Unhappy due to lack of money...

Bear said:
I disagree but then I guess it depends on what type of person you are. I can honestly say that I earn more than enough and have everything any reasonable person could ever want. Anything more is a bonus.
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You drive a fantastic car and live in a beautiful part of the world, probably owning or close to owning your own home through a mortgage repayment... The op doesn't, and that was my point, hence the requirement of more money for house deposit etc ....

Apologies this wasn't clear :)
 
Sorry if I've missed it above but where is your place of work? If Lewisham is where you are living then lack of money would be lower down on the list of things making me unhappy, place is an utter dive these days.

Unless you are in walking distance of your current job I'd considered moving further out.
 
Conanius said:
You drive a fantastic car and live in a beautiful part of the world, probably owning or close to owning your own home through a mortgage repayment... The op doesn't, and that was my point, hence the requirement of more money for house deposit etc ....

Apologies this wasn't clear :)
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No sorry my fault, I thought you meant people in general always wanting more. :)
 
Conanius said:
Just so you know, magically having more money won't bring you happiness. You'll just want more.

Deny it if you want, but if your salary doubled over night, within 6 months you'd realise you needed more money for something else. Be that a holiday, car, nicer flat, house deposit, shopping at waitrose... Whatever.

I honestly think having a 'normal' life in London (zone1-4 somewhere nice) sub 50k is impossible if you aren't in a flat share.

Speaking as someone who did 4 years in London (2007-2011) living in a variety of locations, with and without house shares.
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That could quite possibly happen but I would rather have little bit of spare cash and want more than have no cash and want some!
 
Google has shown me that the average UK wage is 30k a year. :eek: I'd love to make that much money. If only I was smarter and went to uni or something. :p
 
JonJ678 said:
Good electrical engineers leave uni on about 40k and make it to the happier side of 100k within a decade. Crap ones do not do as well.
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40k starting? That's not true at all, I'm a recent electrical engineer graduate from a redbrick uni, starting salary in London is 27-30k, anywhere else is around 26k. based on what my many electrical grad friends have got (all received 1st class masters).

I'm just outside London in Surrey (1 mile away from the boundry), prices for a room ex bills starts around £500 to an average of about £625. Flats/apartments for a 1 bed start around £750. It's not great for saving money and a little depressing to see how many years you'll have to work to get even a 10% mortgage as unless you want something god awful you need to spend upwards of £200k.
 
Narj said:
You don't need uni education to earn 30K plus.
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I can agree with this (I am proof of this), you have to be driven to succeed though.

Veco said:
40k starting? That's not true at all, I'm a recent electrical engineer graduate from a redbrick uni, starting salary in London is 27-30k, anywhere else is around 26k. based on what my many electrical grad friends have got (all received 1st class masters).
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I can agree with this too. My wife is an Electronics Engineer and experienced the same.
 
Amp34 said:
£600 a month with no bills minimum I guess?:(

He could get a very nice several bedroomed house in many parts of the UK for that.
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Worcester 2 Bed 3 story town house here for £550. I would move out of London and it will be a lot easier. Even just out of the M25 would see positives.
 
You don't need a degree to earn £30k+ but it can open a lot if doors that woukd otherwise be closed and make it much easier/quicker. Obviously the choice of degree and grade has a big influence.
 
alx said:
You don't need a degree to earn £30k+ but it can open a lot if doors that woukd otherwise be closed and make it much easier/quicker. Obviously the choice of degree and grade has a big influence.
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Contacts and experience can be much more useful than a degree in my experience. I'm glad I didn't bother (choosing to do vendor qualifications instead).
 
Narj said:
Contacts and experience can be much more useful than a degree in my experience. I'm glad I didn't bother (choosing to do vendor qualifications instead).
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Ditto, I only have A-level equivalents, no degree, and the only formal qualification I have is Prince2, and I only got that a month ago.

Funnily enough, of my close group of friends, all those with degrees (bar one) earn less than us without them. *shrug*
 
It's all swings and roundabouts. No one factor will give you that 'magic' job, it's a combination of a few/many.

Contacts and experience are very useful, no doubt, but on the flipside you won't become a lawyer, doctor, engineer etc from contacts alone. You will need a degree in 99% of cases.

There's too many variables to summarise in a couple of sentences. Best to work out what you want to do and find the best path to get there.
 
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Amp34 said:
Interesting... When you say beautiful do you actually mean nice? (maybe my idea of nice is different to others though). Also how long would it take to get to somewhere like regents park?
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I also live in Eltham (have done since I was 10 - except for 6 years for Uni and just after) and it takes me 10 minutes to walk to the train station and then 20 minutes on the train to get to London Bridge (add another 5 for Charing Cross), so commuting from there is perfectly okay and as I work 10 mins from London Bridge my travel costs would be about £100 a month (I say would as I don't train it very often because I usually drive in).
 
I live in Purley which is zone 6, 20 mins train ride to London Bridge or London Victoria, and pay £430 inclusive of bills. We were lucky and found a private landlady with no agency involved though. 3 of us living here paying £1275 in total. It gives me a lot more disposable income not having to pay any other bills.

My girlfriend lives in Morden (end of the Northern Line) and is paying £1100 between 2 of them plus bills. Living on a tube line is expensive.
 
pepp77 said:
I also live in Eltham (have done since I was 10 - except for 6 years for Uni and just after) and it takes me 10 minutes to walk to the train station and then 20 minutes on the train to get to London Bridge (add another 5 for Charing Cross), so commuting from there is perfectly okay and as I work 10 mins from London Bridge my travel costs would be about £100 a month (I say would as I don't train it very often because I usually drive in).
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I live a bit further out in Zone 5, and while it's not the poshest part of town, I can get to Cannon street in around 35 mins which is hugely convenient. Rents are reasonable from what I see advertised. My mortgage is very affordable and I have a 3 bed place.
 
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