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How much do I need to live off?

So, I got my accommodation and student finance through, and I've worked out that I'll have around £45 a week to spend :frown:

£45 seems like a lot but I guess if people go out every night, and pay for societies etc it could disappear quite easily.
Is this enough or do I need to get a job?? How much on average does a typical student spend a week?

Reply 1

JD95

I'd get a little job, but that does seem a good amount to be living off as long as you're careful with it.

If you do get a job just think of how much more you'll have.

Reply 2

parentlurker

depends where you will be (London costs more) and how much you like to go out/drink. People survive on less but some spend a lot more. To take full advantage of being at uni try to earn some money this summer or get a job at uni.

btw it's not a bad idea to take, say 30 pounds and go and buy a weeks worth of food. Then live off it for a week and you'll see what you've forgotten/ how you manage. Don't forget you will sometimes need to do washing, buy toiletries and pay for things like phone bills. Also if in halls you may be stuck with fines from the bad behaviour of your flat mates.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 3

tibbles209

Outside of London £45 is plenty to live off of, as long as your bills are already included in your accommodation costs and you don't have any significant travel costs. You're not going to be rich, and you'll need to watch your money but that's just all part of being a student. If you want extra money then you could get a part time job, but otherwise you certainly have enough to live off of.

Reply 4

peter12345

Original post by JD95

I'd get a little job, but that does seem a good amount to be living off as long as you're careful with it.

If you do get a job just think of how much more you'll have.

Depends if OP is in halls or not. If she is living off campus and not with parents then travel and utilities bills will eat that up.

Reply 5

Abblecrumble

You should consider yourself lucky! :eek:

My accommodation (which will only be around £85 a week) completely eats up my loan and I'll be £5 down each week. :frown:

I aim to spend around £20 on shopping each week so I'll have to carry on with a part time job and use my savings if I need to.

Don't worry too much! :biggrin:

Reply 6

kuroudo93

My loan comes £700 SHORT of my accommodation. been working 35 hours a week for ages to raise money for it and should have about £65 a week come september :smile:

god knows i dont know how to budget

Reply 7

TattyBoJangles

I'm planning on living off £30-40/week. I could afford to spend £80/week, but I plan on saving the difference and using the saved money to buy train tickets to see my boyfriend / petrol for my car / emergency money etc (here, I'm mainly thinking if my car breaks down).

I've got two bank accounts so I can do this fairly easily and won't get carried away with spending a lot.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

Converse

Original post by TattyBoJangles

Out of interest, why bother with the car when you're at uni?

Reply 9

TattyBoJangles

Original post by Converse

Out of interest, why bother with the car when you're at uni?

I'm going to St Andrews, which is 7 hours away from home, and means I can come home for Christmas / summer without having to lug half my stuff on various trains or getting my parents to pick me up. Plus I like the freedom having a car brings and it means I can pick my boyfriend up from Edinburgh airport when he visits.