Moving/Studying in the UK

Hey,

I'm exploring career options and I am considering moving to the UK to pursue a career as a Pharmacy Technician. I have a few questions about the cost of living.

Could one comfortably live off of roughly 11,500 GBP per year and rent their own flat or apartment? I don't live a lavish lifestyle, I just want to live in the London or surrounding area... in my own private space.

How do you cross the channel to get to Amsterdam from the UK? Does the train go into France, and then up into The Netherlands, or does it go directly to The Netherlands from the UK? And how much does the rail pass cost?

Which areas are good for cheap yet affordable housing? I wouldn't mind renting a little place in the countryside, just as long as it's near public transportation.

Last question--do UK employers typically drug test employees?

Your input is appreciated.

for about £11500 you cud probberly rent the 1st pic for that sort of money.
& if you wanted to live in the countryside ,try the 2nd pic.
good luck with other answers.
peace out
dizzy spells

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

Hey,

Could one comfortably live off of roughly 11,500 GBP per year and rent their own flat or apartment? I don't live a lavish lifestyle, I just want to live in the London or surrounding area... in my own private space.

.

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If your going to live in london that wage is not enought.

I make allot more then that and i cant afford to live on my own yet.

A place is going to cost about £800-£1000 a month depending on what you want, and food and other expenses are expensive. And petrol is about 96p!

Most UK employers dont normally drug test only if your going for a high up job!
Wales can be quite a cheap place to live, ( not the big cities like cardiff) but up in the valleys somewhere where the mushies grow!!

Forget about living in London mate, that place is one of the most if not the most expensive place to live in europe.

No drug tests here.

If your going to amsterdam get a plane its cheaper.

£11,500 in London ain't noin, it's spit in a bucket... not when your rent is 500-800 per month. You will have to deal drugs mann I ain't lying and neither is dizzy spells. Suppose you can rent a shit hole for 200-300 per month but you will probly get robbed everyday by rappers everytime you leave the house. Live on campus if you are goin Uni or rent a 5 bedroom house with 5 other people and you have the sofa.

£11,500 after tax gives u a c.£15k pa job. 90% of people earning that kinda money will be in debt all their life in UK! To study here and Earn £14,350 before tax means u gotta do 37hrs a week for at least £7p/hr. Not trying to put you off but you will be exhausted by the time you finish.

My last highest paying job was £15 per hour. Take home was aroung £25k per year. Average wage for strugglers. Students should be on £15p/hr to live comfy student lifestyle. Fuck it!! come over and post to say u r here, i will get u sellin ganja on campus.

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Originally Posted by SpiritLevel

£11,500 in London ain't noin, it's spit in a bucket... not when your rent is 500-800 per month. You will have to deal drugs mann I ain't lying and neither is dizzy spells. Suppose you can rent a shit hole for 200-300 per month but you will probly get robbed everyday by rappers everytime you leave the house. Live on campus if you are goin Uni or rent a 5 bedroom house with 5 other people and you have the sofa.

£11,500 after tax gives u a c.£15k pa job. 90% of people earning that kinda money will be in debt all their life in UK! To study here and Earn £14,350 before tax means u gotta do 37hrs a week for at least £7p/hr. Not trying to put you off but you will be exhausted by the time you finish.

My last highest paying job was £15 per hour. Take home was aroung £25k per year. Average wage for strugglers. Students should be on £15p/hr to live comfy student lifestyle. Fuck it!! come over and post to say u r here, i will get u sellin ganja on campus.

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Hot damned man! I guess it's not worth pursuing then. Maybe if I become a regular Chemist (pharmacist for us yanks), I'd be able to live comfortably. It's not too discouraging, but I guess I will definately need a degree before I go there.

How's the wages and rent in Essex?

And yeah I would probably sell ganja in the UK. What's the penalties like for doing that over there? I'd totally go for it if I knew it'd be cool. Otherwise, I guess I'd be deported if caught...

Anyone wanna rent a flat with me?? :rasta: Or does anybody have any resources for looking for a place to live, besides craigslist?

I'm considering the following cities;
*manchester,
*essex (epping area)
*wales

I weren't trying to put u off ur studies, you can live in cheaper places.. just that London cost real Money. There are cheaper places in and around the capital, but i don't recommend it cuz it will still be lots of money. You can commute by rail if you choose to live outside the capital.

