35-year-old American left the U.S. for the U.K. spends $2,532/month

In October 2024, the couple moved into a two-bedroom, one-bathroom flat with a private garden in West London, without ever seeing it in person. Rent was 2,400 pounds or $3,159 When they first moved in, that figure rose to 2,515.20 pounds, or $3,311, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

The apartment was unfurnished, in a townhouse rather than a larger building, and unlike the modern apartment they lived in in New York City, there was no doorman. The couple did not send any of their furniture because it was too expensive. The first night they spent in the apartment, they slept in sleeping bags on the floor and used their suitcases as a dining table.

“We wanted something with character. When we moved here we told ourselves we wanted something different, and we wanted something that felt like London, so we had a different living experience than in the States,” Rivers says.

Rivers has managed to keep her $120,000-a-year job in event planning and marketing through the end of 2024.

After this he started looking for a job in London; He says this helps him explore the city while traveling for interviews and working at local cafes. Rivers says she’s never been homesick or regrets moving, but she admits she’s still nervous about being in a new city.

“London scared me so much because it was so big and I was a little afraid to go out on my own. I don’t know what happened to that brave girl in 2019, but I think everything felt so real now and it was affecting me,” she adds.

Now that Rivers and his fiancee have lived in London for just over a year, he says they’re settling in nicely. Rivers found a job based in London as an event planner. Rivers did not want to disclose his salary, but said that despite the pay cut, he was happy with it and spent less money than he did while living in New York.

“I’ve noticed that I generally spend less now, mostly because I don’t socialize as much as I do in New York. Life is a little quieter in London, but in a good way,” she says. “I still make time to see new friends and meet new people, but I go out less. And since I earn less here, I pay more attention to where my money goes.”

Rivers and her fiancée also split their expenses proportionately according to their income.

“My fiancée makes the equivalent of what he makes in the US, so he’s kind of carrying the team now, which is great,” he adds.

According to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, Rivers’ share of the monthly living expenses breakdown is as follows:

• Rent = 1,215 pounds or $1,599
• Cell phone = 49.70 pounds or $65
• Internet/Wi-Fi = 20 pounds or 26 dollars
• Water = 59.78 pounds or $79
• Electric = 121 pounds or $159
• Groceries = 300 pounds or $395
• Transportation = 115 pounds or $151
• Amazon Prime = 8.99 pounds or $12
• Pet insurance = 25.21 pounds or $33
• Apple TV = $12.99

Rivers’ biggest monthly expenses are rent, food and electricity, he says. He commutes to the office three times a week and buys lunch on those days.

Since moving to London, Rivers and his fiancee say they’ve also been able to take advantage of the city’s location by taking local day trips by train and traveling to Ireland and Mallorca.

“It’s really nice that the opportunities to travel are easier. It seems to me that in the US you get to travel once a year and that’s it. It’s nice that we can just hop on a train and go to Paris for a night or hop on a plane and go to Spain,” he says. “Travelling is also a big part of why we want to move.

Although the deal took some time, Rivers says he feels they made the right decision.

“I just felt like this was the right path and where I was meant to be. Even the mundane things I do here excite me,” he says. “I feel like I’m probably in the honeymoon phase, but every day I feel like I made the right choice. I don’t think I see myself living in the US now that I know what it’s like to live a lifestyle outside of that.”