Hi Bargainers,
I'm moving to London in a few months and wondered if anyone had any OZB quality tips or tricks up their sleeves?
It always takes a couple of months to find out the actual value options in places etc..
Much love,
The Doctor.
Moving to London, Any Advice?
DrStinge on 04/07/2017 - 11:55
Comments
get thick soled shoes for winter.
stay away from high rises
…and bridges over the Thames.
Try to keep a straight face when the locals talk about "heatwave conditions".
And try to remember all those times when you was back in Australia and you said it was freezing but it was actually a warm 10 degrees.
10 degrees isn't that bad, a little cool for my liking though. I grew up in a place colder than that so now I'm in Sydney winter is still shirt wearing time, I don't wear a jacket.
But England… it's just wet and grey and snow and wind… and that's a typical summer!
Just kidding, but yeah the wind, brrrr.
And as @altomic said, good shoes.
Learn Arabic
Have written a guide for Aussies moving to london - PM if you want the link :)
Cheers @dasher86!
Your guide is amazing! Thanks so much! :)
Thank you :) Feel free to ask about anything you're unsure of!
Buy your alcohol from the supermarket
Offies can be cheaper.
keep calm and hold on to your pint
Catch the fake taxi
That's how I was born.
Pack warm clothing. Stubby holders are called Beer Warmers over there.
- Get out of London when possible. The glories of England are in the country.
- Do. France and Europe SO close.
- Go to the theatre as often as you can afford.
- Learn to appreciate flat beer.
this
- Learn to appreciate flat beer.
The ale's might be warmer/flatter, but the craft beer movement is just as fierce as it is here. I moved back from London last year and can't think of a pub in London that didn't have a least a small range of Pale/Red ale's.
Take lots of money. My rent was $300aud/week for a room half an hour on the tube outside of london
If you are under 27:
Get a student or even a youth travel card such as ISIC or IYIC use it everywhere. My expired one was only rejected twice in two years. Get the youth railpass too.Sign up to all the cheap airlines emails and travel as much as possible since everything is so damn close. You can get the most ridiculous fares (€4 from Madrid to Lisbon for example). Same with the trains (£4.50 Birmingham to Edinburgh return). Megabus is also ok and look up ticket splitting for trains.
Plenty of cheap shopping, groceries, clothes etc but the real killer is housing… and having to make tea endlessly for your work colleagues..
I moved just over a year ago and I’m writing this from my office in Moorgate. Here are my tips:
- Some things in London are much more expensive than Australia, while others are pleasantly much cheaper. In general:
More expensive:
- Public transport - AUD$4+ to ride a bus one stop)
- Transport to airports - Heathrow Express is the most expensive train per mile in the world)
- Restaurant meals and drinks – I saw an $40 Sunday Roast at a pub
- Pharmacy items – skincare, medicinal etc
- Red meat
- Rent/House pricesCheaper:
- Fresh fruit and vegetables
- Supermarket alcohol – for the cost of a Heineken pint in a pub you can buy 1.5 L of Heineken in a Supermarket
- Cigarettes
- Flights (and they often get cheaper the closer to the date, unlike Australia. I’ve booked $60 4 hours flights the day before departure)
- Uber
2. While you get your bearings here, you will undoubtedly waste money. Don’t worry, you can save it up once you are settled
3. Invest in a proper winter coat before November. You might think you have a winter coat in Australia but trust me it will not be warm enough. Find the warmest you possibly can.
4. Do not even consider having a car here.
5. There are about 9 major supermarkets here, in quality and prices they are as follows (lowest to highest): Iceland, Asda, Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Waitrose, M&S, John Lewis. I’m happy with Tesco for my groceries, though I will go to Sainsburys where I can because they have better quality.
6. You can get anything you want, whenever you want wherever you want in London. Forget lockout laws and RSA. It can be dangerous having that much temptation on your doorstep
7. You will spend a lot more money in summer than winter
8. You can get a cheap flight to a different country every weekend if you are organised enough
9. There’s a pretty narrow window of temperature where its ideal in London and that is about 20-25. Lower than that feels cold, higher than that the city struggles. Its not designed for warm weather like Australian cities are.
10. Brits are slow, somewhat socially awkward, very sarcastic and love to complain. They don’t understand why anyone would rather live in London than Australia.
11. There’s an incredible amount of opportunity in London in every facet on your life – career, hobbies, travel, money, new experiences etc. You can be whoever you want – its very refreshing if you are stuck in a rut of leaving problems behind in Australia.
12. Its much easier to make Aussie and Kiwi friends here than Brits who are quite reserved.
13. In a pub the ales are served warm (the wooden base with the big curved metal taps), the other types (served in the Australian-style metal taps) are served cold
14. It’s the most multicultural city I’ve ever visited, let alone lived.
15. HotUKDeals is the UK OzBargain equivalent
16. Try and live near a green space - they are wonderful on a nice day.The first week you are here organise:
- A UK sim card – I use 3 Mobile
- An appointment to open a bank account – Lloyds allowed me to do this without proof of address;
- NI number application
- Register with GP
- Download Citymapper – I still use it every single day and it is the best transport app I have ever usedAbsolutely amazing! Thank you
Try and get a flat within walking distance of where you are working. I did when I lived there and it made it so much easier and cheaper without having to catch buses/tube etc.
The area of London that you live in can almost entirely dictate the pleasure of the experience. I recommend the neighbourhoods along the Wimbledon line, including Wimbledon itself.
Make sure you refer to Australia as "the colonies"
Thanks for all the sharing - my partner and I just got or visas yesterday so we are off to London in 5 weeks :)
Practice your parallel parking skills.
Thanks so much everyone, this is amazing <3
If you are this type of person who is pretty sensitive in terms of everything and specially for weather!, I would not recommend moving out to London because weather there isn't that good all the time. It wouldn't be a matter if you like rainy and snowy days, but for me weather was depressing me so many time.
It's fine if you are happy with a week's worth of sunshine a year and you like to use all your rain gear.
Camden Market - An absolute gem of a place to spend the day/weekend.
If you're 16-25 yo, get a Young Person's Railcard. It takes 1/3 off off-peak rail tickets. Also link the railcard to your Oyster card (London) to enjoy discounts on off-peak services. Speaking of Oyster cards, you can also use contactless debit/credit cards to tap in and out of transport in London (tube, train, bus, tram) - the system will determine the daily cap for you. You also get a year's worth of Youth Hostel membership with the young persons railcard which can be used worldwide (well it's actually a discounted rate of 1 quid but hey ho).
Also quid = pound sterling, like buck = dollar.
If trains are too expensive, consider National Express coaches and megabus services. Megabus sometimes sell advance train ticket (London to Southampton for a quid, for example). If you use National Express a lot, it may be worth getting a coachcard (10 quid a year). If you shop at Tesco a lot, you may rack up enough Clubcard points for the coachcard.
Some more tips once you land:
Transport from Heathrow to Zone 1: tube is the cheapest option, followed by Heathrow Connect and Heathrow Express, but of course the journey on the tube is the longest. Oyster card/contactless debit/credit card can be used on the tube.
Transport from Gatwick to Zone 1: Oyster card can be used as a payment method for Gatwick to London services. Regular Southern train services are slightly cheaper compared to Gatwick Express but stop more frequently.
Transport from Stansted to Zone 1: Stansted express services are convenient but National Express and easybus services can be cheaper when booked in advance.
London City airport is accessible by the DLR.
Two pieces of advice; 1) never get involved in a land war in Asia and 2) never go in against a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line!
All the best with the move! :)