What It Costs To Live in London 

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LDN is as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. My man's eating blueberries for breakfast, donnin' regular coffees on the go, and munchin at some peng-a-leng pizza joint you won't find down Walworth Rd. Meanwhile I'm blaggin bargains at Icelands, Spoons down Bromley on a Friday night and home with a 3 piece from Morleys

Way too fucking expensive, living costs keep going up but wages aren't going up.

I totally get it; I love London, but I also hate London. I feel poor yet still I can afford to put blueberries (rationed, obviously) on my yoghurt in the morning, I responsibly skip the coffee-to-go, and I do realise how privileged it is to even complain about that; there's just something very "Orwellian" about this way of life in the big cities now... living cramped in these small boxes, getting our rationed "super-foods" from the cabinets, going to work so we can still stay in these boxes next month, spending everything we earn to barely maintain this routine that is life in the big city. It looks really nice and all, but it's actually a very uncertain kind of existence - being one missed pay check or unforeseen expense away from a possible disaster.

This was interesting and aesthetically pleasing

Seems like a very charming person.

Omg those spots he went to straight hipster level over 90000

Advice for going to the cinemas in the uk buy your tickets which are usually £4.00 and before you go in go to pound land and stuff it in your bag

I'm a US citizen who got to visit London for the first time ever a few years ago, and while I have never been a fan of so called "city life", I can definitely understand the attraction with London. It didn't feel like all the other cities I'd seen in the States, being surrounded by such rich history and older architecture was amazing and the fact that you can easily walk and take public transit makes it even better. Being on foot gives you a much better sense of the city than just sitting in a car. I would certainly love to go back sometime.

I don't understand people who spend 2-3 pounds every day for a cup of coffee valued at around 15-20 cents.

The color correction is too much in my opinion. Just look at how pale it made the banana and grapes look.

That breakfast bowl looks like something you’d see in Black Mirror

He mentions "Driving" to the cinema and parking, yet you don't explorer how much the cost of a car/insurance/road tax is.

that pepperoni thin crust pizza looked so fucking tasty

How much does weekly sunshine cost? haven't seen much of it like the white bananas and white grapes do they have the same issue.

I’ve visited London 3 times. I’m from the US. It’s a lovely city. One of the times I went I found my absolute favorite place which is the Cotswolds especially Lacock and Castle Comb. And Ireland and Scotland were a hoot too. Amazing countries and cities

As a teacher in NYC, Aaron's income and rent were shocking! I'm about to hop on a plane...

1:59 “£4.50 which is ridiculously cheap” *laughs in Cardiff”

80 POUNDS PER MONTH ON TRANSPORT ARE U JOKING? MORE LIKE 120

@1:19 - what sort of Londoner presses the door button on the tube?!

All sounded so achievable up until “yeah I don’t really drink”...

Aaron seems like a cool person for London. I'd buy him a beer.

You should do an episode about Lisbon, where the average rent is 830€, in a country where the net average income per person is about 10,530 € which gives about 877 € per month..

I’ve just moved to Auckland from London, same wage, same role & the cost of living is 50% cheaper here. Move & experience life!

That must be the whitest breakfast I've ever seen. Was it photo shopped?

How is it rare to be born and raised in one of the biggest cities in the world?

I think what people don’t realise is £40,000 per year is in the upper tax bracket. He’s wealthy and he lives with his girlfriend. 35,000 is average but most people are on roughly 20-25. So that rent is harsh for people in low earners which is what increasing number of people are. Wages have been stagnant here for the last 25 years but the cost of living has spiralled.

I really felt that when he said “owning a place in London is becoming highly unrealistic.” A lot of my mates who used to live in London now own properties outside of it. E.g. I got a mate who now lives in Kent, another in Cornwall. Etc.. I live on the outskirts of London but the cost just keeps rising 😞 idk how they are going to sort things out.

You should have said that your transportation expense is not so much as you are around Central London... Otherwise, its much more, and it also adds if its rush hour. If you live outside London, rent is cheaper, but transportation is extremely expensive.

