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First things first
Money Wise
London is a tourist city and an expensive city as well – you must therefore be extra wary not to be ripped off. The price of the same product may differ considerably from one shop to the next – so use this rough guide to give you an idea of what you can expect to pay:
It is important to note that supermarkets generally offer great value, especially on “No-name” brands. There are also great specials, e.g. the “two-for-the-price-of-one” type. For 12p you can get away with either a tin of baked beans, a litre of ready-to-mix cooldrink or 55g pasta. If you are not vol fiemies you can go a long way with your pennies! ASDA, Iceland, Lidl and Farmfoods are generally the cheaper chain stores, while Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose are more for the “eye buyers” with more pounds in the pocket.
How to interpret prises
The first thing the people back home say when you tell them you can earn good money in London is “Yes, but you must remember that the cost of living in London is higher than in South Africa – and most things are more expensive there than in South Africa”.
Now the question arises: Is it generally expensive to live in London in relation to what you earn? How does it compare with the relation between your earnings and cost of living in South Africa?
If you look at most of the prices given and multiply them by 12, as you will most probably do in the first few weeks, you will find that most prices seem way more expensive than the price of the same product in South Africa. While it might seem valid to argue like this while you are still ‘spending rands’ the first while before you start earning, you should get out of the habit of interpreting prices in rands because, quite simply, you are in London now – and those are the prices you are going to pay from now on. On the other hand, it is more valid, especially if you have started to earn money and you're now in the ‘pound-earned-pound-spent’ system, to reason as follows if you want to interpret London prices in relation to South African prices.
Example: You want to buy a pair of shoes in London and the price is £50.
If you wanted to buy the same brand of shoes in South Africa, you would expect to pay not more than R600, otherwise you would immediately consider them too expensive. In this specific case comparisons show that if a pair of shoes cost £50 in London, they will cost more or less R600 in South Africa.
So where is it cheapest?
It sounds like a fairly stupid question and in most cases it is actually a very stupid argument. However, if you want to see how affordable a product is in terms of the time you have to work to pay for the product, it could be best to reason as follows:
If you earn a net salary of R5 000 (which is quite a good “lower income” salary) in South Africa, that works out to about R200 per working day.
If you do an unskilled job in London, earning £5 per hour (which is close to the lowest pay), you will probably clear around £40 per day (after all deductions).
If the pair of shoes costs R600 in South Africa and you earn R200 per day, you will have to work 3 days to earn the money to pay for the pair of shoes.
If the pair of shoes costs £50 in the UK and you earn £40 per day, you only need to work approximately a day and a half to earn enough money to buy the pair of shoes.
Although this is an isolated example, you can do this calculation on most products. You will come to the conclusion that, even if you relate prices to the rand, the same products could seem more expensive than in South Africa - but that you actually earn the money faster in London. Therefore the prices of most products could be considered relatively cheaper than in South Africa. This argument in no way implies that it is cheap to live in London. Quite the contrary: London is rated the sixth most expensive city in the world. When people in South Africa hear that someone in London is earning £5 per hour, they immediately think that earning R60 an hour is not a bad deal. You could argue that in an earn-spend system most products are more easily affordable in London, but it is important to note that in most cases you can still do much more with R60 in South Africa than with £5 in London. The problem of course is that not everybody earns R60 per hour in South Africa. The whole argument therefore seems very contradictory, and can thus actually only be applied in the system in which you earn and spend. In this context it is always irrelevant to interpret any UK price in rands, as so many people unnecessarily like to do.
Relatively Expensive Services & Products
There are certainly certain products and services that are relatively expensive in relation to other products and services in London, and by avoiding them, or by taking note of them, you can save money in the long term. To illustrate the meaning of relatively expensive, the following example might help:
An Underground One-day Travel Card for zones 1 & 2 will cost you £4.10 – that is just for a day’s travel.
If this doesn't sound much, see what you can buy with £4.10:
•30 tins of baked beans or peeled tomatoes, or
•10 loaves of cheap bread, or
•7 litres of milk, or
•2 kg pasta, or
•a cheap T-shirt, or
•100 photocopies, or
•4 cheap books (you can get the ‘classics’ for 99p!), or
•5 litres petrol, or
•10 minutes talk time to South Africa on a phone card.
