Still I have a few things I'd like to waffle about (sorry to those who thought this might be a delish waffle recipe, thanks for visiting! I'll make waffles soon I promise).
If you're not having a grumpy day, like me, I'd suggest clicking off! Everybody likes a good whinge now and then!
I am just fed up with the renting situation in London. Bear with me, when I try to write my thoughts I tend to veer off on several tangents and lose my point completely. We'll most likely be discussing something baking-based by the end of this and I will have forgotten my goal entirely.
So, i'm now in my mid-twenties working a dream-but-sadly temp-to-perm fashion house job (praying for it to become permanent some time before 2020), I went to a good school, got good grades.. ok so school wasn't for me so they weren't ridiculously good-but this is because I was creative and they didn't offer fashion as a subject, and I think I knew I wanted to work in fashion from the day I came into this world sneering at the boring uniform required to be worn by my nurse.
Post school, I went into career overdrive, I took on internship after internship, seven in total. SEVEN, I lost money, I never got payed and sometimes, I didn't even manage a conversation with someone in the company I was working for. That's fine, that's fashion, we've all been there and if you can't hack it, or you think there's something unfair about it, then it's not for you. It's for love, for your creative sanitys sake that you work in fashion (though sometimes it feels entirely insane).
CHARLOTTE YOU ARE VEERING OFF HERE!
GET TO THE POINT!
The point is, I'm not living off the state, I'm not up the duff applying for a free house (tempting though it seems in this climate) I'm trying to do things right, to be proud of myself, and not feel a failure by not being able to start my own little life.
I love London, I love everything about it, the different cultures, the architecture, the food, the bars, the parks, the galleries, and the people. It's great. Except it is SO impossible to afford to live there. I'm a young British girl, with parents who have done well for themselves and worked hard-but who have done enough for me now, at 25 I don't want to take any more help from them. I want to start my life in a small one bedroom flat in a safe area, and be able to afford to feed myself and travel to and from work on my wages. This should be possible!!!! But it isn't, I am having to go back to my parents and relinquish my independance in order just to afford to exist in the capital. Never mind the fact i'm eating into the play money they have worked hard over the years for.
Renting a room alone can cost you around £800+ including bills. A ROOM. RENTING A ROOM. We are forced to live with strangers, to rent 1/5th of a house for something like 70% of our paychecks, then with travel and food on-top god forbid you try to enjoy yourself socially. One night out and you're stuffed for the rest of the month, sitting on the sofa watching freeview feeling guilty for attempting to have fun.
Ebay has become my new best friend. In order to supliment my income I sell everything. Literally everything I can, and I really don't think I'm alone in this. I'm not poor, and yes, I do dream of shopping trips and suppers in nice restaurants, but I work my arse off-I should be able to do these things! I feel like the road ahead invovles living to work, not working to live. This isn't some political rant, i'm in no way well enough informed to talk politics and what the government needs to do for it's youth, but if I can say one thing, it needs to do something, because quite simply we can't afford to live here. I know 30 year olds living in shared houses of 4 or 5 mates, and thats all good fun, but seriously, 30 and still needing to split the rent up?
I really feel dispondant and I'm just clueless as to what I can do! I'm struggling to rent-owning is just a hilarious subject matter I don't think I'll ever take seriously!
Is anyone else feeling this way? Or is it just me? Maybe it's just me. Meep!
Great post Charli. I guess my situation has been pretty lucky in comparison to yours. I graduated with a first and didn't spend too long job hunting before I got my first role. I've progressed relatively quickly and think the jobs I've taken have been good moves for me. Especially working in the film industry I'll be moving out of my parents home to a two bed in north London with my sister this week. A good portion of our incomes will go on rent but we've lived at home for a good few years after uni. Keep trying and eventually you will get something that makes you feel valued.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
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http://www.daniellesdiscerningeye.blogspot.com/
Ah congrats on the new home! Excellent plan. Think my sister and I would kill each other if we had to live together (she's a classical painter-not sure my kitten and her canvases mix well) - she's also in a serious relationship, so I think i'd be ousted pretty fast! I'm lucky to have great parents, but still needing them there to cushion the blow is seriously frustrating. x
DeleteI completely agree Charli! My situation's a little different, I'm applying for my undergrad placement year at PR agencies in London, and all the best ones are happy to have you work for them for a year... for free. That's fine for some of my friends who live in London and can live at home rent free and live off their parents, but I'm from Somerset and commuting into London will cost about £3,000 a year and FORGET even trying to rent anywhere near the city! It is ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteEven the ones that pay expenses may as well not bother, and the ones that are paid and based in London will mean I will have to rent and absolute hovel in a dodgy area...
Sorry for the ranty reply but I completely feel your pain!
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Oh I've been through it, that's where I lost money, commuting from my parents into London each day when I was working magazine internships! Some of them do pay now, where I work pays the girls (and boys!) hourly, which isn't amazing, but i a step up from lunch money and half a train fair mind! I love hearing people rant, makes me feel like like the only grump in the world!
DeleteI did initially think this was about pancakes... :) Things aren't any better in Dublin! Hopefully you get something soon! Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteOh to be in Dublin- I might be homeless, but I'd be surrounded by fab accents!
Deleteas a recent transplant from the US for school, it's lovely to hear londoners grappling with this and writing about it. good to know it's not just me!
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