The Student Room Group

How much to live a week?

Hey everyone,

I'll be starting Uni In September and due to living in a Low Income Household I'm almost certain I'll be getting the full whack for Maintainence Grant and Loan.
My question's are this; Is accommodation paid out of the money I'll recieve from that and any of my earning or is that added on to a loan also?
Also, is the self-catering accommodation provided by a University all-inclusive of ultility bills (inc. TV License) or should I budget for that too, are there any bills I pay?

Anyway, assuming I pay for accommodation & bills are inclusive I'll have approximately £3,000 a year or £68 a week while I'm at University for...well...living of; including travel, clothes, food, socialising ect. This does not include if I can get a job or any other sources of financial income.

I'd like to know, is this a lot/a little? What do you guys all have/had and how far exactly does your money go in the real-world?

Thanks!


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Reply 1
Learn to cook for yourself I would say,Asian food and soups save money big time and get a bike instead of public transport. And if you don't smoke that will bring costs down. You should be fine.
Original post by Nath1194
Hey everyone,

I'll be starting Uni In September and due to living in a Low Income Household I'm almost certain I'll be getting the full whack for Maintainence Grant and Loan.
My question's are this; Is accommodation paid out of the money I'll recieve from that and any of my earning or is that added on to a loan also?
Also, is the self-catering accommodation provided by a University all-inclusive of ultility bills (inc. TV License) or should I budget for that too, are there any bills I pay?

Anyway, assuming I pay for accommodation & bills are inclusive I'll have approximately £3,000 a year or £68 a week while I'm at University for...well...living of; including travel, clothes, food, socialising ect. This does not include if I can get a job or any other sources of financial income.

I'd like to know, is this a lot/a little? What do you guys all have/had and how far exactly does your money go in the real-world?

Thanks!


It completely depends on which university you attend and the accommodation that you chose at that university.

At some universities you'll be able to pay for your accommodation out of your loan/grant but at others you won't as the cost of living is higher. Similarly, if you're in university accommodation it's likely that bills will be included in your first year (but usually not TV licence) although it totally depends on the university.

The money that you get for your loan/grant (about £7000) will be what you use to pay for your accommodation. You won't get any additional money from student finance specifically for accommodation in addition to whatever loan/grant you get from them although some universities do have accommodation bursaries if you put them as your firm choice etc.
Yeah, what student finance give you, that's it. If your parents can't bail you out, I'd budget really carefully. A TV licence is not a necessity, but I think it works out about £12 a week
Reply 4
Do you guys go without a tv license?

Cool ill look in to a bike :biggrin: other than that I cook for myself at home anyway, plenty of frozen curry and chilli at mine!!

I'm hoping to be at York St John and I know the cost of living in York is relatively high. Turns out I can get a Fee Waiver though? Not seen anything on accommodation funds being available.
Thanks everyone so far!


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Do you guys go without a tv license?

Cool ill look in to a bike other than that I cook for myself at home anyway, plenty of frozen curry and chilli at mine!!

I'm hoping to be at York St John and I know the cost of living in York is relatively high. Turns out I can get a Fee Waiver though? Not seen anything on accommodation funds being available.
Thanks everyone so far!


Woah woah woah, you certainly do not need a TV licence, have you not heard of iPlayer and 4oD?
I'm at York at the moment, it's not hugely expensive, but I'm from the south so compared to home, so it's cheap. With regards to socialising there are some pretty damn cheap bars in York, you just have to go out on the right nights. Other than that, there is an Aldi and Morrisons, but it's pretty common for people to get Asda/Tesco deliveries between their flat.
Reply 6
Yeah I'm just a big fan of Comedy Central. I wouldn't mind cutting down on that though to save a few bob and watch online stuff instead! Good shout :smile:
Yeah I've seen a few about. And I know where both those stores are, thanks for the advice!


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Reply 7
Original post by Nath1194
Do you guys go without a tv license?

Cool ill look in to a bike :biggrin: other than that I cook for myself at home anyway, plenty of frozen curry and chilli at mine!!