The following are relatively expensive items, which shrink the pound:
•Underground tickets: Buy weekly or monthly travel cards. It really saves you a great deal to buy a Weekend Travelcard for weekends (only if you don’t have a Weekly or Monthly card). NB: London is gradually converting to electronic cards, known as the Oyster card. It is a plastic card, where you can pre-pay for travelling in and around London. It is more convenient, faster, and on the long run cheaper than the paper cards.
•Drinking in bars and clubs: Supermarkets and off-licences are much cheaper than bars. If you want to get trashed, do it half-way at home before you go out. Socialising obviously brings with it other expenses, such as taxi fares when the tubes have stopped running, etc. For South Africans to cut down on socialising is a tough task, but as a newcomer to London you are really advised to cut back until you can afford it. A good night out can cost you anything between £40-£80. This is money that can support your basic needs for a bit longer than one night.
•Cigarettes: Cigarette prices in England are extremely high. A packet of 20 cost £4. If you view that in terms of your hourly wage, it is expensive in any language (probably enough to give Zuma and Manto joyful tears in their eyes!). The only real way to save here is of course to quit, or to try Rizzla’s.
•Car insurance: Bring your no-claim record from South Africa if you have one. Insurance is compulsory in the UK and actually quite expensive (£250 per quarter). If you can get any discount, it’ll help a great deal.
•Accommodation: Although aspects of accommodation will be discussed in more detail later on, it is important to realise that accommodation should not just be seen as a roof over your head. There is a very fine line between living cheap (but in a dump) and having a very nice place (that is obviously more expensive). It is generally advisable to stick to cheaper neighbourhoods and close to public transport, but you should bear in mind that the quality of your accommodation will also have the most significant influence on your mental outlook on London. Although this sounds a bit shrinkish, it is a fact that the better your accommodation in London, the better your outlook will be, which can generally influence all other aspects of your stay. Try therefore to strike a good balance between price and quality - do not look at the price only.
•Transferring money to South Africa: Banks impose quite hefty service charges for money transfers to South Africa, ranging between £13-£35 (depending on the bank, the amount transferred and the speed of transfer required). This aspect is discussed in more detail on the next page.
•British Telecom (International calls): Making international phone calls from a red BT box is very expensive and should be avoided at all costs. Buy phone cards (e.g. Swift card) or visit International Call Centres.
•Take-aways: The sooner you get into the habit of cooking at home the better because, for what you get, most take-aways are exorbitantly expensive.
•Exchanging traveller’s cheques: Get Thomas Cook traveller’s cheques and exchange them at Thomas Cook to save on commission.
Important tips for the first week
•Your first week in London is probably the most important week and will determine to a great extent how you settle in, find your feet, and what you make of your stay in London.
•Don't exchange at the first Bureau de Change you see – shop around. If you have Thomas Cook traveller’s cheques, then exchange at Thomas Cook and save commission in the process. Marks and Spencer also offers very competitive exchanges.
•Get a good street guide, preferably an A-Z, as soon as possible. Street indications in London are not very good and you will have to get used to this. The names of streets generally appear (or are supposed to) on the buildings that are located on the street corners. Take note of the code that appear after the street name - there are a great number of streets with very similar names. The code will help you make the distinction and will also give you an idea of the area you are in. Also remember that street names can change suddenly after an intersection and this can leave you very confused.
•For security reason the locker service at certain stations is no longer available. If you arrive with quite a lot of stuff, which you feel you will not need soon, then you can tore it at a professional storage company. This isn't as expensive as one might think. A reputable company is ABC storage, who have 3 good locations in London. Particularly their Southwark location is good for backpackers, who don't have too much to store. They have lockers that are one metre square for £35per 4 weeks, or 1.5m for £45. This works out to £8.75-£11.25 per week. Perfect! Probably even better if there are a couple of you to share the locker. (Wonder if you can get away with sleeping in them?)
•Don't phone from BT's telephone boxes; be on the look-out for low-cost telephone centres, or buy telephone cards which are available at most shops. For more information on cheap E-mail services see here.
