The Student Room Group

How much should I be spending on rent?

I have a salary of £28,000 a year when I graduate in central London.

This breaks down to £2,333 a month, and £1,860 a month after tax.

I plan to walk to work (Shoreditch will be close to my work) and will be sharing a 3 bedroom'd house. Given this, what sort of budget do you think is reasonable? My upper budget was £850pcm (for myself) on rent, but speaking to other graduates they are saying this is too much?

This is my budget, which seems like I'd be saving a lot. Am I missing something out here?


£2,333.33 Base Salary (a month)

£1,860 Salary after tax (a month) (£473)

£1,807 Salary after tax and student loan (a month) (£53)

£954 Salary after tax, student loan and rent (£853 per month)

£879 Salary after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills (£75)

£750 Salary after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills, socialising (£129)

£550 Salary after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills, socialising, food (£200)

£400 - Savings after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills, socialising, food and council tax (£150)
Original post by james.proctor
I have a salary of £28,000 a year when I graduate in central London.

This breaks down to £2,333 a month, and £1,860 a month after tax.

I plan to walk to work (Shoreditch will be close to my work) and will be sharing a 3 bedroom'd house. Given this, what sort of budget do you think is reasonable? My upper budget was £850pcm (for myself) on rent, but speaking to other graduates they are saying this is too much?

This is my budget, which seems like I'd be saving a lot. Am I missing something out here?


£2,333.33 Base Salary (a month)

£1,860 Salary after tax (a month) (£473)

£1,807 Salary after tax and student loan (a month) (£53)

£954 Salary after tax, student loan and rent (£853 per month)

£879 Salary after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills (£75)

£750 Salary after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills, socialising (£129)

£550 Salary after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills, socialising, food (£200)

£400 - Savings after tax, student loan, rent, utility bills, socialising, food and council tax (£150)


To me if you stick to your budget that seems doable although I don't live in London
Seems reasonable but it depends on your aims. If you wanted to save as much as possible to buy a house or something then you should just aim to spend as little as possible on rent (idk how low you can go in London though!).
You can go quite a bit lower than £850. I pay £650 approx and I live in Holloway, but I have to get the tube to work. Mind you, I don't think I'd save a lot in any case by being able to walk to work, because I have a hobby based around 1.5 miles from my house that I'd not be willing to relocate.

Also, sounds po-faced, but unless you have realistic aims of rapid progression up the ranks, I'd only bother trying to save if you are very good at it. If you're on the borderline between save and spend in London, I'd say spend, because London is one of the most enjoyable cities in the world.

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