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I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

metro.co.uk

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Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#31

Post by 01acheru »

alt227 wrote: post #19
01acheru wrote: post #7

All fine and good, I hope he likes it but €10k is a lot of money to live more or less like a beggar. With €10k/y you can afford a house+food+bills in most of Europe and in many places it is way cheaper than that. So... yeah, I find it incredibly stupid.

10k Euro per year is what, 800 Euro per month? Im in the UK so I work in pounds. 800 Euro = £684.29 I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. I actually think its a pretty smart and cheap way to live if you are young and can handle the requirements.

I said most of Europe, not all of Europe and the UK is known for being one of the most expensive countries in Europe. Same for Scandinavia, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark.

But there are like 20 other countries in Europe where it is totally possible. Don't judge everything based only on you backyard.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#32

Post by riffraff »

dagw wrote: post #28
alt227 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10k Euro per year is what, 800 Euro per month? Im in the UK so I work in pounds. 800 Euro = £684.29 I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. I actually think its a pretty smart and cheap way to live if you are young and can handle the requirements.

I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. That is basically the minimum state pension, which some people do live on, but it is a pretty miserable existence.

also people who are retired _usually_ already own a place to live in so they don't spend money for rent/mortgage. OTOH, a 17yo will probably have less health-related expenses.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#33

Post by swarnie »

alt227 wrote: post #19
01acheru wrote: post #7

All fine and good, I hope he likes it but €10k is a lot of money to live more or less like a beggar. With €10k/y you can afford a house+food+bills in most of Europe and in many places it is way cheaper than that. So... yeah, I find it incredibly stupid.

10k Euro per year is what, 800 Euro per month? Im in the UK so I work in pounds. 800 Euro = £684.29 I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. I actually think its a pretty smart and cheap way to live if you are young and can handle the requirements.

£680 is about what i paid for a room in a HMO 20 miles outside the M25 a decade ago.

Providing German healthcare can keep up with all the antibiotics he'll inevitably need it sounds like a good deal.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#34

Post by beejiu »

dagw wrote: post #28
alt227 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10k Euro per year is what, 800 Euro per month? Im in the UK so I work in pounds. 800 Euro = £684.29 I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. I actually think its a pretty smart and cheap way to live if you are young and can handle the requirements.

I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. That is basically the minimum state pension, which some people do live on, but it is a pretty miserable existence.

That's because they get other benefits. The rent will be paid for with housing benefit. You can't typically get that if you are working age.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#35

Post by [deleted] »

Daviey wrote: post #5

Compared to the UK where a standard-class rail season ticket for me to get to London (including underground), at £8,272 p/y.. but for that, I also have the luxury of either standing in an overcrowded carriage, or if I am super lucky I get to sit in a seat that smells of urine.

[deleted]

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#36

Post by solumunus »

alt227 wrote: post #19
01acheru wrote: post #7

All fine and good, I hope he likes it but €10k is a lot of money to live more or less like a beggar. With €10k/y you can afford a house+food+bills in most of Europe and in many places it is way cheaper than that. So... yeah, I find it incredibly stupid.

10k Euro per year is what, 800 Euro per month? Im in the UK so I work in pounds. 800 Euro = £684.29 I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. I actually think its a pretty smart and cheap way to live if you are young and can handle the requirements.

It's not that much cheaper and you also need to factor in the fact that realistically you can't even cook your own food. There are hidden costs.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#37

Post by ben_w »

Daviey wrote: post #5

Compared to the UK where a standard-class rail season ticket for me to get to London (including underground), at £8,272 p/y.. but for that, I also have the luxury of either standing in an overcrowded carriage, or if I am super lucky I get to sit in a seat that smells of urine.

If you're just commuting like a normal person, there's also the Deutschlandticket, all* public transport for €49/month.

* including ferries, busses, underground, but also has exceptions that don't matter for normal commuting such as "no intercity express" and "a seat isn't guaranteed".

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#38

Post by 01acheru »

avianlyric wrote: post #23
01acheru wrote: post #7

All fine and good, I hope he likes it but €10k is a lot of money to live more or less like a beggar. With €10k/y you can afford a house+food+bills in most of Europe and in many places it is way cheaper than that. So... yeah, I find it incredibly stupid.

How is this any different to someone choosing to go backpacking for a year? Or do also consider that to be incredibly stupid? It’s pretty clear from the article he’s not doing this to save money, he’s doing because he loves travelling on trains and sees it as an opportunity for exploration and adventure. There’s nothing stupid about being curious, and brave enough to indulge that curiosity.

C'mon there is nothing brave or adventurous about it, it is just first world fancy. I'm happy he enjoys it but end of story let's not make this something special, it is not.

Re: I spend £8,500 a year to live on a train

#40

Post by dagw »

solumunus wrote: post #36
alt227 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10k Euro per year is what, 800 Euro per month? Im in the UK so I work in pounds. 800 Euro = £684.29 I guarantee you that you cannot get house, bills, and food for this amount per month. I actually think its a pretty smart and cheap way to live if you are young and can handle the requirements.

It's not that much cheaper and you also need to factor in the fact that realistically you can't even cook your own food. There are hidden costs.

With a first class ticket you can generally eat for free at the 1st class lounges at the larger train stations.
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