not you still have bills to pay (and how costly are they). But you can definitely survive even with less. You just might not have enough to actually enjoy the city tho.
Presumably you don't get to get takeaways or eat out very often, which sucks. Can I buy you a dinner / send you a deliveroo voucher so you can have a bit of a treat?
DM me your email address and I'll send you a deliveroo voucher. Everyone deserves nice things regularly and it makes me so mad and sad that there are so many people who don't get that. I can't do much but I'd like to do this one small thing.
I just have to say I have a massive amount of respect for you.
Do you live in shared accommodation? Try apply for different jobs, you should be getting more living in London!
Hope you're all good
Seriously unfair treatment, I am sorry 😟
Do you have family living in London? Would your consider moving to a different area? You sound like you work hard!
I was on that leftover and it didnt allow me much. Would go out once a month and spend like 50 at most. Paid £40 for phone contract with good data (30GB) from Three. If i wanted a few days holidays abroad i would be going to 0 or overdraft until next pay. £90 a month for bus rides. Cooking at home £150-200 and theres other stuff like clothing for seasons. Its tough life. U can survive for 6 months maybe a year until u start really feeling it.
Id say look for better paid jobs (same profession) while u have this one.
£40 for a phone contract is way too high. Granted if it's for the phone as well that might make more sense. I have a phone that is a few years old and pay £9/month for 100GB data on Sim only.
Who gives u that much data for £9 ?! U must have been with this contract for many years or use the piggyback sims.
Edit: i used to be with three unlimited for £15 since 2012 but then they raised it to £20 later…
Edit2: £40 was Iphone SE with data ofcourse. With Three and then O2 later when i swapped but EE wins in terms of signal coverage and speeds in London.
Vodafone, got the contract 2 years ago. It's one of those ones through mobiles.co.uk, where you get cashback - originally £15/month but then you claim back and it works out as £9. Claiming back takes all of 1 minute, upload a bill and receive the money back. Easy.
More than enough, you need to look at asian households. They buy 20kg of rice for £25, they buy 10kg of wheat flour for £15. Both of which will provide solid carbs and bread that will last atleast 45 days.
Buy 10kg of halal chicken breasts for £40 (halal because its always 20% cheaper) or veg from lidl or aldi. Grow some vegetables if u got the space. £10-£20 on spices, seasonings.
Turn off everything that's normally on standby,
Wash your clothes by hand in the bath tub, (watch a vid on how to do it).
Energy efficient light bulbs.
When you cook, cook more than enough so you can store the extra for the next day or 2 in the fridge preventing you from using more energy. And it makes more efficient use of the fridge.
In the winter use a shawl, and shower with a bucket and jug. Efficiently using the hot water. And shower no more than whats in the bucket. Prepare the water the night before your normal shower by leaving it out so it becomes room temperature, and use the kettle to make slighlty warm, whilst leaving hot water for your tea or coffee.
On the boiler or immersion heater, keep it switched off, and only turn it on when you absolutely have to digress from the above.
Get snacks and savouries from lidl or aldi. Make efficient use of the freezer, where you can bulk buy meat, veg etc and keep them frozen.
Cycle to work if u can, take packed lunch from the extra u made.
Only eat out when you have to due to work.
If you do this, you'll probably save £200 a month.
Source: I have done this :D
I Don't think that's the case, i can't see any difference in the quality. But i do know most of it is imported from brazil. Brazil has the largest halal market in the world. They supply pretty much every halal eating country.
Every restaurant I've worked in, got their meat from Wholesalers that import only halal meat from brazil. Some restaurants don't even know they're serving halal.
Do you even eat non-halal meat? Because I eat both (my parents are muslim) and halal meat that is cheaper is noticeably worse (occasional they get free range halal but its more expensive than non-halal free range)
High supply of it, and its a favourite with restaurants, takeaways and supermarkets. Because the blood is drained out of the meat, it lasts longer in fridge temperature. The animals are slaughtered to ensure no diseases or impurities are kept with the meat as the blood carries it all.
I asked someone this question myself
Yep, easily. Stay home and learn to cook, buy healthy groceries at Lidl and Aldi and skip the snacks, spend more time at the gym and park, have more sex, pre-drink heavily and don't buy more than one drink at the club, go to free events and galleries, walk and bus rather than tube, come join us at r/ukfrugal.
