[qmzpla]

Come September I'll be based in Central London studying. I'm receiving the max loan, but living in halls charging £173/week, leaving me with £9.49/week to live on. I'll be searching for a part time job so I have a bit of pocket money, but in this climate I can't tell if I'll get one.

Has anyone else been struck by such news?

If you're a student at the moment living on a small budget, how do you make it work?

Cheers

[sil3nt_cha0s]

£173 per week for halls. Was that the most expensive halls or average price, and did you have a choice? Because if you chose one of the most expensive halls, that's kind of your fault.

[Tackla]

You are paying too much for your accomodation, plus its hard to get a job in London these days.

[charlie9872]

I'd suggest working over the summer and getting some savings to take with you, and you need to get a part time job whilst at uni.

From that I assume that you haven't got a maintenance grant, this is the governments way of assuming that your parents can help you out through university, is there anyway they can give you some money per month?

Getting by on 9/wk is going to be extremely difficult/virtually impossible, especially living in central London - You'll literally have to live off pasta and potatoes. As an example, it'll cost nearly that to get into some clubs, never mind the price of drinks (assuming you're planning to go out)

Alternative to this problem is just get cheaper private accommodation, not in the centre - I thought I was paying a lot in September at £115 p/w.

[Jamin]

To be fair £9 per week is like 100 packets of tesco own brand super noodles and if you budget well you may be able to treat yourself to a Freddo at christmas time.

[RoryRorrzShikari]

I'm in the same position as you. I got a loan of around £3500 from SAAS but that just covers my halls. The only way I'm going tp survive is if I work so I'm hoping Tesco will let me transfer. Try getting a job at one of the major supermarkets eg Tesco, Asda, Markies, over the summer holidays to save up and then you can get a transfer over to London. That way you wouldn't have to search for a new job when you moved. Have you considered applying for bursaries? (Thats if the uni your going to offers them). £173 for halls sounds alot. The halls at the university I'm hoping to go to cost between £75-£125 per week. Plus is there any way at all your parents can give you some money? Even if it is just like £15 a month or something really small like that.

[Norton1]

(Original post by Jamin)
To be fair £9 per week is like 100 packets of tesco own brand super noodles and if you budget well you may be able to treat yourself to a Freddo at christmas time.

Nah, all about the Taz bars.

Edit: Disgusted to find out these have been withdrawn. We're wasting our time on Leveson when genuinely important things are being removed from this country.

[Jamin]

(Original post by Norton1)
Nah, all about the Taz bars.

Edit: Disgusted to find out these have been withdrawn. We're wasting our time on Leveson when genuinely important things are being removed from this country.

The largely overpriced-unless-you-work-in-a-supermarket-and-buy-them-cheap-after-easter caramel bunnies were very reminiscent of taz bars.

[Grumpig]

(Original post by Norton1)
Nah, all about the Taz bars.

Edit: Disgusted to find out these have been withdrawn. We're wasting our time on Leveson when genuinely important things are being removed from this country.

You can now get Caramel Freddo's to fill the void

[alexsasg]

Is there any way you can swap rooms or something? Because that really is very high. £9 a week is definitely not sustainable - you should definitely look at getting a job over the summer (I realise that is easier said than done, I've been struggling to find a job for ages)

[seanfromtheblock]

Following my accomodation this year I was left around £2800 in the negative (terrible, terrible loan). I had a job at school and over the summer, and saved up enough money to pay for the accomodation outright. This left me with around £900 of loan (in three installments throughout the year), which is hardly sustainable. I got a part time job at uni, and continued to work my old job full time during the holidays.

Not ideal, but it got me through first year.

[Shani]

Even for London, that accommodation is ridiculously expensive. Is it catered?

[EssexDan86]

What a rip off for rent - going to uni should be great fun, and you don't want to be missing out on opportunities because you're constantly skint.

Study outside of London, or perhaps consider taking a year off before uni and save up?

[Bobifier]

(Original post by sil3nt_cha0s)
£173 per week for halls. Was that the most expensive halls or average price, and did you have a choice? Because if you chose one of the most expensive halls, that's kind of your fault.

