Lifestyle in London on this salary ?

[Lil]

Indianlady, you will see in my post that they are in London - not in the sticks.They are actually in Hampstead. I think naturally Fillipino's would find it tough,especially if they are fullfilling a nannying role as many of their counterparts will be very different than what they are used too here.

[Indianlady]

There is a very active Filipino Centre ( for helpers etc) in Central London and there are hundreds if not thousands of Filipino maids in London- she will just have to figure out which church they patronize and then she will be set. Living in London, she will have access to all this.

[Fancy a swap ?]

Nomad2 - I moving in the opposite direction in a couple of months. How do you fancy renting a 4 bedroom house in Wimbledon ? I'll take your place in Singapore  
Seriously though - I've been living in Wimbledon for 16 years and it's fantastic - excellent schools, plenty of good restaurants, cinema, theatre, gyms. We're 10min walk from Wimbledon station, so it's 45mins door-to-door from house to office in City (50mins to Canary Wharf).
I'm on a contract rate here on £540 per day and that gives me a very comfortable lifestyle for myself, wife and kid. As someone mentioned above, if you are contracting then there are ways and means to reduce your tax-bill significantly.

[Sounds Exciting]

On the nanny topic, I just thought I'd weigh in and throw a spanner in the works...

My friend took her maid of 6 years back to blighty. My friend was whinging about the tiresome maid from day one. After two years, the maid took off and was entitled to legal residency in England. She's freelancing all over Bucks and Berks & is in huge demand as a part-time housekeeper.

My friend, on the other hand, is struggling with a large family, an even larger home and no household help.        

Life just isn't fair.

Unless,of course, you're a switched-on maid.                                                                                                                          

[Indianlady]

Incorrect info. She would only get legal residence after 4 years...

... ... and frankly, if she has given you decent service for 4 years, helped you with the transition back to the UK etc, she shouldnt be grudged this. After all, in some ways, she is being helped to improve her lot and her family's in the long term.

[Maidup]

Friends of mine took their maid to London and after little over a year she was offered a salary elsewhere that they couldn't match, she worked part time cleaning and babysitting for many families in this time having negotiated very fixed hours working for my friends. There was no problem for the maid to change employer from a legal residency perspective so that is no guarantee the maid has to stay with the original sponsoring family. This is a very good move for a maid with any initiative and one I wouldn't begrudge our maid. But just wanted to point out how taking a maid to London may backfire for the employer if the maid is switched on.

[on the way]

Hi, is there any minimum wages required by UK government? Thanks

[employer.]

To on the way - yes, but not for live-in domestic help.

[crayzee]

The alternative to taking your own maid or hiring a nanny (very expensive as you are responsible for paying het Tax and NI) is to get an Au Pair.

I've had an Au Pair for the past 3 years (the y stay between 6mths to a year usually) and it's an absolute Godsend.

I pay £55 p.w pocketmoney, give her a room and feed her, help her register for an English course etc.

In return, I get 25 hours a week cleaning/childcare plus 2 evenings babysitting (one at the weekend). If I need extra duties, I just pay a little extra.

As it's pocketmoney, not salary, there are no tax or NI issues.

[Indianlady]

Yes, but they are there primarily as students and n ot as house help. With young children, to have a change of caregiver every 6 months could be disorienting as it would take 2-3 months for them to settle in initially. then there are language issues- most au pairs dont speak particularly good english, which is why they are in the UK in the first place... and I know how frustrating that can be as I am often driven to distraction by my current househelp ( whose CV stated that her English was fluent but who greets all instructions with a blank stare!!).

Then again, friends with au pairs complained about their late night partying and the girls coming back drunk and throwing up all over their carpets etc, bringing boyfriends home...

Trust me, a Filipino taken from here will give you 2-3 years of comfort, especially if your kids are fond of her.

[on the way]

Hi Indianlady, are you in Singapore now? If yes, what are your reasons to return to Singapore? Will you consider to live there for good? My husband is from UK and we've been living in Singapore for almost 8 years so we start thinking to make a move in near future.  We know UK is very expensive especially taxes and definitely need to figure out before making our decison.  Thanks

[Indianlady]

Yes we are in Singapore but its our first posting here. We lived in London for 8-1/2 years. had a great time there, made wonderful friends and the kids had a wonderful foundation in their education.  

I do miss some of that here but on all practical and financial counts Singapore rates higher. You get a wonderful quality of life, the cost of living is significantly lower than London ( dont have to think twice before jumping into a cab), and in London, school fees are horrific as is the cost of property and domestic help.

Not sure whether we will be here permanently though, as I definitely rate the quality of education in a good school in the UK much higher than anything you can get here ( apart from maybe Raffles Institution)... and as thats a very high priority for us we may just go back in a few years.

So, am determined to enjoy everything that Singapore has to offer ( including travel in a fascinating region) for as long as we are here