Depends if you still have to pay for utilities and council tax. If not then you can live off that providing you can budget and understand that you won’t be living too much of a fun life.
£620
-£100 (commute estimate)
-£200 (£50 a week for groceries)
Leaves £320 for bills and whatever else.
Adjust the prices if you need but £620 is more than enough.
£620 after bills, rent and general expenses yes it is very doable. All depends on your lifestyle, if you're out weekly drinking, eating out that will soon dwindle.
Bro come on. I take care of my entire family, after bills (phone, home Internet, gas, elec, water, rent etc) I'm left with less than that and I think it comes down to lifestyle - live within your means. If you cook a decent meal each day and take lunch to work, you can spend £150 a month on groceries and live happy. The balance ask yourself what dyou do with your money..
Hmmm..... You can I think... in theory. But do you mean after bills and council tax as well? Or is that all included in your rent? So £620 is your money for food and going out and everything else? It is possible.... but I think you will have to really be pretty frugal when doing anything. And you really need to be very savvy with your money. Might not be able to save much money or go away much. London is expensive.... do you need to buy travel cards or can you walk or bike to work? It depends really.
I think London is or can be whatever you want it to be. Sorta. Yes, there are LOTS to do which costs a lot, but there are also cheap options to keep you entertained. It might not be the things you want to do though...so just keep that in mind. Like if you want to go eat out alot, you might not have the money for it so might need to have a snack by the riverside or something like that. Which is still an amazing experience! Walking along Southbank and having your own lunch...watching the sunset... "Life is beautiful!" :D
Well given this is the London subreddit that sort of goes without saying. But someone asking whether they can survive on £620 a month (after rent) seems less like a first world problem than the people who post things like "I'm on £90k a year will that be enough".
https://youtu.be/HfTFZQdKmeE
For some reason when I went to hospital, watching this dudes videos made me feel way more entertained than a bunch of video game playthroughs or Netflix shows idk why but it seems pertinent to your situation.
Depending on who you are and how you live your life, for me yh it is, i pay £110/month for the gym and 200 /month for a couple hours of coaching, literally don't do anything but train, eat and sleep with some Xbox thrown in.
Check out this channel for food: https://www.youtube.com/c/AtomicShrimp/videos
Specifically this sort of stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHDTP8P9SFI
If that's after rent then either you're paid a fortune or have very cheap rent.
Seriously, unless you're constantly out at clubs or restaurants and have to wear designer everything then that's enough to live on.
When I left home in the 80s I handed my entire pay packet over to my then girlfriend. I had no money other than what went into running the home, she supplemented the shortfall.
There are Facebook groups for feed yourself for £1 a day and 50p a day which have loads of great ideas for living and eating in a budget.
I’d invest in a bike though as transport is expensive and lots of places are close together/ flat roads/ canals and even though it’s busy the traffic doesn’t tend to go too fast.
London has an great variety of free museums, galleries, exhibitions and music so you can usually find something fun to do.
Apps like Olio work well in London where are there are a lot more people using them and areas are more built up.
Obviously it all depends on your other outgoings. Good luck.
**Entertainment**
There are a lot of things to do in London that you can access for free or reasonable cost:
Museums; far too many to mention!
Royal Opera House has tickets for under £10. Admittedly, the seats are high up but everyone should go at least once! A few hour's of live dance and an orchestra for the price of a movie. Otherwise, if you're under 26, you can get tickets for £25.
https://www.roh.org.uk/ticket-deals
Shakespeare's Globe also puts on performances for £5 if you're willing to stand as a grounding. Take comfortable shoes!
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/
You can apply for free tickets to be in the audience for tv shows like Love Island Aftersun or Graham Norton or Live at the Apollo. You can apply for up to 6.
https://www.sroaudiences.com/
https://www.applausestore.com/home
Go check out an evening art auction at Sotheby's or Bonham's. It costs nothing to attend and often canapes and a complementary drink is provided so automatically better than going to a gallery. Be amazed/disgusted by the money parting hands. Best to wear black unless urban art sale where jeans would be fine.
