Minsk to Mist

Cost of Living Expat Perspective

Those of you who is just looking to move to London from outside the UK might be wondering how much money you might need for the first few months. While you are settling down, chances are, you will have to splurge on other expenses that are not listed above.

In my previous post, I have shared my actual monthly expenses to give you a realistic overview of how much it costs to live in London (with certain caveats, of course). You can imagine that my itemised budget for the first few months after having moved to London was a bit different.

Depending on your context, whether you already have a specific job offer, whether the company you’re relocating for offers you temporary accommodation, etc., your cost of living will vary greatly. The numbers here are a good benchmark to estimate how much money you need to have in your bank account to start your new life abroad.

In addition to that, you should bear in mind other expat expenses such as initial costs:

• Deposits – when you start renting a property, you will most likely have to pay a deposit that equals 5-weeks’ rent. This is for the landlord to be able to be compensated in case you break or destroy anything throughout your tenancy. Note: you might be able to qualify for a zero-deposit scheme depending on which deposit protection scheme your landlord or letting agency uses.

• Moving costs – depending on your situation back home and depending on from how far away you are travelling, you might want to shop around for a moving company or simply decide that you leave most of your possessions in your native country and just move them in instalments each time you go back to visit your family. Sometimes, it might be cheaper to just buy something in London – Amazon, eBay, Vinted and many more are there to help you. I personally still have a lot of stuff at my mum’s place back in Minsk.

• Furniture – unless you are renting a fully-furnished place, you might need to buy at least basic second-hand furniture online. Again, the price tag depends on your needs and on how expensive your taste is. A cheap second-hand mattress might come at a bargain of £10. A full set of new furniture from anything fancier than IKEA will set you back thousands of pounds.

A word of warning here: if you go for IKEA, bear in mind that the deliveries around London are usually booked weeks in advance, if not month. So it’s either waiting for a while or making separate ‘man and van’ arrangements to get your furniture sooner. Also, you can do what I did: decide you are strong enough to carry a mattress on foot, come to the store, pay for the mattress, fail to even lift it from the trolley, cry, call an Uber, thank the Uber driver a thousand times and leave him generous tips to help you move the mattress to and from the car, cry again as you try to get the mattress into the flat. I do not recommend this approach, though.

Hidden costs expats don’t expect:

The council tax: if you don’t know yours, you can check your tax band here (all you need is your new home’s postcode). If you are going to live on your own (or, say, with your child under the age of 18), you get to enjoy a 25% discount.

Larger-than-usual deposits: if you don’t have a credit history in the UK, a landlord might request a guarantor or a deposit of more than 6 weeks’ worth of rent.

A desperate Uber call when you failed to check the public transportation options and overestimated your walking capabilities.

A fine you have to pay for misplacing your rubbish that you were sure was supposed to be left next to the bin (and it turned out to be fly tipping).

Household setup costs – buying things like washing powder, dishes, cutlery, toilet paper, power outlet adapters, etc. Not that they cost a lot, but when you have to buy them all at once, they do add up.

Money you need to fly back home to see your family (unless you don’t like them and have no plans to ever visit them).

Potential commission/ bank transfer fees associated with making payments using the bank accounts in your native country and/or transferring the money from abroad.

When you move to London, especially from abroad, I do recommend having two separate funds in addition to the cost listed above. One is an emergency fund (at least 1-month rent, ideally more), the other one is a household setup fund (at least £100, ideally more). These are to make sure you don’t form a massive dent in your budget – or at least that this dent won’t ruin your life entirely.

Is the cost of living in London worth it?

The short answer is: it depends on what you are looking to accomplish. If your goal is to preserve the same quality of life you had in your native country without a massive uptick in your expenses, you might want to reconsider and either stay put or move to one of the suburbs. If you are after the London lifestyle, the city that never sleeps and the cosmopolitan nature of the Big Smoke, higher costs will not deter you and you will make it work. If you are single, ready to mingle and want to dive into one of the biggest and most diverse dating pools in the world, London should be your choice. If you have found the one and want to raise a family in a quite area, again, you might be better off finding a decent suburb.

What was your most surprising expense when you moved to a new country or a new city? What are your top tips for avoiding budget dents when moving elsewhere? Go ahead and share it in the comment section!