I did commuting to London a few years ago however still managed to spend 3 hours a day commuting door to door.

At some point I'd still like to go contracting, however I have limited financial experience and that's what a lot of the city jobs want. I know contracting can be very lucrative especially if you avoid IR35. London does pay well but this job is pretty good salary and as Rebus has mentioned I'd be paying a lot less on commuting (potentially nothing if I cycle) & accommodation (decent 2 bedroom pads in London seem to start at 2k a month!).

I’ve found it can be difficult to compare income from contract to permanent.
For example if someone’s gets 350 a day contracting (inside IR35) on the face of it looks like 90k gross. However if you take off the usual benefits you'd get in a perm position (25 days holiday, 5 days sick, pension, healthcare, bonus, etc...) it
comes down to around 60k.


Anyway just because this job is perm doesn't mean I have to be loyal and stay there another 7 years. I'm still looking around for other jobs in case this one doesn't work out. Trying to live in abundance and all that...

Mark