Essex? I dunno. But I do know someone down there who sells me electrical equipment and makes at least £2k per week on ebay. Next time I see him I'll ask him about the cost of living down there.

The idea when selling weed is not to get caught and if you do lie your ass of untill you have no choise but to say , 'orite officer pickles, you got me'. Deny deny deny, if in doubt deny some more.

Go to wales, if you aint got a missus. Noin against welsh women except my cock LOL, they love foreigners. What is your trade ICW? You might wanna live somewhere you can work near.. like the flat upstairs above a restaurant that you bar tended in or something, then u can work late and it won't take long to get home and bake lol

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

Hot damned man! I guess it's not worth pursuing then. Maybe if I become a regular Chemist (pharmacist for us yanks), I'd be able to live comfortably. It's not too discouraging, but I guess I will definately need a degree before I go there.

How's the wages and rent in Essex?

And yeah I would probably sell ganja in the UK. What's the penalties like for doing that over there? I'd totally go for it if I knew it'd be cool. Otherwise, I guess I'd be deported if caught...

Anyone wanna rent a flat with me?? :rasta: Or does anybody have any resources for looking for a place to live, besides craigslist?

I'm considering the following cities;
*manchester,
*essex (epping area)
*wales

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Don't give up man London is a great place to live if you really want to sort out your priorities you could probaly make ends meet, not all cheap areas are shit ol's, but your best bet is probaly to rent with other people, I'm looking into something similar myself but I can't even fucking drive yet so its still a pipe dream. Cannabis laws are relaxed here, depending on where you are, you can walk down the street smoking a joint, nobody cares, infact nobdoy gives a shit.Period. its an interesting place to live man, has an aura about it you get nowhere else.

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Originally Posted by SpiritLevel

I weren't trying to put u off ur studies, you can live in cheaper places.. just that London cost real Money. There are cheaper places in and around the capital, but i don't recommend it cuz it will still be lots of money. You can commute by rail if you choose to live outside the capital.

Essex? I dunno. But I do know someone down there who sells me electrical equipment and makes at least £2k per week on ebay. Next time I see him I'll ask him about the cost of living down there.

The idea when selling weed is not to get caught and if you do lie your ass of untill you have no choise but to say , 'orite officer pickles, you got me'. Deny deny deny, if in doubt deny some more.

Go to wales, if you aint got a missus. Noin against welsh women except my cock LOL, they love foreigners. What is your trade ICW? You might wanna live somewhere you can work near.. like the flat upstairs above a restaurant that you bar tended in or something, then u can work late and it won't take long to get home and bake lol

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daaaamn £2,000 a week?? That's some good money.

I don't have a missus. I guess I really should go to Wales... what you said, "Noin against welsh women except my cock.." really inspires me. I hope that one day I have the opportunity to bang a welsh lady. they'd love a california guy like me eh? :o

I don't even have a college degree yet, but I was thinking about becoming a Pharmacist (Chemist)... to be honest, this dream is going to be a real bitch to accomplish. Problem is that I spend too much time thinking and not enough time doing anything....

and i bet it would be hard as fuck for a foreigner like me to get a job as a bartender in the UK, since there are plenty of UK and EU citizens who would fill the position. getting a job in the UK while not having citizenship will be like having root canals all day long without any vicodins...

Mega Octane-- that is also encouraging news to hear about the cannabis laws. I had assumed that the UK weren't so nazish about marijuana. it's more motivation to get out of this fucken police state--the un-united states of america. Our founding fathers would be turning in their graves if they knew what the country was like these days, with the political circus we call a government (which is ran by a bunch of clowns anyways)..

you all keep it real.

Does anyone have experience with Liverpool? i might possibly be able to get a job in Liverpool if I am accepted to the University...

I've seen some pictures of liverpool and, frankly I'm not too impressed. It looks awfully like an industrial waste dump or something of that sort. On the other hand, I've never been to the area... but hey it's the hometown of The Beatles, so yay.

peace.

I think I read something a couple weeks ago that said London is the third most expensive city in the world. :smokin:

My girlfriend is going to study at the university of Essex soon, and we are worrying about money like no tomorrow. :(

I can't go with her because the UK is too expensive.

i guess if you really wanted to do it, you could take out a lot of loans and attend school in the UK. at least then you could work 20 hours a week..and maybe make ends meet (though i'm doubtful).

