StudentSaver_2
Forumite 242 posts
Hello all
I'll be going to uni in September hopefully (as long as the next few weeks go as planned!), and I plan to move into a university-owned self-catering flat, sharing with 6 other students. What is the best way to work things like bread and milk - things that go off quickly? Personally I would eat a lot of bread, but not a lot of milk. Is it safer just to buy my own supplies, or would it be more moneysaving to create a kitty for all 6 people in the flat?
Many thanks
StudentSaver
I'll be going to uni in September hopefully (as long as the next few weeks go as planned!), and I plan to move into a university-owned self-catering flat, sharing with 6 other students. What is the best way to work things like bread and milk - things that go off quickly? Personally I would eat a lot of bread, but not a lot of milk. Is it safer just to buy my own supplies, or would it be more moneysaving to create a kitty for all 6 people in the flat?
Many thanks
StudentSaver
0
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Replies
I guess this depends on who you live with and what sort of people they are. Obviously some people might think they use less food than others and they'd lose out if they put into a kitty - but then again, it is rather silly to have six different bottles of milk and loaves of bread on the go at once. It's generally cheaper to buy in bulk and share the cost (e.g. you can buy 6 pint jugs of milk which are cheaper per pint than individual pints) if you get on well with your flatmates...
Generally it's better if you can trust the people you're living with to share stuff too, even if they do take more than their fair share at first, it's better than being anal and falling out over a few pints of milk.
If you can share cooking too it will work out cheaper (and more sociable) but obviously this isn't always that practical if people have different tastes/dietary requirements, eat at different times etc...
For meal ideas check out Moneysaving Old Style's Recipe index.
I'd just like to add to student 100's comments that the Money Saving Old Style board will be useful to you in many areas such as shopping and making your money stretch a little so you've got more to spend on other stuff. You'll also get a very quick answer if you ever need any help with making the change from being at home to being independant.
one thing to bear in mind is what kind of thing you all like - like I will only eat brown bread really but most people prefer white.. and I prefer semi skimmed byut my fltamate only drinks full fat
In my second student house (3 girls 1 boy) we just bought everything together and split it, because we balanced out some eating more of one thing, another more of something else.
My boyfriends student house (3 girls, 2 boys) shopped (online) and cooked together, and on a really balanced veggie diet were about to eat for about£8 each per week (including delivery, which also meant they didn't impulse-buy rubbish!)
But it will only work if you all get on and have similar views on it!
bread lasts a week or so in the fridge, if you buy milk in small cartons with a long date on it'll last well. consider maybe getting a small fridge for your room, incase any thieving hands run off with your food/beer.
shared with seven others, 1 was lactose intolerant on a strict organic diet, others ate only ready meals, another ate virtually nothing but takeaways, 1 wouldnt eat unless it was smothered in tommy sauce....
i bought a mini fridge for my room, £40, but well worth it - saved a fortune once i had to stop paying to feed other (thieving) people as well.
you'll know yourself how much milk you use - if only a little, consider buying long life milk. taste isnt gret, but you dont notice it in things and it lasts for ages. failing that, 1 pint cartons. if you drink a lot of milk well then it makes mores ense to but a bigger carton.
if you cant get through 1 pint a week then think about powdered milk. if you cant get through a loaf a week freeze half...
however that said, there are a few things that should prob be communal (mainly cause they take so long to get throught individually)...cooking oil, vineger, salt, pepper on top of that loo rolls, cleaning products etc should all be split fairly...
thats how its happened here, everyone indiv except for cleaning prods and it scaled fine in our house of 9
because you don't get to choose who you live with you never know what they are going to be like.
to cut down on butter and milk losses, not to mention beer, i bought a small fridge for my room. i used it all the time in every place i lived through my 3 years at uni.
£100 well spent!
'It's the cordon bleu of emotions sonny'
If everyone arrived with the second attitude, nobody would be very friendly or share with everyone.
OK, so the first is maybe slightly naive and unrealistic, but if you are optimistic at first you may even find that things are better than you feared. It's better to start off trusting your neighbours then working out who the ones to keep an eye on are rather than being paranoid and distrusting everyone.
It's probably easier if you're in a small house/flat than a larger one.
and what is NellyLock doing putting pepper on top of loo rolls
One tip if you do all have your own stuff is take a black marker pen so you can put your name on stuff - this is just as much so that you don't inadvertantly use someone else's as so that they don't use yours.