Money Matters.

I think the only thing we hate about London is the weather. Apart from cold, chilly, cloudy, greyish, wet and freezing country to stay in, it’s also capable of lashing out the feeling of being dullness and stressful inside us. Somehow, this condition indirectly affects those who lives here and turned them into a ruthless individualistic rat race zombie. Eventually, we’ve ran out of idea on how to spend our weekend. Well, I would like to share some information with our fellow Malaysians who are curious about the cost of living here, not Cardiff, Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool or Midlands or Dover or some countryside etc but London. Yes, the expensive city of London. Looking through our bills, the following are our realistic average break up cost that we need to cough out annually. This information provides some basic idea for those Malaysians who wish to come here with their spouse to further their study or to work:

• Rental (1 bedroom flat, Zone 4): £9900
• Council Tax (with the student exemption): £950
• Electricity (increased during winter): £920
• Water: £240
• Broadband (cheapest): £120
• BT fixed line (cheapest rental plan excluding call charges): £156
• Transportation (Underground Zone 4 to Zone 1, Per Person, average 5 times per week): £1200
• Food (home cooked minus Chicken Cottage and Taza Kebap): £1800
• TV license: £140

The costs above are based on 2 persons and minus the entertainment, eating out, DVDs, mobile phone and all those luxuries which you tend to enjoy in Malaysia. If you’re a student, you can get a full exemption from the council tax. The accommodation rental and the utilities charges maybe varies according to the locality and the utility company you’ve contracted with. You can still further reduce your expenses by getting an accommodation that comes with a central heating system. Then, if you want to get new winter or summer wears try the fair deal at Primark.