Things to Know When Moving to London As a Student
Budget Everything
London is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. It is only natural that you need to make sure your finances are in check before you decide to move there. It is not as difficult to create a budget as it seems. You can look up most of the costs of living on the internet and it gives you pretty accurate numbers. If you are on a student budget I highly recommend you try your best to put all of the monthly costs on a spreadsheet and work from there.
Rent/Bills
Rent is going to be the highest, no doubt, and because it is London be aware that the prices can be very steep. In addition to the rental fees, you also need to be aware of how much you would be paying for bills, and surprisingly in London bills are not nearly as bad as any other basic expense. One thing that a lot of young people in London do to minimize cost, they get a roommate, or perhaps more than one.
There are plenty of places where you can find roommates, most commonly on university campuses or on student-friendly apps. If you are able to split the rent and bill money with someone else, that might really take the pressure off.
Food
One way to really save money when you’re a student in London is to cook your own food instead of just buying some ready-made meal at the supermarket, eating out, or ordering in. If you buy ingredients to prepare food for yourself you can allocate it for the next few days and you truly end up saving a lot of money. One thing that is really great about being a student in London is that finding a job is not so difficult.
Work
Places like restaurants, pubs, and clubs are always looking for new young employees to hire, preferably university students, there is always plenty of room in retail work if nothing else works out. Regardless of what you do, if you at least work weekends, life will be much easier for you when living alone in London as a student.
The Living Situation
If you are thinking of moving to London as a student make sure to look for a flat to live in months in advance because freed up real estate in London is virtually unheard of. Free flats seldom become available and when they do, dozens of people jump on it immediately, excessively negotiating wages, and that space is gone before you can even realize what happened.
If you want to rent a flat in London then you have to be watching and being in contact with all of the real estate agencies in the area that you are looking to rent in to give you a shot at scoring a flat in London. The best recommendation is to live in a student accommodation instead. Student accommodations are relatively affordable because they are priced for students.
As these buildings are geared towards students, they make it really easy for you and you don’t have to pay separately for bills. Student accommodations also tend to be the safest places to live, as there is around-the-clock security in most buildings.
In addition to all of that, student accommodations are excellent places to kickstart your social life. In a normal situation, you would be sharing the hallway and kitchen with 4 to 7 other people who are all students such as yourself. Living in a student accommodation can be extremely fun because it is a building full of university students so it’s easier for you to relate to one another.
You will end up spending parties, dinners, grocery shopping sprees, and so much more with the people you live with, it is the perfect setting to find amazing lifelong friends.
Be Aware of the Weather
This might sound silly, but the weather in London is highly unpredictable. The majority of the time, the weather is an overcast day with strong winds, but that can change at any moment of any day. The incredibly unique thing about London is that you can experience all four seasons in one day during certain times of the year. The bottom line is, you need to know what you are getting into.
The constant cover of clouds and rain in the sky can be overwhelming for some people, especially if you are coming from a warmer climate. And the constant wind can get tiring and chilling to the core over time. Keep in mind, you are not moving to Hawaii, you are moving to a city that is less than two hours away from the chilling winds and rough storms of the North Sea
Explore
One of the greatest things about being a student in London is actually being in London. This seems self-explanatory, but you usually only see London and movies, read about it in books. When you move here, this will be your moment to appreciate this beautiful city for everything that it contains. You should ride the district line and see all the tourist attractions, you should spend the night in Chinatown or Soho to experience the crazy nightlife that London has become world-renowned for.
You should dive in and explore the melting pot of cultures that are present in the city, and indulge yourself by trying amazing and authentic foods from across the globe. Walk around Central for hours, go see a play, or go to a museum or an art gallery. There’s so much to see and so much to do in this marvelous city that when you first move here you should spend at least a month of your time familiarizing yourself with everything that London has to offer. You will be so amazed that you will never want to leave.
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