He brought a smile to my face, I'm guessing he's from south india cuz he gives that kinda vibe.

This is true of many people trying to make it in London, I believe. Everyone gets priced out!

I share a flat 5 mins from the City of London with 3 other people all bills incl and can walk to work for £650pcm (I admit that is probably double the price of something similar elsewhere in the country) But supermarkets are no more expensive than the rest of the country, (nor is much else these days...unfortunately). If you dont shop at a whole foods store, buy a coffee from a wanky independent place for £4 on the way to and from work and make your own meals more often than eating out then you can live very comfortably on your own. You can even afford more than one holiday and a gym membership. You could probably even support one more person with that lifestyle on the average UK salary - which I am starting on. Yes it is more expensive and yes you probably also need a degree and some work experience but it isn't as terrible as people think. The prices are a natural result of the capital being a place of high demand and concentration for jobs that happen to have high salaries. If people could get the same opportunities and lifestyle elsewhere in the country, they would live there (and increasingly they are!).

When I hear £1400 for a one-bedroom room, this makes me shocked. I lives in a small municipality until two years ago, and I paid 450 € per month for a house with three bedrooms, a kitchen, a garage, a bathroom and a living room. Before you start asking how, I lived in a place where there's literally nothing, a tiny place of nearly 13000 people in which anyone could notice what I used to do.

London is expensive but New York is worse. The food at the grocery is like 2-3 times as much as what it costs in London. Maybe eating out is about the same. Rent, as shown in the video is FAR higher, especially for a 1 bedroom or studio. London's tube is a bit more expensive, and it stands out in that regard among major cities, but is much more pleasant (though it has its own issues and is also overcrowded during rush hour). New York may be better if you're in a field that pays a high salary (you will earn quite a bit more in those jobs in NY) but if you're making $60k or less, London is probably more affordable (between the 2).

80£ for a transport card in London??? It's just 20€ in Madrid and it includes everything and everywhere...

A lot of people living in London making half of what this guy is... those people are "making it". This guy is living a comfortable life. If you want to show the cost of living in different cities - at least have a constant set of variables to compare...

Lived in London in the early 2000's. Was there 4 years of my life, at the time I was really young and had a good time, things weren't as expensive as they are now though. Couldn't see myself living there now, if you want to experience "real England" London is no the place to go.

I live in Manchester , the weather is not that good but cost living is a lot cheaper. 1 bedroom apartment around £500-£600 not as busy as London. Anyone looking to move should think about Manchester.

Is not worth living in London unless you make min £65k. I had hardly any money left over on that. Make £110k now and just got on property ladder

"East London" is a bit vague. Show us on a map, I'd guess it's out past Shoreditch towards Stratford, which, untill the Olympics, was a bit of a dump. My family is from Muswell Hill/Alexandra Palace, silly prices that way.

NHS is not free, it's paid for via national insurance

It's so uncommon to find people who have been raised and stayed in London

Half these comments are about "how many racists are in the comment section", but ive seen maybe 2 racist comments after endless scrolling....

I would like to point out that vice have misconstrued the healthcare part. On 40k a year he would be paying about £318 a month in national insurance (about $391) on top of his taxes (which i believe would be about £5,700 a year or ($585 a month). I dont know what taxes are like state by state in the US but the idea that healthcare is "free" in the UK is abit of a lie (although i am very glad we in the UK have the NHS and not the US style system as in the UK, those on low income dont pay any national insurance or at least pay very little)

WATCH NEXT: Soccer Hooligans in Russia are Trained, Organized and Violent - bit.ly/2wdklJB

East and central London are one thing, and south London, another completely different thing. London is a very segmented city with big differences between social classes, this guy looks like from middle class , which means buy in the most expensive supermarkets, live in the most expensive area of the city and going for a drink in gentrified places.

Please do a making it about Moscow

One thing that threw me off from London was how bad the food was ☹

40k is dogshit for inner London

Didn't even mention the tax this dude will be paying. That will chop off maybe 25-30% overall straight away.

