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Budgeting as a post-grad student
Reactive
Posts: 41 Forumite
Hi,
I've never had to budget before as I've always allowed my parents to handle my finances. I've now just turned 22 and start my PhD in Engineering in September, for this I recieve £19,000 / year (tax free) for three years. (+ whatever else I might make tutoring students). I've fallen out with my parents over how they've handled something that's happened in the family and quite frankly want to distance myself from them as much as possible.
I intend to spend £600/month on rent living by myself, and for everything else I have no clue. I will be living in a very cheap area of Northern England, and expect my living expenses to be relatively low. How much per month should I be setting side for:
1) utilities (internet, TV, phone, gas, electricity)
2) food (I eat out almost everyday, it tends to workout cheaper for me + I don't have alot of time to cook food)
3) everything else - when I move from the south of England to the north I will be taking literally nothing with me except some clothes and a computer.
- I will need kitchen equipment, a bicycle, a good quality desk, clothes, + everything else imaginable.
In short I'm looking for people to estimate a student's living expenses (+ getting set up in a new place starting with nothing) aside from rent...
Cheers
I've never had to budget before as I've always allowed my parents to handle my finances. I've now just turned 22 and start my PhD in Engineering in September, for this I recieve £19,000 / year (tax free) for three years. (+ whatever else I might make tutoring students). I've fallen out with my parents over how they've handled something that's happened in the family and quite frankly want to distance myself from them as much as possible.
I intend to spend £600/month on rent living by myself, and for everything else I have no clue. I will be living in a very cheap area of Northern England, and expect my living expenses to be relatively low. How much per month should I be setting side for:
1) utilities (internet, TV, phone, gas, electricity)
2) food (I eat out almost everyday, it tends to workout cheaper for me + I don't have alot of time to cook food)
3) everything else - when I move from the south of England to the north I will be taking literally nothing with me except some clothes and a computer.
- I will need kitchen equipment, a bicycle, a good quality desk, clothes, + everything else imaginable.
In short I'm looking for people to estimate a student's living expenses (+ getting set up in a new place starting with nothing) aside from rent...
Cheers
0
Comments
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Living cheap in the north and then spending £600 a month on rent, is not cheap.
However
1) Depends how big the house is, but internet tv and phone will be around £20-30 a month, gas and elec around £60 a month. In my 5 bedroom house BTP is £45 and GE is £130. You've also missed water.
2) Eating out is not cheap, surely if you know how much you're spending eating out you can work out how much it will cost you a month...... but my shopping costs me around £100 a month.
3) Travel, depends how near/far to uni. Clothes, really depends where you shop and how often you really need to buy clothes (I have bought a shirt and t-shirt once in the last 6 months...). A desk, check Argos catalogue? Kitchen equipment? Check Asda? A bicycle? Check Halfords?0 -
Living cheap in the north and then spending £600 a month on rent, is not cheap.
However
1) Depends how big the house is, but internet tv and phone will be around £20-30 a month, gas and elec around £60 a month. In my 5 bedroom house BTP is £45 and GE is £130. You've also missed water.
2) Eating out is not cheap, surely if you know how much you're spending eating out you can work out how much it will cost you a month...... but my shopping costs me around £100 a month.
3) Travel, depends how near/far to uni. Clothes, really depends where you shop and how often you really need to buy clothes (I have bought a shirt and t-shirt once in the last 6 months...). A desk, check Argos catalogue? Kitchen equipment? Check Asda? A bicycle? Check Halfords?
I know £600/month for one bed apartment is not cheap, but since I've been living in a hole for the past few years I'm going to splash out and live somewhere nice for a change.
Travel should amount to nothing since I'll be using a bicycle + walking for everything else.
Halfords are blood expensive for their bicycles, I was hoping to get one cheaper somewhere else. And the desks at Argos are generally far too small; I'm trying to buy an extremely large desk as I've very tall.
Clothes are a real pain in the !!! for me because I'm so tall, and shopping is always a nightmare. (I'm male BTW)0 -
You could try Freecycle for a bike, or check ads in supermarkets and shop windows. Likewise for a desk, or if buying new, how about Ikea? Or office suppliers often have second hand ones.
Ikea are good for kitchen stuff too. Also the big supermarkets often have a really good selection, and very cheap.
But surely, you will be renting furnished, and kitchen stuff will be supplied? You may even be able to request a desk be supplied.
£600 does sound a lot for a 1 bed, but if it is spacious and you can afford it, why not!
As a Mum, I would say that at 22 it is high time you took a little time to learn how to cook for yourself. It needn't be expensive or time consuming, and is bound to be healthier!0 -
jennifernil wrote: »You could try Freecycle for a bike, or check ads in supermarkets and shop windows. Likewise for a desk, or if buying new, how about Ikea? Or office suppliers often have second hand ones.