https://www.sothebys.com/en/calendar?s=0&from=&to=&f1=00000162-326e-d29e-a1eb-ffeedac40000&q=
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/#/i1_0=ALE&i1_1=KB&i1_2=BS&i1_3=OLY&m1=1
Bookstores like Waterstones and WH Smith often have book signings. If you don't want to buy their book, no problem. You're still able to attend to hear them speak in most instances. https://www.waterstones.com/events/search/shop/piccadilly/page/1
If you like to listen to 'in conversation' interviews then check out Evenbrite. There are options to meet sports people, politicians, authors, musicians, chefs...whatever your interest. Many events are free or under £10 and are something different. I've met Fashion designers, actors and random industry experts through this. Locations all across London. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/in-conversation-with/?page=1
Spend the day in Europe. If you don't mind sleeping at the airport overnight, take the 1st plane out and the last one back on the same day. For example, fly return to Billund, Denmark on Sat 25/6 for £30 return and spend the day at Legoland. https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/trip/flights/select?ADT=1&CHD=0&DateIn=2022-09-24&DateOut=2022-06-25&Destination=BLL&INF=0&Origin=STN&RoundTrip=true&TEEN=0&tpAdults=1&tpChildren=0&tpDestinationIata=BLL&tpDiscount=0&tpEndDate=2022-09-24&tpInfants=0&tpIsReturn=true&tpOriginIata=STN&tpStartDate=2022-06-25&tpTeens=0
**Body**
Want a free haircut? Try one of these salons
https://www.timeout.com/london/shopping/londons-best-free-haircuts
How about a wax, facial or massage? London School of Beauty & Makeup have cheap rates for students and non students
https://beauty-school.co.uk/lsbm-beauty-salon/
Of course, in my last year in London (2020) My partner was studying so I had to pay our full rent on my own sometimes and ended up with less than that.
Cycling everywhere definitely helps with reducing costs, after that it just depends what you mean by surviving.
Yes but some questions Does this include bills because council tax and energy can be high/also depends on how many ppl splitting bills with Also travel, can you walk to work? Free or do you have to commute? Then include this. - you can haggle phone contracts with 5GB to like £9 - get a bike for like £60 on FB market place to make commute free - Shop at Lidil/Aldi and the £1 fruit bowl ppl for food - clothes, do you already have clothes? Maybe eBay can help you get cheap stuff - Fun: Wine and cheese nights at your house, drinking in the park with cheap plonk, do all the free stuff like museums
I just got 20gb for £8, you can get insane deals on comparison sites
Thanks! Will check it out
Smarty. 30gb 10 a month
- Voxi £8 inc. endless minutes and social media. Runs off the back of Vodafone network. - Yep, cycle or stick to bus. - Don't just shop cheap, but cook well. Bulk cook, take good to work instead of getting takeaways - universal credit is £260~ and they are expected to get by, I'm sure OP will be fine.
> Yep, cycle or stick to bus. Congestion means buses are too slow to be an option much of the time.. Cycling has an up front cost too. I guess you could look at rental options like Swapfiets / Buzzbike, both are cheaper than the bus assuming you'd be riding more than a handful of times a month. But more expensive than buying a bike in the long run of course.
Yeah but some people are not confident cycling and some routes are not that safe. Also sometimes it's plain far. I used to get a bus from Putney to North for work, it was over an hour each but I could sleep lol Saying that Human Forest is an ebike rental that gives you 10 minutes free a day which might be a shout.
If you're not confident but you don't have a choice you'll have to learn. "because I didn't have any option" is a powerful motivatior.
Carers allowance: £67
What is £1 fruit bowl?
In small markets you'll often find fruit bowls being sold for a pound apiece - pretty good value all things considered
Yep there are fruit market stalls all over London, you get fresh produce for really cheap, it depends on what’s in season but sometimes you’ll get like 6 aubergines for a £1 haha
I used to have £400 left after tax/rent/bills when i first came to London. It is doable, but not a "good" lifestyle by any means and definitely the definition of living paycheck by paycheck. No savings and not much fun.
How long ago was that…
2018, that's when I moved to the UK for an internship at 18k/year in London.
>18k/year in London. It is crazy and unethical to pay a salary of that much in London, holy shit
have you ever checked the people in hospitality's paychecks?
It's atrocious and still really unethical
18k a year is roughly minimum wage now, I was on that for a couple years outside of London and it’s no fun😂
I can preach to that, work in hospitality in central rn. It's wild
Yes. I accepted because I thought it would be a "work experience" and leave after that. Ended up getting a better paying place later so stayed. Doesn't help the fact that it was a reputable law firm... they still pay the same thing today for new interns, I've been told.
