Can I live on this amount of money?

Just got my contract in the mail for a social work job in London. They are paying about 27,000 pounds. Can I live on that? (Assuming a flatshare, no car, and I'm pretty low maintenence on entertainment).

Please advise!

Of course you can, that's quite a decent salary.

I'll be living on something around £12,000 on my trainee journalist salary.... that should make you smile....

Smile-yes, but not at your poverty of course!

Social workers in Canada never make that kinda money and certainly never get bonuses!

WOW WEEEEEEEEE!

You guys would know better than I, but at one point I was looking for work in London. A friend of mine there said that I shouldn't accept anything under 30,000 pounds if I wanted to live on my own in decent accommodation and / or have a car, etc. He said when you do the exchange rate, sure it sounds great but everything in London is super expensive and so it balances out.

But again - that's all heresay

Good luck!
Matt

Yes, you should be able to live on £27,000. My flatmate does, and he always seems to have plenty of spare money.

Of course, if you want a flatshare in Kensington, are out clubbing every night, smoke and drink and have a predilection for expensive restaurants, it won't go very far!

I'm definately not into clubbing and I am looking at Greenwich or Bexley (that is where I have offers), so Kensington is not for me.

I am getting conflicting info about whether this is a good salary or not, though I understand the national average is only about L21500.

Boy- it sure is hard to make all these decisions and plans from across the pond!

My RBC yuppie friend makes £50,000 a year, but he's got some sort of Master's in business.

Most starting industrial jobs pay about £14,000.

Yeah, London is bloody expensive, but it's not that bad. You could get quite a decent flat to yourself for £2-300 a week. Do the math, and after paying all rent, you have a fair bob to spend around.

Also take into account water bills, gas/electricity bills, council tax (around £70/month), TV bills, phone/mobile bills, cost of food, etc etc.

I pay £90/week, and that includes elec/water/council tax.... but then again, I live in a rather large closet.

Relax! I think you'll do fine on that money!

That's a pretty decent salary, since when we Canadians automatically convert everything in our heads, it works out to a lot of money in Canadian. London is way more expensive than even Vancouver, though, so just the cost of getting around in London will eat that up. For comparison, I am told that "unqualified" teachers' salaries start at around £15,000. And that's if I can even GET it, with the anti-America prejudice being extended towards Canadians these days. Or maybe it's always been that way and my uncle just forgot to fill me in on that little detail before he died (over here). I mean, I know they hate Americans, but I didn't realise that even England thinks Canada is "America" just like the Americans themselves do! I guess I really get that more than some Canadians would, because being First Nations makes me an "American" Red Indian to these people, which then translate to "American" (because as we know, the tribes do tend to be the same tribes if you're from near the border) and thus the shitty treatment that I've been getting. I mean, when I was in the States and would say I was Micmac, they immediately treated me like a foreigner, which technically I was. Here, it's "that's an American." I guess I can't win for losing, not outside of Nova Scotia. I came here for a Math teaching job and got called unqualified because I showed up Red Indian. Which kept happening in the United States, that's why I chose London over New York for Math teacher shortage cities. I interviewed over the phone from back there, and was told that I was qualified equivalent to the A-level, then got here and showed up the wrong colour just like in the United States.
So I'll be LUCKY to get even £15,000 if I find anything AT ALL.

You should definitely be able to get more than £15000. When I worked in England in Aug 2001, my salary was 17001 and I was considered unqualified not because of my colour, but because I had not done my training here.

Find yourself a teaching agency and they will get you a job. My school paid the agency £2500 to have me placed with them. It's worth looking into.

-Brenda