My girlfriend is a student in central London and has had a similar problem. The cheapest halls available to her were (I think) £130 a week, and £173 is very much not the most expensive. From what she has said, it would not surprise me for someone to find that these halls were among the cheapest available to them.

[Bobifier]

(Original post by charlie9872)
I'd suggest working over the summer and getting some savings to take with you, and you need to get a part time job whilst at uni.

From that I assume that you haven't got a maintenance grant, this is the governments way of assuming that your parents can help you out through university, is there anyway they can give you some money per month?

Getting by on 9/wk is going to be extremely difficult/virtually impossible, especially living in central London - it'll cost nearly that to get into some clubs, never mind the price of drinks (assuming you're planning to go out) and you'd literally have to live off pasta and potatoes.

Alternative to this problem is just get cheaper private accommodation, not in the centre - I thought I was paying a lot in September at £115 p/w.

It's good to see you have your priorities right.

[Ayshizzle]

(Original post by qmzpla)
Come September I'll be based in Central London studying. I'm receiving the max loan, but living in halls charging £173/week, leaving me with £9.49/week to live on. I'll be searching for a part time job so I have a bit of pocket money, but in this climate I can't tell if I'll get one.

Has anyone else been struck by such news?

If you're a student at the moment living on a small budget, how do you make it work?

Cheers

I'm in a similar position to you, and I've done it before, but I'll warn you it's hard.

If you can find a job over the summer and save that money then do that- but I know this is easier said than done. Also, you should be able to get an interest- free overdraft with a student account and you can use that to top up your spending money. Don't go crazy with it though, it;s a bummer to be living at the bottom of your overdraft.

If you can't find cheaper accommodation, a job, or get help from anywhere else then it'll probably be like this:

You won't be able to go out much, eat out, etc cos that will use up your entire weeks' budget. What I did was not spend anything one week, or two and then use the money I'd accumulated over those weeks to do a bigger food shop in one go. Buy cheap food, the Value ranges are absolutely fine and you can get a lot with a small amount of money. Also- when things are on offer buy them in bulk then, so you're not spending more on them later.
If your parents can't give you money, try and ask them if they will buy you stuff instead- for example every time I see my mum she buys me stuff like shampoo, loo roll, and other bits and bats that really help lower your costs.
Try to walk where you need to get to when possible- bus/tube/taxi fares will also take a decent chunk out of your budget.
Sell crap you don't need on eBay or something, you probs won't get much for some stuff but every penny counts.

With regards to social stuff, try and do as many free/cheap things with friends as possible so you're not missing out. I don't know exactly where you'll be based, so can't advise you on this, but if people know about your situation you'll all find something to do.

Sorry to hear about your situation, I know how hard it is if there isn't an alternative. Good luck, and I do hope you manage to find a job/cheaper accommodation.

[charlie9872]

(Original post by Bobifier)
It's good to see you have your priorities right.

I did word it pretty poorly, and it wasn't mean't to come off like that but whether you agree or not, as a fresher, going out is going to be a huge part of University life for the first term for most people. I'm just pointing it out as that's where the main expense lies with University. I'm sure OP doesn't want to be the only person in halls not socialising and I say this in every aspect as pretty much every incurs a cost - going to the cinema, out for lunch, not to mention that I'm sure she'll have to get the bus sometimes - it all adds up and £9 really isn't enough to live on and you'll have to forfeit a lot in the process.

[catestevenson]

(Original post by Shani)
Even for London, that accommodation is ridiculously expensive. Is it catered?

Scarily, it's not that expensive for halls in London. At Imperial single rooms range from ~£110/wk to £245/wk with most of them at about £160/180.

[HighestKungFu]

£9 a week in Central London? Not a chance. I can't believe you didn't figure that out before you chose to live in halls! You may have to do what a lot of the American students do...*cues stripper music*.

[Firecrackerchild]

My loan doesn't even cover my accommodation, quit griping and get a job, try and find cheaper halls, or see if parents are willing to help out.