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

Hot damned man! I guess it's not worth pursuing then. Maybe if I become a regular Chemist (pharmacist for us yanks), I'd be able to live comfortably. It's not too discouraging, but I guess I will definately need a degree before I go there.

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Even if you become a pharmacist in the USA, you will need to do some sorta conversion course here, so you won't be able to work immediately. However, once you DO become a UK pharma, you can earn serious buck doing locum work, which is basically short term contracts, filling in for pharmas who want to go on hols, et.c. really really good money in that, like UK£40 per hour I heard from a friend who is in the business.

yeah i've heard about doing locum work. i plan on smoking loads of weed when i arrive in the UK. i think it will help me adjust to expat life quite well.

does anyone know if they typically drug test a pharmacist in the UK? I mean, for obvious reasons, since a pharmacist could easily steal the pills , you know.

i'm torn between taking out 80,000 pound sterling for student loans to study at the university of liverpool or just waiting 6 years and getting a degree in pharmacy here in Cali...

the reason i asked about the train ride to amsterdam was because I was thinking about flying into the UK, spending like 3 days there, and then riding the ferry across the channel to Amsterdam. it's about a 6 hour trip from what i've read..

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

the reason i asked about the train ride to amsterdam was because I was thinking about flying into the UK, spending like 3 days there, and then riding the ferry across the channel to Amsterdam. it's about a 6 hour trip from what i've read..

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A flight from the UK to Amsterdam takes roughly an hour from what I've heard, and booking a flight in advance would drive down the price and er.. damn I've forgotten what the point was that I was going to make...

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Originally Posted by onefourninezero

A flight from the UK to Amsterdam takes roughly an hour from what I've heard, and booking a flight in advance would drive down the price and er.. damn I've forgotten what the point was that I was going to make...

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lol how stoned are you? i wasn't talking about a flight anyways i was talking about a train ride :-)

Yeh I remember what I was talking about now! I was trying to point out how much better it would be to take a plane instead of a train.. I think... I DON'T REMEMBER! Ugh it's too early in the morning... fuck it's 11:48am I should be doing something important instead of confusing myself...

hi IanCurtisWishlist
i live in london and yeah its fucking expensive but there is one thing you could do,there is lots of people who rent single rooms in there house this method is not that expensive you will probaly pay between £60 - £100 a week sometimes even less,and that includes a room electric gas so all you would have to do is bye your food and ever day items that you woud bye normaly,and as for getting a train to amterdam theres no point i takes to long and for £60 you can get a return flight but this is just my opinion

i saw manchester on your considering list, im a foreigner living there as a student, payin 240 a month rent on a 4 person house, dealing a bit of weed, goin to amsterdam every few months...and loving it!

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Originally Posted by BUBBLEBERRY UK

hi IanCurtisWishlist
i live in london and yeah its fucking expensive but there is one thing you could do,there is lots of people who rent single rooms in there house this method is not that expensive you will probaly pay between £60 - £100 a week sometimes even less,and that includes a room electric gas so all you would have to do is bye your food and ever day items that you woud bye normaly,and as for getting a train to amterdam theres no point i takes to long and for £60 you can get a return flight but this is just my opinion

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that's it..
i lived at the 229 of Great Portland Street for a year.
International Student House. great place 100 pounds x week 24 hour reception, clean,safe friendly people,pub inside, lots of students you can fuck around when you're tired,nice room, cheap washin machines and everything you need is there..
literally 10steps from GPS tube station, 50 steps away from Regents Park, takes a 10 minutes walk to get to Oxford Street.
Close to all the major Universities and yeah, cost of living is sky-high.

as long as inner london is one of the most fucking expensive places ive lived in,it's still the most entertaining european metropolis. maybe cuz i truly love music, and if you do, London's the place to go.
I been there to study the idiom and id say i spent around 1000pounds a month, accomodation excluded..but keep in mind that in the "square mile" is all really really expensive but is not impossible to carry on a good life if you get a part time job..London is full of jobs even for the foreigner there's plenty of choice expecially if you re young.

my piece of advice is go there for few feeks and realize from the inside the
pros an cons of a choice like yours.

btw i love London and really hope you'll make your career there..its a great place to live if you have the opportunity. :thumbsup: :dance:

maybe i didnt answer your question.. jus to be sure youve got the point,
yes..i think you could live with 11,500 GBP even in the downtown, but without rentin a flat..that would be sooo expensive. but i nice double room
with tv fridge an dsl connection is affordable for that sum of money..
cheers :D

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

Does anyone have experience with Liverpool? i might possibly be able to get a job in Liverpool if I am accepted to the University...