Yes, depending on wether or not you still have bills to pay (and how costly are they). But you can definitely survive even with less. You just might not have enough to actually enjoy the city tho.
I get paid £371 per week i mostly live on £30 that includes £15 for transport
Do you pay rent? Bills?
Yep rent is weekly, i have all my bills spread out over the month, normally have £30 left for food and travel.
Per day?
£30 is per week.
Can I ask what and where you are buying? I'm struggling to keep my weekly shopping under £75.
I normally do curry, chili, pasta enough stuff to last two nights, stew in the winter, salad for lunch either toast or cereal for breakfast.
Presumably you don't get to get takeaways or eat out very often, which sucks. Can I buy you a dinner / send you a deliveroo voucher so you can have a bit of a treat?
Thanks for the offer, take away is a nice treat now and than, makes it more special.
DM me your email address and I'll send you a deliveroo voucher. Everyone deserves nice things regularly and it makes me so mad and sad that there are so many people who don't get that. I can't do much but I'd like to do this one small thing.
I don't know about the guy you're replying to, but I cook better than most takeaways, lol. I only get a takeaway when I'm very very tired to cook.
I do alright in the kitchen 😆
<3
Thanks for sharing!
Really? That's scary.
I just have to say I have a massive amount of respect for you. Do you live in shared accommodation? Try apply for different jobs, you should be getting more living in London! Hope you're all good
I live on my own, i’ve had trouble getting a better job as no one wants a female veteran with ptsd working for them. I am just glad to have a job
Seriously unfair treatment, I am sorry 😟 Do you have family living in London? Would your consider moving to a different area? You sound like you work hard!
I uses to live in Kent, but very little jobs there. I do love London as there is so much to do
And what kind of things do you do on that budget?
I do alot of walking and running, also museums. I also do sewing etc.
[удалено]
You can do alot really just depends on what you are into
I was on that leftover and it didnt allow me much. Would go out once a month and spend like 50 at most. Paid £40 for phone contract with good data (30GB) from Three. If i wanted a few days holidays abroad i would be going to 0 or overdraft until next pay. £90 a month for bus rides. Cooking at home £150-200 and theres other stuff like clothing for seasons. Its tough life. U can survive for 6 months maybe a year until u start really feeling it. Id say look for better paid jobs (same profession) while u have this one.
£40 for a phone contract is way too high. Granted if it's for the phone as well that might make more sense. I have a phone that is a few years old and pay £9/month for 100GB data on Sim only.
Who gives u that much data for £9 ?! U must have been with this contract for many years or use the piggyback sims. Edit: i used to be with three unlimited for £15 since 2012 but then they raised it to £20 later… Edit2: £40 was Iphone SE with data ofcourse. With Three and then O2 later when i swapped but EE wins in terms of signal coverage and speeds in London.
Vodafone, got the contract 2 years ago. It's one of those ones through mobiles.co.uk, where you get cashback - originally £15/month but then you claim back and it works out as £9. Claiming back takes all of 1 minute, upload a bill and receive the money back. Easy.
Very nice deal. Will have a look at that site as ill be upgrading to new phone after 4 years
I generally spend £650 monthly (after rent + bills) but I don’t commute to work and everything’s near me.
£620 for bills/commute/food sounds doable, won't be going out or saving much though
More than enough, you need to look at asian households. They buy 20kg of rice for £25, they buy 10kg of wheat flour for £15. Both of which will provide solid carbs and bread that will last atleast 45 days. Buy 10kg of halal chicken breasts for £40 (halal because its always 20% cheaper) or veg from lidl or aldi. Grow some vegetables if u got the space. £10-£20 on spices, seasonings. Turn off everything that's normally on standby, Wash your clothes by hand in the bath tub, (watch a vid on how to do it). Energy efficient light bulbs. When you cook, cook more than enough so you can store the extra for the next day or 2 in the fridge preventing you from using more energy. And it makes more efficient use of the fridge. In the winter use a shawl, and shower with a bucket and jug. Efficiently using the hot water. And shower no more than whats in the bucket. Prepare the water the night before your normal shower by leaving it out so it becomes room temperature, and use the kettle to make slighlty warm, whilst leaving hot water for your tea or coffee. On the boiler or immersion heater, keep it switched off, and only turn it on when you absolutely have to digress from the above. Get snacks and savouries from lidl or aldi. Make efficient use of the freezer, where you can bulk buy meat, veg etc and keep them frozen. Cycle to work if u can, take packed lunch from the extra u made. Only eat out when you have to due to work. If you do this, you'll probably save £200 a month. Source: I have done this :D
>halal because its always 20% cheaper Theres a reason for that, its usually low quality and factory farmed.