Ikea are good for kitchen stuff too. Also the big supermarkets often have a really good selection, and very cheap.
But surely, you will be renting furnished, and kitchen stuff will be supplied? You may even be able to request a desk be supplied.
£600 does sound a lot for a 1 bed, but if it is spacious and you can afford it, why not!
As a Mum, I would say that at 22 it is high time you took a little time to learn how to cook for yourself. It needn't be expensive or time consuming, and is bound to be healthier!
By kitchen stuff I mean't utensils, plates, glasses, pans etc.
I work alot and I always find it difficult to eat healthy. The only decent food I eat is when I come back to my parents. There's not enough time in the day for me to go shopping for fresh healthy food regularly, so I often end up living off chinese takeaways or soup that I can just heat up in a pan.0 -
Are utensils and plates etc not provided in furnished places? For some reason I had assumed they would be.
Surely you can make time to shop once or twice a week? You will likely get a fridge/freezer in your flat, so you can lay in some fresh meat/chicken to freeze, and ready-frozen vegetables and fish are said to have more of the vitamins retained as they are frozen when very fresh. You can also get healthy chilled meals that just need cooked, many of these can be frozen at home too. Then with some milk, cereal, eggs, pasta, bread, fresh fruit, salads too if you like, you have the basis of a healthy diet.
You cannot work all the time, you need some relaxation. Look upon preparing food as relaxation, you might find you enjoy it once you get started, it need not take ages to make a good meal.0 -
jennifernil wrote: »You cannot work all the time, you need some relaxation. Look upon preparing food as relaxation, you might find you enjoy it once you get started, it need not take ages to make a good meal.
Seconded. Even when i'm working 50-60 hour weeks (which is all too common these days), I make time to cook, because when you've been staring at a spreadsheet for the last 11 hours, it's actually a quite a good way to unwind.
Anyway, doing a quick back-of-an-envelope calculation, I came up with:
Income: 19,000
Less one-off costs e.g. bike, bedding, clothes, desk etc: (1,500)
Net income: 17,500
Monthly: 1,460
Less basic monthly costs:
Rent: (600)
Utilities: (100)
Groceries: (100)
Mobile: (25)
Transport: (35)
Remaining income monthly: 600
Weekly: 138
Regarding the one-off stuff, i'd say only buy the things you'll definitely need to start with, and then just get other things as you go along.
And learn to cook!0 -
Consider putting a healthy chunk of that 19000 into a savings account each year. Very few of those I studied alongside completed their engineering PhDs in 3 years, so anticipate having to make that money last for at least 4 years. This shouldn't be hard if you keep your lifestyle a bit "studenty" but could be difficult if you try living like an "executive"!0
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I would agree, budget to make the money last 4 years.
Some Unis do realise that often students are not good at budgeting and saving, and retain some of the annual stipend to fund an extra 6 months over and above the 3 years. So you may find you do not get the full £19k each year.
Tutoring, labs etc can bring in possibly another £400 + per month in term times, so you should find it relatively easy to save quite a bit. My own daughter had no problem filling her ISA every year, plus saving a fair bit more.
Go and post on the Student Money Saving board for good advice.0 -
jennifernil wrote: »I would agree, budget to make the money last 4 years.
Some Unis do realise that often students are not good at budgeting and saving, and retain some of the annual stipend to fund an extra 6 months over and above the 3 years. So you may find you do not get the full £19k each year.
Tutoring, labs etc can bring in possibly another £400 + per month in term times, so you should find it relatively easy to save quite a bit. My own daughter had no problem filling her ISA every year, plus saving a fair bit more.
Go and post on the Student Money Saving board for good advice.
I've since decided to live in more reasonable accomodation at £350/month for a nice 2 bed terraced house rather than the expensive £600/month 1 bed! After sleeping on it I weighed up the pros + cons and came to the conclusion that it's not worth an extra £250/month.
I'd be amazed if I could make £400/month tutoring/demonstrating in the labs.
I've only just found out what an ISA is....I have a long way to go I guess.0 -
Consider putting a healthy chunk of that 19000 into a savings account each year. Very few of those I studied alongside completed their engineering PhDs in 3 years, so anticipate having to make that money last for at least 4 years. This shouldn't be hard if you keep your lifestyle a bit "studenty" but could be difficult if you try living like an "executive"!
My PhD is industrially sponsered and as such I'm under the impression that I will have to stick to tight deadlines with little time to muck about.
Additionally there will be large chunks of my time (several weeks at a time) spent working elsewhere (out of town) at the company's 'site', which added more weight to the argument of me not wasting £600/month on accomodation.0
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