•Keep your personal belongings safe, especially passport and money; make copies of important documents and store traveller’s cheque numbers in a safe place as soon as possible.
•Get a grip on the postal codes. This will always give you an idea as to where places in London are and will help with your general sense of direction. NW 23, for example, means that the location is in North West London. The figures following the letters are an indication of how far it is from central London. For more information on postcodes call )0345 111 222.
•Be on the look-out for the TNT (which appears every Monday), South African Times UK and South African (newspapers which appears every Wednesday), and Die Stem – all of which are free of charge and good sources of information. They provide valuable information on jobs, social calendars, and generally information and news that are relevant to the South African community.
•Get a grip on the prices before you really start spending. Be careful of auctions in Bond and Oxford streets. They are a scam.
•Avoid taxis and mini-cabs. These are very expensive means of transport and unlicensed mini-cabs in particular could ‘take you for a ride’. Women are strongly advised not to use mini-cabs, as there is not always control over them and they could take you anywhere. Unfortunately statistics confirm this. If you want to take a chance with a woman driver, call Ladycabs (women drivers only, Tel: 020 7254 3501).
•Don't get involved in fights on station platforms. You can end up on the track and get electrocuted, or there might be a train on its way to end the fight – and your life!
•Don't be tempted to go to the strip and peep shows in the Soho area. You obviously have a free choice, but if you believe the many who’ve dared, you will definitely be (st)ripped off and will not get much sympathy from anyone. Apparently they look harmless from the outside, but once you are in, they will charge you for everything – ridiculous prices for drinks and they will even charge you for just speaking to them. It will not help if you tell them you first have to go and withdraw money – the bouncers will accompany you to the bank. Not worth a try.
•In London you will have all the freedom to experiment with drugs, especially Ecstasy, as so many young South Africans sadly do. If you become one of them, just grow up soon enough to realise that it is not, and will never be, good for you. In fact, you could be the next fatality.
Mailbox Services
E-mail makes it so very easy to always be in contact. Sometimes, however, you might for practical reasons need more concrete ways for others to contact you.
If you stay in the Earl’s Court area it is recommended that you make use of Mail Boxes Etc. They offer a wide range of services including photo-copying, fax sending or retrieval, binding, post box rental, business printing, shipping and courier services. They are not extremely cheap, but they seem to run the business very professionally, which is a lot more than you can say about most of the scruffy places in Earl’s Court. As you leave the station, turn right and walk until you reach the end of the road (3-4 minute walk). Mail Boxes Etc. is on the left side of the road. Their address is *235 Earl’s Court Road, London, SW5 9FE, Tel: 020 7244 1015 Fax: 020 7244 1018.
Mail Boxes Etc. Tel: 020 7244 1015, www.mbe.uk.com for services and addresses.
Other branches of Mail Boxes Etc. at:
Central, Croyden, Hampstead, Kensington, South Kensington, Kings Road, Marylebone, Mayfair, Notting Hill Gate, Paddington, Soho, The Strand, Trafalgar Square, Victoria, West End.
Poste Restante* (*The international term for “General Delivery”)
This service is provided by the Post Office. You give their address to friends or relatives and your mail is kept at the information desk for up to two months. This is of course very handy the first month you're in London, or when travelling. Your name and Poste Restante must be clearly marked on the letter above the following address:
*Post Office, 24-28 William IV Street, London WC2N 4DL
(You have to have identification when claiming any mail.)
Letters from abroad addressed to the Poste Restante, London, are retained for two months, letters from provincial towns similarly addressed are retained for one month, and letters posted in London one fortnight. After these periods all such letters are sent to the Returned Letter office for disposal in the usual manner.
In the new era of email and internet services you will probaly never use this service.
Post Office: *Trafalgar Square Post Office open late (8am-8pm), 24-28 William IV Street, London WC2. Tel: 020 7930 9580, Tube: Charing Cross
Up to five items will be held free of charge for a limited time at most larger London post offices. To find the address of a participating post office, call the Post Office counter service at Tel: 08457 22 33 44.
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