How much should I save for university? Urgent....

atypical

glider3560 wrote: »

I worked full-time for the entire summer holiday before starting uni. Earned about £2200, of which I saved about £1800 of this.

I worked (and plan to work) during the summer holiday between university years; it's something like 17 weeks off! Had I been able to get full time hours for all of it I could have earned ~£3,900, and that's at minimum wage (albeit minimum wage for someone >21 but very few pay less than this).

glider3560

atypical wrote: »

I worked (and plan to work) during the summer holiday between university years; it's something like 17 weeks off! Had I been able to get full time hours for all of it I could have earned ~£3,900, and that's at minimum wage (albeit minimum wage for someone >21 but very few pay less than this).

I only get a 12 week holiday. I spent 3 weeks last year doing an unpaid lab placement at my uni, so only worked for 9 weeks: about £1800 at minimum wage.

ciderwithrosie_2

When my son went last September he'd managed to save up about £700, some of this went to pay his accomodation deposit, £200 on a laptop and printer (I put some to it as well). As he only got his insurance place which was London not Wales we had to quickly resubmit his finance forms for the London weighting. It took a couple of weeks after he'd started for it to appear in his bank account but he was one of the lucky ones, some people still hadn't had their money sorted by Christmas. Although we'd tried to equip him as well as possible (kitchen stuff, bedding, towels etc) there were still a few things he needed and he had to buy books and sports kit, pay to join various things and there was freshers week.

Now he's just finished his 2nd term he's in a much better position financially (despite living in London) than some of his friends who have run up huge overdrafts already, but he is fairly thrifty with money anyway and only buys clothes from Primark/George and doesn't have any expensive hobbies and he gets a Tesco food delivery every month or so from me to top him up with the basics.

So what I'm saying I think is if you can save a good bit then you'll be able to relax and enjoy starting Uni without stressing how you're going to eat or buy anything cos there's bound to be expenses you haven't considered.

regards CWR

Abbexi

So far I have saved £920, but I am hoping to go to uni with about £2000 in my ISA. I think it's definitely a good idea to save all the money now whilst you can because it will really take the pressure off you when you're there. Also you might be able to afford to not live purely off noodles .

I just want to be a relatively wealthy student. I feel it will make uni a much better experience!

MrTomato

I've saved nowt. I'd rather spend my money having a nice time in my summer holiday than for when uni comes. Sainsbury's don't pay enough either

As long as you've worked out how much you're going to have each week/month and think you can afford it, you might be ok without taking anything.

Unless of course you want to go on a binge at the start of term.

Thinking about it, should take some. I'm going to London after all.

lizzielondon

MrTomato wrote: »

I've saved nowt. I'd rather spend my money having a nice time in my summer holiday than for when uni comes. Sainsbury's don't pay enough either

As long as you've worked out how much you're going to have each week/month and think you can afford it, you might be ok without taking anything.

Unless of course you want to go on a binge at the start of term.

Thinking about it, should take some. I'm going to London after all.

i'm in london & my student loan doesn't cover my rent

mandragora_2

Like doing a house-renovation. Sit down, tot it all up, add about 1/3 for contingencies. Then double it. You might be somewhere close. Your mum is right. It costs. Whatever you've got left over at the end, take her out for a meal. If it's more than a sandwich from the local deli, you'll have done waaaaay better that either of my two, and I don't think they were that unusual.


Listen to your mum - she's worried for good reason. I'd never discourage you, but if you're going to end up with a burden of debt, know in advance roughly how much it will be, and what you've done it for. And make sure that you take away whatever it was you wanted to get out of it.

MrTomato

lizzielondon wrote: »

i'm in london & my student loan doesn't cover my rent

Well I'm getting full whack loan and grant and a £2835 bursary off UCL, so if I've worked it out right, over 37 weeks I'll have about ~£300 per week. And first year accommodation is likely to be £120 per week.

Kilwinning_Bluenose

I'm planning to have £10k in the bank when I go to uni in August 2011 and I'm staying at home during it! Reading these replies maybe that's far too much and I should spend more just now?:D

However much you take, if what's coming in is greater than what's going out, you'll be absolutely fine.

Rosemary7391

I had/have backup savings of around £500. Went to uni with, I think, a months wages in my current account, about £500 I think, and my loan. Working during the holidays I've managed to keep afloat, so its doable (I still have my savings intact). It depends where you're going really! Some places the loan is more than enough, others it just isn't.