Been living here for a year. Before coming here I used to hear how expensive London has gotten, how all the young people are being pushed out, how you will never afford housing so get used to paying rent for the rest of your life.
My starting salary last year was 25.5 while this year it is 27k (I am working some unsociable hours). This leads to a salary of 1900 a month post taxes, 700 of which goes into rent/bill (I live in a 6 people flatshare), 150 for groceries, 70 on transport and maybe 250-500 for everything else depending on the month. This leaves me with around 500-800 to put into savings each month (6k a year as a moderate prediction).
I feel like this is a very different image from the indentured servitude I was expecting? I know I'm probably not saving enough for any actual big time purchases (a car or a mortgage), but being in my mid 20s I feel like I still have a couple years left of this "bare minimum" saving. Moreover, it still seems leagues better than not being able to save at all (which is my benchmark for "success" I guess?)
Tbh the reason why I'm asking is because I've noticed a lot of Londoners seem to be very affronted when I don't do the whole "ughhh life here is so expennnsive" affectation and think I must have like rich grandparents or something. Which annoys me because I feel like I am simply living a financially measured, affordable life here (e.g. I rarely eat out). The majority of them live with their parents as well (e.g. little to no rent) so I'm assuming they are saving at least 1k a month. So what is the big deal? What am I not getting?