I'm a born bred brit/londoner as well, i live in central london to and i only pay £532 pm to live so yh, i spend about £30 for groceries (since i'm a singleton) and also paying bills etc is quite cheap, doing all the fun stuff in london is quite cheap and affordable, it's just some areas of london are hugely expensive to live in, for example central london borough islington is expensive to buy a house or a flat there because the demand is huge there and in other places of central london, go to greater london, the flats and houses are slightly cheaper, but still expensive. Also i'm from islington, born and raised there my whole life, i can never see my self without london to be honest, london is a part of who i am.

obviously you cant diss the guy, but by renting a 1 bedroom flat in east london he is fueling the cities hyper inflation, this just means that, despite the east end of london having an average income lower then the national average, housing prices and commodity prices are going up, £1400 a month is ridiculously expensive. i know this is over the top, but i googled the location of his coffee shop which is think is safe to assume is near his flat and found out it is in Bow E3, which is crazy considering e3 is in tower hamlets, a borough packed to the brim with crime, and counsel flats, most of which are becoming impossible to acquire for the working class majority in tower hamlets and the rest of east london because people like this guy who are holding down what me and my family would consider to be a HUGE income are moving into the area and consolidating the huge rise in housing price, but again it isnt his fault, the government arnt doing enough to stop the issue. sorry for the rant

That is crazy expensive!! A 1BR appt. is more than I spend for a 3BR house counting all taxes, insurance and utilities. I'm not in a dump either, full brick, ceramic tile, granite, 3 car garage, nice location, only 3 miles to work and good neighborhood. Yet pay is low for all those expenses.

New York City (as expensive as it is), the cost of living has dramatically increased in recent in years

My costs (East London) 1 bed flat - £1050 pcm Gas + electric: £40 pcm Diesel: £60 pcm Internet + mobile phone: £33 pcm Insurance (various): £60 pcm Groceries: £180 pcm Yearly renewals: Car insurance: £1800 Road tax: £20 Car service: £90/£200 (minor/major) Council tax: £785 You can do a lot more with your money than this video suggests. Just be smarter than this guy with your money.

lived there till i was 11, i cant wait to come back

Good video, But you have only taken one person in there 30s, who realy has only experienced working in London for 20 years or so, and vice only shows one changing area the cost of living. Vice should have found some one from the baby booms chenoration 1945-1963 as that would have shown a larger perspective of changes in meny areas, e.g. Culture, social and business.

40k anually or monthly or semi-anually?

This was actually a really good episode for ONCE Vice.

My dude has swagger. Mad respect.

You can live in London "cheaper" i.e get a a 2 bed apartment for £1500 a month, but its not the London international people are thinking of. London is huge. These place people are talking about in the comments are in sh*tty areas, far from the "city center". Its like saying you live in New York ( when you actually live on the very southern tip of Staten Island.. )

We want another season for these series. Do Post covid living conditions

His apartment and style is like an MacBook commercial

I find it interesting to see so many people say London is expensive. The only things that can be seen as expensive are rent, travel and possibly restaurants depending on where you go. Personally, most people I know that lived outside of London and live below the midlands/south of England, pay about £650 pm for a room plus bills. They drive a car, which they had to buy, insure, pay for petrol and pay parking costs. Restaurants are the same price pretty much. I actually calculated it was cheaper for me to live in London than anywhere else in the south of England. To put this into perspective , I'll give you a breakdown: Rents for living in zone 3 over a 5 year period (2015-2019) all in modern well-maintained shared houses and including bills and cleaning products - £325 pcm , £350 pcm, £500 pcm. Travel card zone 1-3 about £135 pcm (probably gone up now) Food, phone bill, misc expenses and going out/eating out expenses - same as anywhere in the South of England unless you decided to go to really posh places or you drink a lot of alcohol. For example, a pint is about £5 (but in South of England you would expect about £4 anyway), cocktails in central London could be £8-15, a posh meal out with 3 courses could be £35-50. For all my my time in London I bought pretty much all my lunches out and ate out 2-3 times a week for dinner or equivalent in takeaway. I pretty much lived on under £1000 when I calculated it, I was surprised how little I was spending. The BIG thing you need to do is make sure you get the ideal location of your rental property, I got such low rents because I researched areas, decided how long I would be happy for my commute to be, and acted quickly when I saw a room I wanted to rent so I could get the low rents. I also must say that my rooms that were around the £300 mark were tiny one beds, but I lived in a house with 2 lounges, a big kitchen and a garden at that time, and only shared with 3 others.