I've seen some pictures of liverpool and, frankly I'm not too impressed. It looks awfully like an industrial waste dump or something of that sort. On the other hand, I've never been to the area... but hey it's the hometown of The Beatles, so yay.

peace.

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Liverpool :D Its fucking great and its my home. I can get a bus and be in the city centre in 15-20 minutes. The university is really really good and I will end up going to it soon hopefully. Im 17 and am working for the council at the moment working with computers. I earn around £14,000 a yr which isnt too bad considering I am living with my parents still.

I wouldnt advise you come here but it is very cheap. You couldnt sell weed here I promise you that.

nah manchester is way better

this is all very encouroaging to hear.

i really want to move to the UK since it would seem you Brits have more freedoms than America. And yes, I really do love music :-) I would consider Liverpool, Manchester, Essex, London, and Macclesfield (although it's a small town from what I've read)..

the main problem would be getting money to study. as of today, i have literately 0 dollars to my name and am unemployed (hopefully until the end of next week, when i begin working an 8.50/hour 20 hour a week job... eh).

i'd need to get loans...lots of them. And international student tuition is fucking ridiculous. i mean like 20,000 pounds sterling per year for the university. that's like 80,000 for the entire 4 years, roughly about 150,000 USD I'm guessing. i'm not sure if i'd even be able to survive with that kind of debt but yeah.. kind of sucks, but I guess it wouldn't be impossible if I played my cards right.

is it hard to find flatmates who smoke weed, or who would at least tolerate it? are people generally open-minded about cannabis in the UK? What about living at the International Student House?? If some of the administration knew you were into weed, would they be harsh with you or would they basically not give a fuck?

If anybody has resources for employment in the UK, you should tell me. I've got lots of call centre experience and I've heard that there are quite a few call centre jobs in the UK...

would a united states high school diploma be enough to meet the criteria for entry to a British university as an undergraduate? I want to pursue an MPharm degree but I'm not sure if my high school diploma would qualify me for entry... since the education standards are different.

lastly, does anyone have any experiene with King's University in London?

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

What about living at the International Student House?? If some of the administration knew you were into weed, would they be harsh with you or would they basically not give a fuck?

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i smoke a lot. believe me :D

at ISH they just give ya a piece of paper when you check in with some rules
on it.. they just say any kind o drug is forbidden but basicly they dont give a shit..they got that ridicolous kind of smoke detectors in rooms that just need a dense fog of smoke..impossible to create even if youre sir smokealot (a quotation from "halfbaked" :dance: )

i been puffin 5 blunts a day in that room without any problem.
(now you know the reason of all my grammar mistakes :D )

as we all know, the keyword is discretion.
i found that people in London mind their own business better than anyone else.
hope i answered your question an if youd like to have a look http://www.ish.org.uk/ just click !!
cheers

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Originally Posted by Loop

i smoke a lot. believe me :D

at ISH they just give ya a piece of paper when you check in with some rules
on it.. they just say any kind o drug is forbidden but basicly they dont give a shit..they got that ridicolous kind of smoke detectors in rooms that just need a dense fog of smoke..impossible to create even if youre sir smokealot (a quotation from "halfbaked" :dance: )

i been puffin 5 blunts a day in that room without any problem.
(now you know the reason of all my grammar mistakes :D )

as we all know, the keyword is discretion.
i found that people in London mind their own business better than anyone else.
hope i answered your question an if youd like to have a look http://www.ish.org.uk/ just click !!
cheers

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thanks for the link! i'm jealous.

the real problem is coming up with money. how the fuck does the British government expect international students to come up with this gawdawful tuition ? i'm going to need to start whoring myself to desperate old fat ladies...

You should consider moving to Scotland mate, its the cheapest place to live in the United Kingdom.

Edinbourgh is a huge tourist city with a ton of foreigners you'd like it their much more than liverpool, Wales, or manchester mate, i don't even live their i live near Glasgow which i would tell you to well stay away from.

