Year abroad students who AREN'T entitled to grants..

immortaljaz

Hello!

I wanted to know if there were any students here who were on their year abroad who aren't entitled to government grants etc just to see how you're coping with money. I'm in Moscow, which is simultaneously the most and least expensive place in europe (weekly spending varies wildly from £20-£250).

Is anyone else somewhere fairly expensive, and have you worked out a budget or money plan - eg atm I'm looking for work teaching english so I can buy a fridge (I'm spending so much more on food without one it seems a worthwhile investment.)

I'm really very hopeless with money, and I'm dreading the winter coming up as I've got £150/month that I can spend give or take (I will not, will not use my credit card!) and I'm really going to have to buy some stuff to stop me dying of cold. So just any experiences from previous students - I know it seems weird that I've asked for those without grants, it's just I know I'm at a loss because my friends get reimbursed for a percentage of travel costs - which I don't. They also get a lot more money (loans and grants) and because I'm on the fringe (parents earning just above the mark) I'm down a bit on the money front.

So, please, any experiences that made it easier - it's all too tempting for me at the moment to shop in western shops (down in the dumps lol) but I know really thats unwise.

Thank you, and I'm sorry if it is a little incoherent I'm a little poorly at the moment!

x Jaz

maninwhitecoat

Hello!
How are you holding out there in Moscow Jaz?
I'm currently in Sweden, and its not all as expensive as everyone makes it out to be...What sort of program are you on? what are you doing out there? As i'm on ERASMUS, i get an ERASMUS grant, so maybe you might be able to get something similar? have you checked your LEA? My LEA isn't giving me any grants despite applying, but they said they will reimburse my travel costs less £290, but that includes travel to and from uni too.

Just living on my ERASMUS grant alone, a lot of it goes to my accommodation, which gives me £15 a week to live on. Which is very hard i must admit, since my spending fluctuates so much! One week, it can be around £7 on food to £20 on food.

Especially if just starting out in a new country its going to be expensive, for all those initial costs, like the fridge you've mentioned.

I always make sandwiches for uni so i don't have to buy any food whilst i'm at uni. Isn't it cold in Moscow? When i was at Bristol, during the winter, my wnidow sill was freezing so i put all my fruit and veg and milk on the windowsill. Cover it up though so the sun radiation doesn't get through.
Of course the typical pasta meals are always cheap, sometimes, i have tuna pasta sweetcorn which will last me two meals, basic but cheap and filling also.

Do they have cheap supermarkets there? like netto or aldi etc? Its always worth buying dry foods and dairy products there. Not fresh fruit and veg though, the quality is too poor. And frozen food goes a long long way also.

The best way to save money for me though is to plan your meals. For breakfast i always have cornflakes so that's sorted, just need milk and cornflakes which only needs buying every two weks, lunch time i have sandwiches, at the moment i have bread, butter, cucumber, gherkin, cheese and salami, and evening meals vary. If you do decide to make sandwiches, i recommend buyign enough fillings for two weeks, but change it around, say ham one day, salami the next, turkey teh day after so you don't get bored of it.

Thats what i've been doing so far to save money, Hope that helps!