University Budget

Gatser

Hello
Does anyone have any hints, tips or views as to how much
we should budget for our daughter's "living costs" as she plans
to go in Sept 2011.

We can see what it costs to rent accommodation in halls.
...but how much is reasonable for food & day to day expenses (maybe the odd drink!)

Thanks

Svenena

It will depend what part of the country you're in, but I work for a university, and we estimate that the living costs are on average £7000 per year, including accommodation, food, activities, etc. It will obviously also vary based on how much your daughter eats, whether it's value or finest food, how much she goes out, does she have any expensive hobbies, etc.

Speaking from personal experience, I lived on £27 per week for one year when I was a student, as I was paying off debt that I'd had before I started. Now I'm working full-time, I allow myself £60 per week for the same things (food, other day-to-day expenses and social activities), so I'd have thought somewhere between those two figures would be sensible.

When I was a student, because I had income coming from lots of different sources (eg termly student loan, monthly money from my mum, weekly money from part-time job), I worked out at the beginning of each term how much I would receive in total and divided that by the number of weeks in the term. I then set up a weekly standing order into a second bank account for that amount, which was the account I then used for spending (didn't even know the pin number for the other account, although I could access the money via online banking). I found this system really useful, as there was no worry about running out of money at the end of term, so maybe your daughter would find something similar helpful.

glider3560

A student's budget can be quite variable, depending on how many "nice things" they like.

I would budget £20 per week for food, although some weeks will be more some less depending how often you visit the shops.

Going out is anything from £10 up to hundreds, depending on the individual. £15 was more than enough for me, but I've known some people from very well off families who'd be going out spending £40+ per night on most days of the week in their first year :eek: (you've probably guessed that I go to a university with a large number of non-state school students).

Travel also depends where she lives in relation to the university. I paid extra on my accommodation to live somewhere within walking distance. Also need to budget for travel to/from uni and weekends at home plus travelling to friends elsewhere in the country.

Mobile phone depends how chatty she is!! My uni had phones in the rooms that would make free internal calls but charged a fortune for external calls. Skype is excellent for keeping in touch (and free) - even my parents use this to see/speak to me.

Would have to ask the uni if internet and other utilities are included in the halls.

TV Licence is £145.50 per year, although if bought at the start of October then cancelled before the end of June would give a 25% refund.

Books are quite expensive, but don't buy anything in the first month or two. I actually regretted buying every book I bought as the library had plenty of copies.

Lokolo

For me after accomodation I live off £300 a month, this includes running of a car and around 1-2 takeaways a week