How to study abroad in London?

How much money should I bring to study abroad in London 2008-2009 Year?

• Hello, I am currently living in Los Angeles and realize that the standard of living in Los Angeles is somewhat higher than most parts of the US. London is also the highest in the ...show more

• Answer:

  As an American who just did grad school in the UK, you are in for a rude awakening for how much stuff can cost. London has never been a cheap city, but because the dollar is so weak, it is quite expensive. You should open a UK bank account as soon as you arrive. Transport depends a lot on how much you commute. Get an Oyster photocard asap. If you plan to travel, a Young Person's rail card or coach card is a must. I spent about 10-20 GBP/week on travel. That number went up a lot when cabs seemed like a good idea. Food again depends. When I converted a bag of groceries to USD it often ended up being like $50-60/bag. I'm a lazy cook though, so I don't know if I'm giving the best advice here. Lunch is usually about 5 pounds for a sandwich. Eating out at a cheap restaurant is about 10 pounds with tip... sadly that converts to 20 dollars. For mobile phones, if you are there for a year you can think about a contract. If you are going to call the states a lot, mobile world (you can get them at carphone warehouse) has 5p/min with pre-paid. The phone company 3 also has a 15 GBP/month plan for unlimited calls to the US and a lot of other countries. Skype should be your new best friend for calling home though. Everyone texts like crazy in the UK and phone plans are much heavier on texts than on minutes. (If you haven't lived abroad before and didn't know this, you do receive calls for free on your cell phone. The US seems to be the only country that charges the caller and receiver with phones.) Expect to pay 15-30 pounds a month for a typical contract or pay as you go plan. Weekends out: It totally depends on where you want to go out. Cocktails aren't cheap. A pint will cost you 3 pounds and up. A large glass of wine is more like 5 pounds. If you want to go clubbing, you'll pay cover of 5-20 pounds. Again, it totally just depends on your style. Most schools have cheap bars inside of them - that could be one way to save money. As a general rule, I found London to be about 2x more expensive than the US. I did live in central London, so I hope you find things different on the East End, but it's not going to be cheap. Sorry I didn't give you better exact figures, but I hope this helps a bit. Remember to get that bank account set up ASAP. I found it helped me to think in pounds (and not worry so much about the conversion rate), plus you need a bank account for phone contracts, gym memberships, student transport card. It also doesn't hurt to bring over a lot of stuff... but then again, London is a fabulous city with lots of great shopping. I hope you have a wonderful year.