Living in London for 6 Months |

Living in London for 6 Months

Living in London for 6 months? A lot of people take at least 6 months to get on their feet living in London, never mind just staying for 6 months in total. Guess we have to make this guide as action packed and informational as possible.

Things most people always ask about:

Accommodation
Job Hunting
Travelling around London
Food / Living Budgets
Sightseeing
Entertainment

Accommodation

If you’re going to be in London for only six months then I see it as a complete waste of time and money to go through an agency where they strap you down for at least a year to rent your very own flat, that’s if you can afford it. You would be better off browsing Gumtree for possibly rooms to let. I must advise you that a lot of people renting out rooms in houses will want a minimum of two weeks deposit up front.

A handy tip would be to check in which area of London you’ll get a job before finding a room to let on the other side of London. The travelling time between the two will make you depressed as hell and the costs will push you over the edge.

Job Hunting

Like we said, Gumtree is an excellent and updated source of finding a suitable job if you need to get starting as soon as possible. You could always upload your CV onto Monster and Reed’s websites to get better offers. Register with a few agencies and let them help you search for a job and arrange interviews for you. Remember that the interview process can be quite costly so plan your journeys in advance; a little walking has never hurt anyone. Employers love a summarised CV, so make it sweet and short and to the point, also do not leave gaps on your CV if you have been unemployed, say you were travelling or self-employed.

Travelling around London

A lot of people find travelling in London intimidating but you got to grab the bull by the horns and go for it. The London Underground has made it incredibly easy for anyone to use the tube to get from one side of London to the other. There are maps all over the place. Before you go somewhere, log onto Google Maps and print out the address and a map, which helps you when you’re close in the area. I always jot down the street names of the streets before the street I need to get off, makes it so much easier. The A-Z map book for London can be quite useful but not needed as you can get anything you want from visiting TFL’s website and Google Maps.

I definitely recommend not always using the underground if you do not need to or too lazy to take the train or bus. The bus can take a bit longer but at least you get fresh air and a view. The underground is always full of people and the air is so dusty but each to their own I suppose. Most underground / tube stations in Central London is less than 100m away from each other, save yourself a couple of quid and walk instead.

Food / Living Budgets

Expect food prices to be always going up, that is just a fact of life no matter where you live. Avoid eating take-away’s unless you really want to live like that and you can afford to but if you intend on saving a little bit of money whilst in London then cook every once in a while. Take your time and explore a supermarket fully the first time, you might be familiar with some of the products but not with others. I tend to find that some of the own brand products can be quite good and it saves yourself a bundle. It is all about testing to see what you like and what you can afford.

A take away meal can cost anything from £3 upwards but tend to average around the £5 mark for most hot meals. Pubs such as Weatherspoon’s have great offers on food an alcohol compared to most wine bars and restaurants. Sainsbury and Asda en even Tesco have great microwave healthy food meals if you want a quiet night in.

On the topic, get yourself a Nectar card or Tesco card from their websites, that way you can collect points when you do your normal shopping and get discount when you have enough points. Makes sense to me to use it, why pay full price when you can save a bit more money to do the things you enjoy doing.

Sightseeing

Most people visiting London tend to want to see everything in the first week. Relax; you’ve got six months to do as you please and to properly plan your day trips or outings. That way you can prepare for what you really want to see and get a few deals along the way. London has plenty of two for one deal’s on attractions to get your hands on. Explore our main website for further links and ideas as we go along.

There are a lot of London attractions that are free of charge and I am sure google will be your friend in finding them all. I definitely recommend you visit Hyde Park during the summer months if you can; it has a wonderful atmosphere to soak up. Covent Garden is another interesting place to hang around and so is Camden Town.

We will not recommend you taking those over-priced tour busses through London unless you can’t be asked to do the research yourself but I will recommend you taking a Duck Tour, the bus actually goes on the Thames River which is great. London is only an hour away from the sea so if you want some waves and pebble beaches then jump on the train and head on over.

Entertainment

We’re still trying to explore more entertainment venues as we get bored of just meeting after works for drinks or every weekend out on the town blowing far more money than we care to.

You can always sign up to a DVD rental website and get your DVD’s delivered straight to your door for much cheaper than a night’s rental at a video store. There are tonnes of them across the country so I am sure you’ll be able to find the cheapest one. Get yourself an Orange sim card for your mobile phone as it allows you to get two for one movie prices at the cinema. Considering that a movie is around £8 now, it could save you a bundle.

Visit the famous Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus to enjoy four floors of arcade games as well as an indoor bowling alley with a few interesting shops and a sports bar with pool tables. You could always go go-karting in Streatham or Ice Skating.