Racists just make me laugh now... simple video about a man and his expenses and everyone is fucking triggered calm down lmao

Watching this series really makes me LOVE living in Mexico City as an entrepreneur. Me and my housemates pay roughly 1000 USD per month for a 5 bedroom house in a nice neighborhood, one block away from metro and metrobus stations. There's cheap food, cheap public transportation (although crowded), loads of museums and there's always something to do. About crime, I've never been robbed. There have been a few robberies at restaurants this year, but nothing like crime rates in Chicago, DC or Detroit.

I'm feeling your pain brother, London is a money pit

Slowly saying goodbye to my dreams of living in the UK

I like him, real simple and chilled out guy - 1 like !!

Please do more of these. It’s very interesting to see the small snippet of lives of those in other metropolis compared to the ones here in the US.

I expected it to be a lot more expensive actually!

There some cheap parts of London like Plumstead. And Harold Hill estate in Romford in the far east of London.

great video, please make for other major cities!

Do one on Vancouver!!

I'm from Uxbridge on the far outskirts of London. I don't think that the cost of living was as high, back when I used to live there, than Central London itself. The guy in the video is probably from the part of East London close to the centre but where I am from, Uxbridge, the town was basically the end of the underground metropolitan line. It would have been nice of they had compared the cost if living on the outskirts too

"Rare breed born and raised in London" Okay mate! People born in London is not that "rare"

Great video, lots of insightful content cramped into a few minutes without making it feel rushed, while being aesthetically filmed and beautifully narrated. 👌

2.80 is not that bad for coffee. Still better to make it at home

When I graduated in 2013 and got a job in zone one straight away, my take home pay was £750! I survived by never drinking booze and not eating 2 days a week. Never again.

London isn't really that expensive. It obviously can be as expensive as you want it to be, but I found even drinking out and going to restaurants it was surprisingly affordable.

Pretty interesting. I'd like to see something like ths for a cheaper country or city.

please do more these vice! I really enjoy watching them

please do one of these for glasgow!!

I love all the stats you guys put in the videos great job!

What currency converter is VICE using to get £80=$98??

How is it rare for anyone in London to be born and raised in the city? Is the hipster transplant situation really that bad in East London now?

How the hell do you manage to spend only 80£ for public transport per month when it's a min of 40£ per week for a travel card? You must have some good connections mate.

Man, I used to follow this guy's channel with his brother. It is/was called IndividualismUK. Nice call back!

I lived in London on a relatively paid job, similar salary. I house shared in a house with 12 bedrooms - TWELVE. And some had two people so fluctuated between 12 and 18 people. The rent was 650£ a month just for my room and I still had a 30min commute to work. Had to leave after 6 months as working a full time job and living in what was pretty much a hostel without management was too much. God knows how this guy is saving for a wedding.

40k a year and he’s spending that much. Think about your pocket brother

Pretty much impossible to listen after "I'm one of the rare breed"

As a British resident I can say that the living costs are similar/same in Manchester City Centre (its not London exclusive), save for cheaper house rents.

As someone who's lived in New York, this doesn't seem that expensive. I will say that cities can make or break you and you just have to know when and how to spend your money.

The sound at 1:07 really pisses me off

This dude privileged life style gotta be smart with your income No brand name foods saves $$$ No movies worth wasting money Eat in

Nice one !! Please make video about coast of living in Vilnius city. You will surely be surprised :) !

now do brazil

I already have a feeling that this guy has no clue of the council estates that are just around the corner to his flat

Do Making It in New York City!! ♥♥

why buy a $2-$6 dollars for a fancy coffee while you can buy for a instant or make one for yourself t home?