Time to re-evaluate my priorities

[slycat]

I've only just got home at 8.40pm. Normally, I get home at 7.30. The reason for my late arrival? Yes, again, the trains were totally fucked. This has been a significant kick into reality for me asoto what I really want from a job, and that is one which is not in London. I hate the city and I hate the transport. I want to work (at least at first) somewhere much closer to home, where my journey to work is under an hour each way. A chicken and the egg scenario is born where to achieve my goal and work locally, I need to learn to drive and get a car but to afford the lessons and a car, I need to work off my debts or work locally.

Anyway, as a result of today's transport problems, I've decided to send an email to the guy who was trying to get me a job in London to let him know that I will not be looking for work in London. I will only continue to be depressed if I stay working there. There's been a few new jobs that have been opening up including a junior web developer position in Southampton which would be perfect for me (but wait, I bet I don't even get a rejection letter) so fingers crossed something goes my way sooner rather than later. I wish I could go back to uni and re-educate but I have the ball and chain of my debts to deal with first. They are the result of my own mistakes and immaturity where money is involved of course but I wont have my credit card consolidation loan paid off until April 2005. At which time, I'll be 24...

Comments

[kimbalion.livejournal.com]

Funny you should say that, but I've been faced with the same thing recently..

I was offered a position at UKP34k to work in Vauxhall Bridge. The job looks great, the company looks great. Even the pay sounded fine until I started to look into it... I eventually calculated that living in London and earning that amount would actually render me significantly less well off than a substantially lower-paying job in Holland.
Combine this with London's crime and crap public transport system and it'd be a poor choice for me, and I suspect you too. :)

[gerald_duck]

The Tube is a little expensive compared with most other metropolitan-area rail services, but it's at least fairly dependable on weekdays. The trick, if living in London, must therefore be to make sure you're near a Tube station. A Network Rail station simply won't do as an alternative.

Also, make sure you have private parking if there's even the slightest chance of your wanting a car. If you depend on on-street parking, some day you'll get home to find all the spaces gone, and then what do you do? (Answer, in my parents' case, park two thirds of a mile from your home and walk!)

Getting that is possible, but expensive. The salary multiplier required would probably vary between about 1.5 and 3, depending on what proportion of your money you intended to spend on your home, rather than other things. In my own personal case, I think I'd need an extra £40,000 a year to live in the same sized house in London.

I lived in London for the first 18 years of my life. I could live there again. I miss not having the incredible range of shops, cinemas, theatres and museums on my doorstep. On the other hand, given the huge expense entailed by living there, I'm perfectly content to settle 65 miles from the City centre and visit every few weeks.

Plus, if I lived in London, I'd lose the countryside and the quiet village pubs. Swings and roundabouts...