Is it true, that London is expensive? I'd say "yes" and "no". Everywhere in Europe it is possible to live both ridiculously expensively and manage to have all you need amazingly cheap. So, London, of all the other cities I know a bit of, is a very bright example of this controversy. Here is why.
First of all, I must say getting acquainted how Google products work turned out extremely helpful in London. Many products are extremely useful here, helping to find your way through the hundreds and thousands of shops and products and offers and prices: Google Maps along with navigation and public transport planning is indispensable. Daily. Everywhere. I try to keep my phone charged not so much because I am afraid to stay with no connection to people, but without maps and transport guidance.
Google Shopping - Product Listing Ads - amazing feature when I need to buy something, do not want to pay too much "just because" and have no idea where the shops are. Thanks to PLAs I found a great sports shop nearby and had a pretty nice walk through the woods to buy stuff for my son's trainings.
Google Certified Shops - shopping in UK I do tend to trust Certified UK shops more than others, especially when ordering online.
All three put together help me save time and money.
On a very high level: accommodation and travel are ridiculously expensive and clothing is unbelievably cheap (well, for me, coming from Estonia at least).
I am content with paying 140 pounds per month for a travel card, because I do like the quality of the Tube and bus transit, and my 11yo son travels for free on buses and for a symbolic fee on Tube. Also, kids' inter-city bus and train tickets do have significant discounts (50-70%), so I do see what I am paying for. One trick I did that saved me about 30 pounds per month is buying a travel card for 3 Tube zones (out of 6 in Greater London). I am living on 4th zone. With every next zone crossed the cost of travel increases. But this is true only for the Tube. "Slow" buses cost the same throughout the whole London. After having done some simple calculations I understood that I will add just 20 minutes of travel time every day and save some money, if I exit the Tube earlier and take bus from there. Considering that I can do part of my work and personal deeds on the bus from my phone, I am totally fine with that. I also try to travel to work and back home in off-peak times, when there are no delays and less people in transport.
I heard the fuel here is the most expensive in EU area. Also, car insurance costs alot, parking is pricey everywhere, also in the outskirts of London, you have to pay a congestion charge when you enter the central London... So, I do not plan to get a car in the foreseeable future.
Apartments' prices, both rent and sale, are just crazy. The demand for housing in London is constantly higher than offer. London area allowed for building residential buildings is actually limited to avoid small satellite towns to be swallowed by the megapolis, so price of a square meter of any land and any property is skyrocketing, constantly. In addition, buyers create a vicious circle themselves - since property prices are rising, people are buying property as an investment and often do not even offer it for rent. So, many houses and flats in London are standing empty. New establishments often do not create new living space, which looks like a complete nonsense to me. Lately, the mayor of London declared that it would be reasonable to set a high tax for the property bought as an investment (i.e. when noone lives there). However, people who can afford 2-3 apartments in London will probably not have issues with paying additional tax, but the rent will probably go up more to cover for losses of landlords having one apartment for rent and yet another purely as an investment.
Groceries are a bit more expensive than in Estonia, but there are lots of good deals and discounts, which make "food in total" cheaper. Groceries home delivery is cheap (although somewhat unreliable).
To my surprise cosmetics I used in Tallinn was made in UK, so buying it here is a bit cheaper than in Estonia (due to additional transportation costs and margins).
Hairdressers are slightly more expensive than in Tallinn, although you can find a stylist 5-6-7 times more expensive and get an "haute couture" haircut too.
School uniform (branded) is expensive, mostly because it is a way to make money on things you MUST buy anyway. In general, kids clothing, if not "haute couture", is quite cheap, so luckily, pieces of uniform that are not branded, like trousers, is not a problem, but all kinds of sweaters, polo-shirts and blazers are a rip-off.
Nannies are expensive. I don't know the exact prices, but wealthy people wince when I ask how much it costs.
