Will my savings see me through 15 months?

davenpearsall

First of all apologise if I have got this in the wrong forum. I'm trying to get an idea of living costs. I lived at uni for 3 years but bills (apart from food) were just included in the accommodation price.

By November (when I will return to being a student) I will have just over £12,000 saved.

I will be renting a place with my girlfriend and hope to rent somewhere for in the region of £525 pm.

On top of this I will be doing a 50 mile commute each day to my place of study and envisage to be spending £55 on fuel per week. Of course we will then have the bills. Bearing in mind we will be (hopefully) renting a 1 bed house I expect the bills to be in the region of so:

GAS - £20pm
ELEC - £30pm
WATER - £20pm
FOOD - £300pm
Council Tax - £100pm
Broadband/Phone - £30pm

I work this out to be around £680 per month. This of course is for me (i.e half of all above, apart from petrol).

Therefore for 15 months it will be £10,230.

Now to me this doesn't seem an awful lot compared to what other people have said to expect to spend whilst on the course I am on.

I'd be really appreciable if some people would be kind enough to have a look at my figures and tell me if I have missed out something blindingly obvious. Or any other mistakes they think I have either over or under budgeted for.

Thanks in advance!

Vestra

Is your girlfriend going to be a student too? As you won't have to pay council tax.

davenpearsall

No she will be in full time employment. Am I right in thinking she will get a reduced rate seeing as I am a student living at the property?

Chester_Draws

I would include the expenses incurred from the car :
Car tax
Car Insurance
Emengency Car costs (tyres etc) £20 pm ?
Breakdown Cover ?

TV licence
Home Contents Insurance

Gas & Electric probably Ok, but be prepared for a bit higher.

davenpearsall

Of course! car insurance was one thing I had forgotten. This years premium was £420 and I expect it to be in the same region. This adds over £500 for the year which is quite a lot in the great scheme of things. Thanks for reminding me.

Glad to hear that I am not wildly out with my estimates on figures though!

Mike_by_the_Sea

davenpearsall wrote: »

By November (when I will return to being a student) I will have just over £12,000 saved.

I will be renting a place with my girlfriend and hope to rent somewhere for in the region of £525 pm.

On top of this I will be doing a 50 mile commute each day to my place of study and envisage to be spending £55 on fuel per week. (20 mpg?) Of course we will then have the bills. Bearing in mind we will be (hopefully) renting a 1 bed house I expect the bills to be in the region of so:

GAS - £20pm
ELEC - £30pm
WATER - £20pm
FOOD - £300pm
Council Tax - £100pm
Broadband/Phone - £30pm

I work this out to be around £680 per month. This of course is for me (i.e half of all above, apart from petrol). (The figures you quote come to £732.5 pm)

Therefore for 15 months it will be £10,230. (15 months = £10,980)

Hi davenpearsall

See the bits in red. This is assuming that you will be commuting every week for 15 months. The gas and elec may be a bit low at £600 a year - depending on usage.

Water should be ok if you are on a meter, otherwise may be higher - £30pm

Apart from the additional costs mentioned by chester, are there any additional course costs - books, materials etc? (And of course the £10 a day for student essentials - beer)

With regard to council tax you may be "disregarded" if you are a full-time student on a qualifying course of education, in which case there would be a 25% discount - check with the local authority.

Have a great time

davenpearsall

Mike by the sea - Thanks very much for your reply.

For 5 months of my course I will actually be away in the USA. I don't really want to leave all the rent to my girlfriend.

I will of course be saving on petrol:

5 months @ £220 = £1,100.

Would she have to contact the council once I go away to get a "single occupancy" rate for the council tax?

I misjudged my commute distance a little. Its 60 miles each way. I did the journey the other day to gauge how much fuel I would use. I used £11 in total. So 5 days a week £55 or £220 per month ouch!

The course actually includes all the books and materials so luckily I don't have to worry about those costs.

Mike_by_the_Sea

davenpearsall wrote: »

Would she have to contact the council once I go away to get a "single occupancy" rate for the council tax?

From my previous post...

With regard to council tax you may be "disregarded" if you are a full-time student on a qualifying course of education, in which case there would be a 25% discount - check with the local authority.

If the course is a qualifying one, then the 25% discount would be available from day 1, if not, then she would need to contact the council to get the discount whilst you were away. Either way, if you get in touch with the local authority they will send you a form to fill in to apply for the discount.

Mike