Young Wild and Broke Blog – enjoying London on a budget

by Startacus Admin

Young Wild and Broke Blog – enjoying London on a budget.

With finances tied up in your startup, how exactly are you expected to actually function or socialise?

Unless you’re minted, starting up and living life are quite mutually exclusive, at least for the first months of your startup’s life. Living in London, the UK capital, this is only amplified! So what’s a budding entrepreneur to do? We spoke to Sam Shaw from the Young, Wild and Broke Blog, on his solution.

Hi Sam! So first of all, why not tell us a little bit about the Young, Wild and Broke Blog?

“In brief: It is a blog about living in London while on a budget. Low-Cost | Food & Drink | Affordability | Life Hacks
In detail: Money should never be a problem. We believe that everyone should have fulfilling experiences, no matter how much you earn. The Young, Wild, And Broke Blog is a community of people living/travelling in London while on a budget. We find scrappy life hacks to enjoy one of the most expensive cities in the world.”

So, It’s a way to share local knowledge with others, to make London more affordable. Pretty clever idea considering the startup scene and even student life in the city. What inspired you to start your blog?

“I love vibrant new experiences - from travelling to new countries, cooking new recipes or learning how to crochet. It does not matter. There is much beauty out in the world. Thus while I have been in London, I have kept this mentality. But, like many, I was dumbfounded by the high standard of living. Flats that cost over £600, dinner that’s over £10.00 and transportation that’s £31.40 for a week pass. And I always convert into USD which makes matters even worse! BUT MONEY SHOULD NOT INHIBIT VALUABLE EXPERIENCES. And then it occurred to me that there are still so many valuable fun experiences to be had here- it just takes a little discovery. For example, my friends and I rented Barclay bikes for £2 one night. We rode them from 11pm-sunrise the next morning. (NOTE: We utilized an app to ensure we only paid the fixed £2 and nothing more. Took a little planning but definitely viable) And then boom, I strapped down and developed the blog.”

Have you been living in London long? Considering the tricks on the blog, you must have some co-conspirators with local know-how?

“I have been here in London for almost a year now. I moved here at the end of October 2013. I learned by taking action. Picking up Time Out magazines, doing online research and chatting with co-workers.
Initially it was solo. I taught myself web design, graphic design and content creation. Although amateur, I’m learning, but as the blog grows I do expect to add some part-time contributors.”
How has marketing and development of the blog been going?

“I recently created a Twitter and Facebook page. Facebook is almost at 100 likes. Twitter is much slower but growing. I am also reaching out to universities, hostels and other relevant groups to share the blog. It is difficult to start the ball rolling but I will NEVER give up. I am truly passionate about this idea and will build the trial myself (that sounds pretty intense but you get the idea)”.

So things seem to be moving along, both development-wise and implementation-wise? What are your plans for the Blog?

“I want to create a full community for people to share other life hacks and ideas for a budget lifestyle in London. I think there is a lot we can do here. In the far future, assuming it takes off, the goal will be to create similar platforms in other major cities (San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong, Dubai, Stockholm). Really places where standard of living is high but also has many 18-39 year olds looking for cost effective lifestyles.”

The Blog is forming a community behind it, how is that progressing?

­“The first success story was when a reader actually downloaded an app I recommended. He then utilized it and shared his experience with the blog. It was great to see the community was taking action in my ideas.”

We wish Sam and his Community the best of luck, and we’ll definitely be trying some of the blog’s advice on our next excursion to the big smoke!

Why not take a look at The Young Wild and Broke?   And dont forget to connect with them on Startacus!

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Published on: 31st October 2014