Sporting outdoors in recreation grounds is mostly for free and with a very good quality, BUT you pay an incredible amount of council tax (a tax for living in certain area) monthly along with your rent, which covers all those "nice-to-haves".
Lately, a wave of of "auction" online services has appeared. There are portals, where you can post a call for e.g. relocation and get offers from various relocation providers. You choose the one that suits you best (time-price-quality-wise) and can save up to 60% compared to major relocation companies. This is a big risk, however, to turn to an unknown company offering a good price, but with the help of reviews and recommendations (both online and from friends' network) you can actually find a good bargain.
Did I mention, discount is the magic of shopping in London. There are all kinds of discounts - "emptying sales", "3 for 2", "start of season", "end of season", "join now get free stuff", my favourite is from Merlin entertainment group owning lots of amusement parks and stuff in and around London. They offer free adult passes on... Kellogs packs, if you go with someone (either kid or adult) paying for a ticket. Since we do eat Kellogs sometimes at home, I buy "free pass" packs, and saved about 60% per visit. Also, many parks have "free days", tied to e.g. their birthday, season start, season end, or off-peak times - with enough patience and diligence you can always find a great deal.
Oh, one other important note for tourists. Permanent collections in state museums (Science Museum, Museum of Natural History, British Museum, National Gallery are free. This is a government policy targeted to educate people. Additional expositions though are not free, so look closely where you go and what you actually want to see.
Also, BBC Proms is a keyword for classic music lovers - cheap concerts in a beautiful Albert Hall in London, historically created to attract people usually not keen to listen to classical music to come and enjoy it for a much cheaper price than a concert would normally cost. I guess that works, since they are extremely popular here.
As you might have noticed, I almost didn't include actual numbers here. They vary in time and by location, also depend a lot on the brand you are buying and where you are buying it from (online, offline, crowded transport hub area or a quiet road in residential district), the information I brought above is pretty general. There are plenty of sites on the internet with calculators and comparisons of prices in different places of the world, including London. Here is the one I used when planning my relocation. They proved to be true with minor variations both ways.
If you plan to come to London and need tips on how to minimise costs, ping me, I'll be happy to help.
First of all, I must say getting acquainted how Google products work turned out extremely helpful in London. Many products are extremely useful here, helping to find your way through the hundreds and thousands of shops and products and offers and prices: Google Maps along with navigation and public transport planning is indispensable. Daily. Everywhere. I try to keep my phone charged not so much because I am afraid to stay with no connection to people, but without maps and transport guidance.
Google Shopping - Product Listing Ads - amazing feature when I need to buy something, do not want to pay too much "just because" and have no idea where the shops are. Thanks to PLAs I found a great sports shop nearby and had a pretty nice walk through the woods to buy stuff for my son's trainings.
Google Certified Shops - shopping in UK I do tend to trust Certified UK shops more than others, especially when ordering online.
All three put together help me save time and money.
On a very high level: accommodation and travel are ridiculously expensive and clothing is unbelievably cheap (well, for me, coming from Estonia at least).
I am content with paying 140 pounds per month for a travel card, because I do like the quality of the Tube and bus transit, and my 11yo son travels for free on buses and for a symbolic fee on Tube. Also, kids' inter-city bus and train tickets do have significant discounts (50-70%), so I do see what I am paying for. One trick I did that saved me about 30 pounds per month is buying a travel card for 3 Tube zones (out of 6 in Greater London). I am living on 4th zone. With every next zone crossed the cost of travel increases. But this is true only for the Tube. "Slow" buses cost the same throughout the whole London. After having done some simple calculations I understood that I will add just 20 minutes of travel time every day and save some money, if I exit the Tube earlier and take bus from there. Considering that I can do part of my work and personal deeds on the bus from my phone, I am totally fine with that. I also try to travel to work and back home in off-peak times, when there are no delays and less people in transport.
I heard the fuel here is the most expensive in EU area. Also, car insurance costs alot, parking is pricey everywhere, also in the outskirts of London, you have to pay a congestion charge when you enter the central London... So, I do not plan to get a car in the foreseeable future.