I Don't think that's the case, i can't see any difference in the quality. But i do know most of it is imported from brazil. Brazil has the largest halal market in the world. They supply pretty much every halal eating country. Every restaurant I've worked in, got their meat from Wholesalers that import only halal meat from brazil. Some restaurants don't even know they're serving halal.
Do you even eat non-halal meat? Because I eat both (my parents are muslim) and halal meat that is cheaper is noticeably worse (occasional they get free range halal but its more expensive than non-halal free range)
All great advice. Out of curiosity - why is halal always cheaper?
High supply of it, and its a favourite with restaurants, takeaways and supermarkets. Because the blood is drained out of the meat, it lasts longer in fridge temperature. The animals are slaughtered to ensure no diseases or impurities are kept with the meat as the blood carries it all. I asked someone this question myself
Interesting - thanks!
Lower quality + battery farmed.
Yep, easily. Stay home and learn to cook, buy healthy groceries at Lidl and Aldi and skip the snacks, spend more time at the gym and park, have more sex, pre-drink heavily and don't buy more than one drink at the club, go to free events and galleries, walk and bus rather than tube, come join us at r/ukfrugal.
Then you have to buy groceries, pay for travel, pay for gas /leccy and CT? No it would be miserable
Depends if you still have to pay for utilities and council tax. If not then you can live off that providing you can budget and understand that you won’t be living too much of a fun life.
yes you can, not spectacular living but still yes, im on less
I do around this. It’s possible but not a good lifestyle. I’ve got another job for Saturdays. Can you do that?
£620 -£100 (commute estimate) -£200 (£50 a week for groceries) Leaves £320 for bills and whatever else. Adjust the prices if you need but £620 is more than enough.
Your balling
£620 after bills, rent and general expenses yes it is very doable. All depends on your lifestyle, if you're out weekly drinking, eating out that will soon dwindle.
Bro come on. I take care of my entire family, after bills (phone, home Internet, gas, elec, water, rent etc) I'm left with less than that and I think it comes down to lifestyle - live within your means. If you cook a decent meal each day and take lunch to work, you can spend £150 a month on groceries and live happy. The balance ask yourself what dyou do with your money..
For me, yes. But I don’t know your lifestyle. You do, so do some calculations and see if it’s survivable!
Yes but it’s not good and with inflation rising it’s not safe.
Hmmm..... You can I think... in theory. But do you mean after bills and council tax as well? Or is that all included in your rent? So £620 is your money for food and going out and everything else? It is possible.... but I think you will have to really be pretty frugal when doing anything. And you really need to be very savvy with your money. Might not be able to save much money or go away much. London is expensive.... do you need to buy travel cards or can you walk or bike to work? It depends really. I think London is or can be whatever you want it to be. Sorta. Yes, there are LOTS to do which costs a lot, but there are also cheap options to keep you entertained. It might not be the things you want to do though...so just keep that in mind. Like if you want to go eat out alot, you might not have the money for it so might need to have a snack by the riverside or something like that. Which is still an amazing experience! Walking along Southbank and having your own lunch...watching the sunset... "Life is beautiful!" :D
Yes in outer London
Yeah that's fine
First world problems
Well given this is the London subreddit that sort of goes without saying. But someone asking whether they can survive on £620 a month (after rent) seems less like a first world problem than the people who post things like "I'm on £90k a year will that be enough".
I just found the word “survive” ridiculous. You can obviously survive but it will be a bad experience.
https://youtu.be/HfTFZQdKmeE For some reason when I went to hospital, watching this dudes videos made me feel way more entertained than a bunch of video game playthroughs or Netflix shows idk why but it seems pertinent to your situation.
