Is 34k pounds a livable wage in Downtown Belfast? Evaluating a job offer.

Original post by Tonytime

Hello everyone,

Thank you for being kind to view my post. I'm a college graduate that is evaluating a job offer as a Database Administrator position in Belfast, UK. I plan on living in the city center as that's a personal preference. Salary is the topic of this discussion. In America a Junior Database Administrators salary or Database Administrator 1 ranges from 65k-85k USD. Which is a solid living wage in the USA which can buy you a nice house and car, if done smartly. However, I don't know what this translates to in Northern Ireland, Belfast. I did research and found that this resolved to around 34-42k in Belfast. Let's say I got a 34k salary and I were to be living in downtown Belfast. Would I be able to live well there? Would I be able to buy new clothes, take friends out to eat, go out on Saturday nights to the pubs, and etc. Would you say I can live comfortable off of 34k pounds a year in Belfast? Thank you everyone.

Sorry yes £34 k is plenty. That is probably more than me and my wife get between the two of us at the moment. But don't forget you will have to pay taxes?

Reply 6

M14B

18

That is very good money.
Rent is cheap.

Reply 7

Tonytime

OP

Yes I will be taxed the normal UK way. I'll be living off of a visa there for 1 year. Can someone describe would 34k Pounds BGP get me for a year in Belfast? Rent a Condo/House, I don't plan on getting a car, will I be able to buy nice clothes, go out every weekend, go out to dinner, and save some as well?

Reply 8

Original post by Tonytime

Hello everyone,

Thank you for being kind to view my post. I'm a college graduate that is evaluating a job offer as a Database Administrator position in Belfast, UK. I plan on living in the city center as that's a personal preference. Salary is the topic of this discussion. In America a Junior Database Administrators salary or Database Administrator 1 ranges from 65k-85k USD. Which is a solid living wage in the USA which can buy you a nice house and car, if done smartly. However, I don't know what this translates to in Northern Ireland, Belfast. I did research and found that this resolved to around 34-42k in Belfast. Let's say I got a 34k salary and I were to be living in downtown Belfast. Would I be able to live well there? Would I be able to buy new clothes, take friends out to eat, go out on Saturday nights to the pubs, and etc. Would you say I can live comfortable off of 34k pounds a year in Belfast? Thank you everyone.

It depends what you mean by comfortable. It's certainly far less than $65 000, but I'd imagine it's more than enough for a single person (assuming that you are one) to live comfortably.

Using this tax calculator, your take home pay after income tax and National Insurance contributions would be around £26 287 per annum, which is £2 191 ($3 088) per month. You can have a look around on www.rightmove.co.uk to see what rents are like, and decide on the basis of that whether it's enough for your preferred lifestyle.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 9

helpmekid

20

Original post by Tonytime

Yes I will be taxed the normal UK way. I'll be living off of a visa there for 1 year. Can someone describe would 34k Pounds BGP get me for a year in Belfast? Rent a Condo/House, I don't plan on getting a car, will I be able to buy nice clothes, go out every weekend, go out to dinner, and save some as well?

Yes on that ^^

NO: will I be able to buy nice clothes, go out every weekend, go out to dinner, and save some as well?

Reply 10

https://www.propertypal.com/property-to-rent/belfast
https://www.propertypal.com/property-to-rent/belfast

rent looks like £200 a week for a single bedroom house.

I think the money would be comfortable. And Irish people tend to be friendly and talkative. But it is important that you make the effort to get out, and i don't know what the night life is like. Hopefully you will have a good time if you go. Also you may have difficulty understanding the irish accent.

University fees are around £9000 per year here now, but i think things are a bit cheaper. But then if you are going out all the time, i think it will be easy to piss it all away. But then this will apply to wherever you are from?

Reply 11

Original post by john2054

University fees are around £9000 per year here now, but i think things are a bit cheaper. But then if you are going out all the time, i think it will be easy to piss it all away. But then this will apply to wherever you are from?

Not sure this is relevant to the OP but, in any case, is this recent? As far as I'm aware, Northern Irish students have a similar arrangement to what Welsh students have, with just under two-thirds of the fees being covered by a grant from the regional government so that the tuition fees are effectively only ~£3 500 per year.

@Airmed? :holmes:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 12

Tonytime

OP

Original post by john2054

https://www.propertypal.com/property-to-rent/belfast
https://www.propertypal.com/property-to-rent/belfast

rent looks like £200 a week for a single bedroom house.

I think the money would be comfortable. And Irish people tend to be friendly and talkative. But it is important that you make the effort to get out, and i don't know what the night life is like. Hopefully you will have a good time if you go. Also you may have difficulty understanding the irish accent.

University fees are around £9000 per year here now, but i think things are a bit cheaper. But then if you are going out all the time, i think it will be easy to piss it all away. But then this will apply to wherever you are from?

Wow that is very cheap for rent. I'm graduating in 2 weeks. I currently live in America and I'll be going to Northern Ireland, UK for this job opportunity with my company. I won't be going to school any longer because I will already be graduated. I won't be going out all of the time, perhaps 2-3 nights a week.

Reply 13

Original post by Tonytime

Wow that is very cheap for rent. I'm graduating in 2 weeks. I currently live in America and I'll be going to Northern Ireland, UK for this job opportunity with my company. I won't be going to school any longer because I will already be graduated. I won't be going out all of the time, perhaps 2-3 nights a week.

Yes but still i would recommend making some friends to go out with, before proudly claiming that accolade. Maybe see if some of your colleagues at work would like to go out with you? Also i don't know how strict the bouncers are, but try to dress smart is probably my best piece of advice for clubbing. But again, i have never been out in northern ireland, so again i don't know what it's like.

Reply 14

Airmed

21

Original post by Hydeman

Not sure this is relevant to the OP but, in any case, is this recent? As far as I'm aware, Northern Irish students have a similar arrangement to what Welsh students have, with just under two-thirds of the fees being covered by a grant from the regional government so that the tuition fees are effectively only ~£3 500 per year.

@Airmed? :holmes:

If you're an NI student studying in NI you pay £3800 there or abouts for uni. If you're from elsewhere in the UK it's the full £9k.

Reply 15

Original post by Airmed

If you're an NI student studying in NI you pay £3800 there or abouts for uni. If you're from elsewhere in the UK it's the full £9k.

And is this grant available to an NI student studying elsewhere in the UK (such as yourself)? :holmes:

If it is, then you've got exactly the same system as Wales. :biggrin:

Reply 16

Airmed

21

Original post by Hydeman

And is this grant available to an NI student studying elsewhere in the UK (such as yourself)? :holmes:

If it is, then you've got exactly the same system as Wales. :biggrin:

No, I'm paying £9k in Dundee. I'm not classed as an EU student at Dundee but St Andrews classes me as one (and then they rejected me :colonhash:

).

Reply 17

Original post by Airmed

No, I'm paying £9k in Dundee. I'm not classed as an EU student at Dundee but St Andrews classes me as one (and then they rejected me :colonhash:

).

LOL, that is tragically funny -- you would have paid nothing at all if St Andrews had accepted you. :lol:

Anyway, this means that the Welsh have the best student finance system in the UK (Scots only go for free in Scotland; we get our fees subsidised anywhere in the UK). :colone:

Reply 18