How much money should I bring for four months in London?

Question

I'm going on an exchange program to London for four months this fall (September 2008 - December 2008). I'm covered for housing and things like that, but I do have to pay for my own food.

I don't know if I'll travel or not, I'm kind of just looking for the bare minimum here. Rough estimate? Maybe?

Answer 1

If you'll be studying, then your time for being a tourist

will be reduced, which will reduce expenses.

If you are cooking your own meals, figure £5-10/day,

much more for restaurants, somewhere in between for

student cafeteria food.

So food budget will be around £600 - £1200 ($1200-$2400).

Then you'll want to do some travelling about,

sightseeing and so on....throw in another few

hundred there.

So figure somewhere between £1000-2500 ($2000-5000)  overall.  That's a broad range: figure towards the low end if you'll be very frugal, and higher if you can afford a bit more.

Answer 2

i couldnt give you a ballpark figure. just know that london is very expensive!! because they tax you on everything you buy.

If your in the usa/ canada etc remember that whatever money you bring  with you will be halved due to exchange rates.

Lets just say your looking at  7-8 dollars for a mcdonalds lol i dont how much it is were you are!

Anyway stay safe and enjoy your trip!!  =)

Answer 3

Rats! If I knew where you live now, and how much you spend on food and the bare minimum of travel there I could give you a decent estimate. At the moment it's "How long is a piece of string"?

Lets just say London is hugely expensive if you're not careful and frugal, but that if you're on exchange then you should be well looked after and in the company of other people who will also be being, uh, "careful" with their spending!

Everything here has to be a guess. I've lived in London on the cheap, so my guess is budget for an all-day travel card every day, £10, and £20 in eating, so that's an extravagant £900 per month, say. £3,600 for the whole deal and from that you should also get home with Christmas presents and not looking too skinny.

Answer 4

london = most expesnive city on the planet

if your housing is coverd then it wont be half asbad for that is a real weight of your shoulders

but the cost of living is high if your living on your own

then maybe 100 pound a fortnight for food

Answer 5

Alright, this is going to sound over the top - and it is - but having just arrived in London 5 weeks ago, and needed to find a place to live, travel around, feed myself AND pay for the airfare, I'm not kidding when I say you should probably have around $8,000-$10,000 US.  In the last 5 weeks, about 2/3 of my money (9k) is gone.  A lot of that went to paying for a place to live including the deposit (which was just over 1.5k by itself, not even covering the rent!).  I have a job, so I'll use that to pay my rent and travel expenses but beyond that, you should figure you'll be paying each week about:

£24 for travel

£100 for the cheapest housing

£60 for food (not eating out, but cooking for yourself)

£40 for incidental expenses (extra travel zones, household goods, entertainment)

So, that's about £200 a week.

There are, however, TONS of free things you can do in London for entertainment which can help cut down on costs (if you expect to see a west end show every week, you're going to be paying quite a bit more.)  You can check out http://www.spoonfed.co.uk which is an event listing site and often has articles on free events in London.

Good luck with your trip!

Answer 6

If it is just food and travel then £200 a week will be enough for you to survive without extravagance