How much money should I bring with me?

Hello,

I'm a 20 year old student finishing up my diploma and I've been wanting to move to the UK in the future to gain life experience and to live a simpler life. I've been reading the posts here and I see that it's extremely difficult to find work as a foreigner, so that's why my next step is to move from London, Ontario to Calgary and try and find work there to build my resume and save money. If I could, I would move to England NOW and get started but I simply do not have the money or (in my opinion) enough work experience to actually land a decent job out there.

I've been telling myself to save up enough money to support myself for a couple of months at least, just since it will probably be a little while until I can get a job, and I figure 10-15k would be the amount I'm aiming for. Is this accurate? I'm trying to avoid cities like London and Birmingham because of the high cost of living and since I'll be coming from Calgary I want to live in a smaller place like, say, Norwich or even Sheffield. Although Manchester would be pretty sweet to move to! So would 10-15 000 be enough for me to get started on as I start my life in the UK?

Natalie

It depends on how you live. I was lucky and had a place to stay - yes, it's a 40 minute train ride from Central London but it's affordable - £350/month and it's at a friend of a friend's place. I was completely prepared to stay in a hostel for the first little while but about 3 weeks out, my friend arranged for my current set-up.

with that said, $10K should get you pretty far. I figure it like this:
*rent - depends on where you are but can be £350 - £1,000+ depending on your accommodations, location, etc.
*cell - you won't be able to get a monthly plan or even monthly contract, so budget about £25/month
*food/toiletries/etc. - I've been spending roughly £40/week on food but I am also cooking for the owner of my flat lol
*transport - depending on where you are, your costs will change but be sure to look into this/add it to your budget
*extras - when I came here, it felt like I was spending a fortune on things that I couldn't bring from home - I bought a cheap hair straightener, mirror, printing of cv's/references, etc.

$10K-$15K will allow you to live for quite some time. I'm finding though that even relevant job experience from Canada isn't always appreciated....at least in my line of business (that is, until I get into the interviews and tell employers that what I did in Canada is the SAME thing that is done here!!!). Also, the school systems are very different, so they look at my CV and think 'wow...umm college??' until I can explain to them how the school system is set up at home (for which they all think is incredibly interesting lol!!).

Remember to factor in flight costs, transportation to your new city from the airport, extra baggage costs, etc. It could cost you more to leave from Calgary. I was lucky and found a 1-way ticket from Toronto - London Heathrow for $527 with tax.

To add to what Lynz posted which was very good

On the basis you're livin outside the major cities

Take with you at least $15k Canadian or roughly £10,000

Worst case - you dont find a job (even one at McDonalds at minimum wage of £6/hr), you end up in a hostel or cheap rooming house/day hotel, you are not boarding with friends (or have no friends in the UK to mate with), your expenses could be between £600 - £1000/mth. I tend to see worst case budgeting.

Therefore £10,000 will last you approx 12 Months with £6,000 up to 9 months. Depends on how you live.

Accommodation, transportation, groceries & misc expenses can be expensive in the UK where cost of things - what you pay $1 for in Canada you'll pay £1 for in the UK

If you're planning a 12 month trip out, you could see what the charter airlines have in the way of return tickets - or do a one-way, again budget up to $1000 for that

Just to add to what has already been posted:

I had 4.5 years of experience before I came and I am still finding it hard. Having experience doesn't necessarily help unless it is something very particular that is in demand in whatever town or city you choose to live in -- and even then it may not help. I would suggest researching the job market in your field and in the location in which you want to live before making a decision. Otherwise, if you have to start your career anywhere, it may as well be in the UK if you intend to live here long-term. Getting a job in retail is not that difficult outside of London, so you could start there and try to get internships or jobs oriented at graduates to build your CV. Then you'll have great local experience and won't have to deal with some of the complications of starting over in a new country...

10k-15k is extremely reasonable. That would actually last you several months, if you are careful. More if you are very frugal.

And above and beyond what many others have suggested budgeting (food, transport), I also recommend that you budget for entertainment. I know you're going to want to save money, and you'll probably feel guilty spending money on such things, but if you may want to be able to decompress after a long week of rejection or go out with your roommates or take a class and meet people. Remember that it might take you a month or more to find work and you'll want some distraction!

And I agree with Lynz on budgeting for extras. You'll find that you're buying a lot of little things, like dishes, drying rack for your clothes, maybe some electronics you didn't want to bring with you (ex. laptop speakers), toiletries, maybe a book to read. It adds up quite quickly.

Finally, someone mentioned discount airline. I got a one-way flight for just over $300 with Iceland Express. The airline sucks terribly and you have to fly through Iceland, but it's a discount carrier and very cheap. I would recommend them if you *really* want to save a buck, but if you're willing to pay $200 more, go with a real airline. Air Transat also has deals if you fly in the off season, though I don't know if they have flights from Calgary. British Airways also some fantastic specials. There were very cheap details Toronto - London at the end of August.

Good luck!

LMAO - long week of rejection...you got that right!!!!!!! Did you end up with a layover in Keflavik? Mine was 9 hours and went to the Blue Lagoon - worth it!!! I went with Icelandair due to the affordable cost and the baggage allowance (baggage allowance will kill your wallet if you don't look into this)

What sourpatch said about job experience is really true - if you want an office job, make sure you have limited office experience lol - I'm overqualified

Btw if you are in London, check out meetup.com - there is a Canadian expat group with regular meetings. I've met a few people and they are good fun Canadians!

Wow, thanks so much everyone for your tips! It's definitely going to help me budget out exactly where I'll be spending my money. And that's actually a good point, sourpatchkid, to just try and get any job just so I'll have actual UK experience. But yeah I'm like that too, I always over-budget just because there's ALWAYS extra expenses somewhere! And although I am pretty good at saving money, I like to go to the pub and I am actually going to make a little category on my budget for food and drinks out!

Unfortunately it probably will take me a couple years to get that much money saved up, but who knows, maybe Calgary will be good to me and I can get a good job that pays well! I've been looking at the room rentals on kijiji and a lot of them are really cheap, actually some are cheaper than the ones here in London, ON and this place is all just crappy student living!

I'm really scared I might find out that the city or town I choose to move to is a lot different than what I expected, in terms of close-mindedness and the so-called "island mentality". Are there any places you could recommend that are outside the London area and have that small-town feel? I've been looking a lot in the East region, like Norfolk and Suffolk and I could probably do more Northeast too. I'd prefer to stay on the East coast rather than the West, for climate reasons.

Natcat, from a page topic posted in this forum you may want to read this first. It covers living & working in the UK -kinda Q&A & general overview to what you may be thinking about

your-advice-suggestions-on-living-and-working-in-the-uk-vt1338.html

Oh yeah I've read that already