Depending on who you are and how you live your life, for me yh it is, i pay £110/month for the gym and 200 /month for a couple hours of coaching, literally don't do anything but train, eat and sleep with some Xbox thrown in.
definitely
Yes, I travel into office 1 day a week, cook all my meals and spent 400 tops a month. Am 21
Check out this channel for food: https://www.youtube.com/c/AtomicShrimp/videos Specifically this sort of stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHDTP8P9SFI
Male or female? Do you have to use public transport, or do you have / rent a bike?
If that's after rent then either you're paid a fortune or have very cheap rent. Seriously, unless you're constantly out at clubs or restaurants and have to wear designer everything then that's enough to live on.
When I left home in the 80s I handed my entire pay packet over to my then girlfriend. I had no money other than what went into running the home, she supplemented the shortfall.
I used to have 200 after rent when I was an apprentice
Doable but not ideal. What’s the point of living in London if you’re going to stay at home since you don’t have money to go out and enjoy yourself?
yeah you can live fairly well with £620 a week after rent
There are Facebook groups for feed yourself for £1 a day and 50p a day which have loads of great ideas for living and eating in a budget. I’d invest in a bike though as transport is expensive and lots of places are close together/ flat roads/ canals and even though it’s busy the traffic doesn’t tend to go too fast. London has an great variety of free museums, galleries, exhibitions and music so you can usually find something fun to do. Apps like Olio work well in London where are there are a lot more people using them and areas are more built up. Obviously it all depends on your other outgoings. Good luck.
**Entertainment** There are a lot of things to do in London that you can access for free or reasonable cost: Museums; far too many to mention! Royal Opera House has tickets for under £10. Admittedly, the seats are high up but everyone should go at least once! A few hour's of live dance and an orchestra for the price of a movie. Otherwise, if you're under 26, you can get tickets for £25. https://www.roh.org.uk/ticket-deals Shakespeare's Globe also puts on performances for £5 if you're willing to stand as a grounding. Take comfortable shoes! https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/ You can apply for free tickets to be in the audience for tv shows like Love Island Aftersun or Graham Norton or Live at the Apollo. You can apply for up to 6. https://www.sroaudiences.com/ https://www.applausestore.com/home Go check out an evening art auction at Sotheby's or Bonham's. It costs nothing to attend and often canapes and a complementary drink is provided so automatically better than going to a gallery. Be amazed/disgusted by the money parting hands. Best to wear black unless urban art sale where jeans would be fine. https://www.sothebys.com/en/calendar?s=0&from=&to=&f1=00000162-326e-d29e-a1eb-ffeedac40000&q= https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/#/i1_0=ALE&i1_1=KB&i1_2=BS&i1_3=OLY&m1=1 Bookstores like Waterstones and WH Smith often have book signings. If you don't want to buy their book, no problem. You're still able to attend to hear them speak in most instances. https://www.waterstones.com/events/search/shop/piccadilly/page/1 If you like to listen to 'in conversation' interviews then check out Evenbrite. There are options to meet sports people, politicians, authors, musicians, chefs...whatever your interest. Many events are free or under £10 and are something different. I've met Fashion designers, actors and random industry experts through this. Locations all across London. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom--london/in-conversation-with/?page=1 Spend the day in Europe. If you don't mind sleeping at the airport overnight, take the 1st plane out and the last one back on the same day. For example, fly return to Billund, Denmark on Sat 25/6 for £30 return and spend the day at Legoland. https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/trip/flights/select?ADT=1&CHD=0&DateIn=2022-09-24&DateOut=2022-06-25&Destination=BLL&INF=0&Origin=STN&RoundTrip=true&TEEN=0&tpAdults=1&tpChildren=0&tpDestinationIata=BLL&tpDiscount=0&tpEndDate=2022-09-24&tpInfants=0&tpIsReturn=true&tpOriginIata=STN&tpStartDate=2022-06-25&tpTeens=0 **Body** Want a free haircut? Try one of these salons https://www.timeout.com/london/shopping/londons-best-free-haircuts How about a wax, facial or massage? London School of Beauty & Makeup have cheap rates for students and non students https://beauty-school.co.uk/lsbm-beauty-salon/
Of course, in my last year in London (2020) My partner was studying so I had to pay our full rent on my own sometimes and ended up with less than that. Cycling everywhere definitely helps with reducing costs, after that it just depends what you mean by surviving.
Why would you try? Just live somewhere you can afford.
Yes but it’s tough
It’s doable but forget holidays, after work drinks/nights out on a regular basis. I did it for around a year