British Government doesn't expect international students to come up with tuition fees! British government does all it can to make sure graduates are securely in debted to them in some way or other. You can literally do as you please if you can afford it. £80k in loans is a lot to pay back. Study for a career that could pay you £120k in your first year of employment. Do chemistry, but work for BAE systems developing biological warfare agents. Study Pharmacy, but open a heroin factory at ISH.

i live in kent near essex and its not to bad here
rent is about £350 a month basic 1 bed flat london is only train ride away £10.50 return an we get good weather in south east uk an only hour from channel tunnell so gettin to amsterdam or europe is easy

Well I've figured out my total cost for the entire 4 years of college.

$151,000 for a 4 year education at University of Kingston in London, including accomidation, food, whatever else I might need. I'm going to be paying this loan off till i'm 50, I'm sure.

I'll definately need to get a job whilst in London. I'll have to sell alot of weed... so when I cross the pond someone will have to show me the ropes of dealing over on your side :)

Does anyone know of any good employers in London? I've got call centre experience... My ideal job in London would be as a toll booth attendant, because it seems like an easy job... I don't want to do retail or something like that. I wanna job where I can sit and type all day..

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

Does anyone have experience with Liverpool? i might possibly be able to get a job in Liverpool if I am accepted to the University...

I've seen some pictures of liverpool and, frankly I'm not too impressed. It looks awfully like an industrial waste dump or something of that sort. On the other hand, I've never been to the area... but hey it's the hometown of The Beatles, so yay.

peace.

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wow :confused: , one thing you need to keep in mind about cities is, there is always bad parts, no idea what you mean about industrial waste dump but it has a dock so maybe thats what you mean. theres very nice parts as well especially away from the center imo. ignore anything people from manchester tend to say about it, as well it rains in manchester there 24/7 and they tend to get jealous as we have a better football team [liverpool fc] :thumbsup: ;)

mate unless ur loaded which im assuming ur not i do not recommened moving to london to go to uni. dont get me wrong this place is amazin and has some of the best universities in the world but its sooooo expensive. I live about an hours drive away from london but am soon leaving to study in portsmouth at portsmouth university. Id love to study in london but i cannot even think about it. I would definatly consider more options and get in contact with a few unis outside of london as they will help you and give you alot of advice on accomodation and finance. As for your qualification i have no idea, again the universities will be able to help.

I will be looking at around a £20,000-£25,000 debt after university outside of london (portsmouth) for the 3yrs i plan to stay there. That includes tuition fees, accomodation, food, drink and not forgetting weed money. You need to research alot more :)

The north tends to be cheaper than the south thou, not sure why. Gd luck!

moka88-- i've been researching this . I've come to the conclusion that if i study in london i'll be paying off loans till i'm 60. Sorry, not for me.

I guess I can always get certified in the USA and then immigrate over to the UK when I'm done. It's gonna be 6 years but it will be so rewarding to get a degree and then relocate.

although i'm kind of sad that i can't study in London or the UK, I know it's probably the best thing now. I'll have my chance someday!

I had a relative study at Nottingham Trent Uni. They took a year off inbetween to do a work experience placement for Sony in Germany. As far as I know, they were successful in their studies and have not struggled to pay back loans and they now live in London. This shows that you can get there if you wanna and you do not have to pay loans off for ever. Careful spending deduces the amount one has to pay back. Students have too much fun!

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Originally Posted by IanCurtisWishlist

moka88-- i've been researching this . I've come to the conclusion that if i study in london i'll be paying off loans till i'm 60. Sorry, not for me.

I guess I can always get certified in the USA and then immigrate over to the UK when I'm done. It's gonna be 6 years but it will be so rewarding to get a degree and then relocate.

although i'm kind of sad that i can't study in London or the UK, I know it's probably the best thing now. I'll have my chance someday!

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You should still take a student loan in the states and go to Amsterdam with it. :smokin:

At least I would. I always wasted my remission checks on partying...haha...then I couldn't pay my rent. :dance:

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Originally Posted by Binzhoubum

You should still take a student loan in the states and go to Amsterdam with it. :smokin:

At least I would. I always wasted my remission checks on partying...haha...then I couldn't pay my rent. :dance:

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hahaha dont' worry i still wanna go to amsterdam. probably sooner though... maybe i will go around december if i got the money since i'll be in school around feb. i 've decided to go to CCSF (city college of san francisco) for now..

and san francisco is just like amsterdam if you use medical marijuana.

hey, if your still interested in moving to the uk and attending a university check this website out. everything you need.

http://www.universityadvice.co.uk :thumbsup: