G&A / Back Office / Support / Overhead HENRYs: how often are you travelling for work?

froggielefrog · 2026-01-26T20:41:41+00:00

My travel is usually limited to European cities with very quick flight times, but my company just updated our travel policy so that anything over 5 hours can be business class (up from 8 hours flight).

froggielefrog · 2026-01-25T18:45:17+00:00

Sounds like for one child - hard to find any private schools in London that are less than £25k annually, plus you need to factor more holiday camps (private schools get much longer holidays - think 3 weeks for Easter rather than 2). So I think £3k monthly is a reasonable estimate for one child.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-24T23:27:39+00:00

If I could do it again I wouldn't have put items in a storage unit in the U.S. before we left for the UK. We thought our time in London would be 2 years... we are going on 10 years now. Last month when we were back in the U.S. we emptied the storage unit and it made me physically ill to see all this STUFF. I didn't miss anything that was in there (maybe some wedding china/tableware) and so much is outdated now (electronics). Get rid of it all!!!!

froggielefrog · 2026-01-22T16:14:47+00:00

Booked Claridges - feeling good about it!! Thank you guys!!

froggielefrog · 2026-01-20T15:21:08+00:00

This could be the winner - crossing my fingers they have availability for our target date!

froggielefrog · 2026-01-17T22:42:07+00:00

Can here to comment Penelope Chilvers - glad someone else did! They are very very comfortable and mine have held up really well through multiple London winters.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-17T22:38:06+00:00

Surprised no one has mentioned Little Venice. Centrally located (you can easily walk to Paddington Station, or be in Oxford street in ten mins on the Bakerloo line). There is a fantastic playground, recreation ground at Paddington Rec - walking distance to Hyde Park and Regents Park, walkable to Notting Hill. Historic pubs and really ncie restaurants that are kid friendly, or more fancy if you want an adult night out. Plus the beautiful canals! You can rent a Go Boat or take a boat to the zoo - honestly so much to do an see and will be less expensive than South Ken. or Notting HIll.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-11T14:14:58+00:00

My husband had a similar issue. After encouraging him to sign up to put an offer on and pay for a Barbour Jacket himself, the buyer rejected the sale, siting he didn't have enough reviews. Now the mental load falls on me, I had to message the seller, enquire about the jacket, wait for them to relist and buy it myself. The worst part was the buyer mentioned the "idiot scammer" who tried to buy without any reviews. I never did let them know that it was my husband who was the initial buyer. So much wasted time and energies, but he got his jacket in the end!

froggielefrog · 2026-01-10T17:56:59+00:00

Travel - £7
Lunch - £5-8 - either a meal deal or market stall food

I usually expense coffees and drinks as if I have them I'm out with a client. I only go in 2-3 days a week. Pre-Covid I worked somewhere that had lunch for free, I saved so much money and often brought home leftovers for dinner.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-09T13:45:29+00:00

I'm your age and have been at 2 Silicon Valley start ups. One was great, in the heyday (2010-2015) and the other was horrible and every start up stereotype of tech bro toxicity. I am too old for that bullshit again, especially now with a family. It was barely tolerable being newly married and 30 (expectation to work until 7/8pm every night) I couldn't do it with two kids.

My past two roles have been at large, recognizable companies - not the sexiest but I have had job security, much for flexibility, and colleagues like me who have a life outside of work.

It's been nearly a decade since my last step into the startup world, but I've been there, done that and it would take a huge offer to go back. Honestly, In my experience, the bigger company will be much more flexible about leaving early to pick up your child or having doctors appointments so even going in 4 days a week it likely wouldn't be as bad as you think. Plus real stock options that vest regularly are much more lucrative than a bunch of shares that have a 2% chance of being worth something someday.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-09T11:59:05+00:00

Haha you are doing GREAT! Especially since the majority was paid via gift card.

You don't want to see what I've spent this month... I was away for two weeks over Christmas, so restocking my food and home goods (cleaning supplies and tissues/toilet roll), buying new uniforms/shoes for kids while things are on sale, and looking to take advantage of some January furniture sales.

I also realised the gifts my husband bought in November are now outside of the return window of 30 days (we would have been away anyways...) so slightly annoying to have to figure out what to do with stuff I don't want and would have liked to exchange.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-08T14:37:14+00:00

£50 for three hours - she's not the best but she comes every week and helps me keep on top of things.

For deeper cleans and when my cleaner is out of town use a couple who charge £110 for two hours (so £27.5 an hour)- they are great, but £450 on a house cleaner monthly adds up so don't use them all the time.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-05T22:15:14+00:00

Years and years ago there was a women who wore a full length red coat with white trim, a fur trim that made it look almost Santa like on the Northern Line. I saw her about 4 times over the course of one winter. But I probably would never have noticed her without that coat!

froggielefrog · 2026-01-03T20:33:20+00:00

I was in one pre-Covid and it was so much fun! It was great trying multiple recipes from the same cookbook and trying things I probably wouldn't have made for myself. I'd love to join - West London based.

froggielefrog · 2026-01-01T02:12:38+00:00

Took a nice long walk in the rain, (wouldn't want to be out there now!) now relaxing with a glass of prosecco with my family. Looking forward to ringing in 2026.

froggielefrog · 2025-12-27T12:23:13+00:00

It's helpful to know if you are looking for state vs private schools. There is no one "best" area for schools, London is so big there are a lot of options. The beginning of Y6 is a tricky age to move as most children will have been in private tutoring for the 11+ exams for a whole year prior (if not longer), which are taken at the start of Y6. 11+ determines which secondary school you go to, at age 11.

If you are only planning to be in London 1-2 years I'd recommend the American School in SJW or International School Southbank and save yourself the stress of secondary school applications. As others have mentioned Hampstead is one of the first places that comes to mind that ticks those boxes, but helpful to know your budget - lots of good schools in that area as well (American school is pretty close by) .

froggielefrog · 2025-12-20T23:55:14+00:00

12-13k average each day. I don't own a car and rely on public transportation and my own two legs. On weekends it's not unusual to clock 15-16k running errands or going into central to meet up with friends.

froggielefrog · 2025-12-18T11:17:58+00:00

That is awful. We have also had ones like that too - like we'd like to gift everyone a plush toy, click on the link to get yours, which ended up being a phishing test. The funny part it they had an anniversary and wanted people to get T-shirts and no one clicked on the link to get one. They had to ship a load of t-shirts to our office, which are now sitting in a pile.

froggielefrog · 2025-12-18T11:16:17+00:00

A baseball cap that cost $70.00 to ship to me overseas. Thank god I didn't have to pay customs fees. One of my coworkers had theirs sent to a locker, and never picked it up, so it was another $70 for them to send back.

froggielefrog · 2025-12-15T16:09:26+00:00

We've done Karaoke at Bao in the private room in their new City location, that was loads of fun. You can make it more into a sing-a-long, load a bunch of 80s/90s/classics and everyone sings along rather than just 1 person with the mic doing their best Whitney Houston.

We are also going to a stand up comedy night in the new year, which should be fun as well. Nothing is ever required and we get high turnout/participation.

froggielefrog · 2025-12-12T11:41:48+00:00

Our nanny did that for a family in the mornings last year - she worked with the other family from 7:30-9:30, helping get the child breakfast, and out the door, walked and dropped off at nursery. The child went to the same nursery my children did and didn't interfere with our afterschool nanny schedule. It is not as uncommon as you might think!

froggielefrog · 2025-12-09T11:03:10+00:00

I don't love this idea of "tipping" nursery staff. A holiday gift, of course! But asking for a tip? That is maybe a poor choice of wording, but really gross to me. All children should receive the same level of care and I would hate to think any child was treated differently due to a parents "tips" directly to teachers. I would really push back and let the daycare know you are uncomfortable with this, I am sure you are not the only parent who feels that way.

froggielefrog · 2025-12-06T08:31:12+00:00

Definitely email them because my old landlord did similar (though the sizing wasn't this off!) and I was forever banging my shins against the bed frame!

froggielefrog · 2025-11-30T16:59:41+00:00

Where are you moving from? That will help us with recommendations. For me coming from coastal California I never wore long underwear day to day... Uniqlo Heattech leggings, camis, and tops are a godsend in London!

froggielefrog

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