Apartments' prices, both rent and sale, are just crazy. The demand for housing in London is constantly higher than offer. London area allowed for building residential buildings is actually limited to avoid small satellite towns to be swallowed by the megapolis, so price of a square meter of any land and any property is skyrocketing, constantly. In addition, buyers create a vicious circle themselves - since property prices are rising, people are buying property as an investment and often do not even offer it for rent. So, many houses and flats in London are standing empty. New establishments often do not create new living space, which looks like a complete nonsense to me. Lately, the mayor of London declared that it would be reasonable to set a high tax for the property bought as an investment (i.e. when noone lives there). However, people who can afford 2-3 apartments in London will probably not have issues with paying additional tax, but the rent will probably go up more to cover for losses of landlords having one apartment for rent and yet another purely as an investment.
Groceries are a bit more expensive than in Estonia, but there are lots of good deals and discounts, which make "food in total" cheaper. Groceries home delivery is cheap (although somewhat unreliable).
To my surprise cosmetics I used in Tallinn was made in UK, so buying it here is a bit cheaper than in Estonia (due to additional transportation costs and margins).
Hairdressers are slightly more expensive than in Tallinn, although you can find a stylist 5-6-7 times more expensive and get an "haute couture" haircut too.
School uniform (branded) is expensive, mostly because it is a way to make money on things you MUST buy anyway. In general, kids clothing, if not "haute couture", is quite cheap, so luckily, pieces of uniform that are not branded, like trousers, is not a problem, but all kinds of sweaters, polo-shirts and blazers are a rip-off.
Nannies are expensive. I don't know the exact prices, but wealthy people wince when I ask how much it costs.
Sporting outdoors in recreation grounds is mostly for free and with a very good quality, BUT you pay an incredible amount of council tax (a tax for living in certain area) monthly along with your rent, which covers all those "nice-to-haves".
Lately, a wave of of "auction" online services has appeared. There are portals, where you can post a call for e.g. relocation and get offers from various relocation providers. You choose the one that suits you best (time-price-quality-wise) and can save up to 60% compared to major relocation companies. This is a big risk, however, to turn to an unknown company offering a good price, but with the help of reviews and recommendations (both online and from friends' network) you can actually find a good bargain.
Did I mention, discount is the magic of shopping in London. There are all kinds of discounts - "emptying sales", "3 for 2", "start of season", "end of season", "join now get free stuff", my favourite is from Merlin entertainment group owning lots of amusement parks and stuff in and around London. They offer free adult passes on... Kellogs packs, if you go with someone (either kid or adult) paying for a ticket. Since we do eat Kellogs sometimes at home, I buy "free pass" packs, and saved about 60% per visit. Also, many parks have "free days", tied to e.g. their birthday, season start, season end, or off-peak times - with enough patience and diligence you can always find a great deal.
Oh, one other important note for tourists. Permanent collections in state museums (Science Museum, Museum of Natural History, British Museum, National Gallery are free. This is a government policy targeted to educate people. Additional expositions though are not free, so look closely where you go and what you actually want to see.
Also, BBC Proms is a keyword for classic music lovers - cheap concerts in a beautiful Albert Hall in London, historically created to attract people usually not keen to listen to classical music to come and enjoy it for a much cheaper price than a concert would normally cost. I guess that works, since they are extremely popular here.
As you might have noticed, I almost didn't include actual numbers here. They vary in time and by location, also depend a lot on the brand you are buying and where you are buying it from (online, offline, crowded transport hub area or a quiet road in residential district), the information I brought above is pretty general. There are plenty of sites on the internet with calculators and comparisons of prices in different places of the world, including London. Here is the one I used when planning my relocation. They proved to be true with minor variations both ways.
If you plan to come to London and need tips on how to minimise costs, ping me, I'll be happy to help.
