From an administration point of view, English system operates just fine. If you want to work, and you are capable you just have to operate according to the law and everything will be fine, the sky will be your limit.
LONDON
WAGES
– What is the acceptable wage-rate in London, to live an ok life?
– Minimum wage in London is £ 9.15 p / h, and the minimum wage across the rest of UK is £ 7.83 p / h but these are for lowskilled workers; waiters, retailers, service personnel, specialist services cost more. Case in point; my washing machine broke down and the fridge was acting up, so I called an engineer. here, they charge separately for the first 20 minutes and additionally for the call( around £ 60) so, if an engineer stays longer than 20 minutes, then every additional 20 minutes would rate at £ 30. In the end, he fixed my fridge, opened my washing machine then closed it saying " That’ s not my speciality, call the plumber " yet charged me for both the washing machine and the fridge, £ 120. When I asked, " Why is it so?" And he promptly replied " have opened it, so I worked on it " The epic story follows; The plumber arrives, charged separately for the call again and spends the next 4 hours fixing the washing machine overflow. Basically overcharged us, and after a month and a half, the sewers got blocked and we had to call him again. That’ s how people make their money …
A lot of young people come to London, first, to study, then search for work, accepting minimum wage as they start their careers. You will never be proposed a good salary unless you are a high-grade specialist. First, you are offered a small salary and then a raise as your experience and tenure increases, and be rest assured you will get a raise, they reward hard work. One of my friends started off with £ 1500 in her bank account, she now earns £ 5000.
From an administration point of view, English system operates just fine. If you want to work, and you are capable you just have to operate according to the law and everything will be fine, the sky will be your limit.
However, with a wage increase comes tax increase as well, my friend ' s husband is earning around £ 12000 a month with almost 40 % shaved off by taxes as he hits the high-earners threshold, and his family is not eligible to claim any state-benefits except for free healthcare.
If you are employed, you can apply for credit to purchase a property, paying a deposit of 5 % off the total! and if this is your first home, there are further discounts such as credit APR of 0.5 % to 2 – 2.5 %.
ABOUT PRICES AND SHOPS
I am more of a spender, but in my first two months, I had to save on everything. When you start earning in pounds, your take on everything changes, you gradually start getting used to cucumbers and tomatoes costing £ 6— and that is the standard price. If you are shopping in supermarkets like Tesco or Sainsbury— ( equivalents of our Carrefour and Lidl) then it is cheaper. Delicious and relatively cheap local lamb, ham, poultry and fish( Scottish Salmond) can also be found easily. There are street stall markets here, which sell organic products from the farms and can be expensive.
There are also chains of stores like " Whole Foods " which sell only organic products of good quality, but their prices are three times above what you ' ll find in the supermarkets, we only go there on big occasions. There are also daily markets which the British love and always visit with great enthusiasm, the pleasure of buying from " grannies " in the market, rather than from the shop.
Living out of the city— one may find numerous beautiful villages, well preserved, quiet, verdant, with local farms surrounded by forests and prices there are tolerable but London, especially its central parts is very extremely expensive! Many British are unhappy with the government because of the high prices and taxes, and to this effect, we see protesters quite often. Residents of Central London are demanding wage hikes by 4 – 5 times the current amount and the building of social housing for local low-earners because even most native Londoners can ' t afford to buy a flat. Estate Agencies here only look out for property owners and those who are willing to buy are very small in number.
LEISURE
If you have free time you can find lots of things to do, and things you ' ll love too. Almost all museums are free and open all day long from 9 am till 7 pm, and you can find paid events almost everywhere and every day, music festivals, jazz fringes, etc.
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