i think i might be able to contribute something
im staying in central london(betw regents park and baker st)
im in a twin room with another guy which is not ensuite(student hall). only a sink. im paying about 80+/week. without food. but electricity and water included(heating is central so no need to bother)
im switching to a single next year and i will be paying about 120+/week without food ect the same as above.
if u were to get a private place around my area, kingsX russell sq, euston.... u would be looking to pay about a BARE min of 120+ on accommodation alone. it would work out cheaper if u were to share it with more ppl( 4 and above) its expensive in central but u dont waste too much time travelling like azarimy said.
its all depending on what u want. student accomodation is always cheaper and some for about 110+ u can get full catered+utilities so its a good deal. but they tend to only let 1st yaers stay. so i think by the end of the first year u should know your way round enough to decide what u want.
bare in mind some non-catered place dont allow cooking. but sometimes they have a kitchen in the basement or something so check.
depending on what u cook or if u are a hungry monster(like me
) u should be looking at about 30-50quid a week for food if u cook everyday.
i tend to take out quite often so i spend about 4-6quid on dinner and lunch i usually eat at school canteen so its cheaper. and breakfast depending if im late or not i either have a cup of tea and some biscuits or just rush job go to school and get something light to eat at school.
as for work, in general u should not have problem getting work. legally there is some red tape to be sorted out but i dont recomemnd working illegally. u might hear ppl saying its safe to do that(alot of ppl do that especially in chinatown but recently they raided quite a few places) but i dont think its worth it.
get a job legally, u pay tax initially but if u earn below a certain amount tax year u can claim it back. after the first time sorting out the red tape, the next subsequent 1 will be easier since u have a record in the system.
and start looking early, dont wait until nearing holidays only start. thats when other ppl do that and u will have too much competition.
and keep in mind that most larger stores have a bad handling of records(physical paper wise) especially CV's so keep in mind that they'll just chuck it around like nobody business especially they are not actively recruiting.
utilities wise, when i had my own flat last year, i was paying about 1 pound a day electric and slightly less than 1 pound a day for gas on average(if i remember correctly). but its somewhere around that region. but then again i didnt really had the central heating on too long, usually in the early morning for a few hours and at night a few hours.
internet wise, i was with telewest initially(like every1 said they were superb) then it got taken over by virgin media which was alright initially then towards the end(b4 i was shifting) they were shite. customer service are r3tards. and they charge u for troubleshooting as well(on the telephone) so when u call up make sure the problem is not on your end and never say u dont know whats happening(even u dont know
) coz its almost always their fault.
the problem i had was that their signal was too weak and that took them like a week to find out and another 2 weeks to send some1 over. so i was only getting intemetten connection. and when i was to get my deposit bck i spent no less than 10quid trying to get them to sort it out. on hold most of the time. if u take their phone package then its free for u to call but i didnt.
virgin media limit your connection during peak hours after u download a certain limit(its in their T&C) but they dont send u warning letters(i know coz i always hit their limit
)
like others said, they are the best(as far as i can see) if u d/l like theres no tomorrow. but pray that nothing goes wrong...
This post has been edited by mr lappy: Nov 3 2007, 08:54 PM 
Aug 15 2006, 11:41 AM
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