I'm hoping to be at York St John and I know the cost of living in York is relatively high. Turns out I can get a Fee Waiver though? Not seen anything on accommodation funds being available.
Thanks everyone so far!


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Is York st John your first choice?! What course you wanting to do and which accommodation you looking into? :smile:


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Reply 8
Original post by amyeaton
Is York st John your first choice?! What course you wanting to do and which accommodation you looking into? :smile:

Yeah :biggrin: I love York! I'm doing Psychology, you? And torn between Grange, Limes Courts and The City Residence. Not really sure if splashing a bit more cash is worth a few more perks or whatever. How about you? :tongue:
Reply 9
Original post by Nath1194
Yeah :biggrin: I love York! I'm doing Psychology, you? And torn between Grange, Limes Courts and The City Residence. Not really sure if splashing a bit more cash is worth a few more perks or whatever. How about you? :tongue:


Haha I'm exactly the same!! I've firmed York for the pe and sports coaching course :smile: I was set on limes court but now can't choose between limes and the grange! Think I'm going to go for the grange though as I've heard a lot more about it! Good things as well haha :tongue:


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£68 is a large amount to live on, if you're relatively smart with your money. Like above said you can probably save 70% of that from just sticking to the Asian foods, leaving the rest for going out and such. If you go out even up to twice a week you'll probably have a nice piece of change at the end of the week (if you don't go crazy at least)


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Reply 11
Oh sweet! :biggrin: I think I'm gunna go with Limes Court, I did the virtual tour thing on their site and it looks the best by quite a bit...that I can afford at least :L I think The Grange looks a bit, sketchy >.<
Reply 12
Original post by Alexandros Vit
£68 is a large amount to live on, if you're relatively smart with your money. Like above said you can probably save 70% of that from just sticking to the Asian foods, leaving the rest for going out and such. If you go out even up to twice a week you'll probably have a nice piece of change at the end of the week (if you don't go crazy at least)

Im glad to hear that, thank you!
After food, accomodation (bills inc), money aside for clothes, phone bill I should have about £60-80 a month.

As long as you don't go silly, you should be fine.
Surely watching Comedy Central requires both TV license and Sky/some kind of subscription? That's gonna be hard to pay for on a student budget I'd imagine.
Original post by DuncanMono
Yeah, what student finance give you, that's it. If your parents can't bail you out, I'd budget really carefully. A TV licence is not a necessity, but I think it works out about £12 a week


I think you mean month!

OP - £68 should be plenty. Ensure you have some put back for emergencies.
Reply 16
Original post by Nath1194
Oh sweet! :biggrin: I think I'm gunna go with Limes Court, I did the virtual tour thing on their site and it looks the best by quite a bit...that I can afford at least :L I think The Grange looks a bit, sketchy >.<


Ahh cool! When I went to the open day last year, I only managed to look around limes court! It was pretty nice, think it might be a bit smaller than other accommodation but it is the cheapest and it's a bit further from the uni. Not by far though :tongue: I got sent some dates for the applicant days so if I can manage to get to one of them I'm going to go look at the grange then I can compare haha :tongue: every time I look at the website it just makes me want to start now! :biggrin:


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Reply 17
Original post by mulberrytree
After food, accomodation (bills inc), money aside for clothes, phone bill I should have about £60-80 a month.

As long as you don't go silly, you should be fine.

Thats a lot more than me but I have less things to pay for. Phone & bills are paid for so it's not too much. Thats pretty good. Thanks for the contribution!


Original post by lascelles
Surely watching Comedy Central requires both TV license and Sky/some kind of subscription? That's gonna be hard to pay for on a student budget I'd imagine.

I thought it was on FreeView?


Original post by OU Student
I think you mean month!

OP - £68 should be plenty. Ensure you have some put back for emergencies.

No I mean a week. Will do, I have a spare bank account for that as well as an over-draft I'll be going with!
Original post by Nath1194
!



I thought it was on FreeView?

Unfortunately not :frown:
Im sure you need a TV licence for iPlayer. I tried to watch it once when I was in Yorkshire and it wouldn't let me because it said it couldn't determine if the property had a TV licence?!??

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